Our second day at Siem Reap was a rather relaxing one.

I fell in love with Siem Reap the moment I reached Golden Banana’s hotel although they made a mistake.
Most of the Khmerian are nice people. Friendly, polite, helpful and also with an eager to learn attitude.
They’re eager to find out where we came from and how is our home country like.
They’re nice and humble, making me feel so comfortable being at Siem Reap.

We woke up really early on the second day and we went for a morning swim before we checked out.

I enjoyed swimming in Siem Reap so much, I swam everyday. I love jumping into the pool when the sun is scorching hot, one of the best feeling. (:

We headed to Angkor National Museum to further understand Cambodia, Angkor empire and their beliefs.
The entrance is expensive but I can ensure you that it is worth the money.
12USD entrance fee and an additional of 3USD for the audio tour which is a must or else you wouldn’t know what you’re about to look at.

Pictures are not allow in the museum but well, I just cant resist taking a few.

Lintel.

A mini version of the infamous Angkor Wat.

After spending hours at Angkor National Museum, our tummy were pretty much growling.
We told our tuk tuk driver to bring us to a place where he usually had his lunch, we were opting for something cheap. We want local food.

5.50USD for everything that’s on the table, rice included. The place was dirty and we both were skeptical about the food served and it really did took us by surprise.
The food taste so good!

I brought over some medicine just in case if we both are down with diarrhea and thank god there’s no need for that.
The place is dirty but I guess the food served was clean, or that we both have a pretty strong immune system.

Just look at the amount of tissues on the floor and flies flying around that you can’t see.

One thing I noticed in Siem Reap is that they do have a lot of cute doggies around.
Not the usual medium size mix breed that you see here in Malaysia, theirs are the furry mini shih tzu type kind of dogs.
We see them everywhere and they look so cute, despite being dirty.

You get what I mean? They’re really adorable. (:

We took a walk after our lunch and for a moment I knew Fatty was trying to plan a revenge.
I ALMOST MELTED WALKING UNDER THE SUN!! My exposed feet was literally burning!
Because I choose to walk in the dark while flying insects flew around, he wanted me to be burn alive!

It’s a nice place to explore especially when there’s a lot of artistic and designer shops or cafes, but maybe just not under the 40 degree sun. :\

Creative fence with the lyrics of a song that I really love. Imagine by John Lennon.

Walked into a thought provoking cafe and I wish this cafe is mine.
It was so hot I wasn’t in the mood to sit and have a drink, so I went back on the fourth day. More on that later.

Seriously so hot even the umbrella cant stop the midget above from melting.

We walked back to our hotel and damn, that was a right choice.
If we continue walking, I swear I’m gonna pant and god knows what happens next.

I booked Frangipani Villa Hotel for our second and third night stay which is about Rm90 per night only.
Repeat after me; ‘cheap’.

Bicycles are available for rent, in between 1USD to 2USD for the whole day.

Decorated with plants and lotus, soothing for the eyes.

Swimming pool and right opposite is where we had our breakfast.

Bed and…

…our bathroom.

The room is smaller compared to Petit Villa’s, as well as the bathroom but at least it is kept really clean by the hotel.
Also, the price is 50% cheaper. It’s even better than our First World Hotel where you can see baby roaches walking pass you easily.

We went for a swim and we took a rest which was our daily routine when we were there before we head out for dinner.

At our hotel’s lobby waiting for someone to pick us up to dinner.

Their rattan couch is so comfortable I wish I could have one at home.

Touich Restaurant whereby they’ll offer a free pick up from our hotel to the restaurant.

I researched on places to eat at Siem Reap through Trip Advisor and Touich Restaurant tops the list.
I made a list of restaurants that I wanted to try and my advise to you guys is ‘stick with the local foods’.
Most of the restaurants that were recommended by travelers on Trip Advisor are pricey restaurants and there’s something lacking in these restaurants. Some kind of flavours that I cant explain.
That Siem Reap flavour.

Trust me, save those money and try whatever you can see by the roadside, under the trees, in their market or just wherever.

Don’t take me wrong, the food was nice. Just that I’d prefer to eat what the locals eat everyday and taste their life in Siem Reap while I can.

Starter.

Beef.

Baked fish.

Eggplant.

Sorry lah I cant remember what are the names of these dishes and how much it costs us. Around 25USD, if I’m not mistaken.
Skipped Pub Street for day two, we both need to wake up for Angkor Wat at 4am the next day.

Stay tune for my 3rd day at Siem Reap post. (:

Frangipani Hotel
Address: No. 0603, Street Wat Bo, Siem Reap Town, Cambodia

Tel : +855 16 581 045

+855 63 963 030

+855 63 965 050

E-mai: reservations@frangipanihotel.com

Siem Reap, a place I never knew existed.
Siem Reap, a place I never thought of going.
Siem Reap, a place I’ve been.
And Siem Reap, a place I will never regret going.

I still do not know what to expect from this place called Siem Reap despite all those researches I’ve made for our itinerary.
I was excited and worried all together. Excited to explore a new place yet worried that this place might not suit my liking.

Our flight was at 6.50 on a Saturday morning. I was such a sleepyhead I almost wanted to say screw this and let me continue my sleep.
We both slept as long as we could and before we’re done getting ready, our taxi was here waiting for us.
Fatty’s mom wanted to fetch the both of us to airport but this fatty doesn’t want his mom to wake up early and drove us all the way, especially when the sky is still dark.
He can be such a nice guy sometimes. Just sometimes, haha.

Our 5 days 4 nights trip to Siem Reap cost the both of us about Rm1550 each.
Will break it down along the post.

We took AirAsia to Siem Reap and my two way tickets total up to Rm610.
Also I took out Rm600 to exchange it into USD.
Yes , the currency they use in Siem Reap are their Riaul and also USD. Mainly on USD though.
And the remaining Rm350 is to cover our 4 nights accomodation.

We stayed for 4 nights but we booked a total of 3 different hotels and to be frank I like it that way.
I’m a greedy person when it comes to experience and memories. Or you can call me undecisive.
I want to try as many hotels as possible, as much food as I can, to go to as many different places as I can and create lots and lots of different new memories.
It feels like the more places I go to, the more inspired I am by different kinds of people and their culture.
I cant tell how much I love this really.

Sleepy and naked face.

I saw a few japanese girls at LCCT, all dolled up and dressed up in style at 6am in the morning.
I respect their efforts, I am so lazy I rather sleep for 20 more minutes.

We were on the plane for a total of 2 hours before the plane touched down.
Fatty was so sleepy he slept even before the plane took off.

We took a taxi to our hotel in the city and it costs us 7USD.
Unfortunately our hotel’s staff made a mistake and made the wrong booking, so we have to swapped dates with the hotel we booked for our last day of stay.
I did not make a fuss about it, it’s the same anyway and they’re really nice people. So it’s okay. (:

We reached Siem Reap pretty early and we weren’t able to check in yet so we head out and go to our first destination, which is ‘The Killing Field’.

Our Tuk Tuk driver named Chanyit (not sure if I got his name right). He’s a really nice guy, we booked him for our entire stay at Siem Reap.

Before we went to Killing Field, I told Chanyit that I wanted to buy a simcard with 3g so that I can go online.
What a great move, their data plan is so incredibly cheap! I paid 3USD for a 1GB data which will only expire after a month.
It’s only about Rm9+!! By far the cheapest data plan I’ve came by.

‘The Killing Field’ at Wat Thmey which is free of charge.
These are real skeletons from their civil war. It’s a scary one when you know how many of them actually perished in the war.

Buddha, our God.

I miss sitting on this Tuk Tuk, very much.

After ‘The Killing Field’ we went to the ‘War Musuem’ which was suggested by Chanyit.
5USD per entrance.

This is our ‘tour guide’ inside the war musuem. Sorry I cant remember his name.
He explained to us what happened during the war, he introduced us to Pal Pot who was a friend of Mao Zedong (yeah you get the picture) and he showed us what weapon was used back then to take peoples’ life.
He was once a soldier which explains why he lost one of his arm. I am truly sympathetic.

I wasn’t at ease when he told me what happened during Cambodia’s civil war, yet I was eager to know.
I never understand the reason behind wars. I mean I know why these people want to start a war, but WHY?
It is unavoidable as some say it but I cant comprehend. I never can.
I remembered my friend once said, ‘Don’t talk to her about wars or anything related to that, she’s too weak she cant take it’.
Yes, I can cry in the middle of discussion on wars, I just CANNOT! T_T

I do pity the ‘tour guide’ BUT after he finished telling us stories he asked for a donation.
Which is fine of course, and we gave him a dollar each. Then he said, ‘Maybe you all can give 5 dollars or 10 dollars each?’.
My bulging eyes almost dropped. Oooookay so I gave him 4 dollars all together and he said, ‘I’m sorry your donation is too small.’
I was screaming inside of me, ‘WHAT!? YOU MUST BE KIDDING ME!’.

What kind of a person will said that ‘Your donation is too small’? Donation is from heart, dude!

And this dummy above said, ‘I don’t have small change.’.
I had to scream for a second time inside of me, ‘DUDE SO YOU MEAN YOU”RE SO RICH YOU DON’T HAVE SMALL CHANGE? OMG SO STUPID!’
He is indeed very bad at these, my god.

Bombs.

I walked into that area where Fatty was standing and I almost tripped on a wire. I was so afraid I ran out straight away.
Fatty said I’d be dead if the bombs were still there. Scare the crap out of me.

Soldiers who drove this tank above had their legs locked up so that they cant run and eventually will die because there’s no way they can escape.

Fatty asked me to climb into the plane! A lot of spirits okay, I don’t wanna risk my peaceful days.

Fei zai, nei hou yau ying ahhh!

Went to Green Star to have lunch after our trip to ‘War Museum’. Food was okay, but not worth a mention. Not so much, but Fatty ate a cricket when the lady boss offered him. I was shocked!!
When offered the second piece, he figured it’s a bad idea, haha. We chit chat a little with her husband who was an Australian and the guys were enjoying their Australia talk.

Petit Villa Boutique and Spa, our hotel for first night which was just a stone throw away from Green Star.

The first sight that greeted us as we walked in.

Where we had our breakfast the next morning.

And this is where we stayed. I really love this boutique hotel!
I always prefer boutique hotels than normal hotels because there’ll be lesser crowds and boutique hotels often have a unique taste to it.
Of course luxury hotel is always nice but I really fancy boutique hotels a lot. Attentive to details. (:

Welcome drinks and cold towels to refresh ourselves. All of the hotels gave us welcome drinks and cold towels and it is little things like this that makes me happy. And damn, their welcome drink was so good! Blended mango, real mangos!

And look how sweet and nice of them, it says ‘Welcome Peggy’. (:

And this is what attracted me to booked this boutique hotel, their bathroom. Such a nice and unique bathroom, I enjoyed my time showering in it. Haha.

Not to mention it’s spacious too.

I enjoyed dipping in the bathtub…

…while Fatty enjoyed his sunbathing.

Swimming pool. (:

Hotels in Siem Reap are so much cheaper compared to hotels in other countries, I wonder why.
Our one night stay in Petit Villa Boutique and Spa including free breakfast costs us about Rm180+.
So worth it I’m about to cry, hahaha.

After swimming and resting and what not, we went out for some adventurous ride.

Siem Reap is a really dusty place, it is a good idea to bring a towel or scarf to protect yourself from the dusts.

We head over to Quad Adventure for a sunset ride at Siem Reap’s countryside.

All geared up.

I wish I was brave enough to try riding it at least for awhile but I’m still traumatized by the stupid car accident few years ago. I dare not drive or ride anything except for bicycle.
Fatty had a fun time riding it and I too had a fun time sitting behind of him, enjoying the breeze and the countryside.

One of the house we passed by.

Of all the activities, he loves this the most. Specially picked this just for him. (:

We took about half an hour to reach the paddy fields, the spot where we watched the beautiful sunset.

Paddy fields! It was nice staring at paddy fields while seeing the sun set slowly.

Especially when you enjoy such a view with the love of your life. (:

Did I mentioned it’s a breathtaking one?

A total of 14km ride, it costs us 38USD and it is a must do if you ever visit Siem Reap.
It’s fun and thrilling plus we get to see how Siem Reap’s countryside is like.

We head to dinner straight after at Tangram, just a few walks away from Petit Boutique Hotel.

A nice restaurant, just that there were a little too many mosquitoes and insects flying around but other than that everything else was great.
There’s only three tables of people when we were there, probably because it is a little expensive for the locals.

Pork chop with mushroom cream sauce – 7.50USD.
The pork chop was tender and juicy and Fatty was impressed because it is not at all easy to not turn a pork chop into a hard and dry one.

After our dinner we walked to Pub Street and Fatty hated me so much at that moment because the roads were so dark he thought that it was a very bad idea to walk but I insisted.
Especially when there ware all these flying insects flying around, he hates flying insects to the core.
We did not hang out at Pub Street for long, we were dead tired from waking up at 4am in the morning.

That is all for our first day at Siem Reap. Off to bed and had a good rest for our second day.

Petit Villa Boutique & Spa
Wat Damnak, Salakomrouk Commune, Siem Reap Angkor Wat, Kingdom of Cambodia.
Walking distance to Pubstreet, night market
Mobile : +855 888 575 388, Office: +855 63 764 234 , Fax: +855 64 764 235

Quad Adventure Cambodia ATV
We’re only 500 metres from the Old Market (we’re signposted from Martini Disco and Wat Bo Road junction). You can walk or call us and we’ll provide a free pick up from anywhere in town.
Telephone: +855(0)17 784 727 – +855(0)92 787 216
*Go to their website and send them an email to make a reservation, hassle free.