Gracy Bee

Cambodia 11 Mar 08

Posted on April 7th, 2008 by GracyBee.
Categories: Places, Travel.

11 Mar 08: HOT!!!!!

Yippee!!!! We’re finally leaving Phnom Penh! Don’t get me wrong….Phnom Penh is all right, but staying there for too long is really bored! Plus I’m really looking forward to Siem Reap as that is the essence of this trip!

 ^^^^^^

As our time schedule have been brought forward to 0730, we get up in wee hours in the morning to get all prepared. We didn’t managed to take the picture of the hotel when we arrived, so Baby took it before we left the hotel.

 Verdict of the hotel: Good location, but can do better with the cleanliness and facilities.

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A van took us to the main station to take the coach to Siem Reap. Oops…while on the bus, I knew something is not right as there are duplications of seats. But who cares at this moment, it is they who want us to change…so we did get our seats at the back. The whole journey was about 5 hours. Similar to the timings from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur.

We finally leave at 0915, and along the way, I realised that there was another point of pick up AND……..the bus is already full. Oh dear, look like they either forget or miss out one more couple’s booking and they in the end have to sit at the lower deck. Lucky they were not picky if not we have to move down cos we took their seats (not deliberately, but was pre assigned by the company)

We finally set off after a while. Felt funny though: how come there were such strong smell of petroleum?

We passed by the villages and farms along the way to Siem Reap.

The dry land

It is only now that I knew it is a dry season in Cambodia. Dry means NO RAIN for 2 months AT LEAST. Phew, no wonder we are burnt for the last few days.

I felt sad though. The cows struggled to find grass to eat; the children finding water to play and settled in playing with muddy or algae-filled water; the land is bare and dry that is not able to support agriculture. Now that I felt blessed to live in Singapore where rain is abundant.

The dried up pond

We had our 1st rest stop and proceed to the loos. Then this caught my attention.

OMG.

In Singapore where they emphasised on the safety and limited load, right here in Cambodia, that don’t seem such a case. They really fill the poor van right to the rim and beyond!! This one sure kenna very severe fines if they decided to do this in Spore! haha

Tested beyond the ideal capacity

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Then halfway through, our coach’s tyre burst. BOMBED! OH GREAT. Our journey has now interrupted. The damages……under a hot, burning afternoon sun

 The punctured tyre

Up close

It was obvious that they don’t have the proper tools to deal with the situation. U can imagine them using the tools meant for a small car’s punctured tyres. And they were very experienced. Hm…don’ tell me this happen very frequently?

The whole episode lasted for nearly 3 hours.  Everybody started to get restless and finally it is time to go. We are already 4 hours behind schedule and we were making another stop!

Alas….another delay…………

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Finally it was all clear to go after another round of tyre change. By the time we reached Siem Reap, it was nearly 5pm when we were supposed to reach at 1230pm. We were immediately mobbed by the tuk tuk drivers eagarly to take business. We saw our driver from afar and quickly made our way there after we got our luggage.

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After our stay in the hotel in Phnom Penh, we don’t dare to put high hopes in the one in Siem Reap. But we were wrong. It was so much better! It was much cleaner, much better environment and facilities. Our room were also a lot better with cooler air conditioning.

We even have our welcome drinks brought to us in our room! A good way to unwind after the unpleasant experience on the road.

Yummy lime juice!

 It was dinner time by the time we fully settled down. We decided not to roam around the town as initally planned, and so we had our dinner in the hotel restaurant itself.

The restaurant

 A very nice ambience where we can relax while having our meal. We decided to order ginger chicken and their local dish. OOhh..that is yummy! Tasted like mixture of tom yam and green curry! Just to my liking!

End of day

Very exhausting day, but still looking forward to go Angkor wat!! Planning to do that tomorrow!

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