Day 18 (16th Feb 2013)

Day 18 / 16th Feb 2013

Phnom Phen to Siam Reap

We slept well past 12.30  as the  wifi connection was good, so I was chatting on what's app with Kruttika and Rajoo was checking his mails and studying the map. We had taken a decision of taking a bus to Seam Reap. Looking at the available days with us, we will get about 10 days to cycle and we have decided to use 5 days to cycle in Thailand and 5 days to cycle in Malaysia to get the feel of both the countries. The plan is rough , let's see how it goes.

We had to reach bus stand near central market at 6.30 as to load our cycles in bus which was to start at 7 am. So got up at 5 feeling sleepy, got ready and pushed off towards central market for which we had taken directions yesterday, located it very easily but had difficulty in finding the office of our bus company as there were many travel company offices in that area and people were either reluctant to give directions or sent us to some other companies. Finally found the Sourya transport office. Our bus was standing there, to our surprise the bus was big with two decks, lower for the luggage and upper for seating. There was ample space for luggage and our cycles could fit in , in standing position.:-) :-) :-)

Note three smiling faces of Dipankar, Rajoo and me.

We had a quick grab at Chicken? Roll and Chicken patties and boarded bus with good hot milk coffee. :-)  Only 1 smiling face as I (Kedar) love coffee the most.

The bus journey to Siem Reap was uneventful. The terrain was more or less ( or rather more) same, with vast plains on both the sides as far as one could see, occasional villages with houses on stilts, vast paddy fields with very few trees - mostly palm. We reached Siem Reap at 2 pm. The bus depot was on highway. We got on our cycles and rode to city center which was about 5 kms away. We looked for the hotels, but all the hotels where we inquired were full. So we decided to have lunch first and then search for the hotel. The lunch was good and reasonably priced. I finished my lunch early so while Rajoo & Dipankar were having lunch I went to look for the hotel. Got lucky at the 4th hotel, 'The Siem Reap Central Hostel,Angkor High school Road, Siem Reap. Tel: +855 12 517 111. It turned out to be a decent hotel at reasonable price of $ 20 for room with 3 beds. It is located near the central market just across the river.

We dropped our luggage at the hotel and rushed towards Angkor Wat World Heritage Site which is 8 kms away on our cycles. At the entrance there was a big queue to buy tickets for the next day as the counter opens at 5 pm. and we reached there at 5pm. One can purchase a day pass-$ 20, three day pass -$ 40 or seven day pass for $ 60. We decided to buy a day pass. Our photographs were taken and the passes were issued. To our surprise it did not take long and we were allowed to enter the park the same evening free of cost. We rushed in and went towards Angkor Wat Temple which is one of the most prominent temples in the park. We did not go inside but went ahead to 'Phnom Bekheng' which is the only hill in surrounding flat area. We parked our bikes at the base and climbed atop on a densely vegetated path. There was a temple in ruins on top, the sun was setting & the view was breath taking. The only put off was the crowd which reminded me of Bombay point at Mahabaleshwar. After sunset we got down, sat for a while near the moat which surrounds Angkor Wat Temple complex, and then paddled back to Siem Reap to food and bed. Good Night !!! zzz..