Monday, October 08, 2007

Cambodia, here I come!

1st good news: Managed to resolve Blogger problem with updates and photos, it's great to be back!

2nd good news: My boss finally got my leave approved for end October, at last! Been feeling so depressed with work and the whole gamut of bureaucratic red tape which spirals to no end and makes no sense...I just have to free myself from the shackles of work and get away from the madness before I start to go berserk!

I'm packing my travelling bags and will be off to Siem Reap...right now, the thought of sitting atop one of the most wonderful temples in the world, with God's sunrise in front of me seems so sweet. I can hardly wait...

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30 October 2007, Notes on trip

Came home early this morning from Siem Reap after spending almost 5 days of blissful wandering around the city. Now, I can strike one country less off my life's list of places to see before I die.

Cambodia is a must see country for many reasons, Angkor Wat the least of those reasons, to me. Its a country where poverty is endemic and yet the people are always smiling and gracious, toddlers with brown naked bums running around wild and free on the streets, diesel sold in dubious Black Label whiskey bottles for USD 1 a pop, downright cheap massages (USD 10 per 2 hours), housewives nonchalantly cleaning fish on a chopping board by the dusty roadside amidst mud and roaring tuk-tuks, floating villages and wondrous markets full of the most amazing produce! I particularly love the Phsar Leu Thom Thmei, not for the faint-hearted because you might easily find yourself standing ankle deep in a mixture of dirty water, mud, fermenting vegetable/rubbish and animal blood, or brushing against sweaty, frenetic, heaving mass of humanity all out to sell or buy the freshest produce, most of which are still in their original skins, feathers, scales etc. Cambodians treat foreignors with warmth, smling into your cameras and usually with a friendly wave. I'll post some photos soon of the places I've wandered into in Siem Reap :

Day 1- Town, Old Market, Blue Pumpkin, Massage of cos...
Day 2- Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm, Bayon, Wat Thom, Ta Keo, Massage again...
Day 3- Central Market, Tonle Sap Floating Village, Neak Mah Mosque and Muslim village, Foreign Correspondents Club (FCC), McDermott Gallery, (no massage tonite)
Day 4- Royal Gardens, FCC again, back for massage...
Day 5- Phsar Leu Thom Thmei, Massage for a one final time!

Note to Muslim friends on halal restos you can find there:
1. Imam Musa's resto just behind Neak Mah mosque (only mosque in Siem Reap). There's no menu here, you're served whatever is in the kitchen. If you can, ask in advance for his specialty, an amazing grilled beef and vegetable dish translated to mean 'Cow climb over the Mountain'. It's lovingly and patiently cooked on the spot on an inverted round bottomed steel wok and is truly truly lip smacking delicious with lemon-pepper dip. The other dish we were served is also really good, a clear fish broth, fragrant and so tasty.
2. Malaysian Resto - at Wat Bo Village
3. Maharajah in town area, near Pub Street
4. Princess Angkor Hotel resto - near Airport Road.



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2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

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10:18 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

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That Holga 120 CFN camera is pretty cool looking, very retro. Well I'm going to stop here so I don't write you a novel for a comment. :)

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11:35 PM  

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