My first backpacking trip: Cambodia
While this may sound a little off the chart, but yes at a tender age of 28… I’ve managed to finally discover and truly experience what backpacking travelling is like. Now here is something I’ve observed while I was backpacking – not many Asian’s backpack. Hmm…?? Why is that? Throughout my whole trip in Cambodia, me and my gal pal ‘Gesika’ were the only Asian’s who were backpacking. Most Asian travelers were traveling with a traveling troupe! How strange? When I spoke to my friends about it, most were intrigued and awed but none dared. This trip was truly the first trip I went without any plans. All I needed to do was to buy my plane ticket and get my ass there, with my lovely camera companion and that’s it.
No idea of where we were going to stay and no idea of what we were going to do next. We just went with the flow with no pressure and certainly just did what we liked. This part of the trip certainly made me feel ‘free’. No qualms and certainly no expectations, no timings except for bus time tickets were the only ‘boring’ time. Other than that it was a whole lot of adventure, traveling from Siem Reap to Sihanouk Ville to Phnom Penh. I exchanged to 380USD and came back with 1 USD note. LOL for 8 days travel that’s a pretty darn good spending, including accommodation, transport, expeditions to Angkor Wat, shopping, food and etc.
Stayed in Guesthouses and chalets, and I will be truly honest here… I have never ever stayed in these type of accommodations before. So its a first but also the most fun. For the first two nights we stayed in Siem Reap, I showered from the tap as the shower pressure was a bitch, the poor water was trickling from the shower. But when one is so tired and badly needed a shower, really who freakin’ cares at this point whether its from tap or shower head. The guest-house we stayed in was in Old Town of Siem Reap and cost us less than RM30 a night. Bed was good… lucky no bed bugs which I tend to freak out about budget rooms and the food was good. After Gesika and I ‘templed’ ourselves out in Siem Reap, we walked around the ‘Pub Street’ and we were so mesmerized seeing from the littles cafe’s, galleries, markets and little cute boutiques throughout our walks. Our tour guide is truly a great guide… laughing, talking and taking us around to eat their delicacies. Delighted to show us what Siem Reap is all about.
Siem Reap - Angkor
