2014.06.05 | 陰陽魔界

[Volume 9 Issue 6, #1901] 向博客致敬系列(1) ■ Tribute to Bloggers Series (1) [註] 向博客致敬系列因模仿不同博客寫作風格, 故只有該博客慣用語言, 敬請中文讀者見諒..

My Trip to Siem Reap Cambodia in 2008 Many people fled to Cambodia like swarms of bees since the late 2000s. The reason was very obvious where all wanted to have been to the UNESCO Historical Heritage Site Angkor Wat for once in their lifetime. Probably Angelina Jolie did a very good promotion of the place with her smash hit movie "Tomb Raider". 1. In September 2008, my friends Ethan Lee, Steven Chee, Cheong Lee Shan, Tai Kwai Fung and I hopped on the bandwagon and planned a 4D3N trip to Siem Reap. We took Malaysia Airlines because we managed to grab zero-fare tickets and ended up not a lot dearer than AirAsia, so we flew more comfortably and with food all the way from KLIA to Siem Reap. Forget services by the stewards, all Malaysians are treated the same. 2. We arrived at Siem Reap International Airport. This is just a very small airport and I thought it looks more like a resort to me especially with this photo. 3. Of course we went on budget trip and cannot afford to stay in posh resorts or hotels. This is the guesthouse Villa Siem Reap we stayed for the three nights, situated along a road in town which houses a stretch of other guesthouses. Our friend Ethan Lee chose this and all others happily agreed, as we all were lazy to decide. Muahahaha! 4. After a rest in our rooms, we headed out to explore Siem Reap. There were many tuk-tuk gathered in this area packed with backpackers and holiday makers. We bargained and engaged one to drive us around and this was our first stop at the Central Market. Yes, I like going to local markets when i travel because we get to see real local culture in there. Look, I smiled so gracefully. Wakakaka! 5. Of course there were many things to see in that market. I am not going to post all of them here but this particular one. I hope you didn't get a shock seeing these gory chicken feet. Oh, the poor chickens must have struggled so much that they got stroke and their feet straightened to death. Amitabha. 6. We continued to Angkor Wat to purchase our visitor pass that day. Since Angkor Wat was already closed for the day, we purchased the pass valid for the next day and it includes the entrance to a smaller temple opposite. This similar architecture gives a little preview of the bigger Angkor Wat itself. 7. We had to walked up a hill to reach the temple which is famous for the sunset view at the top of the hill. We were already tracking up the hill with many other visitors, and Holy J when we arrived at the top, this was what we saw! Hundreds of tourists sitting down there waiting to see the sunset like they are sitting in the stadium to watch World Cup in Rio de Janeiro. 8. This was the sunset we saw on top of the hill at the temple. Nothing impressive and I reckon we can see this everywhere. KNNCCB but we did stay up there for a while to take some photos and before the sky got dark, all have to leave the temple and descend the hill. 9. It is said that one must not miss the beautiful sunrise at Angkor Wat. We woke up at 4am the next day and leave for Angkor Wat at 5am although all of us were still very sleepy. KNNCCB again, it was cloudy and slight drizzling that morning, all we could see was the dark silhouette of Angkor Wat in the dark morning! We have to wait in total darkness for an hour before the sky gets brighter to take a photo and then went to eateries opposite for an expensive yet lousy breakfast while waiting for Angkor Wat to open for visits. If we knew the weather was not good, we would rather continue to sleep in till late morning, enjoy breakfast before heading to Angkor Wat. 10. Finally time to get into Angkor Wat. I was so angry that I tried to destroy it! Haha! Of course I am kidding, I certainly am not able to destroy this sacred temple which is almost a thousand years old that survived through so many winds and rains. I just did silly poses for photography purpose. 11. Inside Angkor Wat. Many giant stones skillfully carved to form the structures and left scientists and architects with a mystery on how the ancient people completed such an impossible marvel without technologically advanced facilities. 12. Besides Angkor Wat, our visitor passes also allowed us to visit our temples. These huge stones structures carved into statues are placed along the South Gate leading to the Bayon Temple. If you look closely, each of these stones are different. The fourth one looks like one of my schoolmates but I have forgetten his name. 13. We went to another temple, probably more widely known as the place where Angelina Jolie's "Tomb Raider" was shot. This is the Ta Prohm Temple which I personally find more fascinating. Look at the roots of the trees extending like spilled kampua noodles off the plate. This is just one of the many within the temple. Looked artistic and at the same time a little eerie if you thought of something else. 14. All you can admire with the trip to the Angkor Wat and other temples are these amazing stone structures so skillfully carved and formed into massive architectures. You can opt to buy a 3-day pass but I personally think 1-day is sufficient unless you are going to do archeological research in there. My Anay Twilight Man may need 3 days since he likes to admire ancient stuffs. 15. On the third day we went to Tonle Sap, the biggest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. We were put into a boat to see the lives of fishermen families who live on the lake and earn their livings from the lake. 16. The lake is not a calm one but rather choppy and yet it is so common to see lakers standing on small boats, or even just a metal basin, that looked like almost overturning, so firmly and without the fear of falling. Young kids were brought along on the boats to hawk and haggle their own produces to tourists. But please don't come near me with your pet snake! I swear I will pee in my pants! Wakakaka 17. Later that night, since we were frightened by the girl's pet snake, we went to eat snake in a restaurant in town. Just kidding, we didn't do that purposely but it was on the menu when we sat down. Being adventurous, we ordered a plate of python meat for BBQ. I hesitated a while before popping in my first piece of snake meat, taste like chicken but rather chewy. I pretended to be engaged with other types of meat so that my two friends Ethan Lee and Steven Chee finished the rest of the snake. Haha! 18. It was our last night there, the ladies went shopping at a night market nearby while the guys went for a drink at a posh bar in town. It was truly a huge contrast between these posh places meant for tourists and those really run-down places where the local spend their time. 19. Selfie wasn't popular 6 years back, we just camwhored which was the in-thing then. It was a very comfortable bar with huge sofa you can lie any way you may, like Empress Cixi or Cleopatra. The best thing was we had the whole bar by ourselves. Damn, I looked so young then that I radiated red lights like bulbs in a dim brothel! Wakakaka. 20. The next morning we still have half a day before we needed to get to the airport. Ethan Lee, Cheong Lee Shan and Tai Kwai Fung went to a local school nearby to distribute stationery to the poor students. Steven Chee and I woke up late and missed that, so we enjoyed breakfast in the garden of the guesthouse. It was nice I felt so glam like Zac Efron and Channing Tatum meet up for breakfast. This is a recap of my trip to Siem Reap in 2008. Since it's 6 years ago, I can't remember every detail. Click here if you would like to find out more about the trip.

this post is a tribute dedicated to Twilight Man @ TWILIGHT ZONE (the post title 陰陽魔界 is Twilight Zone translated into Chinese).. TM may not update his blog regularly but all his posts are certainly quality ones that attract lots of readers and secret admirers.. i enjoy reading his posts that blend information and humour into his writing along beautiful pictures, and ah, huge fonts for easy reading too, haha.. outside blogging, TM is a very kind person in real who loves to help, he is also a very knowledgeable person that can give constructive opinions and advices.. dearest Anay, thank you for being there and how do you like this post mimicking your style of blogging?? muahaha.. :p