19.01.2017 - I have booked a countryside cycle tour with Triple A Cambodia. It was recommended because the tourists (i.e. me) won't be brought to shops or be harassed by local sellers. It is a one full day tour where we cycle in the countryside in the morning for 1 hour 45 minutes (inclusive of a visit to a school and a local market), lunch at a local home, a short boat ride to Kompong Khleang, an authentic floating village in Tonle Sap Lake. It was USD39 / RM175.50 per person. Now that I have converted the amount, I realise how expensive this tour is, but it is said the amount of monies is used to help the locals.
Since we were suppose to be ready between 8 and 8.30am, my sister and I had an early breakfast opposite the hostel. We had the baguette (bread with chicken) and coffee. Very filing. Two breads for USD3 / RM13.50. A cup of coffee for USD1 / RM4.50. I think I should stop converting because I seem to cringe each time I type the Malaysian currency.
Our agent came at 8.30am. Right on the dot. Before that, he had picked up 5 passengers. After us, he picked up a family of 4 and another solo traveller.
Meet Rang, our very friendly guide who is also fluent in English. He is 20 years old and is studying Tourism in Siem Reap.
We reached our first stop at 9.15am. It was a temple which belongs to the Angkor Wat Archaelogical Park. However, we only look from afar. We did not step in. Apparently, this temple is older than Angkor Wat but not as big as Angkor Wat. We spent about 30 minutes here admiring the view.
We reached our designated spot to start our cycling activity at 9.25am. All of us chose a bicycle. We were given water too. By then, it was very hot. I was all covered up with a cap. Even with that, I had a headache after the activity. I feel like a failed Malaysian that I cannot stand the heat.
I lost the group while snapping lots of photos. I thought I could easily catch up with them but it turns out the route has a few junctions, and my sister and I tried our luck and kept cycling straight on. Finally, we saw them in a school. Phew. The Primary School reminded me of my Primary School. I used the same kind of wooden tables and chairs. We had cupboards behind the classroom. We decorated the classroom with manila cards detailing the duty roster and any relevant information. I remembered I drew a few duty rosters in my primary days.
I guess it was recess time when we arrived. It was 9.50am and we saw the school kids playing outside the classroom. We spent about an hour in the school.
This is the canteen of the school. I bought 2 coin chocolate pieces for KHR100 / RM0.10 each and gave to 2 random kids.
Our next cycling stop is a local market. Here, I saw a lady baking egg chiffon cake using charcoal. We spent 30 minutes here.
Rang bought us some local delicacies. This reminds me of Kuih Bom - a Malaysian delicacy. It is empty inside but it is sweet.
This is sugar coated and has red beans as fillings.
We reached back at the starting point at 11am. We had cold drinks waiting for us. I took a coconut. It was huge! It is the biggest coconut I have ever drank from.
Don't worry about toilet. There is a clean toilet at the start point. Time for lunch now. It is a one-hour drive to the floating village.
No comments:
Post a Comment