[siem reap] day 1: angkor wat, floating village, artisans angkor & koulen restaurant

27/02/2014 (thursday)

our journey started early since we have to catch a 6:50am flight. i managed to convince my beloved parents to send us to the airport. they were here in putrajaya, visiting us. their original plan was to get back to segamat on wednesday the 26th. we arrived at lcct around 5:00am. we have already checked in online and we only nee to drop our luggage. during the queue, miss a and i noticed that we were the only malays and the only one who wore hijab. we assumed that siem reap is not a popular destination among either malays or muslims. our flight departed as schedule.

and alhamdulillah, we also arrived on schedule. our tour guide, sam was already waiting for us when we emerged from the arrival door. i've been contacting the tour guide from the moment we made the flight's and hotel's arrangement. i found the service from tripadvisor and i've been exchanging emails with them since then. actually, our originally person in touch is sokpee. but, he had to attend to other important matters (his medical check up in phnom penh), so he send sam instead. sam is a very friendly, funny and great tour guide all along the tour. our first stop for the day was our hotel.

after checking in and freshened up, our next stop for the day was the archaeological park to buy the entrance ticket for several temples entrance. but before that, i bought a local simcard in order to updating FB's status and keeping oneself online the cheaper way. maxis' roaming in cambodia is quite expensive. sam also made a reservation for traditional dance show at one of the famous restaurants. we would having dinner while enjoying the show. done with those, we finally bought the ticket for USD20/pax (1 day pass). the currency used here is mostly the USD eventhough they have their own currency KHR. the ticket was like a visa, we got our photos taken for it.

according to the original tour, we were supposed to visit angkor wat in the evening s that we could watch the sunset. since, both of us were not the romantic type, we decided to visit it early. in the evening, we planned to do our souvenir shopping. once our tickets were secured, sam brought us to angkor wat. angkor wat was first a Hindu, then subsequently a buddhist, temple complex in Cambodia and the largest religious monument in the world! i'm not going to go to the trouble into explaining the history and details of angkor wat cause i know all of u are smart enough to google the info by yourselves. sam brought us in from the east gate (i think) where it were less populated by tourists. the view of angkor wat is really magnificent and honestly i was stunned by the view and the structure. we spend almost two hours here. sam was very helpful in providing the details of the angkor wat to us and also in avoiding crowds.

after angkor wat, sam brought us to ta prohm temple. this temple was the location of the tomb raider movie. the temple is impressive and i'm awed by the giant and unique trees all over the temple. furthermore, this temple is still under restoration with the partnership from india. done with ta prohm, we had our lunch at a restaurant suggested by sam. we could see a lot of children all around the place, selling goods when they should be in school. it's a sad situation. we could actually help the by donating oganizations such as unicef and worldvision.

we next then went to terrace of the elephants, baphuon and bayon. the terrace of the elephants is part of the walled city of angkor thom and is named for the carvings of elephants on its eastern face. the baphuon and the bayon temple are located in angkor thom. baphuon is dedicated to hindu god, shiva. meanwhile, bayon is famous for the multitude of serene and massive stone faces on the many towers which jut out from the upper terrace and cluster around its central peak.

next stop wasn't on the tour in the first place. since, we had ample time, sam brought us to see one of the floating village in siem reap. this floating village is located at the largest freshwater lake in cambodia and southeast asia, the tonle sap. i realy really love this floating village trip. the houses are built in/on the lake and the houses that are not built in/on the lake were built very high to prepare them for the flood during rainy season. not only they have floating houses, they also have floating school, floating markets and floating restaurants. on the way back from the floating village, i asked sam to stop at a local mosque to perform solat. we were warmly welcome by the local muslims. they can even talk in malay and some of them have been to malaysia. they were very very friendly and i hope that i day i got the chance to meet them again.

after the precious moment at floating village, sam brought us to artisans angkor. if you notice, artisan angkor was originally planned for our second day of the visit. artisans angkor is not only a souvenir shop. it's more than that. it provides trainings and jobs for the local people.the stuffs sold there were a bit expensive but it try to see it as helping the people. we bought a few things that we could afford, huhu.. next stop is a MUST in any trip, shopping!!! sam took us to the old market and gave us two hours. we did almost all shopping that day. the prices are reasonable but u have to bargain hard. after shopping, we went to koulen restaurant to have our dinner while enjoying the local traditional dance. dinner is buffet style and we paid USD15/pax for dinner and the show.

well, that's the end of our first day. we parted with sam. he was really great, seriously. i highly recommend using his service as a tour guide if u ever want to come to siem reap. you could go to their website, and choose the kind of tour u want. all along the tour, we were provided with cold towels and drink waters (it sure is hot). ant the total cost of the tour and transporation was only USD70/pax (tips included)! the original tour price without the transportation cost from the airport to the hotel and floating village trip is USD45/pax. done was the report on our first day in siem reap and i'll write on the second day soon..