Saya: Ummi: Siem Reap in July: VERY HOT

My office colleagues and I went to Siem Reap (Cambodia) last July for a regional office retreat. Meetings were in most of the agenda, but of course, we had fun, too. I honestly did not have the chance to read much about Siem Reap city nor Cambodia the country before the trip. Arrangements were done in June where most of my time was drowned into fiscal year closing assignments. I left it all to my colleagues. I just follow them, lah...

We departed from Jakarta on Saturday morning, 18 July, using Singapore Airlines. Other alternative was using Malaysian Airlines with transit in Kuala Lumpur, but we did not opt this. After resting a while in Singapore's Changi airport, the second flight (Silk Air) took us to Siem Reap. We arrived at Siem Reap International Airport in the afternoon, about 4 PM.

Visitors needed to have an entry visa before passing the immigration counters. You can get the visa at the airport’s 'Visa on Arrival' counter. Fortunately, my colleagues and I have obtained the entry visa from the Cambodian Embassy in Jakarta so we didn't have to queue in the airport anymore. Visa processing at the Cambodian Embassy in Jakarta took 3 days. It should have costed us USD 25 per person, but somehow they rated it to IDR 375,000, or equivalent of more than USD 25. I wonder why Indonesian needs to have an entry visa to Cambodia, since both countries are the member of ASEAN. I won't need visa to entry Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei...

Anyway, back to Siem Reap airport. The immigration was quite slow. Something with the computer, perhaps. They scanned our passport and took our picture. I saw there is a special line dedicated for electronic immigration service for Cambodian passport holder. Nice. But I wonder whether that would be effective if it's applied in Indonesia. Hmm...

Checking in at the hotel reception, they asked us to give some deposit. Hmm, ok, I have some Riel already. We will pay the hotel in Riel, right? However, the information from the hotel receptionist was quite surprising: using USD in Cambodia is common, including to pay street vendors, and so we shall pay the hotel bill in USD. What? Seriously? Great, why did I change my USD money at the airport then? :( I should have read more on Cambodia before I started the journey! Huhuhuhu... On the second thought, I felt sorry that their local currency could not stand strong at their own land. I hope this would never happen in Indonesia.

That night, I had dinner with the Headquarters colleagues. We went to the Night Market area by tuk-tuk, costing USD 1 per person per way. There were 6 persons squeezing in one tuk-tuk. The location is about 10 minutes ride from the hotel, so I thought USD 1 per person was reasonable. I didn't see any taxi or bus on the street, and the hotel people did only offer us to ride the tuk-tuk. We dined at the Red Piano restaurant. I ordered tuna sandwich, since the rest of the menu seemed all 'porkish'. However, that tuna didn't taste that nice... I supposed my other colleagues also were not enjoying their dinner. Nevermind, at least we had a nice chit-chat, and then off to the Night Market! :)

The Night Market is the shopping area that opens only at night, up to 10 PM. There are street vendors and stalls that sell clothes, bags, and various souvenirs. Also, you can find massage places, either providing massage chair or fish aquarium (we have this kind of fish massage in Jakarta, but neater and cleaner since it's in a middle/up class shopping centre instead of street stalls). I bought some souvenirs for my family and friends: key chains, fridge magnets, and small wallets. The price was around USD 1-5 per piece or package. I was interested in the cute silk handbag, but it's worth about USD 10-20 per piece and it had no "Cambodia" written on it. Hmm, let me think about it first...

We returned to the hotel by riding the same tuk-tuk. It's amazing that the tuk-tuk driver would wait for us for about 3 hours... only to get paid of 2 US dollars per person. I guessed they really needed the money. With many tuk-tuks around, perhaps the competition between them is also hard. If you ever have this kind of arrangement with the tuk-tuk driver, be nice and ensure you remember the face or the name of the driver, or any special mark on the tuk-tuk, or where they park and wait for you.

The next morning, we were ready to go to the Angkor Wat temple complex at 7:30 AM. The tour bus took us there, and we had to line up for the entrance ticket at the gate. The ticket seller took my picture and then printed it on the entrance ID card. The ticket price was USD 25 for a 1-day visit. I didn't take note on how much it will cost to have a multiple entrance ticket for a 3-day or a 1-week visit. They have different prices.

We walked about 15 minutes inside the complex to reach the main Angkor Wat temple. There are several temples inside the huge complex, surrounded by a high wall and a lake. The tour guide said that in the ancient time, there used to be more than hundreds of thousands (a million? I forgot) of people living inside the complex. As we were walking, I could feel the heat starting to get on my nerves. It was extremely hot, hotter than Jakarta! There was no wind at all, using umbrella wouldn't work either. Thank God, I brought my bottled water with me, or else I would be dehydrated.

For about 2 hours, we were wandering inside few temples. The stairs in every temples are very narrow and steep. I wonder how small were the people in the past, or how could they climb up those steep stairs every day. Every temple has its chambers and plazas. The temples in Angkor Wat complex are basically Hindu temples, but then the people converted to Buddhism a long time ago. That’s why they put Buddha statues in it. The tour guide said the Cambodian people also still do some Hindu customs until now, although they declare themselves as Buddhists. The temples are shaped like square, hence it becomes a rule in Siem Reap that you must not build anything square-shaped. The tallest temple in Angkor Wat also defines the maximum height of a building. No building in Siem Reap could be higher than the temple. Aaaah, that's why I didn't find any high-rise building in the city!

I came to the conclusion where I really like Indonesian temples at best. Hahahaha. People said Cambodia's Angkor Wat complex is better because it has many temples in one large site. Hey, do you know how many ancient temples in Central Java and Yogyakarta in Indonesia? A lot! But the main ones that commercialized by the government are Borobudur and Prambanan temples. I once saw a documentary movie about temples all around Central Java. Lots of them are located within villages. The small temples are being taken care of by the village people. If the government or private sector would want to commercialize those small temples (in order for us to have a larger complex to compete with Cambodia's Angkor Wat), they must clear the land from the village people! I don't think that's a sane and ethical decision to take.

We spent the next 2 days mainly for full day meeting at the hotel. We had the chance to dine outside and continued with another short shopping session at the Night Market. Not much to see in the evening, it's a quiet town. I didn't shop that much either, just to ensure that I brought enough 'oleh-oleh' or goodies for my family back home. I shopped at the Old Market area on the last day. Old Market only opens until 4-5 PM and it has more to offer. More stalls, more variety of goods. I found some price also could be bargained cheaper than the Night Market.

Also on the last day, we had a visit to a village hall and a secondary school. I found out that Siem Reap is the second poorest province in Cambodia. It's very nice to see the village people receives the benefit of the aid so they could develop their village better. At the school, it's very sad for me to see that the pupils were not wearing proper shoes. I know many of the poor children in Indonesian villages also could not afford shoes. To be able to go to school and receive formal education is already a blessing.

Returned to Indonesia at last, we took the same route. Departed to Singapore with Silk Air (transit in Phnom Penh airport for about 1 hour) and continued with Singapore Airlines to Jakarta. I had to pay USD 25 airport tax before passing the security check at the Siem Reap airport. Same as Changi airport, no liquid is allowed in the carry-on bag, including mineral water. At Changi airport, I didn't buy anything but chocolate. Needed to save some money!

1. Better to apply visa at the Cambodian Embassy in your home country to avoid 'visa on arrival' queue at the Cambodia airport.
2. Bring casual clothes, but with long sleeves. It is hot, but you must avoid the mosquito bite. The Dengue fever is widespread, you wouldn't want to get this illness. To prevent mosquito bite, you can also bring mosquito repellent lotion.
3. Bring casual shoes. However, to visit Angkor Wat, I don't think wearing flat pump would be a correct choice, because you would have to climb up the temples' steep stairs.
4. Always carry bottled water wherever you go. Don't let yourself dehydrated. I repeat again, it is hot, even at night. Temperature is above 30 Celcius degree. Drink bottled water only.
5. Don't even bother to exchange your USD money to local currency. Bring some small bank notes, the tuk-tuk driver usually could not provide small changes.
6. Some street sellers could tail and push you to buy their goods. If you visibly bring camera, there are some children who asked to be pictured, but then will ask you to pay. Just ignore politely.
7. If you're a Muslim, I didn't find any halal restaurants. However, they clearly state which dish contains pork, so you could choose the appropriate menu accordingly.
8. Always bargain at the market stalls :)
9. Read about Cambodia’s security situation before you go. At the time of my visit, there was still a dispute over the Cambodia-Thailand border, especially on the Preah Vihear temple area. Avoid visiting the conflict site.