The Van Diaries Day 4/5/6

we get some breakfast nearby the guesthouse


soupy noodles again for me, as the rest had fried rice

pretty good overall

and of course i had to have my coffee

the group continued to discussed about life, politics and stuff while occasionally watching Shoalin soccer on the tele

dubbed in cambodian

and whenever they dub it, u can only hear the dialog, u cant hear the sound effects, music, whatever


but its still entertaining


so off to the famous angkor wat

this baby was huge, i wont waste time explaining how this thing looks like, u better read it off the net.

as we passed thru the first gate, it was nice and cloudy, so we decided to quickly get to the main area, but just as we touched the stone road it started to scorch, as in we needed to repent for something before we entered the sacred temple.

overall, its a damn peaceful and quite place, a fantastic place to reflect on life, the use of light in the architecture is the main star. every corridor, walkway was beautifully lit by the sun thanks to numerous windows.

tons of buddha heads and murals were stolen or destroyed, there is nothing much left except the intricate carvings on the wall.

all the stones are fine after years of aging, it reminds you how time flies yet great things live on.

to reach the top we had to climb some steep steps, pretty dangerous seeing that there aint even any paramedics on standby. we were told that there was an easier way up via railings, but we couldnt find it.

so only after we made the trip back down did we see a long line of old ppl on the right way up.

still alive, so it was a good experience.


after that we headed of to Angkor Thom, the one you see on tomb raider and shit, this was a much more interesting and older temple, seeing how the roots of these giant trees have become part of the structure, transforming it.


then rushed to another temple up the hill to get a full view of the place, again more steep, slipery terrain, but it was kinda worth it, if the skies were clear that is.

we wanted to get like a good sunset shot, but it was just too overcast, so we just watched the loads of japanese tourist taking photos and looking at the wrong direction of the sun, since there was a reflection that is.

the rest of the day and the next is kinda of a blur to me already, i dun really know which took place when.


i know i had a cambodian haircut for like 2USD, if ur local u can get it for RM2, my boss told me to be careful because AIDS was rampant, and u never know how clean these guys are with their razors.......but the barber i went to was a friend of our guide Mendy, and his shop is easily ten times more cleaner than the indian barber i usually end up in.


checked out the bangsar area of siam reap, pretty decent but was too tired to drink and party.

checked out the local markets, bought the usual stuff ppl usually buy in thailand.


the highlight of the journey would be the fishing village off siam reap, dunno what is called but it was next to the tallest hill ive seen in cambodia thus far.

the whole time we were working, surrounded by poverty, we didnt let it affect us, but now when we have nothing to shoot, the pain sets in.

houses just off the river by a foot, the size of my room with a whole family living in it.

women and children bathing themselves on the main road where a few water pumps lay.

cook, shit, play in the same areas.

hard faces, happy faces, this is not the best places to be living in the world.

as shitty as malaysia is, we worry on the trivial, these guys are just glad they arent starving,

we eat like pigs.



as we travelled back to phnom penh in the morning, another 7 hour bumpy ride staright to the airport.

i know someday i'll be back, and i hope things are better seeing that at one time cambodia was the model city of south east asia, a place where singapore came to learn how to build a city, but it all went up in smoke thanks to the continual disregard of the poor.


everybody deserves a basic standard of living,

we must not turn our back on those who need it the most.