20.01.2017 - After the exploration of Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm and Bayon, we are now headed back to Mad Monkey hostel. We walked randomly to find an eatery for lunch. This place was just opposite Sugar Palm Restaurant. We saw it when we had our dinner in Sugar Palm Restaurant on the 2nd day, and decided to try this place because it looks 'local' enough and the price was affordable.
You must be wondering why is the photo taken at night. Yes, I forgot to take it before lunch because I was just too hungry and tired. We went back to the same place for dinner, and hence, the night shot. The place is called Sita Sousdey Khmer Restaurant. I just found out that this place has many good reviews in Trip Advisor. Yay to our lucky find!
For lunch, I had mango smoothie for USD1 / RM4.50 and Pha Lok for USD3 / RM13.50. I cannot seem to find the definition for Pha Lok in Google, but what I had was sort of omelette, raw vegetables and brown rice. How healthy is that? Brown rice! The raw vegetables got me very full and it was tiring to eat them because it was very crunchy.
My sister ordered fries and it came with an egg on top. The potato fries were a bit oily but we were hungry and finished them.
My sister had this for lunch - Bai Sach Chrouk i.e. Coconut Marinated Pork with Pickled Vegetables. It seems so simple but the pork is really yummy!
For dinner, I had chicken amok (USD3 / RM13.50) and a huge cup of Cambodian tea (USD0.50 / RM1.75). The chicken amok tastes like mild curry.
My sister was craving for dessert and so I treated ourselves to 3 pastries in a fancy cafe - Glass House that is part of Park Hyatt Hotel. The place is very near our hostel.
We had very sweet macaroon (Straw Macaron) - USD2.50, chocolate cake (Opera) - USD4 and cheese cake with peaches (Fruit Cheese Cake) - USD4. All of them were very sweet. My sister and I had a cup of Khmer coffee - USD4 each. There was a 50% discount for food of USD5.25. Altogether came to USD15.66. Don't convert, I say.
At 10.45pm, we took a tuk-tuk for USD2 to Giant Ibis bus station where we will take the bus to Phnom Penh. The bus station was just less than a 5 minute drive (located next to Green Cycle Inn Hostel) but we took the tuk-tuk because we had our heavy luggage. I got to know of this bus from this website - Move to Cambodia.
I bought the 11.30pm (the last timing for the day as I wanted to sleep in the bus and did not want to reach so early in Phnom Penh) bus ticket from the website for USD16 per person (USD1 for processing fee) a month in advance. I was afraid the tickets will be snapped up fast as there are only 20 beds in the bus.
I bought the top bunk beds which is the second bunk from the front. It won't be too near to the driver and not too back to the toilet. There is a functioning toilet which is surprisingly clean as you can see from the last photo (which is blur because the bus was moving as I used it). The bus is surprisingly clean too. We were provided a blanket, a small pillow and a water bottle each. There were also functioning electrical sockets and hence you can charge your electronic items. How cool is that! I took the single bunk while my sister and her friend slept on the double bunk. The single bunk is slightly cramped as I put my bag with me too. If you have a huge luggage, you can put in the luggage compartment at the side of the bus.
The most awesome thing is the bus has WiFi! That is unbelievable.
The most awesome thing is the bus has WiFi! That is unbelievable.
The bus is air-conditioned and it gets very cold. Hence, please bring a jacket and socks.
The bus conductor gave his introductory speech on Giant Ibis - in Cambodian and English. He rehearsed his words quite well. For Giant Ibis buses, there are 2 drivers who I understand takes turn in driving. I don't know how true is that because I was sleeping the whole entire journey. Apparently, Giant Ibis keeps to the speed limit (I am not sure how is this monitored) but it was a safe ride. It took 6 hours. I don't even know if they made any stops.
We reached Phnom Penh the next morning at about 5.30am.
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