After numerous weekends of confinement to our rooms, we felt that the upcoming 5-day Ben Pchum Ben holiday was the perfect opportunity to institute change to the way we spent our free time. Us boys, Billy, Antony and I, had been following a regular routine of waking up on weekend mornings and proceeding to watch our beloved new series, House, till dark, a process only interrupted by occasional quests for food. As much as we enjoyed doing absolutely nothing, we had come to realize that the 10-meter trip down the stairs to the kitchen and back, repeated perhaps 12 times a day, would hardly classify as an effective way to experience Cambodian culture. Thus, we reactivated our think engines, a very difficult process after months of post IB inactivity, and began to formulate a vague idea of what was to become a trip to Siem Reap; a destination we envisioned to be the perfect cocktail of cultural enlightenment mixed with zesty nightlife escapades. The result was an unparalleled master plan, as we called upon our very own spontaneous and irrational adventure guru, Wen Bertelli, to fly in to Phnom Penh from Singapore to aid us in our mission.
Our trip to Siem Reap began with an uneventful 7 hour bus ride that saw us arrive at our destination in the late afternoon. However, in light of the fact that we are dysfunctional gappies, all five of us had managed to forget the name of the hotel in which Dorine had reserved rooms for us. This obstacle was swiftly sidestepped by taking the first tuk tuk available into town and making reservations at the self-proclaimed Number 10 Lodge in the province, thereby officially marking the beginning of our three day adventure in the Siem Reap.
On our first night we headed into the pub and restaurant enclave of Siem Reap, taking in the buzzing environment and admiring the cosy alleys hidden between buildings. We were not the least bit disappointed with what was presented to us and we got straight to business, settling down at the Banana Leaf and ordering the all essential 50 cent pint of Angkor each to begin the night. A few beers later however, us boys decided that a massage would be ideal at this point, and thereby scurried along to the nearest parlour to enjoy an hour of pleasure and recuperation in preparation for the night ahead.
Such a night however, took its toll on the Gap Year Braves, requiring them to sleep in until midday Saturday, allowing only for a failed venture into town that soon saw them retreat to the comfort of their beds. We were getting too old for such nocturnal activities that now rendered us exceptionally lazy on the following day. I need not say that very little exploring was done on this particular day.
Sunday morning brought back horrid memories of the school trip days, what with the persistently unnecessary early morning wake ups. We had decided to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat, a choice that entailed us waking up at 5 AM, a feat practically unheard of by the average Gap Year Goer. Nevertheless, Billy, always eager and ready to go, managed to pull us up in time to catch our 5:30 AM tuk tuk departure. I have to admit that this particular experience is one of the more bizarre ones I have encountered. This early morning confusion at a time when it was still dark was not helped by the fact that we were thundering down a Cambodian quality road in a C-grade tuk tuk with motos, other tuk tuks and busloads of your typical backpacker bum and Korean tour group shooting by on both sides. Despite this initial emotional trauma, Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples proved to be well worth the early wake up. We all had our picks of favourite temples, ranging from Ta Prohm to Bayon, and the general consensus was that Angkor was beautiful and awe-inspiring and it managed to bring out an appreciation of the cultural history of Cambodia, regardless of how much or how little we usually cared about such things.
All in all it was a fantastic weekend, graced with such a mixed group of friends to travel with and the arrival of a thrill thirsty Italian. Although Tarita and Dorine couldn’t be there to join us there is plenty of time for more adventure here in Cambodia and there is much to look forward too. Also, I’m pleased to announce that we have since returned to our House watching ways and are thriving here in Phnom Penh.
Until next time!
Emil
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