Top Ten Most Unforgettable Travel Adventures in Cambodia

3:06:00 AM Pinoy Boy Journals 4 Comments

ALL-TIME FAVORITE POST FROM 2010 RE-BLOGGED: 
I hope this may spark your curiosity even more to visit this awesome country on your next backpacking trip around South East Asia. I hope that in the coming years the country will prosper as a nation, the success it truly deserves. But on the other hand, i hope westernization will not kill the rich culture of this truly great nation.


I always wear this. A comfortable printed long-sleeves top, slouchy pants cropped and flip flops. Just right outside the central market in PP.
Yes. I think we have the same shirt over. See what i tell you. I look and dress up like all the Khmer men. Nice!

1. I look like everbody.
How can you forget a trip to a foreign country where you look and act almost the same as everyone else? I've never been more home, as i always say. We, Asians, have a unique facial look that's exotic, honest, innocent and very young both in appearance and by heart.

If you're still not convinced. I with my friends made a prank. I sat on one of those tuk-tuks and signaled a tuk-tuk ride to all the farangs walking along pub street. See what happened. Here...

Trying to brave the steep stairs of the Angkor Wat. Yes i walked side ways
Admiring the beauty of this great temple

2. Going to the Angkor Wat
It's not everyday that you walk around "history". The sights, the sounds, the ambiance, It's like walking in the heart of the pasr. Very nice, indeed. I've been amazed by a couple of structures everywhere from Pudong Skyline to the magnificent architectures of hotel casinos in Macau and the unique structures of Kuala Lumpur but visiting the Angkor Wat is unmistakably one of my greatest trips ever. It wouldn't be listed as one of the top places to see before you die for thing.

The best travel buddies, Cara and MM drinking free bucket at Angkor Wat Bar, Pub Street


3. The Joys and Mistakes of Traveling
On one of our drinking nights in Siem Reap, a couple of tourists were obviously drunk and were dancing on top of the tables. A six footer lost his balance and fell on my petite friend. Obviously hurt and disappointed, the guy was miserable after. All you can do is charge it to experience. Off we go to party some more. On one of our walks along Pub Street, a couple of young blokes were smoking marijuana. I have no idea regarding the policies, but you don't need those rules to follow one thing whenever you're traveling around... RESPECT
The ride inside the Mekong Express Limousine bus - free snack, hand wipes, and free Khmer music for six hours. Can you handle it? 
A few more hours to go before i reach my destination - sunburnt and tired. I need a bed and Angkor beer!

4. Bus Rides
I've never been to more bus rides anywhere than my almost month trip around Cambodia. Bus from Saigon to Phnom Penh. Bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. Bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh. Bus from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville. Bus from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh. And finally Bus from Sihanoukville to Saigon. Wheeeew. Too many bus rides after, i was beginning to make them buses my second home. But believe me when i tell you this, the seats are really comfortable, the driver was driving pretty cool and the aircon was max. Mind you, you can actually get two seats if the bus is not fully occupied, and you have great convincing powers. 

Arrived at night in Sihanoukville, no better way to tour the province but on a speeding motorbike
Here i am taking a video while the motor is scooting away.

5. Motor Rides
Everywhere i go in Phnom Penh, me and my buddy would always scoot around his motorbike in heaps of places. Thanks to Adam for the free ride around the city. For breakfast, lunch or dinner, for chilling' at a nightclub, for a private housewarming party, for an afternoon happy hour at the ghetto district. Drunk and motor rides. Cool. But be really cautious, too. You don't want accidents on your trips.

Angkor? Anchor? What's the difference anyway?
You can get cheaper beer via draft and sharing. $.70 cents.

6. Angkor, Anchor
My true best friend and partner in life in Cambodia. In bottles, in pints, don't care about buckets unless they're free. This is what i drink every time i am out. I think the flavor is just right. Not too strong like Chang, not too spirited like San Miguel. If you ask me about the difference of the two, i still don't know what is. Obviously, i was always too drunk to notice. 

Here's what it looks like outside the genocide museum. I didn't get inside. Instead i walked around and talked to the people. Good 20 minute conversations. Really cool people!
Here are a couple of bystanders in front of the palace. I just wanted a photo of myself, it just so happens that they were at the back. Might as well join in the fun and have our picture taken.
Back to the "backstreet boys"

7. Don't judge the book by its cover.
Khmer are honest people. I don't know if i just believe in the goodness of people. But people here are very honest, very sincere, very cordial. On one of our tuk-tuk rides, the business was to give the driver $1 because we bartered for a lower price. When i got to my destination, i gave him $1 more. I mean, what is $1 if you take into consideration the effort of these people really working hard for a buck. And western people are richer than me so the next time you go on trips, make sure to show some love to the people who take you to your destinations, the people you buy your souvenirs from. These people are working really hard to give you the best time in their own fuckin' country. Remember we're just visiting.

Nuff said.
8. The past
I actually didn't go to the tours. Apart from the reason that i was a bit hung over from last night, i didn't want to leave Cambodia with the impression of its horrible past. The people have suffered so much trauma. I want to remember Cambodia as the land of really friendly and loving people with a not so good past, but keen and hopeful for the future.

Me with the Israeli Army in Angkor Wat Bar
Me with Cara and Melissa at a bar right across the Angkor Wat Bar. What's the name of the place again? I think the same bar with the Apsara dinner buffet upstairs.
Yaelle and Matthieu from Switzerland while chillin' in Ochheuteal Beach Sihanoukville.
MM with the local khmer girl doing the threading on her.
Sylvia, Adam, Moneyman Matt at the balcony in an Expat's housewarming party in Phnom Penh.
The Khmer men outside the circle in Siem Reap. Bought a cigarette, won a friend. These guys are my best memory of Siem Reap. Friendship knows no boundaries.

9. Friends you meet along the way
There are people you meet while waiting for the bus to arrive, people you ask questions  where is a good place to go, people you dance with in a club, people you exchange notes on routes and cheaper accommodations, people you tag along with for a cheaper Tuk-tuk ride, people who take care of you when you're in their turf, people who want to give you the best bang in Cambodia, i say thanks to all of you. These are people who're just in the same time and same place as you are. That's destiny. Just holler when you're in Manila, I'll show you what you're really missing. And for sure, i will see you guys again somewhere again. Cheers!

The little kid playing at the Angkor Wat entrance
The little girl at the Bayon temple
The little  musician kid selling souvenirs around the complex
The hip little girl of Sihanoukville
My brothers. hahaha... these are the kids selling lonely planet counterfeit at a pub in Phnom Penh
The best photo of Khmer kids - i snapped this one out because they were already smiling at me. These kids are so wonderful to look at.

10. Khmer kids
Ever wonder why Angie and Brad adopted kids in Cambodia? The kids here are the sweetest ever; those innocent eyes, those charming smiles, the way they talk and say "Mister, one dolla'" with the loveliest, sweetest accents. These are the kids, who at a very young age, need to work really hard to help their families. Times are tough in this side of the world. And every dollar received will change their future.

4 Comments:

Is it me or you actually have the same shirt with the man behind you, in the first picture above.the plaid top..you just seem to belong to the locals. ive done my research and this is what i've read, from gareth evans.

I never again met any of the young Cambodians I had spent time with, or any of their contemporaries. The sad and horrible truth is that they all died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge – executed outright as middle class enemies of the state, or worked to death through malnutrition or disease out in the fields.

horrible as it is, this should'nt happened if only people is not ruthless as them.

@paperbiscuits ha ha ha yes! i know, i seriously look khmer. everywhere i go, locals would talk to me in their native tongue and then i would just smile. but it's good because that's what i aim to do, to blend with the locals.

The history of the khmer rouge and what's left to the minds of the people are just horrible. there's a museum in Phnom Penh that takes you how it was then. i didn't go just because all i want to remember of my trip to Phnom Penh are the beatiful people and their kind hearts. Thanks for sharing!

Tony said...

I can also relate to your story Jerick, i was in Cambodia en route Saigon couple of months ago and i can attest to your story. Indeed! Khmer people are trustworthy people i must say. Despite of poverty, the culture is preserved and is very rich. I would love to go back there soon, hopefully with you. Keep exploring! Add me at fb, e mail tony(underscore)pacific(dot)y.c.

Tony

Thanks Tony for your kind words. Cheers!