Cambodia Trip

I am very fortunate that I have a little money saved to be able to go on vacation outside of Timor. I may have ranted on this before, but it is very expensive to fly out to anywhere from Timor. To get to the nearest flight hub, Bali Indonesia, costs approximately $420 return. This is astronomical compared to the rest of south east Asia flights. This fact is one of the major blockers for encouraging tourists to visit Timor-Leste. Also, when those that can afford to spend over $400 on a plane ticket arrive, western standard accommodation in Dili is equivalent to (actually more expensive than) USA prices as opposed to south east Asia prices. It’s easy for me to say all this, but there is a huge missed opportunity for tourism and economic growth here in Timor-Leste. If I ever get to meet the President again I might just share my thoughts with him 😂.

Ok, rant over. So, the Cambodia trip! Mailys and I travelled to Cambodia via Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and returned via Bangkok (Thailand). This is more of a travel blog which will hopefully help others who plan similar trips.

Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur was a very westernized city with skyscrapers, nice hotels and all the types of food you would like (we ate well). They also had a really nice bike shop (Rodalink) from which I was able to pick up bicycle spares which I can’t get in Timor-Leste. Some photos of our 2 days in Kuala Lumpur are below with some captions.

Hotel room at Sleeping Lion Suites. $45 per night. Bukit Bintang district. City view, clean, really nice. I show this to emphasize the “typical” accommodation value in south east Asia (and this is in a capital city!) in relation to my thoughts above.

A selfie in the very peaceful KLCC park which sits in front of the Petronas twin towers which hold the world record for the tallest twin towers (1,483 ft and 88 floors). I have to say that Mailys and I though the bridge linking the two towers looked like an afterthought 😁.

There is a large Indian community in Kuala Lumpur. We had an absolutely amazing dinner at Indian Empire restaurant in the Bukit Bintang district. We were stuffed!

We visited the beautiful Chinese Buddhist Thean Hou Temple and arrived early (about 8:15am). It was a really beautiful temple and we had the place to ourselves until about 9am when the tourist buses arrived and the place was swamped! So.. if you ever visit here, get here early.

So… next stop was Siem Reap, Cambodia. We had some news that the 1/2 Marathon we had planned to run/walk was postponed due to the border fighting between Cambodia and Thailand ☹. The other volunteers who were also planning to run were able to join an “unofficial” low-key run arranged by the organizers, but Mailys and I decided that would not fit with our walk/run plan.

Siem Reap Cambodia

We flew into a pretty new airport in Siem Reap and were picked up by a driver from our hotel Sakaban Suite. The hotel was beautiful, with a really nice pool. We had a suite which cost $27 per night. As you can see from the photos below, it was super value. Breakfast was an extra $3 per person. We even received some refreshing drinks and dragon fruit at reception 😋.

Did I mention that Siem Reap was hot!!🥵. Well, it is. Temperatures in August are typically 90F and August is the month of peak humidity at 83%.

When we arrived we met up with Chris, Sarah and Madeline (my Timor-Leste fellow volunteers) as well as a former volunteer from Timor-Leste who now lives in Siem Reap.

The town itself was well developed and a unique vibe. I really would like to return. Whilst there, I got a nice haircut and a new tattoo from Shadow Ink Tattoo! My monkey tattoo is to remind me of Cambodia, where we saw many wild monkeys. It was my least painful tattoo… maybe it was the heat 🤔. I can highly recommend this tattoo shop. Nice guys and a good price 💵. Speaking of money, the local currency is the Cambodian Riel (KHR), however almost all vendors accept US dollar bills. If they give you change, however, it will be in KHR currency. This was actually super convenient as Timor Leste uses the US dollar. With regard to accepting VISA/MASTECARD, the bigger vendors did, but most relied on cash only.

With regard to food, we found a really great small pizza restaurant (Pizzeria Da Claudio) which was ran by an Italian guy who married a Cambodian. The pizza was exceptional! We met his two naughty sons 😁 who decided we were the entertainment for the night.

We did eat in some more traditional places also in and around Siem Reap. These often had hammock seating!! We gracefully declined those seats as I would make a right-mess for sure eating in a hammock 🍴.

Siem Reap Temples

Siem Reap is known for its extensive temple complex based around the large Angkor Wat temple. There is a day pass which costs $37 per person. You definitely would need more than a day to see everything, especially if you were walking (many bike rental places in Siem Reap and the 3 wheeler tuk-tuk’s are plentiful). There are many temples around the area of Angkor Wat and somewhat spread out. As the marathon was cancelled, Mailys and I decided to walk to the temple area from Siem Reap. On the way, we popped into a local shop which was on a country road outside Siem Reap. It is ran by a mother and her son and daughter. They made, and sold, traditional leather carvings and, as we visited, her son was working on a new carving. We had a nice chat with the owner (her daughter was able to translate) and it was a really nice experience (of course, I bought one of the carvings 😉). A couple of photos below:

As we were visiting during “off season” (it seems to be off season due to the humidity and festivals being later in the year) the temple complex’s were relatively empty. In fact, we were able to visit a few smaller temples where we had the whole temple to ourselves! On reflection, I think August is a good month to visit Cambodia. I show some of the temples we visited below:

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat is the worlds largest religious monument and built in the 12th century as a Hindu temple and which, later, became a Buddhist site. It is actually featured on the Cambodia flag! Some choice photos of the temple below. This temple had many monkeys living in the complex (hence my monkey tattoo souvenir 😊). The wall carvings and attention to detail were pretty amazing and it was clear that this was a lifelong job for the workers who built it. Also, unlike many other old buildings, the whole structure, including the roofs, is made from stone. This means that the temple looks very much as it did when it was built in the 12th century.

Prohm Kel Temple

Prohm Kel is one of the many small temples at the entrance to Angkor Wat. Apparently this was one of many “Hospital Chapels”. It was peaceful as we were the only visitors.

Phnom Bakheng Temple

The Phnom Bakheng Temple is a larger Hindu temple, built in the 9th century, which is accessed by a relatively long steep upward path from the main road. We had this temple all to ourselves and were able to climb to the top and take in the view. There was some renovations going on in this temple and we were not able to get inside. The views from the top of the temple are worth the visit and the climb 👍.

Baksei Chamkrong Temple

The Baksei Chamkrong Temple was another place we had to ourselves. We started to climb the extremely steep steps from the front (east) side, got about half way up and decided it was dangerous due to the condition of the steps and how steep they were. We went to the back (west) side of the temple and found the steps in better condition 👍 and we were able to climb to the top (admittedly still slowly as the steps were super steep). I am amazed they let people climb this temple. One false move and I think it would be a fatal fall 😭.

Angkor Thom (Nokor Thom)

I think, by this last temple, we had enough of viewing temples 😂 and we were glad we just got the 1 day visitors pass (and not the 3 day). Angkor Thom was built as a capital city of the Jayavarman empire and is enclosed within walls with magnificent ornate entrance archways. It once was home to between 80,000 to 150,000 people. Very ornate and housed temples which were as amazing as all the others we saw. Photos (below) tell it all…

Cambodia Landmine Museum, and Aki Ra

We took a taxi ride about 1hr out of Siem Reap to visit a small land mine museum (Cambodia Land Mine Museum) I had found online. The guy who created it is named Aki Ra and he was forced to be a child soldier with the Khmer Rouge after they killed his parents (who were Teachers) around the age of 5 (he is not sure when his birthday is or what year he was born). During his time as a Khmer Rouge soldier he laid thousands of land mines in Cambodia. In 1987 (around 17 years old) he defected to the Vietnamese army. After the Vietnamese left, in 1989, he continued to fight in the Cambodia national army against the Khmer Rouge. When the United Nations force arrived in Cambodia in 1993, Aki was trained in mine and ordinance (many dropped also by the USA) detection and clearance. As he was once the person who laid the mines, he had a skill for detecting mine locations and disarming. There is estimated to be between 3 to 6 million mines still in Cambodia.

In 1997 Aki opened the landmine museum to bring awareness of his mine clearing work (which he continued with minimal equipment after the UN left Cambodia) and to also be a location for young landmine victims to live and receive education and support. I thought this Land Mine Museum was a really worthwhile visit and I learned a lot. I feel that Aki’s work is driven by remorse for all the mines he laid and the people they maimed and killed. Below some photographs of the museum.

Wat Preah Prom Rath Monastery

Before our flight to Bangkok we visited the Wat Preah Prom Rath Monastery in Siem Reap. A beautiful Buddhist monastery, with really nice gardens and a reclining Buddha, which we had all to ourselves. The place definitely had a calmness to it. It was a nice end to our time in Siem Reap. Some photos below:

And On To Bangkok!………

As we transferred back to the airport in Siem Reap, I got my bike parts confiscated as I went through security 😪 (I could have checked them in, but they were worth less than the baggage fee). With my tail between my legs we went to get a drink at the Starbucks in the airport. Mailys noticed the barista had written me a message on my cup 😁 which cheered me up!

We stayed in a modest hostel in Bangkok, Tiang Capsule, which was around $40 per night for a private room with a bathroom. It was clean and comfortable and located in the Bang Rak district of Bangkok. Unbeknownst to me (I promise), this is the red light district of Bangkok 😁 but it seemed a pretty relaxed place and we didn’t find ourselves in many uncomfortable situations 🤨.

Bangkok itself is very busy. Lots of heavy traffic. It definitely had a capital city feel and I don’t think we really got a favor of the “real” Thailand. We DID find that the river shuttle boats (which travel up and down the central river in Bangkok) were an excellent fast and cheap way to travel up and down the city (as apposed to a taxi) and would highly recommend this to anyone visiting Bangkok.

Some highlights of Bangkok below….

Pak Khlong Talat (Bangkok Flower Market)

The flower market was a super place to have a short visit. Tons of flowers and also local sellers of fish and other foods. This was definitely a place with the locals of Bangkok shopped and felt like an authentic Thai place.

Lumpini Park

Lumpini Park was close to our accommodation and was a really nice calm walk in the middle of the madness of Bangkok. A highlight of the park is that it is home to many Asian Water Monitor Lizards. They have an abundance of lakes and fish to eat there and seemed pretty calm around people. This park is definitely worth a visit.

Wat Arun

Wat Arun is a Buddhist temple built in the 17th century. It is extremely ornate and colourful due to it having many small ceramic tile pieces as its façade. The river shuttle boat took us straight there. The area also has a fabulous Buddhist temple area behind the main Wat Arun and some really nice gardens. It was worth a visit as a unique piece of architecture. Some choice photos below:

A Pink Rabbit & Bob Cake Shop

A quirky cake shop (which also served regular meals) we found close to the Wat Pho temple in Bangkok. Many many cakes and good food. Pretty small place (I think we got the best seats) and a quirky small hidden bathroom. I show a photo of Mailys extracting herself from the bathroom 😂😂.

Wat Pho

Wat Pho is another Buddhist temple in Bangkok and famous for its massive “reclining Buddha” and some really lovely gardens. There were quite a few tourists at this site, but it was still a relatively peaceful place. The gardens were really nice with many bonsai trees and statues of impossible (for me) yoga positions 🧘‍♀️.

Chinatown

The Chinatown area of Bangkok was a rabbit warren of shops. Lots of clothes, hats and other things to spend money on. There was also a lot of small industrial activity where small shops were rebuilding heavy duty gearboxes, rear axles and marine equipment. This was actually pretty fascinating to Mailys and I (both being Engineers who have designed heavy duty gearboxes in the past). There was also many art murals in the Chinatown district. Definitely worth a visit and a walk around.

So much more I could have included about the trip (oh, I bought my bicycle parts AGAIN in Bangkok and was able to get them through security to Timor-Leste 🙏). The trip was awesome! Now I am back in Fatuquero. I will leave you with a photo of Mana Rosa, from the disability group FJDE I support, who was hand sewing a flower pattern onto a tablecloth for an upcoming fundraiser. She looked so calm, and I asked if I could take her photo 😁. Thanks for reading! Until next time!!