Jillian's Travels

Cambodia, Part 4

Day 37, February 3

We didn’t have anything on the agenda today so we got to have another lazy morning. The first thing we did once we finally got going was drop our clothes off at the laundry mat which meant it was a bathing suit day for me.

After we dropped our stuff off we went to breakfast. I got the Japanese omelette again along with a fruit salad. When the fruit salad came out it had ice and I think coconut milk on it. I didn’t mind the coconut milk but I had to quickly scoop out the ice because this is another country where we can’t drink their water.

I don’t know if it’s just my allergies or a slight cold coming on but my nose has been stuffy and I’ve been sneezing a lot. So I decided I’d go back to my bed and just lounge there for a while. It also gave us time to search for a hostel for tomorrow night when we are in Laos. My sister took charge of that and I kind of just laid in bed. She was having a hard time finding a hostel that would sleep 3 so we had to break it up and Taryn find her own place and then we’d find separate ones as well.

I got on my computer to help with the search and decided we’d need to just find a hotel instead of hostel for at least one night. As I was doing that my sister remembered that she has a free night through hotels.com. We lucked out and found a really, really nice one on the river in Laos. So we’re gonna be living it up for one night in a fancy suite.

I was starting to feel restless so I got up to go roam around and find some papaya to eat. I came across a place that had a fruit plate so I got that and then decided the mango was too good not to get another plate but this time of only mango. I’m not joking when I say it was the best mango I have ever had. It was perfectly ripe and juicy and the whole plate was $1.

After my mango love fest, I walked a little ways down towards the night market to see it during the day. Most of the shopping vendors are closed but the restaurants are still open. I wasn’t sure what to do with my time so I saw a place that had fresh spring rolls. I got an order of those which was basically lettuce and carrots. It made me miss the spring rolls from Under The Coconut Tree.

When I came out of the restaurant I was standing right in front of a massage place that does them for really cheap. I got the 30 minute whole body massage for $3. They take you inside a room with A/C which was just a fan blowing directly on you. Then a young man, probably 20 or so, came in to give my massage. At first I was going to say no, I want a female because I am a wimp and like really soft massages. But I thought I’d give him a chance. Bad mistake. He was not good at all. I started to think that they just pulled him off a motorbike to come give the massage. There were many times I had to tell him softer and at one point I told him forget about my feet. It was only $3 so that was the only good part. I paid him and left quickly.

I went to find my sister because she said she was going to get a massage but when I got to the shop she wasn’t there. So instead I roamed around a little longer in search of those grilled bananas I had the other day. I wasn’t able to find those but I saw a vendor selling coconut rice cakes for $1. The sign said it was a Khmer food so obviously I had to try it.

They were really good. One had a banana slice in it, a few had corn in it and the others had chives on the inside. This is the new snack that I will be on the lookout for.

I finally met up with my sister and Taryn back at our hostel up at the Sun Lounge. We redeemed our free beer voucher from the other day and watched the sunset. At 6pm that lounge closed so we got booted out. We went back to our beds and hung out there until it was time to head out for dinner.

We headed out for dinner around 7ish to the night market area. We looked at a couple different menus before stopping at this one place that looked cute. The food was just ok and very small portions. I got the pumpkin soup and grilled yams and bell peppers.

My sister and Taryn weren’t hungry after their dinner because they had a big lunch but I was still hungry. I had been craving churros since we ate at the Mexican restaurant so we went to their other location so I could get them. Today I pretty much ate my way through Cambodia and loved every minute of it.

My sister and Taryn went off in search of a massage while I walked around a little bit before heading back to the room. Tonight is our last night in this hostel and then it’s off to Laos!

Day 38, February 4

Last night must’ve been party central out in Siem Reap because there was a lot of drunken activity in our dorm. So many people coming in at all hours of the morning and making a ton of noise. We’re all very happy this was our last night at this hostel.

I laid in bed until it was closer to the time to pick our clothes up from the laundry mat. We stopped at the restaurant we’ve been going to for breakfast. I got the fried eggs, baguette, what looked like undercooked bacon and 2 pieces of mango plate.

After that we picked up our clothes and went up stairs to change and pack up. While I was packing up I noticed that 2 socks were missing. I tried to go down and find them but the lady didn’t speak English and just shrugged when I tried to ask her about them. So now I’m down one pair which sucks because I didn’t bring that many pairs to begin with.

We checked out and arranged to have a tuk-tuk take us to the airport at 2pm. We had a few hours to kill in between then so we left our big bags with them and I took my smaller backpack with me that had my computer.

I intended to walk around until 2 but it was so incredibly hot. By far the hottest day we’ve experienced so far in Cambodia. I walked to the pharmacy to get more of those vitamin c packs and that was about all I could muster. I then decided to just post up at a restaurant until then. I went down the opposite way from our hostel. We hadn’t explored that area yet so I thought I should do that. I found a nice little quite restaurant/bar that was empty and I thought that seemed perfect! It looks like it’d be a hot spot at night but during the day it was dead.

I ordered an ice coffee and sat in front of the fan and was enjoying the quiet for about an hour. Then a guy came over from outside and I thought he was going to ask directions or something but instead he decided to pull out the chair and sit. He then started telling me how he was from New Zealand and hated it and the people. Now he lives here and hates it and hates the people. I could tell he was really messed up on something so when he started ranting about Americans and how he sprayed pepper spray in the bar last night, I quickly paid my bill and left. As I was leaving I saw him get up and get into an altercation with a Cambodian guy. I quickly walked back to the hostel and went upstairs to the rooftop lounge area to wait out the rest of the time.

**Cambodia has been my absolute favorite country so far. I have said this in other posts but it’s worth repeating; given what this country has been through within the last 40-45 years and to see where it is at now is remarkable. The people I have come into contact with are generous, kind, resilient and very welcoming of foreigners into their country. From our guy that served us breakfast every morning to the tour guides to the convenience store workers to the little kids that would wave and blow us kisses, everyone was very friendly, helpful and brought us joy during our stay. I have fallen in love with Cambodia and will be back to explore more of this beautiful country as soon as I can.**

It was time to get a tuk-tuk and head to the Siem Reap International airport. We ended up getting to the airport within about 20 minutes. It was a nice ride to see other parts of Siem Reap that we had not explored.

Once there we had to wait about 20 minutes to be able to check in. When it was time we checked in and gave our bags to baggage claim without a problem (and we didn’t have to pay to check the bags). We breezed through security with only one little hiccup. I had bought another can of tuna fish to feed the stray cats in Siem Reap but I forgot to set it out and then I forgot to put it in my checked bag to take it to Laos. So the security lady asked to check my purse and then confiscated it. I told her it was for the cats but she didn’t care. She laughed at first but then still took it.

We had to go through duty free to get to the gates so obviously that means they wanted us to spray perfume on, which we gladly did. Then we went to our gate to wait.

I bought some cough drops and some fruit but that was about it because it was so expensive there. We were expecting to board the plane around 4:30pm since our flight was at 4:55 but then they made an announcement that our flight was boarding and it was only 4:00pm. We missed the first few announcements stating this so by the time we heard it, it was already the last call. We were all shocked that it was so soon. Also it made me laugh that we are always at the airport hours before yet there have been two times now that we are last to board.

Anyway, we made it on and noticed the flight wasn’t even half full. So we got to spread out a bit. I had window seat and my sister moved to aisle. They ended up closing the doors at 4:20 and by 4:30 we were in the air. I’m thinking because it wasn’t full that maybe everyone had already checked in and was seated so we took off early. I don’t really know why but I liked it.

It was only an hour and half flight but they passed out snacks. It was a tuna sandwich (I didn’t eat), a muffin and coconut covered peanuts. I have to say that I love Vietnam Airlines for all of this!

I saw the most beautiful sunset as we were flying in. The sunset cast a shadow on the mountains that made them look so pretty. The pictures don’t really capture what I saw but still worth showing.

We landed about 45 minutes earlier than what was originally scheduled. That ended up being really good timing because that gave us time to get our visa, go through customs and get our luggage.

Right when we walked through the exit we saw our driver standing there with a sign that said Bethany Payne. We loaded up the truck and headed to our hotel.

We arrived and it was already dark so I didn’t get to fully explore. That’ll be tomorrow. When we first walked in we were greeted with 2 glasses of tea and some mango with honey.

Then they took us to our room and holy cow it is gorgeous! We have free water, fruit, towels, toilet paper, toiletries, hot water and many more goodies! After being in hostels for so long with one that didn’t even have toilet paper for guests, we were going crazy with all the freebies. You would have thought we had never stayed in a hotel before.

There’s a bottle wine that we decided we’d open up after dinner because it’s only $8 and we wanted to treat ourselves. We explored the room and read about all the amenities and then headed to the restaurant area for dinner.

I got fresh spring rolls and we split the vegetable tempura. We were also joined by our new hotel buddy, Jax.

After dinner we walked down to the river just to see what was around us. We could see the city center from a distance all lit up. Then we retired to our room to shower and open the bottle of wine.

I opened it while my sister was showering and then she came out and asked how much it was in kip (Laos money) and I told her. We double checked the math and it is actually a $20 bottle of wine. I had already opened it so it was too late. We had no choice but to enjoy it.

So we drank our $20 bottle of wine and watched tv.

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