The Extended-Play Part II
We took a bus ride up to Siem Reap, a ride slated for 8 hours on the road; a record for me. 4 hours up to Malacca is already torturous for me liaoz, 8 hours is double the pain. Somemore it is said that the actual journey might take even longer, depending on the road conditions. We were extremely fortunate to make it in 6 hours, in time before the sun sets.
The bus operator was recommended to us by this helpful Chinese family
who ran a restaurant in a neighbouring hotel while in Phomn Penh. They made such good and affordable food that we went back there time and again despite our short stay there. Well, at least they provided us a much desired departure from our own cooking and the minty Cambodian food. Of course, we wouldn't go without getting the 千金 of the household into the picture. It's been a long long time since we last saw decent looking female specimens of our kind. Thanks to them, the bus operator was willing to make an exception, to pick us up at our hotel that morning. After hearing the horror stories from the rest of them of their experience on their bus rides (some of them had to sit on stools in the aisle of the bus!), we were very thankful for their recommendations.
We began the bus ride with a hangover that lasted too long, from 2 days before to be exact. Hailiang was still reeling from the effects of over-toxication, Henry and Chinyee had no appetite, I was still feeling alright but somehow I know all's not going to go well in moments to come. It didn't help that we attempted to eat fried spider during one of our scheduled stops. I could not stomach anything more than one small joint of its leg, although it did not taste revolting (it just tasted very salty). We spent our first night at a forgettable and expensive place, and we almost left the place with all our heavy backpacks until they relented and gave in to our bargaining. We watched the Euro 2004 Final that night, but fell asleep before the match ended. Greece won the game and became the champions of European soccer.
There is only one attraction at Siem Reap, and boy it was a really big one, that is The Ruins of Angkor. We spent a whole 3 days in there and strictly speaking, we have yet to finish touring it. Armed with a guidebook on the ruins, bought after hard bargaining by Henry, and the mini van we chartered, we explored the temples and various structures. Henry became our commentator and guide throughout the 3 days we explored the Angkor. This picture was also taken on the recommendation of the guidebook, the only angle where the tips of all the 5 spires of the Angkor Wat can be seen, with a human subject inside. There are many many many many many temple ruins in the Angkor. 
They dot the whole area that we had to spend 3 days to finish seeing the major attractions and special ruins. The place we visited, was so densely covered by the forest that when it was finally by some French explorers, it was structurally dangerous to cut off the trees that grew into the rocks. Heaven knows what happened to all the people there. We only knew the theives were here before, many of the sculpture's head were chopped off, presumably sold to collectors all over the world.
Like all major attractions around the world, there are many local hawkers selling souvenirs and drinks and such at the entrances. I decided to bring home a piece of Cambodia printed on a t-shirt at one of the many entrances of the temples, the condition is that they leave me alone to take a few pictures and I will go visit their stall when I am done. Problem is, they all look the same to me. I followed a different girl back to her stall and bought the tee I fancied. To my great misfortune, the girl whom I agreed to patron saw me buying from another stall and launched a tirade of abuses at me, in English. See the Western influence around this region?
The ruins of the Angkor sparked me to ponder about the dedication of the ancient people to their religion. What level of commitment these people were up on, that drove them to build these architectural greats, considered difficult even by today's standards and technological advancements? Of these shrines, the Neak Pean is by far the most mind boggling structure that utilized physics, fluid dynamics and water damming to create water sprouting sculptures without any mechanical pumps. The others were built to leave u admiring the intelligence and the determination of those who built them. What could have driven them so hard to cough up the money, time and effort to build them?
Over in Siem Reap, our best buy was the guesthouse stay. Hidden in an obscure corner, it offered us great rates and rooms although the lady boss pissed me off on our last night. Although power failure usually occur only when I am showering, the stay there was nontheless cosy and relaxing. Our van driver also made our stay there very enjoyable, we tipped him generously when we left.
We ate all sorts of food in Siem Reap, partly discovered on our own, partly as recommended by LP. Soup Dragon was our favourite haunt with its tasty steamboat, the corner shop in the back alley made the best pumpkin rice, the local market made tasty fried noodles and popiah. The roadside stalls were very exciting as well. But looking back, the hygiene conditions were so bad I couldn't imagine myself eating in there again. I also bought what I considered a good investment, a 65L Lowe Alpine backpack of my own.
The bus operator was recommended to us by this helpful Chinese family
who ran a restaurant in a neighbouring hotel while in Phomn Penh. They made such good and affordable food that we went back there time and again despite our short stay there. Well, at least they provided us a much desired departure from our own cooking and the minty Cambodian food. Of course, we wouldn't go without getting the 千金 of the household into the picture. It's been a long long time since we last saw decent looking female specimens of our kind. Thanks to them, the bus operator was willing to make an exception, to pick us up at our hotel that morning. After hearing the horror stories from the rest of them of their experience on their bus rides (some of them had to sit on stools in the aisle of the bus!), we were very thankful for their recommendations.We began the bus ride with a hangover that lasted too long, from 2 days before to be exact. Hailiang was still reeling from the effects of over-toxication, Henry and Chinyee had no appetite, I was still feeling alright but somehow I know all's not going to go well in moments to come. It didn't help that we attempted to eat fried spider during one of our scheduled stops. I could not stomach anything more than one small joint of its leg, although it did not taste revolting (it just tasted very salty). We spent our first night at a forgettable and expensive place, and we almost left the place with all our heavy backpacks until they relented and gave in to our bargaining. We watched the Euro 2004 Final that night, but fell asleep before the match ended. Greece won the game and became the champions of European soccer.
There is only one attraction at Siem Reap, and boy it was a really big one, that is The Ruins of Angkor. We spent a whole 3 days in there and strictly speaking, we have yet to finish touring it. Armed with a guidebook on the ruins, bought after hard bargaining by Henry, and the mini van we chartered, we explored the temples and various structures. Henry became our commentator and guide throughout the 3 days we explored the Angkor. This picture was also taken on the recommendation of the guidebook, the only angle where the tips of all the 5 spires of the Angkor Wat can be seen, with a human subject inside. There are many many many many many temple ruins in the Angkor. 
They dot the whole area that we had to spend 3 days to finish seeing the major attractions and special ruins. The place we visited, was so densely covered by the forest that when it was finally by some French explorers, it was structurally dangerous to cut off the trees that grew into the rocks. Heaven knows what happened to all the people there. We only knew the theives were here before, many of the sculpture's head were chopped off, presumably sold to collectors all over the world.Like all major attractions around the world, there are many local hawkers selling souvenirs and drinks and such at the entrances. I decided to bring home a piece of Cambodia printed on a t-shirt at one of the many entrances of the temples, the condition is that they leave me alone to take a few pictures and I will go visit their stall when I am done. Problem is, they all look the same to me. I followed a different girl back to her stall and bought the tee I fancied. To my great misfortune, the girl whom I agreed to patron saw me buying from another stall and launched a tirade of abuses at me, in English. See the Western influence around this region?
The ruins of the Angkor sparked me to ponder about the dedication of the ancient people to their religion. What level of commitment these people were up on, that drove them to build these architectural greats, considered difficult even by today's standards and technological advancements? Of these shrines, the Neak Pean is by far the most mind boggling structure that utilized physics, fluid dynamics and water damming to create water sprouting sculptures without any mechanical pumps. The others were built to leave u admiring the intelligence and the determination of those who built them. What could have driven them so hard to cough up the money, time and effort to build them?Over in Siem Reap, our best buy was the guesthouse stay. Hidden in an obscure corner, it offered us great rates and rooms although the lady boss pissed me off on our last night. Although power failure usually occur only when I am showering, the stay there was nontheless cosy and relaxing. Our van driver also made our stay there very enjoyable, we tipped him generously when we left.
We ate all sorts of food in Siem Reap, partly discovered on our own, partly as recommended by LP. Soup Dragon was our favourite haunt with its tasty steamboat, the corner shop in the back alley made the best pumpkin rice, the local market made tasty fried noodles and popiah. The roadside stalls were very exciting as well. But looking back, the hygiene conditions were so bad I couldn't imagine myself eating in there again. I also bought what I considered a good investment, a 65L Lowe Alpine backpack of my own.
posted by taxi taker at 7:42 PM
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