I caught my VERY early flight to Cambodia… no hitches leaving Thailand… except for the fact that when you enter you get a landing/ entry card and attached to it is also your exit card. No one told me that I should have kept this in a place that I needed. I got to the boarder to exit and I didn’t have it. The lady was not happy… I ripped apart my second carry on and nothing. I just filled out another one and the lady at the boarder just glared at me.
So note to everyone… keep your exit card in a safe and easy to reach place.
I landed in Cambodia and was a wee bit nervous because I didn’t have a visa. I filled out my landing card on the plane and then waited in line. And got to the front. They took my passport asked me if I had a spare passport size photo when I said no the guy was like okay it’ll cost you more. And I was like fuck my life. He points to the wall and is like $32 please. I was floored. First off that it was so cheap and second off that he wanted it in USD! So I took out my spare $100 and paid for it. I felt bad ass that I broke my hundred in Cambodia.
Side note.. I always travel with a spare $100 bill in my wallet after my Bucharest fiasco I never wanted to be caught without money again. It’s my one tid bit of travel advice I often give. It seems reckless to walk around with a large bill but I can tell you it’s even more reckless to leave yourself open to possibly being stranded without money.
So I pay and they take my passport away from me and I’m like ummm…. What next. And I’m ushered around the corner of the desk and to the side where there’s like an assembly line of visa officers. They legit just kind of hold up your passport and you’re like hey that’s mine and you take it and go on to boarder control. And it’s my first official full page visa!!! And it’s so pretty! A bit shiny and lots of green. Totally worth the $32! It’s normally $30 if you have your picture.
I was super thankful that my hostel arranged for a tuktuk to meet me at the airport. I walked out and he was there holding a sign with the hostel and my name. So it was perfect. I was a bit tired and just wanted to take in the drive to the city. But my driver was already trying to sell me a tour to Angkor Wat. And I just wanted to sleep so I was feeling a bit overwhelmed. I just finally went straight up bitch and was like listen I already have my days planned I’m not going tonight and maybe I’ll ask you to take me tomorrow just take me to the freaking hostel!
The ride in was a glimpse of what I was in store for.
The streets reminded me Morocco. They were dirty (and not in the trash dirty way but legit dirt). There were lots of people and there were tons of bikes and tuktuks and cars. We passed these huge and opulent resorts on the main road in but it was weird to see such nicely tended places next to poverty.
When we got there I wanted to tip my tuktuk driver. So I went in search of an ATM. And as I was punching stuff in to get money it came to the amount screen and it gave me choices in USD and I was like okay kind of weird. I guess it converts it for me…. Nope it spit out dollars and I was like what the fuck!! So I walk back to my tuktuk driver and was like sorry I only have US Dollars. And he was like no problem. And I was like okay weird….
I obviously arrived early to check in so I pulled out my laptop and hung out in the common room on wifi. So a few hours later I got to check in and I go to pay and he gives me the price in USD. It was time for me to put aside my fear of looking dumb and I asked him what the deal was. My total was $18.50 and I gave him $20. He explained as he gave me my change of $1 and 2,000 Riel that they accept USD everywhere and instead of coin change they use the Riel because of how weak the currency is.
That was the start of me feeling so weird about buying things in Cambodia! It was so strange to be on the other side of the world and using my native currency. Talk about fucking with your head. It was even more of a mind fuck when I went to buy t shirts and they were dirt cheap. Or my new laptop sleeve made from repurposed rice sacks for $7. I never spent more than $1 on dinner and the biggest chunk of my food budget was water. But that was like $0.80 for 1.5 liters. The money was the weirdest part of Cambodia.
So my first day/ night was spent on a nap and researching Angkor Wat. I wandered the night market for food and postcards.
The food as per usual in South East Asia was AMAZING!
Notes on Angkor… I was totally caught off guard by it. I figured it would be like seeing say Blarney Castle. One structure with some area to wander around it. Nope. Nope and Nope! Angkor Archeological Park is huge!!
When I was trying to arrange seeing it at my hostel they were like you’ve got to rent the tuktuk for the day. And I was like can’t I just have to tuktuk drop me and I wander around. They were like you could…. But…… we don’t advise it. So I grudgingly accepted the fact that I would shell out $25 to hire a tuktuk for the day.
So the next morning I woke up late (surprise surprise because I couldn’t fall asleep and going to bed at 5am doesn’t bode for an early rise). But I got rolling after a quick breakfast and a gathering of water and snack for the day.
I asked the man at the front desk what I had to do to get a tuktuk. He was like easy peasy (apparently tuktuks just hang out at the hostel waiting for such a time as this!). and in my head the whole time I was like please let me get a cool driver.
My Driver was Tu.
He was chill as hell! And super nice plus he was full of fun facts and took me to some off the beaten path temples as well.
So Angkor Archeological park costs $20 for a day pass (ewww I know) but it was the only reason I’d gone to Cambodia so I couldn’t skip it!
And into the park we went!
First stop Angkor Wat!
It was just as epic and amazing as I thought it would be! I got to climb to the top and walk about.
4 hours in I was all sweaty and reapplying sunscreen and a bit temple shocked because it was one temple after another after another. And even though they were all different and lovely it was hot as hell and I was just in shock and awe.
Plus a monkey stole my one pack of snacks!! I hopped out of the tuktuk to see a wild pig and bam!! Snack was stolen! Damn monkey!
But then it was time for more temples. I would get really gross and sweaty from hiking around the temples then I’d hop in the tuktuk and cool off with the breeze. Tu was the easiest to find because he always blared music. It made him easy to find among the hundreds of tuktuks at the park.
By the time the evening and hour 8 rolled around and Tu asked if I was set to head back I was like yes please!!
It was an amazing day spent in the ruins and I loved it!!
I got back and showered then chilled for a bit before I went out to get food at the night market again. Then it was off to sleep…. For what would be the absolute worst night of sleep. Why? Because apparently some travelers don’t know how to be respectful.
There was a group of 4 Swedish boys in my dorm. They rolled in at about 3am drunk as fuck and loud as hell. Then they banged around for nearly two hours because their one friend was vomiting. It sucked so much! But I was lucky at least I didn’t have much planned for the next day so I slept in a wee bit before I loudly banged about and got ready to go out for the day, petty I know but it was nearly noon when I was getting ready.
I really wanted to go see the Killing Fields. They were quite north of the city centre and I only had $12 for the rest of my trip. I needed $5 for the airport tuktuk and then I wanted food and water for the day. And a tuktuk ride would have put me out $5 one way. I was considering a tuktuk ride because everyone was like it’s not safe to walk around on your own and so on. It was an hour walk and I wanted to go. So I pushed aside my stupid fears and started walking.
^That's a street side gas station^
My walk up to the Killing Fields was mostly on the main road and there weren’t many sidewalks. And then once I got far enough out of the city it was pretty much just me and locals. People were looking at me and kids were pointing… granted my blue hair often draws such attention. But honestly it wasn’t a totally sketchy walk up to the temple the Killing Field was at. Awkward yes but not totally scary. Besides seeing the killing fields it was worth the discomfort.
Strap I for a mini history lesson. The Khmer Rogues were in power from 1975 to 1979. The took power as soon as the Cambodian Civil War ended in 1975. The mass killings were regarded as a state sponsored genocide. There were forced labor camps where people died of starvation and disease. Out of the estimated 1.7 to 2.5 million deaths it’s been estimated that 1.3 million were executions and not starvation or disease. In 1975 the total population of Cambodia was 8 million so post Khmer Rogue Regime these killing fields were constructed in memorium of the huge chunk of the population that was lost. The one in Siem Reap was rather small. But still poignant.
It was really weird to be there and read the literature they had on the history because I hadn’t learned about this. No where in my history classes had I even learned about Cambodia’s history. It is really interesting and fascinating and sad. But the part that really hit hard was the fact that this is modern history. It was happening 11 years before I was born. That’s crazy to think about.
So after I walked around the temple complex I headed off to see the old temples of Siem Reap.
I took this side road because it was the quickest way to get to the river. And as I was walking down the road that’s when I was hit by the fact that just because I’m scared doesn’t mean that it’s a scary place. Yes it was dirty and tourists probably never ventured down the road but it was a stark look into the everyday life of the locals.
I made it over to Wat Preah Enkosei….
And Wat Preah Enkosa was under construction…
And Was Po Lanka…
These are the three old Buddhist monasteries. You could see it though. They looked old and tired. Still pretty but old and tried none the less. The area that it was in was also interesting. Most of the river crossing bridges were out of use and under construction.
Then I meandered past the Royal Gardens…
And on over to the new Monstary. Wat Prohm Rath.
After that I walked over to the markets to do some last minute shopping and to grab dinner.
I had been a long day with lots of walking. And it was nice to relax at my hostel. I went to the common room for happy hour. Draft Angkor beer was $0.50. my dollar got me two beers and I sat working on updating my journal. At one point this girl comes over and she’s like that’s so amazing that you journal, keep it up because in 5 years you’ll wish you’d done it for every trip. She told me she never got into journaling but wanted too. I told her I’d been doing it since my first solo trip almost 6 years ago and that it was pretty much habit for me now to journal as I traveled. It was almost funny to see her face.
Internet totally sucked at my hostel so facetime was nearly impossible and that sucked. Because Cambodia was that one stop that I wish I could have talked to everyone and kept them in the loop with how it was a hard country to be in for me. But in retrospect the fact that I didn’t have anyone to talk to really helped me to push my comfort zone. I pushed it hard and wide and despite going to be vaguely uneasy very night I still woke up and conquered the day.
Leaving Cambodia was easy peasy since I was only around fro a few days. It was time for Kuala Lumper!!
Cheers,
