is another early flight for us just like what we had for HK..and this time is much earlier.. checking in was quite fast.. drinking tea..waking ourselves up when we are then really wakened during the check in process..
lady at counter says.. :"u need a visa to enter cambodia".
us:"huh?? visa?? i tot singaporean dun nd to apply?how come now need?"
lady:"is the company's regulations"
us: *disbelieved*
we were kind of afraid visa application has to be done so weeks before we embark on our journey..if tat's the case..it will be very bad!so being doubtful.. i went checkin at the free-net-access pcs in airport.. cambodia embassy say " singaporeans do not need to apply.".
to reconfirm again..when we go on board plane ask air stewardess.. she claims"i am not so sure.I will check for you".but she never returned with an answer. :|
we arrived at ard 2hrs plus in Siem Reap International Airport..im amazed at the outline of this airport..never have i ever see such a small airport which look like a holiday resort..but facilities wise,it is good enough.. without further delay,we went check out if we really need a visa that will have cost us US25...true enough,singaporeans do nt need a visa to enter cambodia as well as people from malaysia i tink..
view of siem reap from airplane
the queue was really short cuz jetstar is the only flight arriving at tat airport at tat moment..it practically parks at its lot like a car in a carpark and we just alighted from it..picking up our luggage,we walked out of this airport and met the representative from our guesthouse,whom i forgot his name haha..when we saw him,he was holding to this big signboard spelling out "Zhisheng".. beside him are some other guesthouses' reps... we took this car to our guesthouse "Angkor Voyage Villa" in the heart of Siem Reap....
A short introduction: Siem Reap is also known as "Siamese defeated".it is not the capital of cambodia.Phnom Penh is the capital of this country while the famous Angkor Wat is located in Siem Reap.This obviously will attract huge loads of tourists to visit this place and bring in large revenues for the people.
reaching our guesthouse in about 20mins, we met the owner,Mr Vichay,whom we have been discussing certain details over email before we arrived,trying to make sure accomodation and places which we wanna visit are made convenient to us....the outlook of this guesthouse looks good..owner looks friendly and we hurried to settle in our room before further discussion.what greeted me as i enter the room is none other than... MOSQUITOES....
and so...we were armed with insect repellants,baygons and anti-mosquito patches.. u may think is too excessive a concern but cambodia is reported to be one of the places with high rates of people gettng dengue and plenty of mosquitoes.. i sprayed throughly..sweeping out all possible flying matters asap before i can really relax man haha..so aftr tat.. we went discussing with vichay on what we are going to do in the next few days.. the planning seem good.. transport seem well taken care of... negotiate and bargain prices for transport needs some skills.. and mind u..u reallie have to state it clear what you want...dun ever assume they know what u want..i have plenty to say in the upcoming posts.. a bit of a scam but not too aggressive..i mean is kinda understood when tourism seems to be the main source of income for people over there aside from farming..fishing etc.. to conclude.. tourists have to be careful with your money and where your money is going to be spent at!
Day 1 Itinerary:
a)Silkworm Farm
b)War Museum
c)Central Market
d)Old Market
e)Angkor Market
seems like we have much to cover on our 1st day.. pretty excited for we are going to reach those places by tuktuk which is much cheaper than a car of cuz..the experience was great for me..kinda dangerous but thrilling.. traffic over there seem less harsh than what i saw in thailand that time.. probably there are reallie fewer cars..people travel by tuktuk..bicycles.. and motorbikes.. but haha as compared to what hp mentioned about vietnam where u are bombarded by people calling out to u "motorbikes??motorbikes??"..such occurence didnt happen to us in siem reap..haha..
us in tuktuk!
the way to silk farm was reallie bumpy..a lot of holes in the road.. not well-paved roads.. i did collide to the wooden seats a few times during the journey.. not to mention the dust that wipe my face like a wettowel.. boy... we quickly put on our sunglasses to avoid irritation to the eye.. the driver is brother of vichay,whcih we supposed..he is still considered a safe driver..wearing helmets and slowing down to receive a call etc.. we do see drivers without helmets and drive recklessly..along the way to silk farm.. we saw how life in cambodia is..their people.. their way of living.. their transport.. their cows.. their plants.. their scenery and of cuz little innocent children who do seem tough and really frenly...
after ard 30mins,we finally reached silkfarm.it's an enlightenment to know how silk is made,how different colors of silk is produced,its applications etc.. totally cool!
mulberry field-- the silkworms need to consume these leaves as food
the workers~
is kind of cruel... becuz these worms spin the silk and they themselves are buried within their product.to obtain the silk,you need to kill the worms in within and this is done via boiling in hot water!
this is the final product obtained before dyeing with different colors
the materials used for producing silk of different colors.is totally nature!
life cycle of silk worms
following are pics of people at work in the workshop~
after the tour.. 1st lunch in Siem Reap at "The Blue Pumpkin"
we had Khmer food....
tat's my meal..fish stew i think
b)Our next destination is to the War Museum
is basically like a dumping ground for those weapons,machines used during war time..is like in midst of a forest where they exhibit these treasures..they also cardon off areas suspected of havng landmines.. kind of scary.. we just have to be extremely careful of where our foots land..
machine used during the Pol Pot Regime
c)Next Stop: to the Markets..
Old Market, Central Market, Angkor Market..3 markets.. how long do u think we need to spend?..im amazed at ourselves too.. just 1 day! is like these 3 markets are trios-of-a-kind.. totally same in the stuff which they sell just that prices may differ by small amount.. we fished out souvenirs and our photoalbum at these markets.. seeking for the best price.. is reallie different as compared to markets in Thailand which I went to.. less bustling.. less crowded.. and more pushy owners who keep persuading you to "buy something".. haha but is still an eyeopener of what markets look like in Siem Reap.. there's still rooms for a lot of improvement in my opinion if they wanna have more business and customers haha..
we ended our door by having dinner at the guesthouse..
Khmer style of curry... kinda rich in coconut..but overall tasty
me with my fish steak...
buys for the day..
-LIGHTS OUT-
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