Siem Reap

“Siem Reap like a diamond,
like a diamond in the sky”

That’s a knock-knock joke, by the way. LOL

I started this entry with a corny joke, because Siem Reap was a memorable non-stop laugh trip all day and all night with a crazy Japanese traveler, Takuma. “Takuma! Takuma! Takuma!”

We were always greeted with “massage, sir?““tuktuk sir?” and “Sakana! Sakana! Sakana!” (Japanese term for a fish spa). The next day, Takuma bought a very interesting shirt that says, “No TukTuk, No Massage, No Money,” and every time there was an offer,  Takuma would point to his shirt, and we rolled our eyes and died laughing.

We encountered annoying situations in Tonle Sap Lake with some people who tried to ask for more money and even tricked us into going on an extra tour called a mangrove tour. There was nothing to see except mangroves, thrashes, mosquitoes and probably anacondas and crocodiles.

At the end of the 15-minute or less tour, they asked us to give 30 USD each to the kids at school. Our eyes rolled, and we wanted to swim back to our tuktuk (pedicab). We declined and decided to buy notebooks, and I personally did the distribution to the kids nearby, which was fine.

We hoped that the floating classroom wasn’t fake. It was also heartbreaking to see the floating houses of people living in poverty and kids doing all kinds of tricks to impress every tourist in a boat.

We were annoyed a little, but we totally enjoyed the conversation with our drunk tour guide, who has a fine British accent. He said he named her newborn baby Dyesebel because of Marian Rivera. He spoke Nihonggo and a few French. The Khmer people were crazy about Marian Rivera and Dingdong. By the way, I saw comedian K Brosas and took a photo with her while exploring the Angkor Wat compound.

The best thing to do in Siem Reap is to shop, eat, drink, spa and talk to locals at the Angkor Wat Night Market. The Night Market is one of the best that Siem Reap offers visitors. It is like Malate at night, but more interesting and intimate, with more people, more things to see, and all sorts of interesting services and entertainment at a very affordable price, in US Dollars. It’s an ordinary street during the day but turns colorful and lively at night.

The Angkor Wat was like a gem that landed from the sky. Our tuktuk driver drove us to the compound at 4.30 in the morning. I thought it was too early, but people were there earlier than 4.00. Tourists from all over the world with long and huge camera lenses lined up waiting for the picture-perfect sunrise at Angkor Wat. A misty fog covered it, and the temple turned rustic red the moment the sunrise hit the magnificent temple. Oh, I was really melting—the same feeling when I saw the Taj Mahal in India.

Angkor Wat was just one of the equally amazing temples in the 81-hectare compound. Inside the temple were even more beautiful centuries-old wall carvings and amazing and beautiful stories of people from the past. Inside the compound, there were even more detailed carvings and temples that were unbelievably amazing.

A day is needed to get to see all the temples and enjoy nature. After too many jumping shots we had, my shorts ripped off. We decided to buy and wear the Angkor Wat pajamas that every tourist was probably wearing that day, but mine ripped off again, and we died laughing again.

My monkey jumpshot

And Takuma’s the usual-Japanese jumpshot

The carvings

I had a good nap

The floating church and school

No TukTuk No Massage No Money

The Tomb Raider

Tonle Sap Lake

We were thinking of anacondas and crocodiles.

The Night Market

Exotic, crunchy street food