I was hesitant to message Hao coz shy-type talaga ako. Charot. And when I did, he said we were looking for the wrong address. We were looking up using the letter D only. Un pala, iba pa ung regular D sa D na may gitling. Tignan mo, di ko nga madescribe ung character nila. Mawawala pa kami.
In fairness, nawala pa rin kami. Traffic kasi sa night life street sa Ho Chi Minh so the GrabCar driver dropped us off when we approached the alley towards the terminal na he didn’t know na one way pala. We started walking instead of enduring the traffic if we go around again, started looking for each establishment’s street number, until umabot kami sa park na may sandamukal na buses pero walang katao-tao. May tinry kaming tanungan pero no to English si beh.
Until someone said na nalagpasan na namin ung terminal. Ang dami ko pang conviction na I doubt malagpasan namin kasi I was looking at each establishment’s street number, wala naman ako nakita na ganung number, at pinagdudahan ko pa ung taga-Vietnam e siya nga ung taga-dun. Mali ako. Nalagpasan nga namin. Bida-bida. I was looking din kasi for a bus terminal. E agency pala kami nakabook. Di naman nakaexplain sa ticket. E parang opisina lang ung agency. Sino mag-iisip na bus terminal un. Kkkkk excuses. (Shucks. Haba ng intro.)
It took us an hour of waiting for the midnight bus ride and a flying ipis. Oo, ipis. At eto, bida bida na naman ako sa pagvi-Vietnamese. Ung kuya tour agency staff, Cam On ako ng Cam On which means thank you. Cam On sa ballpen. Cam On sa paregister. Beh, di siya Vietnamese. Cambodian siya. Kaya pala dedma si beh.
So eto na nga, nagboard na kami. Nakakaiyak ung sleeping area. There were double decks on both sides of the bus and each deck is for two pax kahit na single bed lang talaga un. Sila tour agency, basta nag-assign lang ng passengers. May isang ate Filipina na naging friend namin and she is a solo traveller, beh, naassign siya to sleep beside a Chinese guy. Ung totoo. Di man lang kinonsider ung gender at bawal pa makipagswap kahit may empty beds kasi nagsasakay pala sila on the way. Buti na lang, we were five in the group so at least, I slept beside someone I know.
Smooth naman ung pagcross namin ng borders and we reached Pyongyang by lunch. Nagmessage pa ako sa accommodation na we’ll be in Siem Reap by lunch pero since matagal ung stopover for the immigration and then matagal din ung stopover for the van transfer in Pyongyang, 6 pm kami dumating sa Siem Reap.
But we were happy sa accom. It was Central Hostel and it’s your typical hostel na United Nations ang casting. Tourists from all over. May paswimming pool pa and it was for only $7 or P350 per pax per night on their coed dorm for six. And on that coed dorm, only our group of five stayed so para rin kaming nakaprivate room. And the amenities are even better than Yellow Door Hostel in Tacloban (which charges P500 per head). Nakakasama ng loob ung accom rates sa ibang parts ng Pinas to think pa na Angkor Wat in Siem Reap is a UNESCO Heritage Site but less commercialized ung rates at mas makatarungan with the amenities. Kkkkk Itigil ang kapitalismo. Ganun lol.
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| Inutusan lang po nila akong sakyan ung donkey toy sa pool ng Central Hostel. Inosente po ako, promise. |
Anyway, we were starving kasi we only ate noodles for brunch. We went to the night market and though mej commercialized ung prices, so far, un ung best night market I’ve seen. Organized and ang daming ganap. Ang daming crepes, pancakes, street food, souvenir stores, and FRIED ICE CREAM. Oo, FRIED ICE CREAM. Then I fell in love with Kampuchea, making it my favorite country next to the Philippines. Dahil sa fried ice cream. Charot.
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| Siem Reap Night Market! |
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| Prepping the Fried Ice Cream |
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| Fried Ice Cream ready to be devoured! |
Imagine three fresh fruits of your choice (the best ung strawberry), dudurugin with a spatula and mixed with milk tapos frozen on an ice cream pan. Grabe heavenly.
We arranged a sunrise tour the next day so we woke up at 4 am. We were surprised na the Angkor Wat fee pala is $37 which is almost 2k. But definitely worth it. We hired two tuktuks (their counterpart for tricycle) for our day tour. Sobrang ganda ng roads to Angkor Wat. So raw, provincial pero organized and lined up with trees.
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| Angkor Wat Entrance |
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| Pak sa entrance ticket that you have to keep the entire tour or else you won't be allowed inside. |
Mej disappointed kami sa dami ng tao sa Mui Ne in Vietnam but we said na we should have expected it since we visited ng weekend. Sabi ko, bawi na lang kami sa Angkor Wat since it was a Tuesday so most likely, konti ung tao. Nagkamali ako. There were thousands of tourists like us on a Tuesday. Iba.
Ayaw pa sana makisiksik ni Alexis sa loob nung main temple sa Angkor Wat where the sunrise view they say is the best pero ironically, we stayed sa main temple for three hours kakamodeling. Inip na inip ung tuktuk drivers namin at nasira ung schedule nila for the day.
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| Raw, unedited sunrise shot :) |
We visited another set of temples kung saan pinagod kami ni Alexis sa kakahanap ng Angelina Jolie tree na nasa ibang location pala. Then we had lunch at a carinderia with a price of fine dining. $4 ung regular rice meals nila which is P200. Btw, they use USD more than their own currency which is Riel. Sad fact. Kkkk
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| Thank you, Skechers Go Walk! Shot by John Austria @mvltiple |
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| Thank you, Skechers Go Walk! Kahit wala ung sapatos. Mas maganda naman daw ung shoes sa mukha ko lol kbye. Shot by Karl Presentacion @larkvain |
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| Akala mo magthank you uli ako sa Skechers Go Walk? Kkkk Shot by Karl Presentacion @larkvain |
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| Kunwari malungkot kami sa pinuntahan namin. |
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| Pabebe tau, guys. |
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| Eto ung batang umihi sa harap namin pagkatapos niya mahpose-pose. |
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| Tuktuk! |
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| Kunwari masaya kami, guys. |
Nagkawalaan kami on the next temple stop where the Angelina Jolie tree is located. Siyempre lost ako sa directions. Ang instruction samin ng tuktuk drivers is mag-exit sa opposite side. E di ikot ikot sa loob since very interesting for me what happened behind the ruins, nahiwalay ako sa main group. Un palang akala ko na exit, bumalik lang ako sa pinasukan namin na entrance. Siyempre di ko na naman marecall na kaitsura ng pinasukan namin. Buti na lang may Flytpack to keep us connected. Lol may endorsement pala.
We decided to go home at around 2 pm coz super init naexhaust kami, bought our bus tickets to Bangkok, and rested. We went biking at around 5 pm at yung mga oportunista kong kasama, inunahan pa ko sa mas mababang bike. Natira sakin ung napakataas ung seat e ang liit-liit ko, di ko abot ung pedal, at kung di ako nadevirginize dun sa bidet sa Vietnam, dun sa bike, wasak. Charot lang. Siyempre kinailangan pa na muntik ako mabangga kasi nagkakandahulog ako sa bike dahil di ko nga abot ung pedal bago nakipagpalit ung isa sa kanila ng bike. But super memorable din to bike around Siem Reap.
A few hours before our bus ride to Bangkok, we hanged out at the bar of the hostel. Super nice ng staff like they played Filipino songs by Kyla and so on. And super masipag sila kasi they’re working students. Eto pa, the girl staff gave us jasmine garlands before we left. Super nice. They’re like Pinoys to me in terms of how they treat their tourists.
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| Smells like Sampaguita :) |
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