Backpack in SEA for 15 days: 30th Dec 2008 (KL & home sweet home)

Yup!! today is the last day of our trip! yeah... u can say its really sad tat my hols has come to an end... but i'm also happy tat i'll be heading back to the civilised world again... hahaha.... yeah i kno this sounds really bad...coz having been to so many countries... i feel tat nothing beats being back at home... hahaha... yeah...

its true tat we'll complain and complain of all the things tat we're unhappy about... but to actually work in a 3rd country really calls for lots of tremendous courage and Buddha's compassion... and to actually think that in the past when i was younger, i had thought of working in 3rd world countries to help the poor... but having seen the living conditions of the people in these countries... hmmm... somehow i would want to help... but definitely not for long time.... =D

and yes! we're heading back home... as usual we woke up very early today as our flight is leaving Siem Reap airport for KL at 8.30am. but to travel from our guesthouse to the airport takes about 20-30min by taxi.... hmmm...to play safe, we took the taxi from our guesthouse at 6am.... so tat we can reach the airport by 6.30am.
and this day.... Toshiko was feeling badly.... hmm... in fact she was suffering from fever and also a little stomachache.... yeah... i've not idea... what was the cause of her illness.... anyway she told me tat she has taken some japanese medicine...so shld be ok.

then once we checked in our baggage... i fact i checked in 2 baggage and altogether my baggage was 17kg!!! imgaine tat! i mean when i 1st started on our trip, my baggage was 9kg.. and at the end of the trip, my baggage not increased, but increased by a lot!!! almost 10kg more (coz have not counted the 2 extra hand carry).

then we went to a nearby cafe in the airport for our breakfast... yeah...we were really famished... and the food at the airport was really cut-throat prices manz!!! yeah....but no choice..we've got to eat... coz later at KL we'll be there for about 3hrs before boarding the bus to S'pore.. and somemore... there are no food served on the bus... so better to eat a heavy breakfast at siem reap airport. =D

by this time, toshiko was feeling rather bad... hmmm... she was sleeping most of the time...
the flight to KL was abt 2hrs.... and most of us juz slept on the plane... hahaha... coz there is nothing much we can do. =P


when we touched down, the 1st thing we did was to go and purchase the taxi ticket that will drive us to Pudu Raya Bus-station... hmmm.. this is where we'll be boarding the bus to s'pore. and u kno what? when i went to enquire about the pricing of the taxi, they told me tat we;ve got to get the big taxi as we've got 5 of us and we've got so much luggage. and the price of the taxi is RM 136.8 lor!!! wah lao eh... so expensive lor... i mean even though the taxi ride from airport to the city center is about 1hr... but this does not mean tat u can charge us such cut-throat prices lor...


but because, by now, both keiko & toshiko are not feeling really well, we've got no choice... we juz purchase the ticket... yeah.. safety 1st now...
then we went to macdonals to eat something... and toshiko, surprisingly, she was ok already! so she purchase a huge meal to eat... whilst for keiko i let her drink the medication to stop diarrohea and herbal tea... after staying there until 2pm, we went to take the taxi. immediately after the lunch, toshiko started to feel very bad... think she was not healed completely, she went to take such a big and unhealthy meal... think tat was the cause tat she felt nauseas, stomachache etc... anyway... we juz told her to rest all the way to Pudu Raya....whilst i had a simple conversation with teh taxi driver, keiko & harumi were talking and laughing at the back... hahaha... nobuko & toshiko slept all the way to the bus-station. =P



Once i've managed to find out the row we've got to wait for the bus, i vrought the rest of the gals there and we helped toshiko to carry her luggage... coz she was in no position to carry her things... and then we sat there and wait... . i kept checking to see if we were able to board the bus... the bus was not to be seen....
but luckily, i happen to ask around (and they were fellow s'poreans) they told me tat they were also waiting for the bus... then i think it would be better if we bring our luggage down to the place where the buses are... so tat we can keep a lookout for the bus... coz its weird tat now, the bus has not reach the station yet! in fact i was also a little worried... tat we were not able to get on the bus... so i've got to be near the buses so tat i can kno wat's happening...


then as we were bringing down our bags to the buses (basement where the buses are), i saw those passengers whom i talked to juz now started to move towards 1 malay lady who was shouting... then i realised tat the bus had stopped outside of the bus station adn we had to carry our bags there in order to board the bus... goodness!!! really choatic there manz!


so i sent keiko up to call down nobuko & toshiko, whilst harumi & i try to shift the baggage to the bus... and to be frank i never thought tat i had so much muscles lor!! coz on my back, i was carrying my 12kg bagpack, in front was my 5kg backpack. on my right had was keiko's 15kg bag and the other hand was my other baggage.... wah... come to think of it.. it was really amazing tat i was able to carry all these and walk about 300m to the bus... hahahaha... =D


harumi carried her bag, toshiko's bag and nobuko's bag... hahaha... when u see the both of us then, its really unbelievable! hee hee... super women power huh!! =P
anyway, after we've managed to board the bus then did i feel completely relieved & happy tat the trip is almost over & i've done what i needed to do!!


hahaha... yeah... and when we've finally reached s'pore safely, i was really happy coz i believe there are quite a no. of people who knew tat i was going for this trip and the 1st sentence they commented was 'wouldn't tat be very dangerous?' and i think some may also think whether the 5 of us will be able to come back in 1 whole peice after the 15 days... hahaha... i mean i ws most worried abt teh safety part coz Watanabe-san has told me to take care of the gals... so u can say tat i've got a tremendous heavy responsibility for the gals safety.... but i'm really very happy that we've not only managed to come back safely but also had lots of fun and also a very educational trip! =D


hahaha.... i'll love to go on other backpack trips in the future! =Dwhen we reached pudu raya.... keiko was sick, toshiko even more sick... hiaz... i had to walk around to find the Tanstar booth, to check in for us then we can know which is the row we had to wait for the bus... and my goodness! the whole Pudu Raya bus-station is really chaotic manz... coz people are all over the place pushing and shouting... really unbelievable! People were shouting coz they were trying to get people's attention to purchase their bus company's buses.

Backpack in SEA for 15 days: 29the Dec (Angkor wat & siem reap town) (part 3)

After a whole 1 1/2 hours of trees and super ruined temples, the place that we head to was.... (Drum roll!!!)
yeah! the most majestic and most well protected temple in the Angkor Temple archealogical site: Angkor Wat!!! (yes! i'm finally going to lay my eyes Angkor Wat again!!!) i'm not too sure y am i so fascinated with Angkor Wat.... i guess perhaps i always have a penchant for archealogical sites... ancient buildings... and it never fail to amaze me how smart, resourceful the ancient people is! coz it muz have take them lots of years to construct such a majestic structure and furthermore, its not juz 1 structure but numerous structures and also all these structures are constructed deep in the jungle and all these structures are begin contructed using huge huge stone slabs!)


anyway, our tuk tuk drivers drop us off at the East Gate of Angkor Wat! yeah! its the 1st time for me to be at the East Gate of Angkor Wat! so checking our guidebook, we started to walk to the main temple.... and this part of the Angkor wat is really very serene! i mean the sights lah... the surroundings.... coz the whole place was well shaded by the numerous trees grown there... and we walked along the path tat was juz beside the moat (this was constructed by the ancient people to protect the temple from intruders) and with the clear skies and the cool breeze tat gently caressing our heated bodies (exposed to sun & physical exertion due to walking and climbing) it was really a very nice stroll to the main temple compound.


and along the way, we saw a monkey stilling on a huge rock (like a king) staring at us... hahaha... he was not even afraid of us when we went nearer to him...



finally we came to the temple compound! and we saw tat a stage (a modern structure lah) was constructed juz next to the Angkor Wat temple.... and its really a stark contrast of mordernization in an ancient site.... most likely the cambodians are going to have some sort of celebration on 31st dec huh... to welcome the new year.... but seeing this stage sort of to me... like destorying the ancient site....


by the way... do u kno tat Angkor Wat is one of the UNESCO wolrd heritage site?? yeah... it was even classify as one of the 7 ancient world wonders! so tat's how majestic this temple is!!! anyway we started to make our ascend to the temple's top... and we had to walk through a gallery where there are lots of stone carvings on the walls of the gallery... and all these stone wall carvings are depicting a hindu buddhist story.... abt the Champs fighting the devil.... (by the way, Angkor Wat temple was constucted based on Buddhism but in those days Buddhism was also greatly influenced by Hindusim and Brahamism).
then we've reached the main hall where we're to make our climb to the 2nd level where there is a gallery tat was named as the "Gallery of Thousand Buddhas". but most of these Buddha structures had been destroyed.... and their remains are still lying around in the gallery.
and in this level, there are 4 huge 'pools' tat are surrounding the area.... hmmm... initially i din kno what are these 4 squarish areas for... coz they are not on the same level as the level tat we were on... then after consulting the guidebook, then understand tat these 4 squarish compounds were in fact 'pools'. Yes pools as in those swimming pools filled with water... and in the past, they were bathing pools (filled with water) for the monks to bathe themselves in the mornings! hahaha... interesting isn't it?? =D

then as u ascend to the next level, u'll reach another compound tat do not have any roof at all...and right smack in the middle of the compound is the 3 majestic stupas we always associate Angkor Wat to!! pity tat the top-most leve of the Angkor Wat was under re-construction... so we did not have any opportunity to climb up to the top-most level...else we would be able to see the surrounding lands of Angkor Wat! but its ok... we juz walked around this level and snapped as many photos as possible.... =D

and as we walked around the temple, u'll realised the huge slabs of stones tat were being used to construct the temples. and something unique of these stone slabs are there will be about 4 nice holes on each one of them! and 2 holes will be at each ends of the stones... and we believed tat these could be the holes tat the ancient people used to transport the stones over here in order to use them to construct the temple! really smart thinking!!! =D
and yeah forgot to mention about the design of the Angkor Wat.... in fact as u walked around the gallery earlier on, all along the walls of the temple (interior section) u'll be able to see carvings on the walls... and these carvings are shaped in the form of women dancers! Yup, they are called the Apsaras....
and the stone columns tat held the whole temple erect, have very intricate wordings or lotus carvings on them... think all those wordings on the columns are from the Buddhist sutras....
but its juz amazing.... and u kno wat? in fact the Angkor Wat initially was not constructed as a place for religious means... in fact the King who had this temple constructed had wanted it as his resting place in other words... his tomb lah! hahhaa... but because after the whole building was constructed, it was too majestic beyond words... and the King decided to convert it to a religious site rather than his tomb! interesing isn't it??  shared this wil my friends... and they were also presently surprised by the background of the temple! =D
and something interesting about the 3 main stupas of the temple, they are shaped after the Lotus Bud on the verge of opening! and tat's y the stups are 'plump' at the bottom but sharp at the tip! and on the stupas there are numerous shapes of the 7 headed snakes! and these are called the Nagas!!! in fact u'll see lots of these 7 headed snake structures along the walkway of the Angkor Wat.
then after taking our needed photos, we strolled to the Lotus Pond to take some last photos before heading back to Siem Reap Town to do somemore last min shopping... hahaha.... =D








Keiko & I went back to our guesthouse to take a shower 1st before heading out again (in fact because keiko wanted to change her shoes to slippers) and i accompanied her... then the rest juz head on down to town to do shopping 1st....
hahhaa....so after our shower, we went to town to join the rest... and we were presently surprised... coz u kno wat? the whole town had breakdown in their electricity supply!!! and the whole market was in total darkness and when we went to a convience store to buy a couple of drinks and yoghurt, the cashier had to do calculations using the calculator and jot down the product no. on paper... =P


anyway we bought our last min things... before heading to 1 more thing on our agenda!!! hahaha...yeah we went for massage again! and this time round we tried the Khmer massage!! but the massage was not as good as the one we had in Bangkok....hmmm... tat's wat i felt... perhaps is because my masseur has sweaty palms....

but the massage was cheap...hahaha... we paid USD $4 for 1hr (complete massage lah)
anyway after our massage we went in search for our dinner... and as we were walking... we happen to walk past a group of ladies sitting outside a hairdresser shop eating eggs... and juz beside them was a young lady selling some hard-boiled eggs in her basket! and i juz had the niggling thinking tat the eggs that they were eating were the eggs tat we had been searching for.... and i juz asked them if the eggs were nice... and whether the eggs were 1/2 formed eggs!! and juz to my joy, the eggs were 1/2 formed eggs!!! hahaha... finally we've find the 'exotic' food after travelling so many day.... this was commented by Keiko... fancy us managed to find it on our last day... hahaha... u can say its a huge accomplishment huh... =P


anyway the 5 of us (in fact me and keiko) were really excited... and bought an egg to share... hahhaa... and we knocked a little part of the shell off and scraped some of the egg to eat... and it tasted nice.... surprisingly!! hahhaa.... well... by now u'll be thinking wat's a 1/2 formed egg... but i think some of u already have an idea wat it is...=P
its an egg whereby inside there is a 1/2 formed chicken while the other 1/2 of the egg is the yolk and albumin.... yeah... it sounds disgusting... not to say the taste... and some will say tat its very cruel to eat these sort of thing... coz i've gotten lots of comments from my mum when i came back and told her wat 'exotic' food we ate... and she told me tat its a live tat we've killed... hmmm... yeah yeah.. i kno... but then these sort of thing i'll only try it once in my life time... hahaha... =D

anyway the 5 of us enthusiastically dig the egg out and ate... but we did put some prepared sauce on the egg... and i can tell u tat it tasted nice! not as horrible as come people had described it to me... hahhaa... but when u put that spoon of egg into ur mouth, u'll be able to feel parts of the feathers or wings in the midst of the egg... and yeah..tat's wat i felt... and in my 2nd spoon, i felt the beak of the chick as i chew on it... hahhaa... yeah i kno its quite gross... but its an experience isn't it?? =D


then after tat we had our dinner at the road-side stalls.... wah... tat dinner was really nice and super super cheap manz! but as we were eating, come beggar children came up to us to ask us for food and also for the cans.... but we din drink any canned drinks, so we got not empty cans to give them... but me & nobuko did take a picture with one of the poor gals... yeah... its really sad to see these children roaming the streets looking for empty cans or food.... such is the life in Cambodia.... =(

anyway after our dinner we went back to our guesthouse and we've got to pack! by now i really dread packing my stuffs... coz i realy got too many things! and whilst i was packing, i realised tat my backpack has got 2 holes in it! Shit shit!!! i was thinking of ways on how to seal up the 2 holes... and i tot perhaps i can go to the registry counter to ask for thread and needle... but they did not have... so i asked them for some tape... thinking tat perhaps the tape can hold the holes together until i reach home the next day... and u kno wat? the tape was not strong enough lor... double shit!


then i think this cannot carry on... and decided to take a risk/gamble in going to the convinece store outon the main road to ask for thread and needle.... and along the way i saw a clinic...thinking tat in clinic they will do some sewing... so they should have... but when i went to ask and show them wat i wanted, they told me they dun have it... and i also asked some smaller stalls along the way... coz it was really dark and now and then u'll have tuk tuk drivers coming up to u to ask u if u want to take their tuk tuk... so u can say tat i was really scared and somemore i had to walk past a night club with blasting music coming from inside and u can see bouncers standing at the doors... really make the walking scary. and i was like juz walkingvery fast and jogging at the same time. until i reached the convenience store did i let out my breathe... and i started asking the cashier if they sell needle and thread... they did not understand despite my actions... then i showed them the threads on my shirt... then they understand wat i wanted... and the saleslady helped to search for it! wah... my goodness! there was only 1 packet of the needle and thread lor... and thinking back now... i'm super super lucky to be able to buy it! and having purchase the needle and thread (1USD), i had to walked back the ominous path again...but this time round my heart was lighter....


back in my guesthouse, i sewed up the 2 holes... before packing my stuffs... by then Harumi had already slept... its ok for me... hahaha.. coz i was able to have a bit of solitary time by myself... and recall the days of our trip! =D


after having managed to squeeze all the things inside my backpack, i realised tat i've got an extra 2 bags...meaning tat i've got 4 bags now!!! imagine how many things i've bought in my trip! =D

Backpack in SEA for 15 days: 29th Dec (Ta Phrom) (part 2)

I mentioned in my last entry tat we were headin to Ta Prohm right?? so what is Ta Prohm all about?? 

Why is Ta Prohm interesting?? is because, the temples here are the most destroyed!!! meaning tat they are most ruined...hahaha...as in the temples most of them have already fallen apart or are in the midst of falling apart... and u'll be able to see lots of rubble on the ground...and its not easy to walk around this temple compound... but restoration work by some groups have built a sort of wooden walkway in the temple compound to allow us to walk around the area in a safe manner.... and u know wat??? all the temples in this compound are not being destroyed by humans but they were and are still being destroyed..... so who is the real culprit?? the real culprit is Mother Nature!! =D

we've got to walk thru the sandy path in the jungle... and at the entrance of the path, there was a group of musicians! this is not usual group of people making music to entertain us tourisits!!!

Upon close observation u'll realised tat thi group of people making music are all men and they are victims of mine fields! yeah yeah.... there are still many parts of Cambodia with numerous mine fields... and all these mines were planted in the lands due to the numerous wars tat Cambodia was engaged in, in the past... and juz about 30 yrs ago, Cambodia was in a nightmare under the regime of Pol Pot!

And when u're in this compound, seeing the tree growing all over the temples u'll be really amazed!!! hahaha...and one of my frens commented tat the temples are even older than the temples!!! hahaha.... and tat's y u can see roots growing over the walls or over the temples... =D

all these huge trees are unlike trees tat u see in other parts of the Angkor Temple!! these trees are humongous!!! hahaha.... yeah...talk so much about trees... but then in this area... the famous thing is about the trees... then one very very famous tree is called the "The Tomb Riader Tree'!!!
and not joking its called the 'Tomb Riader' Tree because a few years back, Hollywood brought the whole crew to this place and film the show.... yeah yeah... Angelina Joline was there to film the show!!! hahahha..... so u can say tat this temple became very famous becoz of the show & also the famous stars!! =D of coz we stood there and took pictures lah... but the sad thing was we had to finght with the other group of tourists in order to take a couple of sec photo....

yeah... the irritating and sickening thing was....at that time we were in that temple compound, there were many tourists groups there!!! hmmm...seems like tourisits groups like to visit the Ta Prohm tamples in the afternoon...coz in the previous yr when i was there... i also visited Ta Prohm in the afternoon and we difficulty walking around the temples... coz there are too many people... (swamps of people). so u know wat the 5 of us did??? hahhaa... we split into 2 groups and juz walkd around taking as many pictures with the numerous famous trees.... hahaha...yeah yeah... and i managed to take a nice photo of an interesting tree, and the roots or trunk split into 2!!



then there was another interesting tree, whose trunk grew along a temple wall... and it was known as the 'Snake Tree"!!! hahhaa... coz the huge trunk gowing along the temple wall is almost shaped like a huge pyton & tat's y this name! =D



and there was another very interesting tree... this tree has hundreds or thousands spliting of its trunk... and all these spliting of the trunk made some sort of shapes or forms... but i din go closer to look at the shapes...coz we were rushing... and other toursits wanted to take pictures with the tree.... hahaha....=D



yeah...after all the picture taking session, we quickly rush back to our tuk tuks.... hahaha...

Backpacking in SEA for 15 days: 29th Dec 2008 (part 1)

was writing this entry then realised tat there are so many things to write tat i think i'm going to break up this day into 2 or 3 entries... =D

Yup! this is the final day in Siem Reap and YES!!! we're going to see the majestic Angkor Temples!! (hahahaha.... this is one of my favourite places)

As usual, we woke up extremely early tis morning... and packed our breakfast (sandwiches tat we bought the night before. I shared mine (omelette & baugette) with keiko, harumi & keiko) then we head off to Angkor Wat, which is our 1st destination tat day. and whilst we sat in the tuk tuks begin driven there, the siem reap streets were already starting to be awake...meaning tat u're able to see tuk tuks with passengers. and most of these tuk tuks were heading to the angkor temples. =D

well, u'll be thinking y did we take the tuk tuk... other than because its early in the morn and u can't see or know the streets well, the other reason is because, the Angkor Temples compound is too huge.... and its not possible to cover the entire area by foot.... tourists usually will either take the tuk tuk or if they are very adventurous will rent bikes to cycle round the area... but tat way will not be able to cover the whole area in 1 day...

and it was really cold in the early morning... and worse still no street lamps... so u can say hahaha... the streets were a little eerie and worse when we enter the jungle coz all around u can hear those insects making some noise in the jungle and it was even colder as we enter the jungle.

hiaz.. by now u'll be thinking why make urself suffer so much right?? hahaha... we've got a hidden agenda one... coz we want to go and capture the sunrise over at angkor wat!!! hahaha... yeah tat's wat we wanted to do... and when we reached there, immediately the 5 of us headed to the lotus pond and stood there to wait admist the huge crowd.... hmmm... wonder what time those tourists were already waiting there huh??

coz they reach the place even earlier than us (we reached at 5.20am) coz most of the professional photographers already set up their tripod stand to get ready to take the perfect shots!! hahaha... and soon, 6.10am, came... and u kno wat?? all the cameras were directed toward the direction where the sun will rise... and the 4 of us (except keiko, coz she went to another place to take picture) stood there and wait and we see the skies getting brighter and more orangey... then suddenly, toshiko turned to me and commented "The sun has risen! but no sun!!" and that's when i realised tat the professional photographers already packed their tripod stands and left the place! hahaha... wat a disappointment! the clouds were too low and thick, so it was not possible to view the sun rising... hahaha...

anyway later when i talked to our tuk tuk driver (coz he asked us if we managed to capture nice pictures of the sun-rise) and he told us tat at this time of the year, its not possible to see the sun rising due to the thick clouds. hmmm... and the colder the morning, the thicker the clouds... so we learning something interesting today huh!!

anyway, after the sun rise, we head off to Angkor Thom 1st! and this is one of the 3 major sites we'll be visiting in the Angkor Temples. y did we head here 1st instead of climbing up Angkor Wat is becoz, there are too many tourisits there... so it makes it very difficult for us to walk around and view the temple to our hearts content... so our tuk tuk drivers with wisdom, drove us to Angkor Thom 1st... and both Keiko & me managed to stop our tuk tuk driver at the South Gate. As we wanted to take a very nice picture with the gate at the background.



in my last trip to the Angkor Temples, tat time, my tuk tuk driver told us (my frens & I) that the South Gate was used by the soldiers & warriors to enter the temple. and in times of battles, the soldiers and warriors when won the battles will then enter Angkor Thom via the East Gate which is also known as the "Victory Gate' (we'll be using it later). However, if there were to lose in the battle, then they will need to use the West Gate and tat is also known as the 'Death Gate or 'Hell Gate'. hmmm very interesting right?? =D

anyway, when we were in Angkor Thom, our tuk tuk driver dropped us off and told us to walked around until we want to go to the next temple, then we go back and look for them. So with the guidebook in hand, we decided to climb & explore Bayon 1st!

Bayon is one of the majestic temples found in Angkor Thom and its one tat u can't miss it coz its sort of situated right in the center of Angkor Thom area. This temple is very special because on each of the stupas, u there are 4 faces per stupas! and these faces are the replica of the Buddha, Deties etc. with a serene smile on their faces and these faces are staring down coldly were u to look up at them...



perhaps is because of the faces... but its juz tat when u're at the temple, it juz feel very cold.... and the temple here are very black and grey... hahaha... anyway we stayed for awhile and took quite a no. of pictures before heading to another temple tat is beside Bayon.

We went to Baphuon but could not enter the temple as its was under re-construction... hmmm quite disappointing... coz it was the 2nd largest temple in the Angkor Thom area.

when we were at Baphuon, 1 Cambodian guy started explaining to us about Baphuonthen.... in fact he was explaing to Toshiko rather than us coz he invited her to go down and take pictures of the columns whilst the rest of us were on top....and i told the rest (except Toshiko) that this guy muz be up to no good.... and they asked me y... then i tell them tat when someone u dun kno is very nice to u... then most likely tat person is up to no good... so cannot anyhow trust people... and true enough, later when Toshiko came and join us, she told us tat the guy asked her for money... yeah... so when u're in these 3rd world countries.... its really really very important tat u're very alert and weary of people!!! =D


we head down to Phimeanakas and also another temple tat was deep in the jungle! hahaha... but tat was a well wort trek coz when we reached the temple we were awed & amazed by it! coz the temple was sort of being destroyed by the huge trees! if u dun believe take a look at the amazing trees urself!

after tat we head down to take a look at the famous Elephant terrace


and I also took a picture with the Leper King... which was explained in the guidebook that the Leper King did not have a gender!! (Imagine tat!!) hahaha.. so tat means he/she was neither guy nor gal huh...

then we went to some 1/2 destroyed structures tat were on the opposite side of the road North & South Kleang). These are not really temples hmmm.. the guidebook says that the buildings were built by the king for entertainment... meaning tat between each building, a string will be strung from 1 building to the next and this was for the tight-rope walkers to walk (perform) and also when there are no performances, the buildings are used to keep convicts/prisoners!! hahaha... interesting huh!!


after exploring the place, we went for our lunch! after lunch, we head down to Ta Phrom!! =D can't wait to see the temples in Ta Prohm again!! =D    

anyway, at this time, Keiko told me tat she was feeling uncomfortable in the abdomen area and she kept having diarrohea... hmm... i din bring any medication out... so i can't help her either... so she has to go to the toilet now and then....

Backpacking in SEA for 15 days: 28th Dec (Siem Reap)

Finally we're in Siem Reap, the 5th and final country on our plans!! hahaha... yeah... its really amazing tat we've managed to come so far... and we're on the 13th Day of our trip!! =D
Today we'll be shopping around in Siem Reap, before heading to buy our entrance tickets to visit the Angkor Temples the next day.


so we woke up not early today... hahaha...finally no need to wake up so early... we left our accomodation at around 8am to wander around the town. we went to Pasaar Chaa.... the biggest market in Siem Reap. where u're able to get anything and everything u want. =D
and we got our breakfast at this market too... nobuko, keiko & me bought noodles (in fact is instant noodles) cooked with veggies and some cambodian sauce... and the stall was along the road... hahaha.... and we tried the food.... not bad... and in fact it was nice... but a little sweet on the side.... when the rest ate the noodles, they commented tat it was nice... but sweet... then i told them, yeah... the Cambodians have sweet tooth... hahaha..... so almost everything they will put sugar in it...



well... Toshiko & Harumi have not had their breakfast yet, so we went to one of the 'restaurants' to order some food... i ordered a coffee shake... coz i've got experienced before other drinks were super super sweet... machiam like the cook added 20 packets of sugar (Macdonal sugar pkt) into the drink... while both keiko & nobuko ordered fruit shake.....
and u kno wat??? my coffee shake was so sweet tat it was really undrinkable.... urgh... and i diluted the drink with my water until it was to my taste... but diluting the drink also make the coffee not strong anymore.... urgh... couldn't finish my drink.... after our breakfast, we walked around the market and do our necessary shopping.... hahaha... yeah shopping seems to be the main thing today... we visited 2 main shopping markets in Siem Reap today. 1st was Pasaar Chaar and the other was the Central Market! yeah... we bought quite a no. of Cambodian souvenirs including T-shirts... hahaha... buying T-shirts seem to be something tat we will not miss out when we're in 1 country... coz the T-shirt designs found in 1 country is only exclusive in tat country... if u think u're able to purchase it in the next country tat we're heading to... then u're really making a huge mistake and missing the opportunity... hahaha... =D





anyway... by now all of us are pretty gd in bargaining things... meaning in haggling the prices of the items tat we wanted.... =P
and i managed to buy 3 pieces of oil painting of Angkor Wat in the background... coz i'll only be keeping 1 but the other 2 will be giving them away... 1 to my MD leader while the other will be for my Prof. =D


the reason y we did not go and view other areas besides shopping this day is because, Siem Reap do not have much tourist attraction places to visit except for the Angkor Temples...sometime i feel that if its not for the Angkor Temples tat are situated nearby, think most likely the town will not be triving and neither will tourists visit the town....


and during lunch,we found a restaurant tat was recommended by the guidebook. so we sat down and ordered our lunch... and u kno what as we were eating, we saw sights tat is really very heart-renching...
while we were eating, children dressed in rags, carrying a huge plastic bag on their backs came up to ask us for food... as they were not able to speak english and the only english word they knew was 'hello'... and they sad tat to get ur attention... and they will use their hands to do an action to indicate tat they want food.... and its really very sad... but we din give them any...
right beside our table was an ang mah by himself... he had juz finished his lunch.. but he left quite a lot of rice on his plate... hmmm.. not too sure if he was not hungry or tat he was not used to eating rice... coz the food was really very nice. =D
anyway he called one of the little boys who were begging for food to come over and pass the plate of remaing rice to him. and the boy took up the spoon and quickly spoon huge spoons of rice into his mouth greedily... after a few spoons... afraid tat the shop owners will come and chase him away, the boy gave his thanks and smiled to the ang moh and ran off into the winding alley. yeah... this is a common sight u see in Siem Reap.


anyway, tat evening we boarded 2 tuk tuks tat will bring us to view the magnificient sun-set in the Angkor Temple grounds... Keiko and me took 1 tuk tuk while harumi, nobuko & toshiko took another tuk tuk. =D


and 1/2 way to the Angkor temples, our tuk tuk driver stopped his tuk tuk and do something.... take a look at the picture and guess wat do those bottles contain??



managed to guess correctly?? all those bottles displayed on the metal shelves contain gasoline... hahaha... yeah... u're not able to find any petrol kiosk in Siem Reap...  (in fact having travel for so many days i've only managed to find petrol kiosk in Bangkok, Vientiane & KL) vehicles will juz stop alongside the roads and fill up their petrol tanks with these sort of petrol in the bottles. yeah... tat's wat our tuk tuk driver did... he stopped to fill up his petrol tank...


and he told us tat petrol in Cambodia is rather costly. 1 liter of Gasoline = USD1. (yeah... people in Cambodia use USD for trading... but they do have their own currency... and tat's the Cambodian Riel. but the pple use tat as coins rather than trading... hmm... USD 1 = 4000 Riel.)
anyway after filling the petrol tank, we continue our journey to the Angkor temples. and we've 1st got to purchase our tickets at the entrance... and the ticket is rather costly... hiaz... each person has to pay USD 20 for the entry... and this ticket will only entitled us to 1 sun-set and visting of the Angkor Temples for 1 day (and tat's the next day). and i've read from the guidebook that although the Cambodians earn alot through charging tourists when they visit the temples, however, 60% of the money goes into the government officials pockets and the remaining money will be used for the restoring work of the temples.... yeah... tat's really sad isn't it??? so u can say tat corruption in Cambodia is still at huge... and the common people are not able to do anything abt this... really sad...
anyway our tuk tuk drivers drove us to Ta Promh Kei, instead of Angkor Wat to view the manificient sun-set over the Angkor Temple grounds... hen we reached there... my goodness!!! swamps of people were there... and we even saw people on elephants and the elephants will bring the riders up to the temple to view the sun-set... so u can say tat save them the tiring climb up to the temple.
and when we reached there... hahaha... wah more people seen... hahaha... wonder when those people had sat there waiting to capture the perfect sun-set pictures in their cameras?? hahahaa... and this can be a pretty interesting and hilarious sight. =P




anyway keiko & me walked very fast and soon, the other 3 were very far behind us... hahaha... coz we wanted to be like the rest of the silly tourists to capture the perfect picture. =P


and tat's wat we did... and along the climb... we saw a small little boy squatting along the pathway playing with sand... seeing his soulful eyes... as if he has lots to tell me but was unable to.... i felt pity for him... but i did not give him any food for fear tat swamps of children will come to me...and i juz took a picuture of him...



when we finally reached the temple, the both of us climbed up and look for a perfect spot to settle down and wait... and wait we did... until the time comes and we got ready to snap as many pictures of the sun-set as we could... really the sun-set was really really very beautiful....juz a pity tat there were no mountains in the far lands... else tat picture would have been a winner... =P



after the sun has set completely, loud applause could be heard all over the temple... hahaha... i guess everyone present had been able to get good pictures tat evening!! =D and tat's when the mad rush take place... meaning tat once the sun has set, the whole temple area will start to get dark very very fast... and the terrain down to the bottom of the hill was very rough and with everyone rushing to go down the mountain, one has to be super super careful and have to walk down... coz we also dun want to be trapped in the area...
tat night, we bought our dinner back to the guesthouse and ate in our room. and whilst we were eating we drank Angkor Beer..
hahaha... yeah... Angkor Beer is the Cambodian local beer... and i tell u, having drank the different beers in our trip in the different countries we were in... Angkor Beer is the worst off... hmm... coz the beer was too gassy... and its really difficult to drink... but its a light beer... hahaha... i managed to drink 3/4 of it before giving up on finishing it... coz my stomach was too bloated with the beer gas. hahaha... then after tat we knock off early as we'll be waking up at 4am the next day... coz we'll be heading for the Angkor temples @ 5am the next day... so tat we can see the sun-rise! =D