By the end of September 2013, Papa left for Cambodia to work. He promised to us that we will go there by December.
December came and Siem Reap greeted me with warmth despite the cool weather there. It felt like home <3
Christmas was coming, all the hotels were shining and shimmering.
We checked in at Jasmine Family Lodge. Price per night per room is $18 to $20. We stayed here for 2 nights.
(US dollars is the currency in Cambodia, but they also have Cambodian Riel KHR)
First day came. Say hello to Mama and the homie-feels of Jasmine Lodge.
All set to explore Angkot Wat. This is Saran, out Tuktuk driver. He agreed to tour us for $6, whole day including the night market. $6/ 4 $1.5, not bad.
Our lodging was 15 minutes away to the temples. You can also rent a bike and explore the temples on your own. Just make sure you have a map & a bottled water with you. Also always bring your passport with you :)
Upon entering the temples, the stunning Mekong River welcomed us.
An Angkor Pass worth $20 is required before you enter any temple. At first I thought it was so costly, but when I finally saw the temples, it was all worth it.
First stop: Angkor Thom and I had my obligatory tourist photo :) This temple left us a funny thought. Papa was endeavoured by a Monkey. *lol* when I say endeavoured, a monkey jumped on his shoulder and he thought it was Mama tapping him. *lol another*
This old man sitting on the ruins puts heart on the art of this temple.
It was tiring yet we can’t stop exploring. Every temple attracts our curiosity and even though we had to walk from the entrance every temple to the other end where our tuktuk driver was waiting, we did not stop until our stomachs were crying for justice already. We felt the need to eat :)))
So before we had the chance to eat our late lunch, Saran got lost and we cannot contact him.
So “kebs” and we proceed to eating lunch without him.
I forgot the name of this meal but this is chicken something for $4 & buko shake for $2.5 (yeah, food in cambodia is quite expensive)
Next stop, the most awaited Angkor Wat which also means, “temple city”
(Forgive my face again) My favorite tourist photo so far.
It’s a never ending temple. We didn’t get a chance to explore that far far away temple right there because my parents were tired already. (Don’t worry, I went back here after 10 days. I’ll be posting the pictures soon)
Angkor Cafe was just right across the Angkor Wat temple.
$3.5 Cambodian Coffee for me and something cold for the boys.
$4 mango pretzel ice cream
After this, we decided to go home and take some rest in our hotel so we could also gain some energy for the night life endeavour.
Here are some panoramic shots I took :)
Our tuktuk driver dropped us off to a very expensive scarf store. Dude, one scarf costs $100-200 @@. I think Saran thought that we’re a rich family. bwahahahahaha. As Papa would always say, “Maputi lang kami, pero ‘di kami mayaman”
Selfie from the most-tallest siblings. *lol* We wanted to go swimming but I don’t know why we didn’t push through.
Saran picked us up to go to Pub Street. Just in time for dinner.
We opted to eat in a traditional Khmer food. Forgive me but this was the only descent photo I got when we were eating.
Our dinner meal cost $30 for four.
That’s it for the first two days of my Cambodia Diaries. Did I mention that we stayed in Cambodia for 17 days? (within those days, we also did land crossing to Thailand which is 5 hours away from Siem Reap)
I’ll be posting Phnom Penh, Siem Reap part 2, part 3 and Thailand Diaries soon!!!