Siem Reap: Day 3 - Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and Ta Phrom

Woke up 4 In The Morning (singing Gwen Stefani's song with the same title), however it was not reluctantly, as I know a new adventure is waiting for us in Angkor Wat! We have arranged a tuk-tuk driver for a sunrise tour in Angkor Wat the day before, where we plan which temples we would like to visit and the tuk-tuk driver will fetch us from the hotel to those destinations. Hotel charged us quite expensive though, around USD30, however they make it up for us by preparing us a breakfast box (which we turned back to hotel while halfway way to Angkor Wat coz we forgot to collect it LOL). 

It took about half an hour from the Sime Reap town to Angkor Wat ticket counter, where it's weird that the ticket counter somehow located pretty far away from the temple. First timer visiting the Angkor Wat will definitely have to take note on this. The tuk-tuk driver will have to drop us off here, queue up to purchase our tickets, and then hop back into our tuk-tuk to make our way to the temple. 

It must be kept with us all time, as once in a while we will pass through checkpoint to check on the validity of our tickets. One day pass cost us USD37, 2 years back was USD20, where I think the sudden increase in price is too steep.

After our tuk-tuk driver dropped us off at the parking area, we navigated our way in the dark along with thousands of other visitors, over the river surrounding Angkor Wat (an artificial buoyant bridge has been built to protect the original bridge from thousands of visitor each day). 

After the river, we were able to see the silhouette of the famous Angkor Wat Temple. Visitors were lining up along the lake, waiting for the perfect shot of sunrise from behind of Angkor Wat. 

While waiting for the sun to rise, we indulged in our breakfast at a corner of the temple area. Suddenly out of nowhere, some local kids rushed over begging for food. Since the breakfast box was a little big portion for me, I took an egg and a banana for myself and gave the remaining to them, pity them. But I saw an adult sitting not far away from them, I guess he is the father but too shy to request food from visitors. 

The sun rose but many visitors are still flocking around the lake. So to beat the crowd, we decided to go into the temple first before the others come in.

Walking into the temple of Angkor Wat...

Admiring its beauty...

Sun is shining brightly onto the magnificent architecture.

While leaving Angkor Wat, I realised the most beautiful moment for a photoshoot is not sunrise, it's when the sun is directly above Angkor Wat!

We hopped back to our tuk-tuk and proceeded to the next temple - Angkor Thom.

The gate of Angkor Thom.

Inside Angkor Thom.

We walked quite a long distance under the hot sun, I think for about 15mins to reach this little mobile cafe located somewhere in the middle of an empty land. Surprisingly, the food were quite delicious!

Next and final stop (yes we were in a little temple-fatigue state at that moment) was the famous Ta Prohm, made famous by large trees conquering the temple precinct and Angeline Jolie. She filmed the movie Tomb Raider here and ever since that, tourists have been flocking Ta Prohm to visit the location of the scene. 

Feeling lost in the middle of the temple... Yes, I gotta be frank that the temple layout is like a maze!

This is the spot! Photo can't really show how tall the tree is expanding itself into the sky!

A special one, where we have to duck a bit to avoid hitting our heads on the tree bark.

In the end we reached our hotel before noon time, which shocked the hotel receptionists because our temple visit was short. Haha! We were exhausted after waking up at 4am and visited 3 temples under hot sun. What we wanted after the temple run was a quick dive into the pool...

Siem Reap: Day 2 - Pub Street

When someone say they are visiting a cultural place, they will try to experience it as close with the local as possible. We dropped by Old Market, just a stone throw away from Pub Street to check out their morning market. It is indeed a market, where locals get their daily food ingredients from. Some might not appreciate the pungent smell, but I found it acceptable. Not much for us to view though, as we are not buying anything to cook.

We have the whole morning to ourselves. Thus, I opened Google Maps and search is there any attraction nearby Old Market. Found a peaceful temple built within a busy town, and we decided to check it out. Wat Preah Prom Rath is its name, with amazing architechure and photo spots!

Then, we took a tuk-tuk to the only mall in Siem Reap - Lucky Mall. A tuk-tuk ride within the city average around 2 Dollars. Some may want to charge you 3 Dollars, but most of the time they will give in to 2 Dollars. But bear in mind, 2 Dollars is for a distance shorter than 5km. They are earning more than Uber drivers in Malaysia!

For a city without McDonalds, Lucky Mall have their own version called Lucky Burger, but the selling price of the burger sets were surprisingly expensive! Visited their book store and I am amazed with the display of their items, very vibrant and tidy!

We actually changed our accommodation to a 5-star hotel for our 2nd and 3rd night in Siem Reap. Requested the pickup to pick us up from our first hotel and they came right on time in a Hyundai Starex (remember I said something about sitting a car in Siem Reap is a luxury?), with the Assistant Manager welcoming us all the way to the hotel! 

The hotel is called Sumeru Boutique Hotel & Spa. We were pretty excited when we read almost all good reviews about them in Trip Advisor, and they definitely did not disappoint us!

We were greeted warmly from the gate of the hotel to the reception table, where we were served welcome drinks and light finger food. Additionally, cold towel was provided the moment we sat down, very appreciated in a hot place like Siem Reap. 

Check in was swift, and we were guided to our room. One qualm though, Agoda stated my room comes with a bathtub, but the actual room doesn't. I faced the same problem with Agoda repeatedly though with other hotels I booked via the website, Agoda seriously need to look into the amenities stated. 

The hotel will set up a essential oil burner in the washroom, where you can choose the flavour preferred. We chose the lemongrass flavour, which turns out to be an excellent choice! Can view flight details in the room too, how thoughtful!

Dinner time! One of the perks of staying in Sumeru is complimentary tuk-tuk ride out to the city daily 5pm-8pm, as it is situated slightly further away from the city centre (but nearer to Angkor Wat). We dropped off at Pub Street, and went to a Khmer BBQ restaurant along the main road. Nothing to shout about the meal, but we were given crocodile meat! He does not like the smell of it, but I found the meat to be chicken-like, maybe more chevy. 

We walked around Pub Street after our meal, with me seeking for more food due to the unsatisfactory dinner. Then we saw this! Bugs store, deep fried and waited for people to chew on them. The snake kinda look like rubber though, I wonder how to swallow...

Siem Reap river, the only river I saw in the city. Apart from the colourful lighting, not much worth checking out here. 

Tons of fruit juice stalls can be found along the main streets. However, I found this to be one of the most attractive, with all the fruits displayed tidily under well lighting! With only 1 Dollar per cup, guess how many cups I had for my 4 days stay in Siem Reap?

NEXT: Angkor Wat!

Siem Reap - Day 1: Touch Down & Angkor Night Market

Here I am again, waiting for my next adventure to begin. It has been all about temple this year. This time, it's the renowned Angkor Wat temple! 

This must be the most beautiful immigration card of all:

Before moment of landing, we were able to spot greens everywhere. Some green spots like algae populated lakes across the city. 

We were welcomed by our tuk-tuk driver, complimentary pick up arranged by our hotel. I believe it is consider a luxury if you get to ride in a car in Siem Reap, however the roads are not as well conditioned and maintained. Gravels, pothholes were everywhere. I think that's why many locals are using SUV like first generation Lexus RX, but Camrys were spotted as well. (The inner car enthusiast me took over for a while)

It will take a long way for automotive brands to grow here...

As our flight was delay, we actually arrived at our Kingfisher Angkor Hotel near dinner time. After a quick rest and shower, we headed out to search for our first spot to visit - Angkor Night Market. It was not as big nor as merry as I imagine, however this is just one out of two most happening streets in Siem Reap, apart from Pub Street. 

Massage shops were everywhere. I was dragged and pulled by a woman masseur, asking me to visit her for a 'massage'! Maybe it was because I was wearing a singlet and looks kinda sexy hahaha! We were famished, and desperately looking for a restaurant which serves any kind of food. Fruit juice and fried ice cream stalls were all over the place. Some tasted authentic, some were just purely food flavouring or overly sweet...

The night market street was actually quite short. After viewing some locally made souvenirs and bought some personalised keychains for our colleagues, we headed back to the hotel for a good night sleep...

NEXT: Day 2, of the city & Pub Street

Yogyakarta Day 3 - Yogyakarta City

Started the great day with a great companion and a refreshing drink. It's coconut juice with tender coconut meat mixed with palm sugar, satisfying for a sweet tooth like me :)

After bidding farewell to my friend, I headed to Prambanan Temple (remember I bought a combined ticket for Borobudur and Prambanan which valid for 2 days only?) with Grab. From my research, Prambanan is best visit during sunset time, but since the weather was always bad around evening, I don't want to take my chance and might waste my ticket as well. 

There are actually few Candi located in the Prambanan's compund. I would say Candi Sewu, which located the furthest from Prambanan, looks the most interesting. It's about a 15mins walk, but I would suggest to take the free tram (FOC if you purchased the foreigner's ticket) which will give you a ride all the way to Candi Sewu, and even gave us 5 mins of photo op when we arrived at Candi Sewu!

The exit of Prambanan was about 15mins walk from the nearest bus station. A sudden downpour caused me to take shelter and wait for the rain to stop. By the time the rain stopped and reached the bus station, I was famished! Time to fulfill my 'dream', which is to try at least one McDonald's in every country! So, I travelled all the way to Malioboro Mall by using Trans-Jogja, just for its McDonald's! Still, after trying out few countries', I still feel that Malaysia's is still the best!

Took another Grab to Taman Sari, also known as the Water Castle. One of the most well preserved areas was the bathing area, where it used to be an area where the concubines bath, while the Sultan observe and choose one!

It was soon time for dinner and a local young chap was nice enough to bring me to some nice food. We went for Mie Ayam, which means mee with chicken, topped with crispy keropok and bakso meatballs! It was a random shop by the roadside but it tasted quite good!

After the satisfying meal, we hopped on to his motorcycle and headed to Alun-alun Kidul. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't know that Alun-alun Kidul is so happening at night! Visitors can rent a car, or more precise, bicycles powered 'car', wrapped with LEDs which glow brightly at night! What a beautiful sight!

Riding in Jogja is a little horrifying, when everyone rode so near to each other!

If you happen to visit Jogja, you must buy Chocolate Monggo, a locally made chocolate brand, as souvenirs! One of the branches is situated in the same location as Lotus Mio in Jalan Tirtodipuran, the street is located just opposite of Jalan Prawirotaman. Its chocolates are good, and you can believe me as I am a fan of chocolate! Visited here on my last day in Jogja.

Since my flight is at 5pm, I made use of my spare time to visit the Keraton again. This time around, I arrived in the morning and made it into the Keraton. It's a big place, with live 'wayang kulit' to entertain the visitors.

I had my lunch in the Warung Bu Ageng in Jalan Tirtodipuran, just opposite of the Chocolate Monggo shop I visited in the morning! Seriously, it was the best meal I had in my whole Yogyakarta trip! I will come back again if I happen to visit Jogja again!