1. Money ( from Pesos to US Dollars)
2. Passport
3. SPF 1000000000 ( the temperature in Siem Reap is beyond the word HOT)
4. Clothes that would cover your shoulders and legs ( some temples won't allow you to go inside because of exposed extremities)
5. Sunglasses ( cover your eyebags)
6. Patience and Basic English ( Cambodians doesn't speak English fluently. You need thes to fully explain what you want to say ( with hand gesture or body language)
Recommendations:
- The Kool Hotel: Website: http://www.koolhotel.com/
This hotel made our stay perfect beyond words. We had a queen sized bed with 6 huge soft pillows, cabinets, sofas and center table, a balcony, chairs and a bathtub. Our room had a very romantic feel to it, you can adjust the light depending on your mood because they had dimmers.
- Tuktuk Ride: named Sek Mom call him Mom (855) 12 41 48 40 or (855) 88 79 17 688( We highly recommend him because he was the best tuktuk driver we had and he could speak and understand English). Ask for him to be your driver for sightseeing at any hotel.
Chida Stall #6 (Unfortunately, Pud street is quite big and we can't point out where it was located exactly). We were able to buy a lot of souvenir shirts that cost $2 each from $5. If you want to find her, try looking for a red colored billboard sign "Night Market" that is near a grocery/pharmacy white building. I think that is the only store there which is popular at Pub Street where you could buy medicine and some grocery stuffs . If I'm not mistaken, the store is called U-care. That night market had stone flooring ( most night market we went to had concrete / tiled floors. .I'm sorry for this poor description)
Book a flight to Siem Reap Cambodia. You can either choose Cebu City to Siem Reap or Manila to Siem Reap.
* Dumaguete to Cebu: Please see older post or you could take a plane going to Cebu City *
South Bus Terminal to Cebu City Ariport: Taxi: 250 pesos
My ticket was from Manila to Siem Reap so I need to book another flight from Dumaguete to Manila ( UA waiting for me in Manila )
Dumaguete to Manila ticket (one way): less than 2, 000 pesos ( Air Phil: http://www.flypalexpress.com/ )
Manila to Siem Reap : 4, 000 pesos ( Cebu Pacific : http://www.cebupacificair.com/Pages/default.aspx )
Our flight was at 7:45 pm.... so we decided to go there 2 hours before our flight. We ate our dinner at the airport and waited for check in.
The terminal fee was horrible, horribly high: Cost: 1, 300 pesos each
Terminal Fee + baggage ( 15 kilos) = less than 4,000 pesos
* Tripod is considered a weapon, you need a check in baggage for that *
 |
| Me and UA waiting for departure |
so why not have fun and talk about anything under the sun..errr, I mean moon :)
* You need to fill out an immigration form that you need to show at the airport upon arrival ,bring a pen with you *
Arrived at Siem Reap, Cambodia ~ 10:30 pm ( Philippine time) but since we have a time difference it was still 9:30 pm at Cambodia (1 hour difference). We were both very excited to take pictures that we started taking some at the airport.
* If you can't find your way around the airport to get your passport stamped, just follow the foreigners wherever they are lining up and read the damn signs *
The Siem Reap airport is small, I bet you won't get lost.
At the exit area, a lot of Tuk-tuk drivers would be willing to take you to your hotel for $ 4 but in our case, Mom fetched us going to Kool Hotel.
It would take 20 minutes from the airport to The Kool Hotel. You would see a lot of other hotels at the highway.
The breeze at Siem Reap is warm, you'll be able to tell that there are no beaches nearby.
Upon arrival, the staff greeted us warmly, offered us some welcome drinks and a cold minty face towel
We asked them if their restaurant was still open and they told us they were willing to cook for us even if it was already closed. We decided to eat out anyway.
The front desk told us that there are a lot of food stalls located outside the Hotel. From the Hotel, we need to walk on an alley to get to the highway, turn right at the highway and just keep walking straight. You would see a lot of different local food stalls there.
* When you are in a new city / country always look at places in which there are a lot of locals eating, that would mean that store is somehow clean. Never drink water from the faucet, bottled water is preferable*
There were food stalls that served fried rice ( all time favorite of UA) and different fruit shakes ( another favorite of UA is zee dragon fruit shake to be exact) LOL
Cost: Fried Rice with chicken / beef / pork/ vegetables ( good for 2 people) = $1.75 with free soup
Fruit shakes except dragon fruit shake
= $ 1
Dragon fruit shake = $ 2
 |
| Spices for the fried rice |
Noodles ( good for 3 people) = $ 2
We ended up eating at a food stall that serves hot pot and soup
Cost: Hot Pot: $ 5
Soda (in can): $ 2
* There was no menu on this food store, there were pictures with Cambodian language on the wall, choose according to picture *
The people there were all friendly, specially the owner. It was our first time to eat hot pot and you need to cook the meat, noodles, eggs, vegetables on a pot and we didn't know how to do it so the owner happily helped us even if he can't understand what were trying to tell him ( it was pretty obvious because we were looking at the other tables and giggling at the same time)
* You need to be an expert on Math here, you'll always pay in dollars but when they give you your change, its in Cambodian Riel which is $1 = 4,000 Cambodia Riel *
At this food stall, there was a grocery store nearby that sells fruits, bottled water and toiletries
Cost: Water: $ 2-3 ( it vary in size)
* It is safe to walk around the street of Siem Reap, much safer than Philippines *
Went back to our hotel, called it a day.
