Teroka

After our trip to the Museum, we decided to little bit of shopping, since we heard, you can get the best bargain in the Russian Market. It was a brief trip, since, we realized, it being a public holiday, most of the shops were closed. I think there were only a handful stores opened at that time.

I had to find some stuff my sister wanted so, first stop, was the textile store. It was not the cheapest place to buy stuff, we found out later. We spent quite some time over there, trying to get the best price possible. Of course we did, but the next store we went to, gave out an initial price that were lower than the price after we bargained at the first one. So, terasa bodoh kejap je. I got a decent amount of cushion covers, and pashminas, and thats about it.

But what interests me the most, is the fact that unlike here (although we share much of the same value), we had to take off our shoes before entering the store. And the lady that was helping us, was very helpful, but he spoke very little English, so that made it more difficult to ask for things that weren’t visible on the shelves. He had his little son, do all the translating, but even then, it was still difficult to communicate. In result, I’d resort to body language, and not very good at that either.

I believe that most of the Cambodians would instantly think of us as the locals, so I bet it was frustrating for them as well whenever we had to communicate.

We took a tuk-tuk back to our hostel. And much earlier, we packed up our stuff, just in case we didn’t have enough time to do so after coming back. But we actually had some to spare, so I took my bag, came down to use the internet at the hostel to update people back at home.

At around 1200, our ride came to pick us up and send us to the bus station in Phnom Penh. I think, most of the bus companies would have the bus pick up the passengers right in front of the ticket counter. So, I was quite surprised to see that buses could go through really small roads, and don’t even get me started on the level of air pollution there.

What do I think of the public transportation in Cambodia? Well, I just think, it could get quite tricky. There doesn’t seem to be any kind of system. Its really up to the bus operator, to operate which ever way they think is best. It would make you was-was a lot more if you had to find out which buses goes where, yourself, because of course, you want the best offer.

At around 1230, we started our journey back to Siem Reap. Another 6 hours on the bus. Am I thrilled or what. Another 6 hours of butt torture. But it was nice this time around. It was less crowded, and there were a lot more tourists on the bus. Not that I like a flock of tourist everywhere, its just that sometimes, its nice to know there is others. But they don’t appear to bring any luggage, which made me wonder a bit.

On the way, I managed to capture this thing by the roadside. It looked like it was a parade or something, and I’m sure it had something to do with the New Year celebration.

And also another first for me, was when we stopped for our one and only toilet-break. It was a different place this time around. Felt more touristy. Why? I guess because there were a lot more people, and there were kids trying to sell us fruits, and best of all, there were also dried tarantula, duck embryo and fried crickets. If I could, I would have tried all three. I envy those who could, simply because it would always remained as an experience I could never experience. Oh well..

It was already dark when we arrived in Siem Reap. It was the same place we took the bus earlier. But lucky for us, the hostel we booked, arranged a lift from the bus station to the hostel for free. So again, we’re off on a tuk-tuk, and I must say, it was the best tuk-tuk ride, ever. Wee..

We cleaned up asap, and got out to get us some dinner. Since it was our first night (and time) in Siem Reap, we didn’t explore much, but we were cruising for a halal place, but couldn’t find any at that time. (We know Siem Reap has got a lot of them). So we settled for an Indian restaurant, and ordered a vegetarian set to fill up our tummy. That was when it happened..

I have not been eating much, but it was never a problem, because back home, there would be a day that I would just eat a slice of bread. But that night, my tummy ached. It ached so bad that I thought I was going to pass out from the pain. I did, but much later. I couldn’t sit up straight. When I went to the toilet, I vomitted front (and back), and it was like a 3D menu of what I have eaten much earlier being presented to me, in the oddest way. In a toilet bowl. I was sweating like a women who just gave birth to curly triplets.

I came out to join me friend, but couldn’t even get myself to drink a glass of plain water. I walked in front of a 24-hours convenient store and lay flat on my back on one of the benches (for the guards, but they were busy “Am Khun”-ing all the customers to even notice me). I passed out.

My friend, afraid that I might have died (there’s a lot of weird diseases spreading), came to ask me whether I’m ok. All I needed was to not talk at that time. So I nodded, and after an hour of misery, I was jumping up and down again. Oh, forgot to mention that I heal quite quickly, but the pain at that time, was the second most painful thing I had to go through in my life, EVER!

So we pack up our stuff, and head back to our hostel. We had a long day, and I just endured the longest hour, so I was exhausted.

I fell asleep right after..

DAY 2 Today would be the day we would spend the remaining time we have here in Phnom Penh, to visit the famous Toul Sleng Museum (S-21) and also do a little bit of shopping before we head back to Siem Reap.

We woke up very early, because we have to spend time seeing Phnom Penh as much as possible. We have to catch a bus later in the afternoon, so its vital that we waste no time. We had our light breakfast at the guesthouse itself (yang memang simple tapi sedap), dan seperti biasa dimana-mana accommodation that I have been to, there would always be a taxi driver, a minivan driver, a tuk-tuk driver, all ready to take you anywhere for the right price. Our first stop would be a Cambodian highschool, with pretty much nothing, classrooms, playing field, and something that looks like a canteen. The twist to it, was that sometime around 1975 (kira baru lagi kan?), the Khmer Rouge regime turned it into a all-in-one communist torturing centre that pretty much shock the world, killing no less than 20,000 Cambodians, with only a handful of survivors live to tell the world about the horrifying experience.

(more…)

We settled down for a bit. Freshen up and taking whats important and went down. We haven’t had anything to eat other than drinking the bottled water, so we had our lunch + tea at the guesthouse.

I had a Lemon Soda as well as a Cheese + Egg Sandwich. And later a 7UP. The sandwich was goooooood. It really was. And the price pun jugak, boleh tahan. But I forgot to jot down, so I couldn’t remember the exact amount, but for just a sandwich, it was a lot. We saw on the board behind the receptionist saying that we could get a ticket back to Siem Reap and they would send us to the bus station so everything is pretty much included. [Phnom Penh->Siem Reap: GST Express Bus/US$8]. So that’s done, at least we don’t have to think about it anymore.

At 1615, we started walking. Initially, we wanted to take the tuk-tuk, but we figured Phnom Penh was not big, so we could go on foot and actually see for ourselves the environment, first hand. The weather was excellent at that time, so we had no trouble, other than getting use to crossing a road with the vehicle coming from the other side of the road.

Along the way, we were trying to find some things that maybe we could relate. There were the Malaysian Embassy on the map, but we came across only the Singaporean Embassy at that time. I have no idea where the Malaysian Embassy were, or maybe it was just a small rundown mill somewhere, entah lah.

Our first stop was the Independence Monument which was situated in the middle of a big roundabout. For the most part of the impressively simple structure, is close to the public. But there were some that climbed the steps to the structure to get a better picture. I was alone, so I did the vain-angle shot. Supposedly, on the east side of the Independence Monument is a long stretch of garden-like walkway. But I missed that one out. Was not aware of its existence, and we straight away continue our journey by foot to the next place.

We walked down the same road, trying to find the nearest way to get to the Royal Palace. Of course we managed to get there. We came around the back part of the Royal Palace, and missed the Silver Pagoda altogether because we head the opposite way. The Royal Palace is right in the middle of another two attractions, which were the National Museum and the Silver Pagoda. And it is surrounded by this high raised thick yellow coloured wall. You can’t really see much though from the outside. But all these Asian countries sure love bright colours. And I know that Yellow is the royal colour for, I don’t know, most countries? But I’m telling you, bright bright neon yellow for the gate? Oh come on..

Later we walked along this road, with the Royal Palace on the right side, and the National Museum on the other. By the time we got there, it was closed, so meleleh air liur tgh dari luar saja. Tak ke rugi, for not visiting both (atau tiga, including the Silver Pagoda) places while I was there, you ask me? Well, such a waste, tapi nak buat macam mana lagi kan? It wasn’t by choice though, so biarkan aje lah.

Right in front of the National Museum is, well, I don’t know what it was. It looked like a garden, but it had a sort of dirtpath. Horses goes around and around it, I think, but one think I know for sure, is that cat and dogs poop are all over the it. And there weren’t that many people there. Tengok ramai orang kat nun, jauh depan sana berkumpul, so dengan gaya Japanese tourist, we head on to see whats all the fuss.

At first I’m guessing this is the River Front, but now I doubt it. I think the River Front (where the night scene is at) is a couple of kilometers away from where we were at. We were at that time, at a gazebo like mini temple, and there we a lot of people there. Seriously, memang banyak. And we sat near the banks of the Tonle Sap River, trying to find out what are all these people doing and looking at. Looking down into the river, there were local kids swimming in it! It didn’t look clean at all, I mean the river. But they were definitely having fun (which reminds me of the local kids in Pulau Mabul jumping of the pier in their jeans and dresses). Later on my way back, I realised, there were two of those mini temples, and I think, most of the locals are there to pay respect, maybe its because of the Khmer New Year, I never really got the answer.

Later, my travelmate NN insisted on going back to the guesthouse because it was getting dark. So we walked for a bit, trying to find a tuk-tuk and ask the driver to send us off at the guesthouse. we arrived at 1930, and NN dozed off instantly (patutlah kan). I unpack some of my stuff for the night, and watch some Cambodian TV. Of course I couldn’t understand one bit. And most of its local channel, macam cerita rakyat, ala Legend of the Condor (?!). But they do have AXN, StarMovies, ESPN, so not bad ah! Tengok-tengok kejap around an hour or so, then I too, fell asleep.

DAY 1 We arrived quite early in the morning. Around 0735 local time. Like I mentioned, I wasn’t aware there would be any difference in time over here in Cambodia. I’m sure people never mentioned it to me because its really not that big of a deal. But I never had to go through that, so to me, at that time, was a big deal. So i re-set my watch. So that was my first surprise. Once we got a clearance from the local custom (they were really not all happy to see us), the first thing we did, was to figure out a way to get to the Siem Reap bus station. We’re hoping that we would get to Phnom Penh as early as possible. Banyak tempat nak tengok. And we only had less than a day to do it.

There was a taxi-counter in the airport itself, so senang lah sikit. We were trying to get them to send us to the bus station, and well, they said that we could get their taxi to send us off there [Siem Reap Airport -> Siem Reap Old Market: 20mins/US$4] . So teruslah membayar dan naik taxi.

Second surprise for me, which was to find out that the Cambodians drive on the right side of the road. Again, not a big deal. But its just something new to me I guess. Memang gua excited sorang-sorang-lah kan.

Half-way through, we asked the taxi driver about the Khmer New Year Celebration that is going on. We were informed that most of the Cambodians are on holiday, and that shops are closed. Its only the 2nd day of the celebration, and usually it goes on for 5 days. Habislah, kedai tutup, then what is there left for us to do? But the most shocking is when he asked us where in the Old Market he should drop us off. And we were like, “No no, we said to the man on the counter, Siem Reap bus station”. He refuses to send us there, because he said is far from the Old Market. “Another 3/4 dohlaa”, he said. I honestly don’t know how far the bus station is from the Old Market, and for all you know, it is in the area itself. Kang sia-sia je kena bayar lebih. So my guts told me to just let him drop us off in the Old Market, and we’ll ask around.

So around 0805, he dropped us off in the middle of nowhere, but luckily, ‘that’ nowhere is actually right in the middle of the Old Market. I got my first dose of reality. Shoot, nak buat apa sekarang nih? So we walked for a bit, and asked around, only to find out that the bus station is around 5kms to the east of the Old Market.

Let me just tell you, that my first impression of Siem Reap/Cambodia was just plain simple. Its brown, a low-land, full of people on motorbikes, very very hot, so freakingly dusty that a 5 minutes ride on the tuk-tuk would have killed my eyes. But I liked it. It nothing like what I’m used to. From where I came from, places that are a tourist-spot is so ridiculously developed, it looked like they were about the built another KLCC there. So I’m all excited to be in a place, different and a place, where I don’t understand their language. Even here in the Old Market, where all the excitements are, there were not that many things that I can personally relate to. For example, the petrol station pun cuma ade Caltex. Yang lain, haram, nak sebut pun tak reti.

So anyway, we hailed a tuk-tuk (ตุ๊กตุ๊ก) [Southeast Asian version of a vehicle known elsewhere as an auto rickshaw] to take us to the bus station. And for the time ever, I went on the tuk-tuk [Old Market -> Siem Reap Bus Station: 20mins/US$4]. I am sure we paid more than we should have, but how should I have known, right? Tapi lain kali kena fikir logik jugak. 15-20mins journey shouldn’t have cost RM13++. Oh well. And know what? I loved every bit of the ride. At first I kind of panicked a bit. Since it is wobbly and also we weren’t really secured in the tuk-tuk. Boleh tercampak bila-bila masa saja. And funny that the driver wore a helmet, but not anyone else. But I loved it. It was just like the time when we were on a lorry, on our way through really thick ladang kelapa sawit. Adrenaline rush #1.

It’s not much of a bus station pun. The ticket counter (other than those sold by their agents near the bus), is really just the thing you always see at a hawker. Alah, macam yang jual itik gantung tu, haa, macam tu punya kaunter la. And we got there 0835, and just missed the 8.30AM bus to Phnom Penh. They tried to get us on the bus, a bus that is literally already moving. They were screaming and telling them to stop, which I thought kind of nice and funny at the same time. They must have thought they had supersonic voice that could get through to the bus driver. Tapi bas tersebut terus sahaja berjalan.

So we settled for the 9.30AM bus ['GST Express Bus' to Phnom Penh: US$10], and had an hour to kill. The ticket price is higher during this particular holiday, so I guess we paid a little bit extra. There weren’t like a mamak that we could have had drinks at, so we stood silently for 10 minutes, trying to figure out where should we go now, while this two kids were trying to sell us canned drinks. “Coke sir? Savan-up lady? 2 dohlaa!” I don’t really drink carbonated drinks anymore so we just walked to a nearby stall and just sat there. Pusing letak beg saje, the two kids followed us there too. Aiyo, these kids are persistent lah! But I wanted to get a pack of ciggie (although I swore to myself I wouldn’t do it here), so told them if they had Malboro. They ran and then came back with a pack, and put out his hand “3 dohlaa 2000 riel sir”, and I realized its freaking expensive. So I said no and offered US$2. “OK sir, 3 dohlaa!”. Again, I said no (ingat dah cukup pandai la tu tawar-menawar), and they got kelam-kabut and offered US$2.50. I realized I left my lighter (kan kononnya ingat nak stop), and asked them for one. “Ok sir, both 3 dohlaa”. I was so tired of not knowing how to bargain, so I just paid up, but also thought, I might have had a good deal. Ceh! We also bought a big bottled water for US$1, for we thought, after converting, the price would have made sense. Another big CEH!

Buses here in Siem Reap is pretty much the same elsewhere from the outside. I didn’t expect much. As long I had a seat, it would be fine with me. So we board the bus at 0930 and started our journey. I was told in the beginning that the journey would take a maximum of 6 hours because of the distance [Siem Reap -> Phnom Penh: 314km], but I wasn’t aware of the damage it would do to my fat-less bum. I wished I could go on the boat through Tonle Sap, but it wasn’t feasible, knowing that we were on a tight budget and that it was a dry season [Siem Reap -> Phnom Penh by boat: 251km/6hrs/US$25].

The road to Phnom Penh, is straight most of the time, and looked like one of the bigger highway. It made me feel grateful that I could get from KL to anywhere without having anything to worry about with our wide-ass highways. The view from the window of the cramped bus, is the same. Wooden houses that were built on really high stilts. Boleh buat lompat bintang kat bawah umah, ke lompat kijang ke, seriously. And the doors were smacked right in the middle, and you can see right through to the back door, which is parallel to the front door, and both were wide opened. They even had this huge stack of hay in their lawn, which I don’t know why. One for each house. Funny. I even managed to get a glimpse of Cambodian style weddings, I think 2 or 3 of them (orang Cambodia pun kahwin musim cuti jugak).

At around 1220, we stopped for toilet break. Its before Kampong Thom, right beside the highway, and there were nothing really, over there. I went down of the bus to check what its like. Its even dustier over here. The place is definitely not clean. But they had this little place that sells food and drinks, and had this cute chairs with covers, siap dengan bowtie lagi.

All throughout the journey, they put on Karaoke VCDs, and while I don’t understand a word of it, but I find it entertaining, of course not in a melodic kind of way. Its just they would have all this singers do dances, and most of it would take place di majlis keramaian, macam tarian lambak. Its kind of cute really. Stail orang-orang tua menari. Kaki kedepan, kaki kebelakang, kaki kekiri, kaki kekanan, dan kemudian pusiiiiingg. I wanted to record it, but even when inside the bus you could not hear, and sometimes could not see the thing. Our seats were near the front, but they had extra plastic stools along the walking aisle, for those ‘extra’ passengers they pick up along they way. Express konon, rupenya macam mini bas.

We arrived at GST Bus Station around 1530, so thats 6 hours in the bus with only one stop. As soon as we left the bus, people were everyone offering a ride on their tuk-tuk. But since its a low season for tourists, there weren’t as many as usual. But since we had a decent map with the knowledge of where our accommodation is at, we opted to just walk. It didn’t look that far at first, and pretty straight forward. But with the lack of food and under the hot sun, we missed the road we were supposed to take by a couple of hundred meters. That was nothing compared to the fact we had to get across roads that were coming for the opposite way that we were used to. And the all the vehicles, man oh man. Its like no brakes were built with it, because they would just honk (untuk bagitau dalam cara yang baik “incik, saya mau tumpang lalu”) and just slow down and thats it. Roundabouts, junctions, anywhere at all, except traffic lights, and there weren’t that many of them.

Phnom Penh is the capital of Cambodia, so I expected a lot I guess. Maybe a KFC or McDonalds. Not that I was eager to visit one. I just thought that everywhere in this world, those dominators would, well, dominate the people. But nope, not a sight of any of those things yet.

At around 1600, we managed to get to our guesthouse, all sweaty and smelling like old bus-seat leather. But our spirits were high. Mana tak, kononnya dah dapat save US$4 la sebab tak naik tuk-tuk.

Sunday Guesthouse is located on a road that offers a lot of other guesthouses as well. I must say that its not bad of a place in terms of the location. Its easy to get around, and at the same time, its on a non-busy road so its quite at night.

We were greeted by a local guy who speaks an understandable amount of English. The check-in counter shares the same space as its cafe, and there were a couple of foreigners having eating and chatting (lupe pulak kita pun foreigners jugak). We paid a bit up-front when making the booking previously, so we’re all set to see our accommodation for our stay in Phnom Penh.

He sent a guy to show us our room which is on the 3rd floor, and to get there, we had to climb really steep stairs. Kalau tersilap langkah, memang akan jatuh 2 tingkat ke bawah, no kidding. Our room, which fits two, had all the necessity like en-suite bathroom, a TV (with cable), a fan, a weird looking shelves, and a single queen size bed [Sunday Guesthouse: US$4/1pax/1night].

My journey starts as early as 4 o’clock in the morning. Had to go and pick up my friend and drive all the way to LCCT. From what was printed on the itinerary, the journey takes around an hour, from Kuala Lumpur to Siem Reap Airport. Since I’m writing this before I started my journey, I have no idea on how long its actually going to be. Hantam saja-lah.

Anyhow, I’m really looking forward to the trip, that I have been planning and anticipating for so long now. And what a coincidence, 14th of April is actually the Cambodian New Year, jadi parteeeeeeeey! Hehe, takdelah.

So until then, see ya in a couple of days!