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People have been bugging me for pictures, stories, and details about my extended vacation. It’s a good thing that not many have asked me for presents because quite frankly, I didn’t buy any. For those who don’t yet know, I went on an extended vacation to Cambodia (and later to Singapore) mid May. After putting it off for a long while, I finally started to sieve through the pictures that I have with me. So here’s the story in little bits and pieces. I’ll be filling in the gaps left by the mini updates that I posted up while I was on vacation (namely this, this and that).

As with any mission, the first thing to do is establish contact and a base of operations. For us, it turned out to be a simple matter. As mentioned earlier, Hyperhex had made reservations for us at Golden Temple Villa. As part of the arrangements, they would pick us up at the airport. This they did with a nice cool van that would wind up being our second home while in Angkor.

Siem Reap town is located some 15 minutes away from the Siem Reap International Airport. The town itself is very small. Two main roads forming a wedge shaped township with side streets criss crossing between them to form a grid. The two main roads converge at the Central Market. Dotting the entire township are guest houses, shops, internet cafes, eateries, massage parlours, sundry shops, and bars.

The guest house where we stayed at was located off the trunk road towards the furthermost edge of town away from Angkor. It’s a four storey building with about 30 rooms. A room at Golden Temple Villa starts from USD15.00. It includes a private toilet, hot water, cable television (with over 60 channels!), air conditioner, fan, free internet access, and free coffee/tea/bananas. Some rooms also include a bathtub and balcony.

Lunch Time!
First meal in Cambodia was lunch at the guest house’s restaurant. The place serves food and drinks (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages) at reasonable rates. The service is pretty good, although the food takes a while to arrive, even when there’s no one else in the restaurant. The third night we were in Cambodia, we decided to have a quick dinner that wound up lasting more than an hour because the kitchen was slow producing our orders!

Being the first day, we were a little wary of the food, in case we contracted food poisoning and wound up in the loo for the rest of the vacation. That said, I don’t think we had anything to fear. Food in Cambodia is good and easy to come by. It is mostly cuisines with Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese influence. The local Khmer dishes also spot some flavours that would be familiar to the Malaysian pallet, albeit cooked in the local style.

Beer is dirt cheap in Cambodia, going for USD0.70 (RM2.50) a can, while cocktails are USD1.80 (RM6.50) a pop. Come to think of it, a can of coke is probably more expensive than alcohol. Too bad I don’t enjoy beer and I’m not too fond of cocktails.

Golden Temple Villa
Tel: (855) 12 999 918 / (855) 15 999 909
Email: temple_angkor [at] hotmail [dot] com
Website: www.goldentemplevilla.com