1 August 2018, Wednesday
It was going to be another day of travelling, as I would be making my way northwest across Cambodia from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. Initially, I considered taking a detour southwest to the coastal city of Sihanoukville but I found out that getting there wasn’t so straightforward, and the onward journey to Thailand would also be quite cumbersome. As I was running out of money and energy, I decided to take the most convenient and direct route to Siem Reap instead, and later from there to Bangkok.
At 7:15am, I went to the ground floor of my hostel for breakfast. My room rate did not include breakfast so I paid an additional US$2.00 (S$2.86) for a simple breakfast set, comprising an omelette, toast, coffee and fresh fruits.
At 8:00am, a shuttle bus came to pick me up from Onederz hostel to the Giant Ibis bus terminal. Actually, Onederz is not among the list of accommodations with complimentary pick up service, but their sister hostel, One Stop, is. Yesterday, I asked the staff at Onderz if they could pull strings and help me arrange for complimentary pickup, and to my surprise, they did. Kudos to the wonderful staff at Onderz, who helped me save a short taxi ride!
Today’s Giant Ibis bus was newer than the one I took yesterday from Ho Chi Minh City but otherwise, it was just as spacious and comfortable. Likewise, snacks in the form of a small pastry from the Blue Pumpkin and a bottle of water were provided. One difference was that the crew today issued a luggage tag for my big backpack that I kept in the storage bay below, while the bus yesterday did not do so. This gave me a piece of mind. It was just a small difference in the service provided, even though it’s the same Giant Ibis bus company.
We departed Phnom Penh at 8:48am. The 320km journey would take about six hours. I was well-prepared for the ride as I had bought a new book (actually, secondhand) last night to read on the bus. As I flipped through the pages of Long Way Round, I read about Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman’s epic motorbike journey across the continents and drew a parallel with my own grand adventure. It was a very inspiring read.
At 9:51am, we took a short break at the Batheay rest area, where I had a quick cup of iced milk coffee (2,000 riels) before we moved off at 10:10am. We stopped again at 11:35am for lunch at a restaurant called Banyan Tree, somewhere at the midway point. I had a bowl of chicken green curry with rice for my lunch. We resumed our journey at 12:14pm and arrived Siem Reap at 2:51pm.
From the Giant Ibis bus terminal, I paid US$3 to take a tuk tuk to my accommodation. As I sat at the back with the breeze against my face, I felt a sense of déjà vu as memories of my last visit to Siem Reap in 2012 came flooding back. I have to tell you that I enjoyed my stay thoroughly the last time round. I loved it the moment my plane landed at the very cosy and welcoming airport. When I took the tuk tuk from the airport to my guest house, I could feel right away that Siem Reap was just special. During that trip, I spent two days touring the famous temples. Visiting the spectacular ruins of Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm, Angkor Thom and Banteay Srei remains a highlight till this day.
Back to the present…for this current trip, I allocated two days here because the past few days had been heavy on travelling so I wanted to recuperate and enjoy Siem Reap. As I had already toured the temples last time, I didn’t want to do it again, so two nights here were sufficient. I booked a hostel called Lub d (click here), located at 7 Makara Street, Wat Bo Village, Sala Kamreuk Commune. My 10-bed dorm room cost US$14.58 (S$18.87) for two nights, excluding breakfast. Just like at Onederz, there were no privacy curtains but the bed was very comfortable and the sheets were clean.
Lub d was a very new, colourful and hip hostel. It would be perfect for those who love to socialise and hang out by the pool to meet like-minded people. It was a social hostel, but thankfully, not a noisy one. It was not my usual kind of hostel but it looked nice so I thought I would give it a try.
There was an Adventure Travel Co. tour desk within the hostel so I went over to enquire about some activities I could do tomorrow. I told the staff that I like physical activities and that I joined a cycling tour in Hoi An and enjoyed it very much. He suggested a couple of options and I chose the Kayaks and Oxcarts Countryside Tour, where I would visit a small countryside market, kayak on a lake, have lunch at a bamboo hut, take an oxcart ride through the local villages and visit a Buddhist pagoda. It sounded really interesting so I happily booked the tour and paid US$49 (S$68.67) for it.
At 4:20pm, I headed out to explore Siem Reap. Lub d was strategically located just 500m away from Pub Street, the heart of all the nightlife action. As its name suggests, Pub Street is where you will find all the pubs and entertainment. In the day, the area around Pub Street was relatively quiet as most of the tourists were still busy touring the Angkor temples.
From my last visit, I knew that beer is super cheap in Siem Reap. Sure enough, it didn’t take me long to find a restaurant with a billboard at its entrance, advertising a mug of Cambodia draft beer at only US$0.50. I went in and ordered a large Hawaiian pizza to go with my beer. The meal came up to US$8 (S$11.44), which was reasonable.
While I was enjoying my pizza and beer, I received an email from Triple-A Adventure tour company. Apparently, they called Lub d but couldn’t reach me, so they sent an email to inform me that the Kayaks and Oxcarts Countryside Tour tomorrow would not be taking place anymore because they couldn’t find a tour leader. They offered to give me a full refund.
However, I really wanted to do something to occupy my day so I asked if I could go on the Countryside Cycling and Floating Village Tour instead, since it was the same price. Thankfully, there were other guests who had already booked the tour so it would be taking place. And luckily, they had a slot for me so they switched me over. I was quite disappointed not to be able to kayak, but cycling was fine too.
After that, I continued exploring the surrounding area. There were several markets around Pub Street so I just spent the rest of the evening walking from one market to another. They all sold similar stuff so it became homogenous after a while. Nevertheless, it was still nice to soak in the atmosphere, especially as night arrived and Pub Street became even more lively.
When I retreated back to the hostel at about 9:00pm, I found it quiet and peaceful. I suppose most of the other guests were out at Pub Street partying the night away. I ordered a bowl of French Fries and another mug of beer (US$3.50 / S$5) to wind down my night. Ahhh, it feels good to be back at Siem Reap. Looking forward to my cycling tour tomorrow!
