The sun in Cambodia set pretty early as it was winter, hence, I was greeted with chilly weather when I touched down at the airport. It was pretty messy when we tried to get into the custom as the officers needed us to fill up a health declaration form before entering the country, there was no order or whatsoever. Forgot to mention that 80% of my flight was filled with Caucasians, who flew in to do the
, which I wanted to take part in as well, but didn't in the end. As this trip wasn't really planned for, there was no itinerary.
I was greeted with smiles at the guesthouse, ready to put my bag down and head off to explore the town. Siem Reap is not big at all, hence, it's really easy to get around and it helped that I stayed around the busy area. The people at the guesthouse were very friendly and helped me alot in recommending me places to go and getting transportation for me.
Headed off to town for some dinner hunt, and settled quickly at one of these street stalls as I was starving.
Khmer food is the local food which you can find everywhere in Cambodia. As Cambodia is very near to Thailand and Vietnam, some of the cultures are pretty similar, food as well. There are lots of soup dishes and fried rice or noodles on the menu, except that they tend not to be spicy as the Thai food that we are used too.
Ended up with some Fried Noodles and pretty much similar to the Zi Char that we are used to in Singapore. Something different about Khmer food is that, they are not spicy and have lots of vegetables in the dish - I like! The noodles are the yellow noodles that we are used to at home, however, they are thinner.
First Night was recce-ing around, since I missed the day. After dinner, I roamed around, wanting to experience what is Siem Reap like. Once of the famous area in Siem Reap is the
Pub Street, where you can find all the dining and drinking. However, when I stepped into the street, I felt as if I want in London or something, as 100% of the patrons sitting around are all Caucasians. It is exactly like Bali and the Patong beach in Phuket, where locals will not be able to afford to patronise the restaurants in the area.
The other popular area for tourists is the
Angkor Night Market, where they have all the souvenirs that you can buy back for friends and family. There are tons of stalls in the market, but most of which sell similar things, so it really depends on your bargaining skills and which stall owners are willing to cut the prices that you desire.