It came to the end of the year 2011, and it was a long weekend holiday at Thailand. This time, there were plenty of Malaysians abroad and we were thinking of having some "overseas trip" (despite we were already overseas). After some studies done, we found out that the cheapest option we could have was a trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Cambodia, once known as the Khmer Empire, has a rich historical background, from the prehistoric era till the Angkorian era, then came the French colonization, Cambodian' independence and civil war. Cambodia has seen so much of glories and destruction over thousands of years. Today, as a country which the economy is highly impacted by the fast growing tourism industry, Cambodia has so much to offer for the visitors stepping into the Khmer border.
Planning a trip to Cambodia from Bangkok wasn't so tedious, as we have decided to travel by train. First of all, flight tickets were so bloody expensive during the New Year weekend, and only limited seat available. Secondly, we thought that it would be a brand new experience for us to enjoy the scenery of the rural part of Eastern Thailand during the train journey. Thirdly, it was so damn cheap! Based on online reviews, the ticket should cost around 50THB per person, what a bargain!
In order to get to Siem Reap, we went to Hua Lamphong train station to purchase our tickets. As we already knew the ticket costs about 50THB per person, but to our surprises, due to some local holiday which I forgot what holiday was that, the ticket was free for locals, and 2THB per person for foreigners for the whole 7-hour journey! OMG such a superbly great deal!
This is a 3rd class train, departing at 5:55 a.m.
As you can expect from the 3rd class train, only free seating was available for the travelers. The train was not air-conditioned, and travelers were to sit on the thin cushioned benches whenever empty space was available. Whoever that came up late would have to stand throughout the journey unless somebody left the train.
Did you see it? Even the window frames were made by woods! Not even glass window.
The train arrived at Aranyaprathet where we would need to walk across the border of Thailand-Cambodia.
The scorching heat really made us knowing what was waiting for us in the next 3 days of journey. Walking passed the Thai border, the casinos were like mushrooms grown after the rain, situated at every single corner after the Thai border.
The Angkor Wat shaped border control welcoming us to the land of Khmer
Getting our passport stamped, which the stamp was having Angkor Wat in it!
After crossing the immigration of Cambodia, we grabbed a quick lunch at the food stall nearby. There was not much choices of food at the border area, and the price was kinda throat cutting, crazily expensive! A few vendors approached us during the meal for hired transportation, and we negotiated for a van heading to Siem Reap. The journey took around 2 hours, with lush green paddy fields on the both sides of the road.
A group shot during the long windy journey.
At around 4 p.m., we arrived in the Siem Reap city. We saw plenty of nice and luxurious hotels along the way to our hotel, drooling and dreaming which one could be ours. Then, the story took a sharp turn when the van came to a junction and all of us were shocked and multiple question marks kept popping out. Our hired van turned into a muddy path! Holy Crap! The first thing that struck our mind was, "Will the hotel situated along muddy path be unpleasant or even worse, haunted?" OMG this would be creepy if it was for real!
Moments later, we came to this Im Malis Hotel, a 3-star hotel which I booked via Agoda. From the exterior of the hotel, hmm, not too pleasant as we were still overwhelmed by the luxurious hotels along the way. Too bad for Im Malis Hotel which seems unattractive to us, after we had passed by so many other hotels. Upon arriving at the lobby, we were welcomed by chilled orange juice and a warm towel each to rejuvenate, and the staffs were friendly and polite as well! You definitely cannot judge the book by its cover! Rooms were OK for the price we paid, which the triple room and double room cost 23USD and 18USD per night, respectively. Clean enough to be priced at such a competitive rate, and it was just 5 minutes walking from the night market/pub street. A strategic and convenient location!
For the night, we went to the night market and took our dinner. Dinner was comparatively cheap as we were in a big group of 8 and we were able to share dishes which cost 3USD per dish (back then when the exchange rate was only 1USD to MYR 2.95 T__T)
The view of the night market
Tourists and locals gathered around a stage built in the middle of night market, where a live band was performing the upcoming New Year celebration
Simple decoration along Siem Reap river for the upcoming New Year celebration
All of us slept early as we were pretty tired after traveling for more than 400 km from Bangkok to Siem Reap. The non-air conditioned train actually took a toll on us, especially under the tropical heat and humidity. After a good night sleep, more exciting adventures were waiting for us the next day!
