#Cambodiaries : Siem Reap

Finally, we are down to the most awaited 'Siem Reap,' the last installment of our Vietnam-Cambodia trip 2015.

Our hotel, Secrets Pavillion Urban Botique Hotel, was our favorite among the hotels that we have stayed in. It was perfect, GREAT LOCATION (near the Pubstreet/Night Market), GREAT AESTHETICS (very clean, good beds, nice restrooms), GREAT BREAKFAST and above all GREAT SERVICE.

*Photos from Agoda.com

Usually hotel checkouts are at 12nn but since our flight was not until 11pm, the staff willingly allowed us to keep our rooms 'til 8pm. Other hotels would have charged us with another night. They also accommodated to our needs of six extra towels without asking what for, a packed breakfast, an extra serving of yogurt (because it was so good, we wanted more), and a last minute need of a transfer to the airport.

Our breakfast complete with fruit platter, yogurt with oats and banana or bread with egg cooked the way you like it, french toast, coffee or tea, and orange juice.

We visited the Phnom Kulen Mountains first, in here you visit three attractions:  The Reclining Buddha, the waterfall, and the 1000 Lingas.

The waterfall was freezing cooooooold.

1000 Lingas is a river with carved stone bed. I wonder how they were able to do it before?

Our lunch on a restaurant near Beng Melea. I ordered The spicy pork ribs which was really delightful (order this here!) and the stir-fried beef (on the left) was .... weird. The taste of the ginger was too strong, I could not appreciate the dish.

**all restaurants in Siem Reap do not serve service water. I heard that their water are outsourced since Siem Reap was a big swamp before hence the water is not potable. 

Beng Melea was our favorite temple in Siem Reap. Its the only temple that is 100% not restored thus you're going to need to toughen yourself up  in climbing this temple.  Its such a beautiful mess, I hope that the government keeps it that way. 

I have read alot of blogs trying the infamous Siem Reap's Cambodian Bbq, of course, tourists like us wanted to try it. The place was jam-packed during dinner time and we had to wait in line for more than an hour to get a seat. The platter comes with seven kinds of meat: Chicken, Pork, Beef, Squid, Fish, Shark and Crocodile. I enjoyed the shark and crocodile the most- the shark tasted like a fatty fish so it was flavorful and the crocodile tasted like a better version of your chicken. Along with the meat is our shabu-shabu with vegetables, noodles, and unli-rice. The waiters were also very prompt in giving us refills of our shabu-shabu throughout the dinner. I ordered a Cosmopolitan along my meal- and it was the worst one i've tasted.

Mr. Sun hid himself in the clouds so we were not able to see the world famous Angkor Wat sunrise. Its so sad that we weren't able to get the full Angkor Wat experience.

Our Next favorite temple after Beng Melea was Bayon a.k.a. "The Smiling Temple." 

Did you spot all the smiling faces on our photos? hehehe

Angkor Thom

Ta Prohm Temple was where Tomb Raider was shot.  There were a lot of entrances and exits that we were literally lost in its beauty. Unfortunately, its being restored now so we can not appreciate its beauty that much. But I heard that the best time to go to Ta Prohm is during sunrise ;)

Our last meal at Siem Reap- Burger Gourmand. The restaurant was already closed in the afternoon but the owners willingly opened their doors for us (perks of being 8 in the group). We all got a set meal for $7.25 which included your choice of burger with potato wedges and side salad, a softdrink, and a dessert. I ordered the bleu cheese pork burger and Nutella waffles. The buns were chewy and the patty was cooked medium rare. I loved the waffles too since it was crunchy on the outside but still chewy.

So thats it. Our eight months waiting was over in just a week. Time truly flies when one is having fun. I am definitely excited for our future trips together!

**For everyone planning to visit Siem Reap, I strongly suggest that you just take a one-day Angkor pass- after visiting several temples, the temples will all seem alike. Or if you have time and money to spare, get a three day or a week pass and visit a few temples a day.

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I hope that through this travel journal, we got you enticed to do your own Vietnam-Cambodia trip soon. Feel free to email me for questions or if you want me to help you make your very own itinerary. :)

#OOTD Series: Vietnam and Cambodia

I tried my very best to pack "light" which of course was very hard for me to do. I used my medium-sized baggage which surprisingly was 1/3 full only and weighing 10kgs hehehe unlike any other bloggers out there, I wanted to be the realistic one, I packed which are deemed feasible (I cannot afford to have many outfit change per day nor will I wear a maong jacket under a scorching sun for #ootd purposes).

Tip: Pack your essentials. A light-weight bag that can go with your outfits while fitting everything, three pairs of shoes: rubbershoes, sandals, and slippers., a scarf that will save you from the cold aircon buses and plane, and give you that much needed cover., and lastly your 'oomph' fashion item: may it be a hat, shades, or a belt.

White, green, and brown hues are my to go colors

Vietnam and Cambodia are two countries who are very conservative. It is almost always advisable for one to wear clothes that cover both your shoulders and knees. For countries that are even hotter than Manila, this is a problem as we want to wear our breeziest clothes: a spaghetti strap and short shorts.

I tried my best to come up with outfits that will go well with our itinerary. Here they go.

Day 1: Mekong Delta Tour

Photography by: Andrew Qua

Teal is such a lovely color, it pops out with any background. The color itself is your statement.

Rompers are very easy for ready-to-go women like me.

Day 2: Cu chi Tunnels

A trip to Cu chi tunnels require you to duck walk/crawl under a narrow tunnel (which was way bigger than it used to be) where pants can save you from a wound or two. Plus, its set in a forest so pants are best to avoid all mosquitoes.

I originally wanted to wear a cap with this outfit. Unfortunately, it was very cloudy. Wearing one may be too off.

Day 3: City tour

Photography by: Mara Medina

Photography by: Andrew Qua

Everyone in the group was wearing the shades of black and/or white. Black is too dark for a hot day so I opted to wear a white breezy dress, instead. 

Who thought that a cellphone case can be your fashion accessory too!

Day 4: Killing Fields

Photography by: Andrew Qua

I wanted to wear this ensemble since it will perfectly match the red walls of the Royal Palace. Too sad that we arrived past 11 o'clock and it was already closed.

A maxi skirt can be more breezy than your pants so you can opt for this one and it gives you that needed cover.

Day 5: Phnom Kulen Mountain

A visit in Phnom Kulen includes a little hike so a sporty wear will be perfect!

Photography by: Andrew Qua

After swimming in the falls, I changed into this. I bought this pants during my trip, you can easily find this everywhere in both Vietnam and Cambodia. Its a good pasalubong for your love ones, too.

I borrowed that red hat i'm wearing which made me realize that maybe you can talk out with your travel companions on what they'll wear and you can share some things.

Day 6: Temple tour

Photography by: Andrew Qua

The temples are mostly in the hues of brown, grey, green so wear clothing that will pop in those colors. Some temples are very strict when it comes to dress code so bring your favorite scarf along with you for cover andddddddddddd as props for your #ootd.

So that's it. I hope you like my first attempt in doing my #ootd posts. I'm sure i'll get better in time! So watch out for my #ootd series from time to time ;)

#Cambodiaries: Phnom Penh

Crossing the Vietnam-Cambodia border was easy breezy. Our bus conductor collected our passports prior to disembarkation to the immigration. We waited for our names called, got our passports, drove forward towards the Cambodian immigration, handed our passports for stamping and fingerprint, and hello Cambodia, here we come!

Phnom Penh is 6 hours away from Ho Chi Minh- we stayed a night to half our bus trip (and do a little side trip) to Siem Reap which takes another 6 hours. We stayed at Royal Mekong Botique Hotel- I had the hardest time choosing a hotel to stay at Phnom Penh, I felt that the hotels were too expensive for how they looked like. Among everything that I saw, this place looked the most promising. But it looks better than it really is. The paint on the walls were peeling off, dirty towels, and slightly smelly rooms. Nothing unbearable though.

*Photo from Agoda.com

Tripadvisor is a God's gift. I love it how it finds the nearest establishment near your hotel. And that's how we found The Sugar Palm. 

We wanted to try the famous Amok but we were too hungry to wait for 40 minutes so we ordered whatsoever was fast. Curry was good enough for our hungry stomachs, I like the idea that it added sweet potatoes but the chicken meat was too few.

We started early for our city trip to Phnom Penh, i would say that it was short but it was worth remembering, our eyes were opened on how big the societal gap in the country was. At one you'll see a very dirty unpavemented busy road and on the other, a very rich neighborhood housing HUGEEEEEEE homes that can probably house 50 families. We couldn't complain further after our trip to The Killing Fields. 

Take the audio tour to appreciate the Killing Fields, its worth listening to.

The bones excavated are undergoing studies to determine the cause of death. Its so sad that most were beat to death using unimaginable weapons. 

There are several Killing Fields scattered all over the country where Cheung Ek in Phnom Penh is one of them. 

Spirit houses are scattered all over Cambodia to remember all those who have suffered during the Polpot's Regime that killed three million of eight million population of Cambodia in the 1970's.

Children were also killed for the purpose of eliminating the threat of revenge in the future

During that time, all were ceased. Businesses and schools were closed down. 

Cambodia has just been out of the regime for 35 years, no wonder its still recuperating.

The brunch that caused us to miss the opening of The Royal Palace (it closes at 11am and reopens at 2pm). I blame the kuya who said 'Free wifi here.' He definitely got our attention there.

Peeking into the gates made us even more sad because The Royal Palace was so grand and so vibrant, it could have been good in Photos.

To cap our Phnom Penh tour, we went to Wat Phnom, a temple situated on top of a hill, where Phnom Penh derived its name. The temple was small, nothing really to see inside but I was amazed with this clock on the ground that actually works.

End this post I suggest to try reading the Cambodian history especially during the Polpot regime or simply watch the movie 'The Killing Fields' as it will make us be even more grateful with our lives.