THE DATE: April 25, 2012
THE TRIP
07:00-07:40 After a despondent but educational day, we were off to immerse ourselves to two days of 12th century Cambodian history.
I originally planned for us to leave Phnom Penh in the afternoon for more sight seeing, but after several consultations with the PEX Community and also taking into consideration the fact that we will travel by bus to Siem Reap for 6 hours or so, I decided that it will be better for us to leave in the morning. I confirmed the day before with Sinh Tourist Phnom Penh Branch that we will be taking the early bus ride to Siem Reap. At first, they were confused because I think they don’t have a bus leaving in the morning. But I told them that my reservation is for the morning schedule. They checked their schedule and said it’s okay. Still, i have that feeling that not everything is okay OKAY.
The Sinh Tourist van picked us up from our guesthouse a little past 7am. But instead of bringing us to their office, the van brought us to a public bus terminal. The driver got Capitol Tourist Bus tickets from the bus counter and gave it to us. We are now going to ride a public bus and not the exclusive ride that I paid for. Though there’s nothing wrong with riding a public transpo, traveling on a private bus means less stops and fewer passengers. The bus is so full that the sacks of rice that were not able to fit in the bus luggage compartment were laid along the aisle.
Anyway, I didn’t ask or argue with the Sinh Tourist driver. Even though they should have informed us beforehand, they did transferred us to another bus line and did not leave us hanging. I figured maybe they don’t have an early bus ride to Siem Reap and arguing wouldn’t really change anything. It’s also difficult to argue with someone who may not even understand your problem due to language barrier. Besides, it’s early in the morning and being pissed off is not part of my agenda. At least we’ll be on our way to Siem Reap. Transportation: 7 USD each
07:40-11:00 One of my concerns is how I will be able to contact our guesthouse in Siem Reap. I told them that we’ll take Sinh Tourist so they know where to pick us up. But since we were only made aware that we’ll not be taking Sinh Tourist bus that same morning, I was not able to inform our guesthouse the unexpected change of plans. Good thing, our stop over for lunch has free wifi. In the middle of nowhere, this big open restaurant has free wifi! I can’t believe my luck! Via my phone, I immediately sent an email to our guesthouse. Relieved, I can now enjoy the view of Cambodian countryside.
11:00-15:00 We had a 20-minute stop over around 1:00pm. We arrived at the public bus terminal around 3pm and immediately saw our tuktuk ride waiting for us.
15:00-15:20 We arrived at Bou Savy Guesthouse and were given each a free mango shake and a damp cloth to refresh ourselves. I’ll write a separate post for my review of the guesthouse but for now I’ll give them a 5 out of 5 rating.
Accommodation: 12 USD
15:20-18:00 Since it was really hot outside, we decided to just stay inside. I went down to use their computer to transfer pictures and update friends and relatives.
18:00-20:00 Around 6:00pm, we went out to have dinner and visit the famous night market. We walked from the guesthouse to the market. It was a pleasant 15-20 minute walk. After dinner, we went to the night market. It was organized and you can easily haggle especially if they tell you you’re their first customer. I told myself I will just look around to save money for our Bangkok shopping but I ended up buying a few things. I bought two hammocks at a haggled price of 5 USD. I also bought nailcutter/keychain sets and several scarves and pants and shirts. Sheesh. Talk about discipline.
For consistency’s sake, 1 USD is 4,000 KHR and 1 USD is 43 PHP.
*We availed the 66USD package of Bou Savy Guesthouse. For purposes of computation of expenses, I divided 66 USD into: 12 USD per night for three nights and 15 USD per day tour for two days. I treated the breakfasts and one-time dinner as freebies.