Project: Cambodia-Vietnam Trip for Three for Only P30,000 per Person! [Part 1]

2012 was the second year I committed to having a birthday trip. The year before I went alone to Malaysia and Singapore, but this time, my good friends Picci and Benny came along with me.

 

I booked Cebu Pacific flights for me and my companion from the Philippines (Picci) for Manila to Siem Reap (P2,503/person) then Ho Chi Minh to Manila (US$85.83/person). We were to meet Benny who booked his own flight from Singapore, which was his work base. Benny arrived at Siem Reap at 4PM and checked in earlier for us at The Siem Reap Hostel. He picked us up 3 and a half hours later, via a tuktuk, that was pre-arranged by the hostel.

The Siem Reap Hostel is situated along Makara Street, near enough to the bustling Old Market, but quiet enough and away from the ruckus. It’s the typical hostel with friendly receptionists and foreign tourists as guests. It had a cool lounge area with a pool and free buffet breakfast. We got a huge room that had the smartest beds I’ve seen, with compartments underneath to store your stuff. The private room costs $10/person/night, so that amounted to about P900/person for our 2-night stay.

Since we already arrived at night and came straight from work, we decided to just sleep the evening away. What a brilliant idea this was since the next day, August 15, 2012, was basically a “temple run”.

Our tour guide, Sovann David (You can look for him on Facebook.), picked us up from our hostel at 4 in the morning so we could catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. David’s tour package cost us P2,700/person, which included the whole day’s transportation, history lessons, and unlimited water bottles. It was very convenient since we only had one day to tour the whole Angkor Archaeological Park. There are other ways, of course, to tour the place – by bike group, by tuktuk, or on foot. But given the unpredictable weather – it was super hot when it wasn’t raining, and our limited time, a personal tour guide was the best option. The tour guide could help select the best of the best attractions for you.

Our first order of business was to buy the 1-day tickets to the park. This cost US$20 per person, and was not included in David’s tour package. The tickets need to be bought in person because they would take your photo and print it on the ticket.

We headed straight to the Angkor Wat Temple, the purpose for this early morning start. I tell you, there are only a few things I would wake up early for, since I’m really NOT a morning person, and though the weather was not perfect that morning, the incredible sight of the Angkor Wat was worth it. 

It was still dark when we reached Angkor Wat. Sleepily, we walked towards the moat alongside many other tourists. Upon reaching the entrance to the complex, we were surprised to see that there were probably a hundred people or more, already gathered to see the sunrise. 

We positioned ourselves near the pond where the reflection of the temples is visible. As the light from the rising sun started to scatter behind the three temple peaks, the excitement filled my body with energy that I suddenly found myself wide awake in anticipation. I kept clicking away at my camera, trying to capture as much of the moment as I could. 

Our tour guide told us that we would witness the sunrise in a few minutes. It was already past 6 AM. The sun seemed to be teasing or lacked sleep as well, for it took its sweet time in rising. The tour guide explained that every day is a different sunrise at Angkor Wat. Sovann David has been a tour guide for eight years and has gone almost everyday to the temple (season-permitting), so he’s seen more than two thousand different sunrises. He showed us photos from his phone of past sunrises, and we were all awestruck by their beauty. We almost couldn’t contain the mounting eagerness within us.  

It was close to 7AM when the sun completely towered over the temples. As the light washed over the complex, the people seemed to be silenced by its magnificence. I was reminded by a scene from the movie City of Angels, where the angels gathered at the beach at sunrise to receive their orders for the day. I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply and felt overwhelmed by God’s blessings. It has always been my dream to visit the Angkor Wat and what better time to fulfill it than on my birthday week. And so that marked the start of our Angkor adventure!

Any adventure needs fuel, so after seeing the sunrise and touring the rest of Angkor Wat, we ate breakfast at Neary Restaurant, upon the recommendation of David. He was a friend of the owner and so we couldn’t really complain about his choice. The food was so-so, but we ate our fill anyway, since we needed to fuel up for our temple run. I had the local Khmer dish called Loklak (meat with sauce) and a pink-colored drink called Saro, which tastes similar to our own gulaman.

After breakfast, we headed to Ta Prohm, the eerie temple that had roots of trees growing around it. This was the setting for the Tomb Raider movie, and it was obviously part of any tour guide’s spiel to mention that. I felt like I was in the movie myself, posing with all gusto at the different spots!

It took a short drive to get to the Angkor Thom complex, which was separated by its own gate. From here we circled the Phimeanakas, the Elephant terrace, the Terrace of the Leper King, and the Prasat Suor Prat.

The North and South Khleang was also nearby and so we took photos there as well. 

We then went to the Bayon Temple, or the temple with the thousands of faces.

Our last temple of the day was Phnom Bakheng, which was atop a hill. Because we were too tired to hike, we decided to climb the hill the royal way – by elephant ride!

This was supposed to be the best location from which to view the whole Angkor complex at sunset. Unfortunately, it rained that fateful afternoon, and so we ended up wet and missed the view. 

Our ever faithful tour guide David, who has become our friend by this time, was right on time, fetching us with umbrellas as we were headed down the hill. He brought us back to our hostel and arranged to meet for another tour the next day.

We changed out of our wet clothes and rested a bit before dinner. By the time we got to Pub Street, we were incredibly famished, which was the same thing I could say about all the other tourists. It was quite difficult to find empty seats in the busy restaurants, so when we chanced upon a table at Khmer Kitchen Restaurant, we immediately pounced on it and took our seats. It was worth the wait, and our initial impression on Khmer cuisine from our breakfast that morning was immediately transformed, for the food in Khmer Kitchen Restaurant was scrumptious! We ordered several dishes and all were enjoyable. The most unforgettable for me, however, was the Mango Salad. For a meager P225 per person for the whole meal, we could not fill our faces enough! 

We also tried out the local beer - Angkor Beer and Cambodia Beer, which tasted similar to our San Miguel Pale Pilsen.

After our meal, we wandered around the area, checking out the Night Market and the rest of Pub Street.

We settled at The Red Piano for a nightcap, where I had the Tomb Raider cocktail (they couldn’t promote it enough!), among other drinks. My alcoholism cost me P900, but it was the perfect way to end our Angkor Adventure!

The next day we didn’t have to wake up too early for we only had one tour left in Siem Reap. This was in the Kampung Phluk River Village, Siem Reap’s very own water world. It’s basically their version of our Badjaos. It was pretty cool to look at the houses built on stilts, and even more amazing is how the residents don’t fall down into the water. Or maybe they do, but they just swim anyway!

 

After our tour, David took us yet again to another branch of the Neary chain of restaurants, which his friend owned. I had some fresh spring rolls just to appease my appetite. This was the last meal we would have with David around anyway.

We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping at the Old Market. I rented a bicycle for US$1 so I could tour around more easily, and to beat the heat, ate some ice cream.

By the time I got back to the hostel, I had several shopping bags worth of Cambodia pants (similar to jodphurs), Bohemian skirts, and other kitschy stuff.

We had some time before our bus ride to Phnom Penh, so we hung out at the hostel’s lounge. I actually wish I brought a swimsuit for they had a very tempting swimming pool.

 

We had dinner at Amok Restaurant It looked very swanky with the second floor view, dim lights, and china setting. The food did not disappoint as well. I was liking Khmer cuisine more and more!

We then checked out of the hostel, and found our way to the bus stop to ride the sleeper bus that would bring us to Phnom Penh.