Travel Stories : Siem Reap (Day 1 of 5)

Write up by Sir Cheapskate.

At first I thought Siem Reap is part of Siam (Thailand) but boy was I dumb and ignorant. But I do know enough things about the Angkor Wat because I'm so amazed by ancient history and civilizations across the globe, mainly because I was trained in Architecture studies so I cannot help but fall in love with this kind of ruins and tombs. If you are wondering, Angelina Jolie's Tomb Raider did not introduce me to Angkor Wat because I didn't watch the film.

Initial Impression

Prior to the trip to Siem Reap, I haven't been to many Southeast Asian countries but I have been to Bangkok, which automatically became my benchmark on having any clues about Siem Reap. I mean, tuktuk, food and language that sounds alike, similar traditional architecture features. All I wanted to see is the Angkor Wat but I wasn't really clear of how large the Angkor heritage area until after buying the flight tickets where I started Googling the local map to find accommodation.

If you haven't been to Angkor Wat, the place is huge! Like huge huge!

I have this habit of browsing through prices of flight tickets whenever I feel restless at work. Of course, at that time I don't have much money in my savings because I have only been working for a year after returning from studying abroad in the UK. Cutting things short, I found via Skyscanner.com , the return tickets priced RM260 (approx. USD66) to Siem Reap, this is a relatively good deal. First things first, I persuaded just one friend to join but over the next 2 days, our numbers grew to 10. So immediately the trip became a team effort, in which we divided the tasks and started to settle off all the pre-booking stuff especially accommodation. It was a big group so we straight away agree on staying in a hostel.

Although tasks were delegated, I would always take control of the final decision. I'm a boss by nature and I want to make sure that everybody's personal interest is taken care of. When choosing hostels, I would always check for options on Booking.com like I have always been for as long as I can remember. I did try a few other websites now and then but I have always been most satisfied with this one. Over the years, I have improved my searches and filters and my choices in accommodation get better each time and seldom disappoint. Taking a tip from a friend, I'd always search for hostels of 9.0+ rating and read through the reviews. I'm sure many people do this.

Take-off

We took the early morning Air Asia flight from klia2 and arrived 2 hours later.

The relatively flat terrain of Siem Reap.

One thing we should already realize by now is that traveling as a group of full-time working people is great because nobody wants to talk about work and we could all be like children again. However, your workplace misses you a lot, although you are only 2 hour into your 5-day trip.

Also, since almost all of us are Architects, a Whatsapp group made for the trip mainly functions to remind people to do stuff in which none of us had the free time to do until the very last minute. As soon as we arrive, we sat down for some time at the Airport while trying to figure out the best way to get the hostel. I promise we are better than this but at that time, we didn't care much. We just want to go for a trip with each other and have fun while leaving all the work at the office, where they truly belong.

There, at the Airport, we found a counter that offers us a van to our hostel for USD10. Seriously? Just a dollar per person? It was quite a cosy van too and air-conditioned. When we arrived, the van driver offered us a complete package to take us around Siem Reap and visit all the Angkor heritage sites but it was just our first day so we couldn't make any decisions. This is also partly because we didn't do much study on the places we want to visit, again because of the working life thing.

The Hostel

By the look of the hostel from the outside, I can already tell that I will enjoy this place. It wasn't that luxurious or signature-designed, but it was alive and youthful. The Onederz Hotel Siem Reap is what it is called and the rating on Booking.com was 9.4 with price range of USD7.50 per person in a Mixed bunk-bed dorm. I think they have up to 5 floors and on the roof top is a pool. At the ground floor where the reception is, are seating areas where during check in time, will be packed. Breakfast is available every morning at the cost of USD 2.

Around 10.30am, we headed out, after sorting out our stuff at the dorm. It was pretty much an okay dorm with up to standard facilities (power outlets at every bed, lockers, but no towels). It will be a plus point if the power outlets have USB ports but since they don't, make sure you bring the Universal adapter with you.

The road outside is quite dusty and we like to go around by foot. It was hot but I had my cap with me and just needed to buy a big bottle of water. Found one at some locally-run stall for USD1. We wanted to find food first and also use the first day as an exercise to learn on the price range of things.

Roads in Siem Reap is quite dusty, probably from construction debris.

We wanted to find Halal food and at this early point of the trip we didn't know where to find halal restaurant, although we could have known if we did that research before flying here. However, I'm not one of those people who would complain on things like this. What was missed will always be a miss, nothing to make fuss about. Luckily, these guys are also like that.

Finding Food

Mamak-mia! We found an Indian and Pakistani restaurant, pretty much like in Malaysia but what the hell, it was a hot day and everybody is hungry and we can go for proper food hunt in the next 4 days. Looking at them Menu, I immediately digest on the price range for food and starts to make some suggestions. Being the cheapskate that I am, I am determined to order a meal under USD 3 and suggested that an okay price range for dinner should be around USD 8. Oh! Don't forget the Iced Coffee with Milk or otherwise known as Khmer Iced Coffee. Damn that thing changed my life forever.

Also, most restaurants have wifi. In fact, once you finish ordering, the waiter would tell you the wifi password even without you asking. Hahaha traces of Millennials. Once wifi connected, boom! All notifications from work came in. Fuck!

By midday, we found ourselves a mosque in a local kampung (village). Yes, it's called Kampung Stung Thmey, where you can roughly tell that it's a Muslim community village. Jackpot! This is the where Halal things are. At this point, we finally learned that many people from this community can speak our language. This is because they have family members or even themselves who came to Malaysia back in the 1980's or 1990's as refugees of war. Well that was quite an unexpected encounter.

Booking Tuktuk

While going back to hostel from the kampung, we found some tuktuk drivers who speaks our language named Mustafa and we agreed to have him to bring us for Angkor Heritage site tour the day after. We booked 2 tuktuks with him at the cost of USD15 per tuktuk per day and we fit 5 people in each. Not advisable though because later on we caused flat tires.

Booking Tuktuk for the Angkor Heritage site tour the next day.

In my initial readings, tourists are advised that Tuktuk trips shall cost around USD 2 per trip and approximately USD 30 for a day tour. This can be divided amongst you and your fellow trippers. Also, it's true that you shall not be too harsh on bargaining because the basic rate is already cheap and you will only pay for what you have agreed on before you put your fat ass in there. These people are of low wages. It's your job as a Tourists to provide them with their source of income.

We made a stop at an Art workshop along the way called the Artisan D'Angkor and continued back to hostel.

The Onederz Hostel Siem Reap is located in very close proximity to the Angkor Night Market and Pub Street. We went there just to see how the night life is and found it certainly not disappointing at all. It was going to be an early morning the next day, so we took the opportunity to but snacks and bottles of water to bring along to the Angkor Heritage site tour which will start before sunrise.

End of day 1 of 5.

- Sir Cheapskate