Cambodia 2011.

Cambodia 2011 from Cholo and Tums on Vimeo.

Last of the Siem Reap series.

Our Cambodian temples and jungle/waterfalls tour was the best (we were able to see so much and go to so many places!) mainly because we had a really fun tour guide. I guessed it helped that he's young (so he understood that we were noisy, and took so much time taking photos, and were over-all magulo) and also that he was tried and tested (a friend of ours had already gone months before and he was their tour guide).

Meet Ratanak (or Nak as we called him, or Rat/Ratan as Kring called him haha).

Siem Reap Eats: Street Food

Friends who've been to Cambodia kept telling us to try this 1 particular dessert that was being sold on the streets.

True enough, it wasnt hard spotting the pushcarts that sold these crepes.

Siem Reap Eats: Ecstatic Pizza

A cult favorite in Cambodia is the notorious ecstatic/happy pizza. Google it to find out why!

Siem Reap Eats: Khmer Kitchen

Cambodian cuisine is also known as Khmer cuisine. One of our travel musts is to always try the local food/drinks.

Khmer Kitchen was conveniently located in Pub Street. And it was so full when we decided to eat there for dinner! Good thing a table freed up and we were able to try it out.

Siem Reap Eats: Blue Pumpkin

Siem Reap may not be as hot, sticky and humid as Manila is, but after a morning of walking around the old market and Pub Street, we were in need of a nice, cool place where we could rest our aching feet.

the Pub Street experience (interesting finds)

Fancy a fish massage?

the Pub Street experience (night)

As expected, Pub Street is a lot more alive at night, crawling with tourists and locals alike. 

the Pub Street experience (day)

Pub Street in Siem Reap is basically just a street (and a few side streets/ alleyways) filled with restaurants, stores, and you guessed it - pubs.

Temple Run: Pre Rup

Pre Rup was our last temple destination (and last climb!) of the trip.

Temple Run: Banteay Srei

After our trek through the Cambodian jungle and our swim at the waterfall, we headed to our next stop: Banteay Srei also known as the temple of the women and the pink temple.

Thank God our bus had dozens of umbrellas on board. This day was the hottest of all the days we were there and the temple (which was made of red sandstone) made it even hotter.. at least I think so hehe. 

Kbal Spean

On the third and last full day of our Cambodian tour, we got into our bus and headed out of the city. It took about 2 hours before we finally reached the jungle.

This river is what greeted us after a loooooong (and tiring) hike.

Temple Run: Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat is easily the most recognizable of all the landmarks in Cambodia. Its so famous that its even printed on their bills!

We had already visited it earlier in the day (to catch the sunrise) but we went back in the afternoon to explore the rest of the HUGE temple.

That's our group, walking towards the back of the temple. Look how pretty the path is! Felt like we were literally in another world.

Temple Run: South Gate of Angkor Thom

 

Thats Kring and I approaching the South Gate on foot.

Temple Run: Ta Keo

Ta Keo actually wasn't a stop on our tour. But while we were in Cambodia, a friend of ours tweeted us saying that this was one of the places they visited (and they had so much fun) so we decided to add it to our tour too.

It was a good thing that our tour guide was nice (and young), so we were really able to tell him where we wanted to go and what we wanted to eat/see, etc. There were actually supposed to be more stops on our 3-day tour but because we were such a big group, and because we spent so much time taking photos in each stop (hehe, guilty), we didn't get to go to all the places that were on the list. We covered all the important places though.

Temple Run: Ta Prohm

Next destination for our 2nd day was the Tomb Raider temple!

Sunrise at Angkor Wat

We were up waaaaay before the crack of dawn on our 2nd day in Siem Reap. First thing on our agenda? Catch the infamous Angkor Wat sunrise.

Temple Run: Phnom Bakheng

The last destination for our first day was to this temple to watch the sunset.

Temple Run: Elephant Terrace and King's Pool

Destination #2

 

Temple Run: Bayon

Just a few hours after landing in Siem Reap and we were off to our first few temples of the trip!

First stop: Bayon