Meya in Siem Reap, Cambodia

Salam, my friends!

Last two weeks I and my friends went for a holiday to Kuala Lumpur, Siem Reap, Pattaya, Bangkok and Singapore. Now allow me be a story teller for you of what we experienced at one of our destination, Siem Reap in Cambodia.

When we said that we're going to Cambodia, many asked what's the point to go there. there ain't good places other than the temple ruins there. But here's the great point of traveling, discover that everyone is wrong about other countries or so they said, lol.

We spent 3 days in Siem Reap to explore the city, the first thing that welcomed us is the 38 degrees temp, it was so hot that I suggest you not to wear thick or layers clothes, you won't stand the heat. All the way we  headed to our inn, all we could see was just some kind of ordinary market, it was around 9 am.

When we got into the place we planned to stay, Golden Mango Inn, it just blew my mind away, this inn has a great ambience, friendly and English-Speaking staffs, great room and seriously their service is totally top notch for a reasonable budget stay. Oh, did I mention high speed WiFi and delish breakfast?

We really wanted to take some rest but our excitement to explore the city won't let us waste any bit of time. After we unpacked the suitcase,we took a ride with Tuktuk ( local transportation resembled becak here in Indonesia), that was provided by the inn, to the heart of the city. It was still in a mid day, there were not many people went out, may be because of the heat. We just took a mini tour, quite disappointed at first, there was not a thing that caught my eyes. even many shops and restaurants were closed. it was like an abandoned city. But when it got later, just when we decided to go back to the inn, we saw many tourists  went out to the streets, then we noticed that many shops, cafes and restaurants started to open.

 

Strolled around the Pub Street

So we headed to the market that is known as Pub Street, and our tour was finally paid off! There were so many tempting colorful cafes and restaurants. So the market opened for business around 4 pm until late night. We got to taste some ice creams and juices.

Ice cream for three please!

Fresh juice in a very hot day is always a good idea!

The locals and merchant here mostly only accept US Dollar, so everything should be payed with USD, that's why staying here was quite pricey. There was also some shops or seller who also accept Baht Thailand if you run out of dollars.

I think, this city would be perfect if the merchant didn't give your dollar change with their Cambodian money. because you can't use the money so it was quite annoying. So if you plan to come here, I suggest you to spend the money without change, or ask them to give your change in dollar. Actually, we did ask them but they insist they didn't have the change in dollars. Aside from this kind of scam, the people here are so friendly and most of them can speak in English so when you get lost, you can simply ask for a direction to the locals.

This market is just one thing, do you know what the most exciting thing to do while here? It was commenting about many people right to their face with Bahasa hahahhahaha. We rarely saw any tourist from Indo or Malaysia, so there was nobody can notice what we were saying while smiling hahahaa LOL, but no rude comments of course.

The darker the merrier at Pub Street

You can't just take a picture without me on it.

Posing in one of the cute restaurants we found.

After we finished the city tour we headed back to the inn, we were welcomed with a huge smile on their face while offering cold towels. this inn totally made my day!

 
The next day we went to Angkor Wat, to witness the sun rise that most tourists said was to die for, so we got up like 4.30 and headed there around 5 am.

We registered to get the ticket first, don't forget to bring along your passport of course, the entrance ticket was like an ID card, I guess. It costs $20 each person.

I hate my pictures on any kinds of ID card :"(

Tuktuk, please show us around!

Then we entered the site and  took as many shots that we could until the sun was up. I had no idea what defines a good-sun-rise-picture so it turned out like this hahaha.

I don't know, was it just me or 8 am was as if it's mid day already. It was so hot, so we took a tour around, hopped from one temple to another to take some snaps and videos as quick as possible before it was getting hotter.

The rest of the day was just taking OOTD pictures one after another until we got sick of it, LOL.

Primadona of the temple here is Angkor Thom, where Angelina Jolie filmed her movie, Tomb Raider. so this wrapped up our tour.

the Primadona is behind me. Don't be fooled :)

The back side of Angkor Thom

What to wear in Cambodia?

- Due to its humidity,  layers is obviously not an option to wear in Cambodia. wear lightweight and thin outfits.

-  Use sandals instead of shoes or sneakers.

- If you wear hijab, choose scarf with lightweight material like viscose and polyester.

- Are you an OOTD junkies like me? in Angkor Wat I think it looks good to wear ethnic patterns kind of tops or bottom, it just matches the historical and ancient setting. or you can pull bohemian or hippie kinda style with fringe vest, outer, bags, etc and a headband.

- Wearing a vest may enhance your OOTD since it makes you look skinnier and most importantly for hijabi, it covers your lower body when wearing a short top.

- When strolling around the town, just wear casual outfits  like dungaree and T-shirt or anything you are comfortable with, but make sure to wear polite clothes.