On our last trip to Asia we went around Thailand and one of our last stop took us to Siem Reap, Cambodia. Both, Thailand and Cambodia even they are poor countries and corrupted, have been our all-time favorite country destinations so far. We found ourselves save and surrounded by nice people, so we made new god travellers friends. We also did many activities, such as:
- We explore around new places,
- We might have gotten lost,
- We danced and swim under the rain,
- We made more than 10 thousand pictures,
- We tried food from markets all around the cities,
- We walked over 15 thousand kms every day,
- We drove on Tuk-Tuks
- We enjoyed trying new delicious foods
- We ate those nice rolled ice creams spreader on IGs.
- We went some nights out to experience the Asian night life
- We learn more about their history and culture
... and so many other things possible that makes the country so surprising, and so I wish many people gets the chance to enjoy these places too.
OUR STAY IN SIEM REAP CAMBODIA
We felt like we were staying on six (6) stars hotel and so, all things took us by surprise. We have stayed in many hotels while we travel, but Sambath Residence made for us a big real difference comparing it with many other hotels, which of course we also had good experience. However, I have to insist, there our expectations were fulfilled and over exceeded.
Once we arrived, they welcomed us with a fresh Papaya Juice and took care of our belongings right away. They question us about how our flight was? How could they helped us with the visit to the temples? and some other friendly stuff. They took gave us a quick tour around the hotel to show us the areas, where to have breakfast, public area, and so we ended the tour by showing us the room and where to find anything we needed.
Our Breakfast was another of the thing we loved about Sambath, but Why? - The breakfast, which is already included on your booking, it is not the typical buffet style, which stays on the area and you go and serve yourself. The restaurant provides on their Manu several options for Breakfast, and once you tell your waiters which package you would like to have, they bring it all fresh once cooked to our table. Our breakfast was always warm and tasty.
Nonetheless, our hotel also had free Tuk-Tuk service, to drive us around the city and even they offered us a Phone Mobil, to communicate with them for being pick up when we were ready to go back to our hotel. Impressive right! We loved it!
MORE ABOUT OUR GENERAL CAMBODIA EXPERIENCE...
Our plan to Cambodia was to relax and visit the temples, so however, unexpected things happened to us right on our last days. We "Lost" Thomas wallet with all the credit cards and money, but actually we left the wallet on our previous hotel I Phuket Thailand (something we only knew when we were already back in Germany). So, staying with the first idea of we "lost" the wallet, we found ourselves tide, confused and bit mad of what happened, because it was our last 2 days of the trip, and we needed to solve how to do our last payments, such as the hotel and the tour of Angkor Was, so nothing in Cambodia was payed yet.
The first day we were just in the hotel as we arrived after lunch time, we were mad and frustrated by the pool trying to figure out how to solve the thing with banks, and so, because me with 28 years old I have no credit cards, I have never used issued one. As I never needed it. I am a woman you solved her life with her own money, and a debit card. The problem was that my Debit card is a Dominican Debit card of mine, and that because of the time difference I needed to wait to be able to call to the back, as the several times I tried no one picked up, on closing times. It sounds weird because you normally have the 24 hrs services, however, we were standing on the not so lucky days of that - I would say.
My debit card is only allowed to be used in Dominican Republic or in Germany, where I am stablished, so without announcing it to my bank, I needed to use it, it would have been immediately blocked. However, we got to solve these issues and so next two days we could enjoyed a bit, but had to control our last days expenses.
We also just took our free Tuk-Tuk hotel service to the Center and said: "Ok, let's walk all around the city and explored what it has to offer, and so to learn from our experience in a different way" We did enjoy our walks, we discover many places we had no clue they were there before we visit Siem Reap, but so we enjoyed them.
One of our surprises were to find the whole "Angkor Was Temples in Miniature sculptures done by Dy Proeung" an old Cambodia architect and sculpture man I was Glad to interview. Dy Proeung background professional knowledge is architecture and he made the draws and plans of the entire complex of Temples. Furthermore, during the war and prosecutions in Cambodia he was forced to get rid of the original plans of these impressive complex of temples.
However, Mr. Dy Proueng was smart enough to hide and keep a copy for himself of his draws, which served him to start making in concrete miniatures replicas of these temples, work that took him about 6 years in complete. He keeps them open for the public as I tourist attraction. Even entrance is not priced tourist has kept respect and tip their visits in a way to support his hard and beautiful work located on his garden museum.
We met incredible people and couple travellers, and so we went during the night to experience the crazy way of partying in Siem Reap, together with some travellers we met on the airport to Bangkok, while flying to Cambodia.
We lived like any other Cambodians, while outside our hotel. Walking on the heat, eating on the street, sat on the sidewalks for resting and drink water. Many Tuk-Tuks drive toward us, and we refuse to use them just to keep walking and having a real inside experience and integrate with the city.
We found kids playing on their recess school times, as we found by mistake walking around school patios. They tried to communicate with us, show us their way of playing, and also passed for our pictures.
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| While interviewing Mr Dy Proeung |
However, Mr. Dy Proueng was smart enough to hide and keep a copy for himself of his draws, which served him to start making in concrete miniatures replicas of these temples, work that took him about 6 years in complete. He keeps them open for the public as I tourist attraction. Even entrance is not priced tourist has kept respect and tip their visits in a way to support his hard and beautiful work located on his garden museum.
We met incredible people and couple travellers, and so we went during the night to experience the crazy way of partying in Siem Reap, together with some travellers we met on the airport to Bangkok, while flying to Cambodia. We lived like any other Cambodians, while outside our hotel. Walking on the heat, eating on the street, sat on the sidewalks for resting and drink water. Many Tuk-Tuks drive toward us, and we refuse to use them just to keep walking and having a real inside experience and integrate with the city.
We found kids playing on their recess school times, as we found by mistake walking around school patios. They tried to communicate with us, show us their way of playing, and also passed for our pictures.
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| Angkor Wat Temple |
Here are some interesting facts about the Temples, I would like to share with you:
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| Bayon Temple |
- Angkor was was the Center of the Khmer Kingdom since earlier 9th century. It is also the largest temple of the whole group of temples and the most visited from Cambodian Temples.
- The Temples where abandoned since the 15th century. However, the main one, Angkor Wat, remained as a Buddhist shrine.
- The Temples are all surrounded by water courses - rivers, which were designed by the ones who constructed them in the past.
- To visit all of them on a trip is almost impossible, as they are so many, and so they are some other which are not well mapped on the touristic maps and neither form part of the Touristic tour given in Siem Reap.
SOME OTHER PICTURES TAKEN IN THE TEMPLES
Bayon, is another of the temples of this grand complex of temples. It is the one with numbers of stones smiling faces temple. Which from our experience, it was bit difficult to find a way to take a picture with no other tourist inside of it.
Ta Prohm, is one of the other famous temples many of you might have seen already either on pictures around Instagram or even movies.
It is the one which appears in the movie Tom Raider, and recognized by the big tree routes which cover the temple walls and with long halls with nice walls sculptures.
TIPS AND THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT CAMBODIA
1- The official currency of Cambodia is the Cambodian Riel (KHR). However, US Dollars are accepted everywhere. From tourist to non-tourist places, so there is actually no worries about having Riels or not. The only thing is that if they don't have dollars as exchange, you will receive then Reils - coins are not often used.
2- Transportation is very cheap. Tuk-Tuks are everywhere and Prices depends on the driving distance. You can drive you easily for $2-5 USD, but you always have the change to negotiate prices, as we did. Our hotel was not in the center and from $5 USD our Tuk-Tuk wanted to charge us, we payed only $2 USD at the end.
However, paying more than $5 USD could be then overpriced. Most hotels in Siem Reap have pick up service to the airport. Like ours in Sambath Residence, just for free. Also, our hotel had Tuk-Tuk free services to the city, but only until 10 PM. We only took the one mentions before as it was already 4:00 am and we were partying.
3- Going out clubbing? - Drinks in clubs are so cheap and easily found for $1 USD. My suggestion be careful here, without noticing you can expend $20-30 USD as you find them cheap and at the end your higher travel expenses to Siem Reap were on drinks, plus you ended very drunk.
However, I can assure you that it won't matter if you are alone, with friends or your couple. Like me an Thomas, we ended a night out with thousand friends and I dace with everybody on the middle of the streets. We will try to show this on a later post. Sure, it was an unforgettable night for us and we make really good friendships there.
4- FOOD!!! Another cheap thing from Cambodia. Flights are the highest expenses part to your vacations to Asia, because once you are in Asia all seems to be quite cheap, of course depending where you are. Cambodia is CHEAP, Not a lie and very tasty. Streets vendors are the cheapest of course from $1-2 USD. However, if you sit on a restaurant's then a meal with a drink can cost you between $3-6 USD per person and is more on the typical Asian food served or pizzas. In the other hand, if you go to a more expensive one then meal per person are easily around $5-15 USD.
The night markets in Siem Reap, for me were very interesting, as they were in Thailand, however, there is less people and it is lot cheaper than in Thailand night markets.
5- TOURS TO ANGKOR WAT. When we were in Cambodia at the start of this year - 2018 - and the one-day entrance costed $37 USD per person. However, it is cheaper to buy a packet for 3 days pass, as it is reduced some USD Dollars. To this price you need to plus the payment for your Tuk-tuk drivers who will drive you all around the temples.
In our case we did the tour organized by our hotel, therefore, besides the entrance which you pay directly to the office of the temples and for the drive for two person around the temples we payed to our hotel $20 USD. This included us cold drinks in case we were thirsty.
Our Tuk-tuk driver was very nice and when I told him to make tiny unplanned stops he made it for me right away. You can imagine where were my strategic stops while driving around the temples, to see more and more monkeys. My biggest dream before going to Asia was to interact as much as possible with this cute baby monkeys, and so I did.
Booking a tour in group will always make tour also cheaper, so keep that probably in mind, especially if you arrange it with your hotel.
6- Accommodations in Cambodia are totally cheap. we booked always through booking.com and as a frequent traveller I using booking.com for so long I have enough discount with them, and I am very satisfied as how booking.com works and how easy and comfortable are the booking process.
7- Weather, it is said weather in Cambodia is not so good the year long. As also the best Sunsets happens only twice a year. These were thing we learned in Cambodia as we were looking forward to having good sunset, but at the end was not like expected. In the case of rains, we were lucky as we had no problems with weather, however, it is recommended to check it to plan when is the best time for travelling.
8- Cambodian people. They are just nice and very helpful if you need the help. Whole day long you cn find people who speaks English and not like in Phuket island which to find one was a hard find. Kids are everywhere: in schools, playing around temples or cemeteries, walking around the streets, or simple enjoying their days by fishing along the river in the city center. -----------
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