travel to Siem Reap Cambodia from Malaysia by train ..part XV

{Lone Ranger Finding His Loving Wife}

......continued from part XIV

Cambodia or some call it Khmer, considered a mystery country to most of us. Most of what we read about this country, is about war ( 战争 ) or poverty ( 贫穷 ). Before I made this travel, some of my seniors even thought that the people here do not wear any pants & live in tree-house or jungle.

A very influencing King, Jayavarman II, built a very powerful kingdom in Southeast Asia, Khmer empire, in year 802 to 1431. 
Angkor Wat, a monumental temple, was built at that war time. Today Angkor Wat is one of 7 wonders of the world ( 世界七大奇迹 ).

Siem Reap, is the gateway to Angkor Wat. Siem Reap also chosen as the 'must-go' travel destination in Asia, being ranked as numbered 1 top destination by Travelers' Choice Tripadvisor.

Siem Reap Top Number 1 destination in Asia

That's why I chosen here as my very important point of traveling. I reached here on the 16th September 2015. Blessed with grateful heart, after so many years, despite of obstacles, a big step forward, and forthcoming good or bad, finally, and finally I reached Cambodia.

My first stop in Cambodia was Bayon Boutique Hotel. Blessed, I was lucky enough to really got a cozy hotel among hundreds of hotel listed in Siem Reap, whereby usually 'what we see IS NOT what we get'  with the good-posed pictures online.

Here was really what I got ...(photos in the hotel's living hall for guest)

staircase design @ Bayon Boutique Hotel

design @ Bayon Boutique Hotel

design @ Bayon Boutique Hotel

zen feel design @ Bayon Boutique Hotel

guest hall @ Bayon Boutique Hotel 

zen feel design @ Bayon Boutique Hotel

geometrical design @ Bayon Boutique Hotel

relaxing moment in a zen (禅) environment @ Bayon Boutique Hotel

By enjoying good designs in the hotel, it's really a very well relaxing moment after a tiring transportation rides.

... to be continued

(click, back to episode 1) travel to Bangkok->Siem Reap from Malaysia by train ..part I

(current page) travel to Siem Reap Cambodia from Malaysia by train ..part XV

(click) travel to Siem Reap Cambodia from Malaysia by train ..part XVI

travel to Siem Reap Cambodia from Malaysia by train ..part XIV

{Lone Ranger Finding His Loving Wife}

......continued from part XIII

I knocked my head til blood flashed out & dipped onto my face while I was heading toward Cambodia. Territory wise, I got 'red' in 'no-way' land(that is an area after Thailand checkpoint & before Cambodian land). Hopefully, it was another good sign to my life.

The Cambodian farmer-look doctor treated my wound well. Blessed with grateful heart.

After that, I pursuit my journey with carrying a positive mind-set & 'blessing' soul to explore another country which is totally strange & far thousands miles away from home.

travel to Cambodia without flying from Malaysia, 4000km

There is still a hundred kilometers ahead before I reach to Siem Reap.

I asked around transport booth shops at the roundabout area near the checkpoint. One of the booth got a private sedan car prepare to go to Siem Reap. The man-in-charge asked for USD7. Oh! Extremely cheap. I had checked online, normally it should be USD30-40. Dealt. 

Metfone, Cambodian line

Then I also bought a phone SIM card from him at USD3. Yes, U.S. dollar is a common currency note in Cambodia besides their own country Riel. The shopkeeper helped me to activate the SIM card with my passport's number provided to him.

Ok then, all set to go.. after waited for 30 minutes, with many boxes (which believed as other people's cargo) already loaded into the sedan car, we were heading to Siem Reap, now? Not yet, the driver drove into a village nearby to pick up another passenger, and now we were having 3 passengers with 1 driver with excessive of cargo inside a sedan car. Well, ( 找吃艰难啊 ) in Chinese we say, 'hard to find money'.

Probably with the condition alike 'sardines in a can', the 2.5 hours ride considered long-way to go ..

Poipet to Siem Reap, half way

And I won't missed out any chance to ask the driver about information of the country, their nation & culture during the 'long' ride.

I had early booked a hotel in Siem Reap, Bayon Boutique Hotel, which is located in the center of Siem Reap. The driver even told that his son is working inside the hotel, would you believe ? Ha ! Then he asked me if I intend to look for any taxi, tut-tut or private car, call him (by handed his call-card).

Siem Reap map, with Pub Street highlighted

Bayon Boutique Hotel to Pub Street

After reaching the Siem Reap town area, the driver even picked-up another passenger (again), which believed was a lover of an existing passenger inside the car. Then only, it finally reached to my hotel front door.

"Aw-kun" ( 'Thank you' in Cambodian or Khmer language). 

Wowo ! Fascinating look although it's a small hotel.

hotel room @ Bayon Boutique Hotel

Big washroom. The bathtub at one side, then a split shower room & sitting toilet-bowl room.

Big washroom @ Bayon Boutique Hotel

with a nice view balcony ..

It's hard to get a room like this in Kuala Lumpur with just RM146 (roughly equivalant to USD36) per night. This is another good example for other countries to study. 

... to be continued

(click, back to episode 1) travel to Bangkok->Siem Reap from Malaysia by train ..part I

(current page) travel to Siem Reap Cambodia from Malaysia by train ..part XIV

(click) travel to Siem Reap Cambodia from Malaysia by train ..part XV

travel to Siem Reap Cambodia from Malaysia by train ..part XIII

{Lone Ranger Finding His Loving Wife}

......continued from part XII

After I'd done my pre-plan in Bangkok, I started moving on to the next destination - Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia, a country located at the east of Bangkok.

Before I checked out from Bangkok, I read on a time-schedule of the train going to eastern part, which is Aranyaprathet to be specific. This town will connected tourists to the border of Thailand-Cambodia.

Bangkok train Eastern Line Timetable

As you can see in the timetable above, there was only 2 trains available everyday. Either be it 5:55am or 1:05pm. Definitely I chosen the earlier one because I could reached Cambodia early. And for your information, the Cambodian immigration check-point is closed in the evening time. So, if you reach there late after it closed, then you have to stay an overnight in Aranyaprathet.

NOTE: Tourists may request a piece of this timetable at ticket counter in Hua Lamphong railway station

So, I have to wake up very early on the next day. Before that, I need to book a hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia. You probably may curious why this ranger didn't book early (always have to wait til last minute) and get a cheaper price. Well, it's a say in Chinese "we don't know what may happen tomorrow" , hopefully the good thing comes. I normally book the first hotel for my first destination early in advance if my itinerary is split into various destinations. Then I will do my second and next hotel's booking once (if) I have reached the first destination.

So, I scrolled on my smartphone with a slip of my early written shortlisted hotels on the other hand, and chosen this ..(advice: do the shortlisted before you travel, write it down on a piece paper) 

Bayon Boutique Hotel, Siem Reap price at RM146 per night @ agoda.com

After booked the hotel, then I have to pre-book a taxi. This is a must because I must reach the rail station before the train departed at 5:55am. So, I kept on scrolling on my smartphone and found two useful taxi-booking apps to be downloaded. 1. GrabTaxi and second one I forgot the name & had deleted it recently. 
Tell you what, I almost unable to book any taxi even with that two apps. Probably it was too early for taxi driver to response to the request on apps, or probably the pick-up time was too early. So how? Never mind, there's still a plan B where I could take the afternoon train. 
However, I never given up and kept clicking the request button on the apps every 1 hour, while on the hand I intercom the hotel Receptionist to ask for if there was any hotel-connection's taxi available. Normally some hotels have good connection with taxi or private cab to transport tourists, but unfortunately the Receptionist replied (after an hour) that no driver respond. Never mind la, keep trying ...
Finally, until 3am plus, I succeed to get a driver's respond on the GrabTaxi apps .. (blessed!)

Grabtaxi booking

Then I could rest at least for an hour before check-out.
The driver was punctual to arrive at the hotel front door at 5:00am and driven me to reach at the Hua Lamphong railway station at around 5:10am. Blessed ! I must thanked this driver, I even given him extra tips but he refused to take "No tips, No tips." . Wow ! Met a good guy early in the morning, sign of a good brighter day. 

It is about 300km from Bangkok to the border of Cambodia. The train from Hua Lamphong railway station to Aranyaprathet only cost me 48 Thai Baht (less than RM6) for this long of distance, would you believe ? However, then I started very curious what-type of train is it ..

Bangkok to Cambodia border train ticket @ 48TB

The 48TB train looked like this ...

Hua Lamphong rail station Lone Ranger's selfie @ 5:30am 

Hua Lamphong rail station @ 5:30am

Hua Lamphong to Aranyaprathet train internal view

Hua Lamphong to Aranyaprathet train internal view

Not bad, comfort, with adjustable chairs and toilet insided. I checked on other coach of the train, and found that adjustable chairs were not available on all coaches, so tourists have to be smart & 'sit tight' early on your chair before it fly off ~

After I 'sit tight' and bit of tired without enough sleep, I slowly falls asleep...

Until midway, the rain flaws in splashing my face and waken me up, then I pulled down the wooden window besides me and continue my 'train-sleeping journey'.

On and off, there were hawkers hopped into the train while the train stopped-by at some intermediate stations. Hawkers kept asking passengers to buy food stuffs. Blessed, I hadn't taken any breakfast, I bought a bowl of rice with a piece of omelette ( 荷包蛋 ) and a plate of steamed groats chicken ( 香料辣肉碎 ) . Wo! Tell you what, you must try this, the groats meat was so aromatic with little spicy. Delicious! Stomach full already, then I continued my dream ~~

photo courtesy of yourkrabi.com

After about 6 hours on the train, the train finally reached at the Aranyaprathet station. I hopped onto a 'songthaew' (a passenger truck), and it driven me together with another 3 passengers to the immigration checkpoint at the Thailand-Cambodia border.

It was only a 5-10 minutes drive, cost was 50TB, the 'songthaew' stopped aside, and the driver fingerly-pointed the direction to show me the building of Thailand Immigration checkpoint where is 100 meters in front. 

Thailand Cambodia border map. Click onto the map to enlarge.

So, I just followed the queue but still have to be smart. Some locals (residents near border) will queue on another 'fast lane', maybe their process is faster without passport ? maybe.. For expats, we have to walk up to another floor level in the building (marked as no." 1 " in the picture above ) for passport process.

After the Thais officer chopped my passport, I walked down from the floor. Then ...... I KNOCKED MY HEAD onto an overhead column which was not 'over'head high enough.

picture illustrated similar to the overhead column

While I was turning left from a corridor (after walking down staircase from departures upper-floor) to follow to a narrow corridor, I accidentally knocked my head onto an edge of a column (which is similar to the column edge as illustrated in the picture above). KhongG !! Then I used my fingers to knead on the pain part, Ops! Wet! Bleeding already... and quite a lot. 

So how then ? Now I had already 'considered' out of Thailand territory after passport 'chopped', where to go ? clinic ? or at least washroom .. ok .. no panic.. I made up my mind to cross the border first, then try to get help in Cambodia territory.

Argg! First blood in no way

I used my handkerchief to press on the bleeding part, then kept walking.. and passing by a bridge while there were a lot of locals with motorcycles pursuing tourists to take on their rides to reach to the Cambodian Immigration checkpoint which is 400 meters away. 
I had read on website that tourists have to be extremely caution while passing by this bridge because of scams, conman and thieves. 
However, a few of the locals were kind enough to offer me help to tight up my wound to stop the bleeding, and they'd never for any money.

So, you see... there is always some good persons around too; think positively.

There were a few casino buildings along the way. Whatnot, Poipet, is a city permitted with casinos in Cambodia.

Then, I reached a queuing site near the Cambodian Immigration counter. Before that, if you are not a tourist from Asean countries, you might need to apply for Visa. The visa counter is just 100 meters before the immigration counter (see the map above, marked as No. " 2 " ) . For Malaysian or other Asean, just walked straight passing the Visa counter and follow the queue.

There you are, after the passport stuffs, then you are permitted to entry Cambodia.
Blessed! With great heart, I had gone so far away and crossing to another country which is thousands miles from home ~ ~

Then I have to find a clinic to check my bleeding head. I asked the locals around the roundabout area, and found it very strange that seem nobody had a correct answer for "doctor" or "clinic" .. But I never given up, finally a pharmacist storekeeper direct me to a clinic (or small hospital) which is not too far from the roundabout. It seems that it should be more easy to find a pharmacist than a doctor in Cambodia.
After waiting for almost an hour in the corridor outside the clinic, a casual-look-alike-farmer doctor came down from upper floor and treat my wound. After he done a proper clean up & injected a tetanus ( 破伤风针 ), but no need stitches ( 缝针 ), then he asked for 5 USD. 
In Malaysia, the only few things we proud to have is its medical benefit which our government subsidy for medical treatment in any government-run clinics and general hospitals. So, we pay only RM1 (equivalent ~USD0.25) for usual treatment in government-run clinics, or else if you can't wait long, then just pay RM50 (roughly) in private doctor-clinic.

So, there you see, every place has its good & bad element. Thinks positive, open your heart, open your eyes and you'll see different thing.

... to be continued

(click, back to episode 1) travel to Bangkok->Siem Reap from Malaysia by train ..part I

(current page) travel to Siem Reap Cambodia from Malaysia by train ..part XIII

(click) travel to Siem Reap Cambodia from Malaysia by train ..part XIV

travel to Bangkok->Siem Reap from Malaysia by train ..part XII

{Lone Ranger Finding His Loving Wife}

......continued from part XI

After you see a bridge look like Penang bridge (in Malaysia), then that is the ending point of the Chao Phraya tourist boat trip. For 40Thai Baht only, you get a wonderful view of the Bangkok most spectacular & fascinating Chao Phraya's riverfront.

The boat finally stopped at Phra Athit pier (jetty point) which is located in Banglamphu. Banglamphu is a place where you can see a lot 70s or even older buildings; with plentiful of restaurants, boutique pubs, banks, gold jewelry shops, and etc.. This is another 'hotspot' area for backpackers & lone travelers. The famous Khao San Road is just 1km away from the pier.

Banglamphu & Khao San Road map. Click on the map to enlarge

I was only able to shoot a few photos due to I was getting too excited to enjoy my 'walks' along the area, with traveled so far away (around 2000km from home WITHOUT flying) & 'chow-tut' (means getting high in Cantonese), really 'chow-tut' already ( and no need alcohol).

Banglamphu area T-junction - Samsen Road & Chakrapong Road

Banglamphu area T-junction - Samsen Road & Chakrapong Road

There was one thing quite unique in Bangkok, where you can see those electric wiring & its transformation boxes were all hanging exposed outside the shop rows. Bangkok is a modern city whilst at the other point of view, they still reserve some parts of their classical & unique fixtures.

Well, after 'chow-tut' enjoying the unique streets view in Banglamphu and tried to get familiar with 'way-to-go' of this area (I would back here again with bringing my lovely wife together soon, which to be revealed in following episode of this blog), then I headed back to the Phra Athit pier again to wait for river boat to go back to hotel. Bit of exhausted & 'lazy-legs', too much alcohol lately maybe. 

'chow-tut' & tired look

Chao Phraya tourist boat

Chao Phraya tourist boat

Chao Phraya tourist boat

Chao Phraya tourist boat

Chao Phraya tourist boat

Chao Phraya tourist boat

Chao Phraya tourist boat

Chao Phraya tourist boat

In the evening, I walked out to shop for backpack after showered & sufficient refresh in hotel. There is plentiful of shopping malls, rows of street shop and street booths around Pratunam area. 

Pratunam shopping map

And finally I able to grab this (the light blue in the photo) .. guess how much ?

backpack sold @ Pratunam, price @ 200TB

Yes, 200TB (equivalent ~RM24.60, year 2015 Rawang money-changer's rate @0.123). Walao eh! So worth to buy !! By the way, I am not too keen in buying bags. I don't know how's the quality; looked like ok, then hopefully ok lah ~

Then I taken my dinner right at a corner of the Petchaburi Road (I'd forgot the name of the restaurant already). It was a Chinese or probably mixture with Thais' restaurant just resided at a corner of a small lane from main road. 
Wow! So delicious! Price ? A bit like Kuala Lumpur's pricing. 
And I must recommend this - steamed seashell with Thais parsley.

Oh man, you have to try this ~

  ...... to be continued


(click, back to episode 1) travel to Bangkok->Siem Reap from Malaysia by train ..part I

(current page) travel to Bangkok->Siem Reap from Malaysia by train ..part XII

(click) travel to Siem Reap Cambodia from Malaysia by train ..part XIII