Day 10 (1/12) - Siem Reap (Old Market)

When we arrived at Siem Reap, there was a designated Tuk Tuk driver despatched from MotherHome Guest House to bring us back to our accom. The Tuk Tuk driver was very friendly and efficient... helping us with our luggage and bringing us out of the "war" zone hastily.

You see, everytime a local transport brings you to some place, there is bound to have a horde of Tuk Tuk drivers waiting at the end point, hounding you the minute you step out. We were immediately "rescued" by the guy in sky blue polo-tee, MotherHome's very own superhero attire. 

The staff at MotherHome greeted us with a cold towel and with great hospitality. When we thought it was all over when we went to our room... wa lah! They had specially decorated our bed with towel cranes, jasmine flowers and rose petals. It was as if we were on our honeymoon! The little surprise won many brownie points from me and the tray of complimentary fruits, with the transparent price list of the local tours and shows set on the dressing table is what every tourist hopes for on their holiday! Honesty and hospitality! We were even given a cup of complimentary fruit juice nicely decorated with an orchid!

Before you think that they paid me to say all these nice things about them, I only wish it was true. Cos either way, whether they pay me or not, I would still sing praises of it. By the way, if you haven't already noticed, I have posted photos of the prices for the benefit of the patient reader who has tahaned reading my blog thus far. Disclaimer though, the prices are as of Nov-Dec 2011 and may vary in years to come.









We had our breakfast over there, buffet style, with milk, cereals, porridge, bread, fried rice, mee, you know, the usual happy breakfast type. Spoke to the friendly staff over there who taught us how to say the numbers 1-10 and a few other common words in Cambodian (all of which I left in Cambodia). We taught them a little Mandarin as well. 

We didn't have much time to hang around in Siem Reap so we quickly headed over to the Old Market, and wondered around aimlessly (don't worry, there's lotsa of Tuk Tuk drivers waiting to get your business). 

It was during that time that we went on a massive shopping spree, a productive one I may add. Oh, before I forget, we also paid for a Khmer massage session at MotherHome but I can't recall which came first... the shopping spree or the massage... *irrelevant* 

We walked out of the main area of Old Market and crossed a bridge built over what seemed like a lake. It isn't too far away from the main area, but you'll have to get your bearings right. Anyways, after crossing the bridge, that's where the good stuff were. You can almost find all of the best Cambodian souvenirs at this cluster of stalls which are lined in a square, think of the place like bugis street shaped in a square, and being more spacious. I think that place is a "hidden gem" because there weren't a lot of tourists there, and the good thing about it is that the shop owners are desperate to make some business so you can really bargain your way to have the best deals, provided you know what the "market rate" is. 

The Tuk Tuk driver which we engaged to send us back to the hotel wanted to get our business so bad that he lowered his price, below market rate for us when he realised we wanted to get to the airport that day. So when we went back to the hotel, we told the receptionist that we would not be taking their Tuk Tuk (who actually left us at Old Market and advised us to take our own Tuk Tuk back as it was difficult to coordinate, no fault of his though as it's true cos we had no idea where we would be walking to).

However, when our Tuk Tuk driver sent us to the airport, lo and behold, he dropped us at the entrance as he wanted to save on the entrance fee! As a result we had to walk a good 200-400m into the airport lugging our baggage with us. It seems the agreement was just to send us to the airport, but not "inside the airport". What the ****. Well, now you know. We should have trusted MotherHome's Tuk Tuk driver, which I definitely did regret. The moral of the story is, when you're at MotherHome, or a guest of MotherHome, you can let your defences down and trust them. 

That wasn't the only bad experience before leaving for Siem Reap back to Singapore... for on the plane, I starting feeling unwell... went back to Singapore, had food poisoning and recovered only a week after. 

Despite the bad experiences I encountered over there, and a high possibility that I will never step foot back in Cambodia, it wasn't actually such a bad trip there. Cambodia pissed me off with all the "cheating" and the dishonesty of the locals, sanitation and the food hygiene. However, it also exposed me to the delicious cuisines (ironic based on my previous statement) and opened my eyes to the floating villages, finally awing me with the beauty of the country, the temple structures and the gorgeous beach of Saracen Bay.

If I were to compare which weighs more, the pros or the cons, I would with a little hesitation, say that Cambodia is worth going on a Holiday to. Just be prepared, and with a little luck, you might find Cambodia to be more beautiful than it already is. 

Day 9 (30/11) - Sihanoukville (Serendipity Beach)

We had a little problem on Day 9 because our coach ride back to Siem Reap was late at night. However, our check-out timing was 2pm, and according to the staff, we had to pay close to a full day's price if we wanted to check out later. Which of course, after some cow sense calculation & reasoning, we decided to find an alternative hotel to just bunk in and take a shower before we took the overnight coach.

In theory, we could hang around at the poolside till evening time, which was open to guests, and since we were guest-ed, we were entitled to do so. However, we wanted a hot shower before torturing ourselves for yet another dreadful coach ride. 

Thankfully, we were able to have ourselves a nice decent lunch before checking out. We walked a few shops down, where the Golden Lion Roundabout was, and settled for the Indian Restaurant, or perhaps cafe would be more appropriate, by the name of Alam Sin-ville. Even though we were the only customers, the food actually tasted home-madily delicious. I can't even remember the name of the dishes we ordered, but from the looks of it in the photo, it was probably Masala Chicken and Pita? The reddish curry dish was spicy, yet saliva inducing. Made some small talk with the owner and realised he came from India with his brother to set up the restaurant over at Sihanoukville.

After the meal, my dear wasn't feeling that well still, so she chilled out at the poolside of Reef Resort while I went around the town, looking for a cheap hotel where we could just bunk in for a few hours to wash up before taking the overnight coach ride back to Siem Reap... one which had electricity. The hotel beside us, The Big Easy, was cheap, but the electricity went dead and has been that way for the past 2 nights. 

We finally found a decent hotel along the stretch leading to Ochheuteal Beach, Koh Meas II Guesthouse. It wasn't the best, nor the worst, and fit our criteria of a decent hotel even though we only wanted to bunk in for a few more hours - by decent I mean the provision of electricity and warm water for bathing. When we first checked in, the water was cold, and the owner/receptionist told us that the water will be warm at night. When night came, the electricity was still down and the water was still cold! However, it seems that there was a switch to turn the electricity back on and the water to be warm, which they conveniently "forgot" to tell us. 

However, since it wasn't too big a deal as we didn't have to stay the night over there, the bad experience was quickly "forgotten", and forgiven. 

We spend the entire day relaxing on Ochheuteal/Otres Beach. We bought and brought a couple of picnic mats which we laid on the beach, even though the location was that prime. Reason being because the entire beach was lined with Pubs and they somehow unofficially claimed the shoreline as their own, by putting up their own tables and chairs.

There's also an open area in the middle of Ochheuteal/Otres Beach where the Dolphins statue is, where they would sell some nice souvenirs at really good prices. That was where we bought a seashell wind-chime, which is still cosily wrapped up in newspapers in my box containing items for our future house.

Witnessing yet another sunset that day, I can only vouch for the gorgeousness of Sihanoukville's sunsets (even though I've only seen 2). It was different than 2 days before, but almost as beautiful when the big ball of fire lowers itself into the horizon. Every moment we looked at it, it seemed to keep morphing into a different feel and visual stunner. The sun never looked that gorgeous here in Singapore. 

It was that day, that night which we also met a friendly tourist who struck a conversation with us... randomly, about asking what's nice to eat around (I think?). He asked if we wanted to hang out with him the next day, which I was initially defensive about. But explained to him that we were going back to Siem Reap that night. We later got to know each other better and he was a German Doctor, if my memory still serves me well... Forgot his name though. Nice guy, nice tourists in Cambodia, with not so nice locals.

Though the overnight sleeper coach ride was quite cramped, the seats were fairly cosy. We got on the coach and I recalled waking up a few stops for toilet breaks in the middle of nowhere. But not before long, we were on our way back to Siem Reap... 

Day 8 (29/11) - Koh Rong Salem (Ko Tas Island, Saracen Bay)

The breakfast at Reef Resort was certainly one of the best. We could choose from several options, toast was common, I had bacon and double-yolked sunny side up and my dear had scrambled eggs with ham.

The package that we signed up with Reef Resort to spend a day at Saracen Bay (first protected beach in Cambodia) included a 2-way Tuk Tuk transport to Victory Beach where our ferry departed. There was a statue of a cow 3/4 submerged in the waters and lotsa naked local boys chilling around. You won't miss recognising the beach because of its distinct Cambodian lantern-like lamp posts lining the concrete pavement leading out to sea. (It's actually called the Russian Jetty)

The ferry we took was by Sun-Tours and the 3-deck open concept transport put a smile on our faces. We knew almost instantly that we were gonna have a good time out at sea. There were many, almost 90% of the tourists on board were all Caucasians - which meant, they were "siao onz" and really knew how to chill.

Before letting us off at Saracen Bay, we stopped midway where everyone could snorkel. My dear and I couldn't really get used to it initially, because we gung ho-ly jumped into the sea without a life vest like the others but realised it was too tiring swimming against the current... at the same time taking note to breathe through our mouths. It wasn't our first time snorkelling, but we were not pros at it. 

After much wave-battling, we decided it was alright to look noobish with our life jackets on. Unfortunately, by the time we got comfortable, we were called back onboard to proceed on to our next destination. I don't recall seeing that many fishes while snorkelling, we got pretty close to the rocks near the island-line (or whatever you call it) but the most enjoyable part was actually swimming around with my dear in the open sea. 

Saracen Bay wasn't too far away, but the upper deck was on "fire". During our entire boat ride, we were on the upper decks because there wasn't much space around in the lower levels. And with a few pathetic mini tentages, there was no way one could keep out of the burning sun. 

As the boat couldn't dock too close to the shore, we could either take a boat to the island, or swim a good 400m to get there, survivor style. And guess which we chose?

For a miillliiioonnn ... nope there's no money to be won but the experience of swimming over to a desolate island was well worth it. 

When everyone successfully reached isolation, it wasn't before long that the guides took us on a river walk. That "river walk" was in fact a mangrove walk, and it's whatever you think a mangrove walk would be. Muddy sandbed, greenish algae-filled waters with God-knows-what's-lurking underneath, occasional "ouchs", "be careful", "WHAT'S THAT?!" live commentary from the tourists, and lotsa rubbish trapped within the vicinity. There wasn't a foul smell or anything, but seeing how dirty the waters were, and that your whole body was partially submerged in waters with poor visibility of what's lurking below, was truly a daunting experience. The highest the water level reached was slightly below the collar bone... and I'm about 1.73m tall... picture that...

The guides sought our help to clear rubbish during our river-walk/tour and it was a fantastic way to engage us free labor to do so... and everyone was surprisingly enthusiastic in reaching out to grab rubbish despite following a "safe" route the guides had paved for us. 

It took us around 40mins, to and back the same way, and though we didn't see much, the experience of walking barefooted (we should have brought our slippers along, which we left behind on the boat) and doing good by litter-picking at a foreign place was... ahem* worth it. 

We went back to the main beach with its crystal clear waters, a sight totally opposite from the brackish waters we had to endure during the river walk. It was like we were in paradise! 

We then proceeded to the next item on the itinerary, a tropical rain-forest walk. (darn, we should have brought our slippers along!) It was a pokey walk and there were piles of animal shit around, which probably belonged to wild boars or something... The rain-forest walk was nothing extraordinary and would prolly appeal more to Caucasians than Asians. All I remembered was being live-bait for blood-thirsty Cambodian mosquitoes and the highlight of one of the tourist climbing up some hardy vines (reminded me of the vines Bear Grylls normally uses to either abseil down a rocky cliff or swing from one cliff to another in his Survivor series, Man Vs Wild) like Tarzan.

We were given about 30 mins R&R (nothing too recreational but lotsa relaxing) at the main beach before heading back. On the way back, we decided to explore the lower decks, where there was a mini bar that gave out 1 free shot of orange-juiced hard-ass liquor to each passenger on board. It was so "toxic" I passed it to a random guy sitting beside me, whom I got to know came from Holland and passed my dear's shot to him as well. *Hats off* to him who just simply downed our shots. I'm a fan of hard liquor, but somehow, the seemingly "cheap" mix we got had so much burning alcohol in it I would shrivel like Spongebob Squarepants if I gulped everything down... 

When we got back to Sihanoukville, we decided to settle for a Japanese restaurant (by the name of Happa) close to our Resort. The expensive Japanese rice and Agadeshi Tofu didn't taste very authentic to me. Still, at least it was a nostalgic cuisine. 

We went back to our Resort for an early rest, all exhausted and "fried" from the day's tour. The day-tour to Saracen Bay was without question the most enjoyable and memorable day during our trip in Cambodia.