Day 3 & 4 In Siem Reap, Cambodia

April 25, 2012 (Wednesday)

We woke up late today. At 9:30am, John picked us up at the guesthouse. We went to Wat Preah Prom Rath, a temple in the middle of the city. It was nice, very visually appealing. We even met an Australian guy there who talked to us for a bit and we took a picture with him. Then we went to Old Market to buy some souvenirs and pasalubong. At around 12:30 nn we went for lunch in a nearby restaurant.

Wat Preah Prom Rath

Colorful figurines as souvenirs

Old Market

After lunch, we then decided to get our 15-minute free foot massage at Luck Nuovo. The massage was nice although very quick. It was very relaxing. They also gave us free cold tea and Cambodian sweets. The cold towel was very refreshing too. After the massage, we went to Artisans D'Angkor. It was a workshop where they made artefacts. It was nice to see the wood and stone carving process. We didn't buy anything from there though, just wanted to see what it's like. 

We also went to the Ceramics Center and a quick pass by at the Angkor National Museum. We didn't enter the museum because the entrance fee was expensive. We didn't want to pay $12 just to have a look inside. So we just took a quick picture then went on our way. I took some pictures of the streets of Siem Reap on our way back to the guesthouse. No traffic since the main transportation used there are tuktuks and motorcycles.

Worker at Ceramic Center

Angkor National Museum

Street traffic in Siem Reap

It was 3:30pm when we arrived in the guesthouse and after an hour's rest, at 4:30pm a tuktuk fetched me. I booked a Quad Adventure tour in the afternoon. My dad and bro didn't want to do it, so I went alone. I paid $28 for a 1-hour countryside tour on a Quad bike. I really enjoyed the whole experience. It was my first time to ride a quad bike, so I was nervous at first. But when I got the hang of it, it was pretty easy. I enjoyed the countryside and the best thing was the children. All the children I met on the tour were all waving at me and smiling and they were just so adorable. 

It was dark when I finished the tour. They got another tuktuk to bring me back to the guesthouse. At 7:30 we went to have dinner at a place called HaSan just across our guesthouse. It was like a Singaporean steamboat, for $4 each, eat all you can.

That night, we met with Mia, a former colleague, and her boyfriend to experience the night life in Siem Reap. We asked John to join us and we had a great time. We also went Karaoke for 2 hours. I had fun that night. It was around midnight when we went back to the guesthouse.

April 26, 2012 (Thursday)

Today we woke up late, had breakfast at the guesthouse, and then just hung out in our room until it was time for lunch. At around 1pm, we took a tuk-tuk to KFC. I ordered my favorite, Zinger. After lunch, we went for a whole body massage at a nearby massage place (I forgot the name). For $10 an hour, I can say it was worth it. Actually it's not much different from our massages in the Philippines, just a couple of different strokes, I think. The massage ended at about 3:30pm.

Complimentary breakfast @ Sam So Guesthouse

KFC Siem Reap

Massage Center

Then after the massage, we went back the guesthouse. I called up John to pick us up at 4:30pm because I wanted to go to another temple before leaving Siem Reap. We climbed up a hill to Phnom Bakheng temple to catch the sunset. After an hour or so of waiting, the sun went down and I shot some pictures. I even met Doris, a girl from the Netherlands, and we talked for a bit while watching the sunset. When it started to get dark, we started our descent and drove back to the city to get dinner. 

Phnom Bakheng @ Sunset

We dropped by Lucky Mall to buy some chips first, then John took us to Orchidee Restaurant for our dinner. We rushed through our meal because we didn't want to be late for our flight, which was at 10:30pm. We paid and checked out of Sam So Guesthouse, with smiles and greetings from the nice owners to send us off. Our flight was delayed for an hour that night. We arrived in Manila at 3:45am instead of 2:10am. Aside from the flight delays and some other minor setbacks, we enjoyed our trip to Siem Reap.