Limping Marathon Runner

Early morning, we needed to get ready, taking our breakfast waiting for our bus pickup to send us to the Mekong Express Limousine Bus: Phnom Penh - Siem Reap bus boarding location. Seems like the bus will be stopping over at Kampong Thom, which was one of our original plans to stay there for a day. This time, we will be just doing a pit stop. Limousine bus is quite alright and comparable to KL buses. Locals and tourists alike boarded the bus and we moved off at 8.30am. Within 10mins, we crossed the Tonle Sap River using the Japanese bridge. Wow .. we were distributed with pastries on board the bus! Limousine service? Well, the not so limousine service would be showing Cambodia MTV which most people have no clue of what the singers are singing. Nevertheless, definitely a very local flavor and reminds me of the 80's Karaoke MTVs. Damn old school.

Lots of kampong lookalike houses along the way of our travel. Eventually, we arrived at Kampong Thom for pit stop (toilet break, lunch) for half an hour. Endlesstrail could not resist the temptation to try the fried crickets the "Fear Factor" way - chew well + swallow. "Taste like sotong", commented Endlesstrail. Yes, I was behind the camera taking it all down in video. Fear of crickets is definitely not a factor for him. The road side store sells fried bats and rats (I think, based on the shape) too. Definitely more fear in stinking one's teeth into the bats or rats. I still prefer good old fried chicken.

By mid-noon, we finally reached the bus depot at Siem Reap. Mr. John Teng was already there waiting for us. Before we can get off the bus, there was already a horde of moto-taxi drivers shouting and waving just to catch our attention. Most were carrying pictures and rates of guest houses nearby. For once, I felt like a cow or some livestock with people shouting out, at, over and across me. You just have to firmly say no. Mr. John Teng brought us to his car (parked behind the depot) where he helped us move around to book our guest house. A nice and friendly person! Once we sorted our accommodation, we went straight to Angkor area to make our 3-day pass costing us USD$40. We had our photos taken (passport size), printed and laminated the pass on the spot. Of course, USD$40 is not cheap! I would say it is worth the money to see the temples in the Angkor site. Since it was nearing to sunset, we visited Angkor Wat to capture a reflection of the temple before climbing the steep stairs to reach the top.