My 2007 SIGA Cambodia Trip
A Journal by SSEAYP Batch-mate Pam Alfaro
A Real Selamat Datang!
(Part 1 of 8)
Selamat Datang is a Malay phrase which means ‘welcome’! The first time I’ve encountered this word was way back in 2002, when I visited Malaysia through SSEAYP. I’ve read a lot about this when I was doing a self-study of the Malay language but then, this and many others were all forgotten after I thought that it would be impossible for me to remember them unless I plan to stay in any Malay country for long.
A very good friend of mine, Steve, and I went to Kuala Lumpur as transients three weeks ago. Our actual destination was Cambodia but since the Philippines has no direct flight to Cambodia, we decided to take the Manila-KL-Phnom Pehn route.
I never expected to meet anyone in KL since I thought that most of our Malaysian friends had already gone to Cambodia to attend the SSEAYP International General Assembly in Siem Reap. While doing our itinerary, I even thought of visiting Malacca upon arrival in KL. Later did I know from a friend, that it was impossible for us to go there since it was about three hours away from KL! Talk about not doing my travel research! Haha!
A day before the trip, Steve informed me that Sin, our SSEAYP co-delegate, would meet us but there were no further details. And with so little time in KL (our flight to Phnom Pehn was the following day), I thought that it was perfect for me to relax after a hectic week and before heading to another eight hectic days.
We arrived at the the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 5:30 P.M. Sin instructed us to take the shuttle to KL Sentral where he’d meet us. KL Sentral is the main railway station of KL and the transfer point which links the inter and intra-city lines, and the airport rail service. We took the non-stop journey of Aerobus for RMB 8.00. It was a very comfortable bus ride for a one-hour trip.
We arrived at KL Sentral an hour earlier before Sin arrived, which gave us the time to check out the whole area.
When Sin arrived, we hopped in his car with his planned itinerary in mind: an Indian cuisine dinner, a visit to KLCC, hotel check-in, a Malay cuisine supper (For most Malays, dinner and supper are two different meals. Dinner is taken between 7-8 p.m., while supper is taken just after midnight and before going to bed.), a visit to Little Genting, a tour around the nightlife area, and a taste of a real herbal chinese chicken soup before go back to the comforts of our hotel! If I remember it right, we ended our suppossedly overnight stay just before the sun rose!
We accomplished Sin’s itinerary to the letter and as if those weren’t enough to make us feel like we’ve overstayed in KL, we squeezed in another dinner, a Chinese cuisine this time, with Sin’s association members and visited Jelan Petaling, KL’s Chinatown, the morning before we proceeded to Phnom Pehn! (Click here for more photos)
What was suppossed to be a transit stay turned out to be a very memorable stay! Thanks Sin!
My First Khmer Experience
(Part 2 of 8)
Our flight to Phnom Pehn was dedicated to the books we brought along with us. Steve knew that I had to finish The Alchemist (this is a re-read) before we head back home so he gave me my time with the book during our almost two hours flight. The book is one of my favourites, so I didn’t have any difficulties squeezing it in between our solitary periods.
Although somewhat made the place feel like home (I’m guessing it was also the warmth of the people, we were literally treated like the royals…), we still felt like real tourists, not so lost though, when we arrived in Phnom Pehn. We knew that we were all by ourselves when we found out that Steve’s SSEAYP group mate was already in Siem Reap. It was raining when we went out of the airport, so we decided to take a cab to the hotel (our hotel was suggested by the man from the transport information booth) in the city centre.
When Lucy and Bunsong, two of our dear Cambodian friends, knew about our arrival in Phnom Pehn, they immediately contacted some of our co-delegates from SSEAYP who weren’t able to attend the assembly in Siem Reap and were left behind in Phnom Pehn.
We arrived at the city centre 30 minutes later. We met some foreigners in the city who just came from Laos and had a little chat with them. We also met some locals who didn’t understand English at all. We saw them near our hotel eating some sort of flower plant. When I asked them what it was, the young boy in the family approached me and gave me the plant. I was trying to distinguish which plant it was while the whole family demostrated to me how to eat it. Talk about language barrier not being a problem!
A few hours after checking in and roaming around the city, Sophie, and my group mate, Thyda, came knocking at our door! What a pleasant surprise! I didn’t actually expected to see Thyda (I haven’t seen her for five years!) since we were told that it was only Sophie who was in town that day.
Sophie and Thyda suggested that we’d have dinner first before going around the city at night. They brought us to the Khmer-Thai Restaurant. Another surprise was actually waiting for us when we arrived at the the restaurant - Tra was there!
We tried three different Khmer food, one of which is very similar to the Filipino food. The two others - the Khmer soup and the steamed fish, both dressed with herbs, were really superb! We had a good time catching up for the five years we haven’t seen each other.
Sophie drove Tra, Steve, and me around the city centre and showed us the Independent Monument, the Royal Palace, the National Museum of Art, the Wat Phnom (the centre of Phnom Pehn), and the other landmarks located in the city centre.
Later that night, Sophie and Tra brought us to Rock to try Cambodia’s most famous local beer - the Angkor! Angkor tastes very much the same as San Miguel Beer. I was very accustomed to its taste that I can’t even remember where we went after to experience some traditional Cambodian dance. But it was a great night. I couldn’t ask for more! (Click here for more photos)
More of Khmer!
(Part 3 of 8)
Thanks to Angkor , the following day, we woke up a little bit late for our meeting with Thyda. Our tardiness wasn’t that obvious though since we managed to rush everything before Thyda arrived. Haha!
Thyda took care of us in the morning. For breakfast, she brought us to Le Palace. I tried the Khmer Chicken Rice, which is similar to the Chicken Rice of Thailand and Singapore. I guess they just differ in the spices. After having our breakfast, she drove us all the way to the Killing Fields. It was quite emotional for me when we got there ‘coz I felt for the families of those who were tortured. We saw hundreds of skulls displayed in a tall building, the area where most people were tortured and killed, and their mass graves.
An hour after, Thyda drove us back to the city for our visit to the Royal Palace. We did a quick stop at a bakery where we got some of the popular French bread (you can actually see this kind of bread sold in every corner of Phnom Pehn). We passed by the Russian Market but we decided not to do our shopping there since we still had to go to Siem Reap, Vientiane, and Bangkok. Thyda drove us to the rich people’s village too, before we finally made our way to the Royal Palace.
The visit to the Royal Palace was remarkable! The Throne Hall, which is the King’s receiving area, is literally gliterring with gold. We weren’t allowed to take photos though, for some security reasons. From the Throne Hall, we were able to see the King’s residence. One notable structures of the Royal Palace was a European style building, which seemed out of place from amongst the other grand Cambodian palaces. This structure is said to be the first permanent building in the Royal Palace site. We also went to the the Silver Pagoda, which is attached to the Royal Palace complex housing the different kinds of Buddhas adorned with diamonds. We wandered around the Royal Palace for over an hour and practiced our photography skills with its grandness. Of course, Thyda, our dear local guide, never failed to answer our queries.
It was almost lunch when we finished our Royal Palace tour and we proceeded to a local restaurant near the bus station for a quick Khmer lunch. Sophie and Tra both joined us for lunch. The lunch was still great - oh, I love Khmer food! Our bus was to leave at 1 p.m. so they sent us off to the bus station a few minutes before Mekong Express departed for Siem Reap.
This was another unexpected event of our trip. I loved my stay in Phnom Pehn despite the not-so-good traffic system (I actually became disoriented while walking around the city). The people and the food were superb!
Here goes a lifetime appreciation to Thyda, Sophie, and Tra, for making our Phnom Pehn leg really memorable for us! (Click here for more photos)
SIGA and Siem Reap
(Part 4 of 8)
Our land trip from Phnom Pehn to Siem Reap took about 5 hours. The highway is well-paved so we thought that it was the best time to catch some zzzzzs since we didn’t have enough sleep for two consecutive days already. We were up until about 2 a.m. during our ‘Angkor Beer’ night and until about 5 a.m. the night before that. We were only on the third day of our trip and we had six more days to go. But meeting friends after five long years was worth more than all of the worries of being stressed out!
We arrived in Siem Reap just in time to get ourselves to the hotel (which our Cambodian friend, Bunsong, got for us), freshen up, and proceed to the venue of the SSEAYP International General Assembly (SIGA).
Siem Reap is actually a lot more modern than the capital, Phnom Pehn. There are hotels in literally almost every corner of the city center. Many are still being constructed. The buildings all have the Khmer facade, which made even the small hotels look really grand.
This year’s SIGA brought about 300 participants from the Southeast Asian nations and Japan, 12 from my batch (that’s aside from the Cambodian participants who were at the same time the organizers). There was Joy from Singapore, Eak from Thailand, G-Boy and Sucy from Brunei, Paktam, Daniel, Liza, and Az from Malaysia, and Edwin, Steve, and me from the Philippines. And there was Tuan Ahanapi, the National Leader of Brunei participants in 2002. (I extend my congratulatory greetings to the SIGA organizers: Lucy, Bunsong, Theary, and the rest.)
The dinner we attended was held at Angkor Paradise Hotel. After the programme, the group decided to hold an extended reunion party for our batch in Pub Street. Pub (European term for bar) Street is the nightlife area of Siem Reap City. It was supposed to be another late night out for me but since I was dead tired, I decided to cut my night short and went back to the hotel earlier than the rest. It was Angkor day the next day and the plan was to be at the venue at 5:15 a.m. to enjoy the sunrise. (Click here for more SIGA photos)
As Grand As The Angkor
(Part 5 of 8)
(Unluckily) We woke up to the sound of light rain. It had been raining on and off since the start of SIGA in Siem Reap and most of my SSEAYP friends went to Angkor Wat for three consecutive days to watch the sunrise, but to no avail. It was really cloudy that day so we dismissed the idea of seeing the sunrise. Nevertheless, we pushed through with our plans. Bunsong drove us from the hotel to Angkor. Steve and I decided to choose just the prominent temples since touring the entire Angkor area would require at least three days.
Our first stop was, of course, the Angkor Wat, which is said to be the greatest masterpiece of Khmer architecture, with the highest quality being executed. It is about four miles long and is surrounded by beautiful historical carvings and statues. It took us around three and a half hours to go around the whole temple and climb the really steep stairs to reach to top of the temple.
Since we still had to go to the Floating Village at 9 a.m., we decided to go back to the other temples in the afternoon. From the hotel, we went to the Floating Village by van. The journey took about an hour on a little rough road, afterwhich, we rode a boat to the where the Floating Village is.
The village is located in Tonle Sap - the Great Lake - the largest lake in Southeast Asia. This is a self-sufficient village which has everything floating as the name goes - homes, basketball court, restaurtant, school, church, souvenir shops, and grocery stores. There are more than a thousand residents in this village, all relying on the Great Lake for their daily needs. Some of them make their living by selling colas and fruits to tourists on board the boats.
We finished going around the area before lunch. So, Steve and I explored the Pub Street for a perfect lunch and enjoyed Khmer Kitchen’s food.
After lunch, we took the tuk-tuk (this is one great way of experiencing the Khmer culture) and proceeded to the Angkor to visit Bayon, Ta Phrom, and Banteai Srei. Ta Phrom is my favorite aside from the Angkor Wat. It is a very large temple (large enough that we even got lost) and one of the most beautiful of the Angkor temples. It is surrounded by a jungle and hasn’t been restored. It was also one of the shooting venues of the movie, Tomb Raider.
We wanted to wait for the sunset but by five p.m., the area was still cloudy and it was expected to rain again in the evening. So, we opted to go back to the hotel to take a little rest. Our cameras needed to be charged too, and that gave us enough reason.
Our suppossedly one hour rest was extended to the next day. There were no regrets, though, since our short affair with Siem Reap was a grand as the Angkor! (Plus, we knew that we were definitely going back! ) (Click here for more photos)
(Busong, thanks for the short hosting. I admire your energy! )
Nine Hours in Vientiane
(Part 6 of 8)
Steve and I thought about altering our itinerary a little bit when we heard how bad the road is from Siem Reap to Poipet (Cambodia-Thailand Border). We thought of going back to Phnom Pehn and then take a direct flight to Vientiane. But then, our adventurous sides made us to stick to our original itinerary. We wanted to experience the ‘rough road’, as they say… So we booked a Camry for US $30 to take us to the border. We left Siem Reap at 8 a.m. and arrived at Poipet at 1 p.m. The road was not only bad. It was worse than we imagined. In fact, this leg is the worst journey I have ever taken in my entire life. We were lucky that it wasn’t raining while we were on the road. If it were, then would have experienced being stuck in thick mud.
Our plan was to meet Eak, our Thai friend, in Bangkok, then take the bus together to Vientiane, Laos. Eak assured us that the road from Bangkok to Vientiane is good and that we had nothing to worry about.
We were practically in transit the whole day. We arrived in Bangkok from the Thailand-Cambodia Border at around 7 p.m. and took the bus to Vientiane at 9 p.m. The first class bus that we took compensated for the nightmare we had during the morning. The seats were wide enough to stretch the whole body, which made our journey really comfortable.
We arrived in Vientiane at 9 a.m. the following day where we met with Joy, our Lao friend, who was at that time with my SSEAYP Buddy, Edwin, and another Malaysian friend, Daniel. Joy brought us to the popular Lao noodle restaurant where we had our first taste of Lao food.
After breakfast, he drove us to the Lao People’s Army History Museum, where we got a glimpse of history of the country. Then, we visited the Golden Stupa, the country’s national symbol and the most important building in Laos. Next we went to the Pratuxai Monument (Victory Gate), a monument which was built by the French and resembles Paris Arc de Triumphe. Its seventh floor serves as the sightseeing point of Vientiane.
We went to the Morning Market (it’s opened the whole day though) after visiting the Victory Gate. For a while, I totally got disoriented with the currency. $1 is equivalent to 9000 Kip. I exchanged some dollars for my shopping in the Morning Market and I never got the chance to bargain properly because I was bargaining in hundred thousands! Haha!
Edwin and Daniel had to leave for Bangkok so we brought them to Vientiane-Udon Thani border after the Morning Market, stopping by at some area, where Joy got a cold sugar cane drink for us. Then we proceeded to the hotel to freshen up. We were to leave that evening, so Joy arranged for a dinner-get together with the rest of our SSEAYP Lao friends in an excellent grilling venue - the Poysian Pulkokee. Our early evening dinner started with the most famous local beer - BeerLao - followed by the grilled Lao food. Tik, my SG Mate, Lou Lou, Bobie, Touy, and Kao followed during the dinner. The girls still looked great after five years. After a few hours of catching up, we bid them farewell with a promise to come back! (Click here for more photos)
The Elephants and Us
(Part 7 of 8)
My travel back to Bangkok from Vientiane wasn’t good. I began to feel sick in the afternoon in Laos but I didn’t take it seriously. When I borded the bus in Udon-Thani, Thailand border, my throat was really sore and my nose was clogged. I was restless the whole time I was in the bus.
We arrived in Bangkok at 7 a.m. and proceeded directly to the hotel. After checking in, we availed the hotel’s buffet breakfast, which was a mixture of several cuisines. I was already beginning to feel really tired but the thought of having to see and ride the elephants that morning gave me enough energy to carry on for another day.
After having breakfast, I did some power napping and then got myself ready for our next agendum: the Elephants! Eak, our dear Thai friend and travel mate, brought us to the Samphran Elephant Ground and Zoo. I was excited to see and ride the elephants, but was very scared when I got nearer. It was my first time to really see them up, close, and personal. I saw one when I was in India while in a car on a busy road to Agra. I wanted to get out of the car then but for some reasons, I couldn’t. This time, I got to hold the elephants, feed them with bananas, and even ride them! I loved touching the baby elephants, because no matter how big they are, they still looked cute!
Steve and I rode an elephant for 400 Baht each for around 20 minutes. It was amazing to see how the elephant drivers can communicate with the elephants very well and how they can understand the language of the elephants! Our elephant ride finished just in time for the elephant show - elephants portraying how they were during the old times, elephants, dancing, and elephants playing football!
Following the elephant show was the crocodile show - another really amazing show. I have always been afraid of crocodiles but the two brave men didn’t show any signs of fear while they placed their hands and heads in between the crocodile’s opened mouth!
There wasn’t really much to see aside from the elephants and the crocodiles, so after the show, Eak brought us to a huge fishing area for lunch. Eak’s relatives actually own the place and the restaurant. We had Thai Tom Yam, fried fish, some fried ground beef with herbs (i liked this best), and a coconut drink. The meal was superb!
Our next stop was the Siam Paragon, Bangkok’s high-end mall, before we met with our other Thai friends - Nune, Apple, Pui, Beak, and Matong. We had East Thai food for dinner (I can’t actually remember all of them, although I remember the papaya salad and the sticky rice very well) and Singha, the popular local beer! For dessert, the whole group went to Swensen’s. Steve and I tried their ice cream with sticky rice. It’s like a version of Philippines’ ice cream with bread.
We were still suppossed to visit Steve’s Thai host family that evening bust since we finished very late, we decided to go the following day. (Click here for more photos)
Doing Things the Thai Way
(Part 8 of 8)
I had a very good sleep on the last night of our trip. Our dinner-get together with our Thai friends lasted until late in the evening and since I wasn’t well during the morning, I literally dropped dead on my bed after packing up for the following day’s departure.
I have always been a person who values experience and culture more than anything else. When I go out on trips, I always seek out for the culture of the country and the life of the locals. Urban (modern) places are just add-on attractions.
The last leg of our trip brought me a nice surprise. I was actually planning on staying at the hotel on the last day since I have been down for the past days but my sore throat and my colds were gone when I woke up in the morning. Little did I know that our planned visit to Steve’s Thai host family would let me experience the Thai traditional way of life.
Steve’s Thai family live in one of the riverbanks of Thailand. His host mom doesn’t understand English and speaks only Thai but it was amazing how we got ourselves to understand her expressions and actions. She smiled a lot which made me feel a lot more at home despite the first meeting. Eak was with us, of course, who did a lot of translating.
His mom and his sister, Pan, fed us with Thai traditional breakfast. One of the dishes, the scrambled egg with some meat and herbs, looked very similar to a Filipino dish.
After breakfast, his mom showed us the Thai’s old way of fishing, which was done on the river itself. Then we went to visit his host grandmother on the next house, where we saw loads of lime leaves for sale. These leaves are actually one of the ingredients for Tom Yam and other Thai soup.
His host mom then prepared a boat for us to go around the waterway and see the new man-made lake they’ve got now, which is attached to the river. The lake has a great view and was very relaxing. We wanted to stay a little longer but since we still had to go to the Chatuchak (JJ) Weekend Market to do some shopping, we bid Steve’s host family goodbye by lunch.
The JJ Market is now more crowded not only with people, but also with stalls. I was able to enjoy my shopping the last time I was there in 2004, but this time, I didn’t. It was really hot that day and there were countless people all over the area. So, we cut our shopping short, met with one of Steve’s friends from Davao, and then proceeded to Eak’s house, where we left our stuff after hotel check-out, to repack our things and have dinner before proceeding to the airport.
Looking back, it was more than a week of meeting people, going places, experiencing life, a little bit of running here and there, and getting sick in between. It was time to go back home and share our stories. I was beginning to miss home though, especially the food and the people (but not much of the city). And with that, we headed to the airport, where we boarded the plane with most people talking the same language as we.
(Eak, many thanks for the wonderful memories! ) (Click here for more photos)
