+2Cambodiana

After recovering from thinking about the mad stuff that was done in part one, I bring you part 2 of the 'Whacky tales of Cambodia by 3 Malaysian Gundus'. As the days have passed since returning from Cambodia, i think i've started to be a bit more sober. So, unfortunately, i'll be writing a water down version of the true events.

Aights, to begin with, the second part of our trip was to Siem Reap from Phnom Penh. Since we were 3 lads backpacking in a foreign land for the first time, we had to first look for a place to bunk for the nite. At first, we were recommended to chill at 2 star hotel down town which was pretty decently priced but being us, we had to make life tougher than usual for ourselves. What happier way to do that than to bunk in a Guest House. Wow! Actually it wasn't too bad as it was a recommended by the Lonely Planet travel guide we were using despite the dinghy staircase which led up to the guest house. The place was pretty decent as the beds and toilets were clean and proper. It was quite an experience as there were loads of 'exotic sounds' heard in this guest house which i wouldn't want to elaborate on as i'll leave that to your own imagination. Well, that's what you get for USD 5 a night right smack in the middle of Phnom Penh.

As for our journey from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, we had loadsa choices as to which bus company we were to patronise. Some are really good but some are probably worse than the SJ Kederaan bus we used to have in KL. Being a Chinaman, 'Kiamsiap' Express a.k.a. Capitol Express is the best way to travel as you only pay USD 4 compared to the usual USD 12 for a one way ticket to the same place. Why so cheap eh? This was because we bought our tix through our Cambodian kaki who managed to get us tix in a bus filled with locals. At first, we thought it would be ok but as we found out later, these local fellers have one weird way of travelling. It really reminded me of Borat Sagdiyev.


Kiamsiap Express

Since it was dirt cheap for a 6.5 hour bus ride, we had to settle for seats right at the back of the bus. Being Malaysian, we tried this mad stunt with the Malaysia Boleh spirit. At first, everything went fine and we were quite happy that the roads were no where as bad as those in the forest. To our horror, the bus conductor started playing Cambodian karaoke VCDs with really weird music. To add to the 'happiness', the karaoke videos had scenes depicting people in 'compromising positions' likened to soft porn according to Shaggy who is one of our Malaysian hamtai kings. As things started to heat up on the tv screen, so were did our legs and butts as we were literally sitting on top of the bus engine. Bad shape.

After close to 7 hours of roasting our legs and butts, we survived and were finally in Siem Reap. Here, as usual, everyone want to suck you dry of your USDs. After being pestered by some really pesky Viet guy, we gave in and followed him into his van. Shaggy being the smartest lad, started asking us in BM if the Viet guy was another conman. Me & Jeremy just told him to relax. Relax was the word cos before we could go around to find our accomodation, we were checked into his guest house. Wicked. Easy life man. No hassles.

We got another one of those dinghy rooms which was ok except for a freagin irritating red bulb which was above Shaggy's bed that made the room look like a prostitute den. To send Jeremy into freakazoid mode, he found a used condom pack next to his bed. That kinda pissed us off as one of the rules of the guest house was 'No boom-boom allowed in room'. Although it did rhyme and sound pretty good, it wasn't something pleasant man. Syphillis, Gonorrhea.... dunno what else was running through our brains at that point. All this crap for USD 1 a night. Gila man.

Since we wanted to watch the West Ham vs Manyoo match, we were told to make our way to the Pub street as there were bound to be live screenings of the match. Here we found Happy Herbs Pizza. It was definitely a happy place for the fortunate as it is rumoured that they serve pizza laced with Cannabis. We did consider that for dinner at first but saw the cops which meant there wasn't going to be Cannabis in the pizza for the night. Too bad i guess.

As for the second day, it was Angkor all the way. The sun was freagin hot but the place rocked. By the time we got back, 3 of us blokes looked like Cambodians. To make our lives easier, we dressed like typical ah peks with shorts and Tat Seng Slippers before making our way for dinner. This ah pek look seemed to have done the trick as we looked like locals and the pimps also paid no attention to us cos we looked kinda 'poor'. No more 'boom-boom in room' offers.


Shaggy and Jeremy


Angkor the Lion doing the 'Pangsai' pose


At the Bayon temple

Day 3 was kinda ganas thanks to the rain that came down during the previous night. The entire town was flooded. As we did not know before hand, we rented bicycles thinking we could cycle around. Since we already had our bikes, we just decided to cycle through the flooded town. It wasn't too bad actually. It just felt pretty weird as the water was cold with the hot sun beating down on your back.

I think that was about it. The watered down and sober post on what happened in Siem Reap. Want to know more, go ask Shaggy and Jeremy. They got a lot more colorful stuff to reveal.

As for the kids at the Center and in the streets of Phnom Penh, i still can't stop thinking about them. I just wished I could have done more for them. Here's a link to a video that pretty much inspired me in many ways:

GlobalChild Street Kids Video

Adios!

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