Eco's Within and Without

Typical dinner set up Type: Homestay (Sleeping at the house of  my Tuk tuk driver) Date:  27 - 28 June 2019 Location : Siem Reap suburbs Duration: Overnight and day Price:  Free (included in the tuk tuk fare) Difficulty: Establishing trust with stranger, communication gap due to language barrier, cultural sensitivity Highlight: Experiencing the lives of the locals, establishing human connections, learning the culture,  eating at the house with family,  sleeping in a contemporary typical Siem Reap house,  playing with the child,  having conversation with the household Building trust in this security conscious and doomsday-news-filled and media-dominated world seems to be difficult. When people travel, they want to be as secure as possible. Who do not want a secure, safe and convenient travel anyway? True to my goal of making my trips as interactive and immersive as possible, I opted not to book my hotel. This is to see how...

Route:  Phnom Penh to Siem Reap Date:  26 June 2019 Mode:  Bus (Sleeper box type) Distance:  318 kms. (Google maps) Duration:  5 hours and 50 minutes (9:05pm to 2:55am) Fare:  10 USD Difficulty:  None, longer travel than airplane ride Highlight:  Smooth travel, sleep lying down with ample space with curtains for personal space, see places passed by during the day Sleeper buses are busy at night. After walking around the park for a day, full of sweat but fully satisfied observing the people in Phnom Penh city centre, I decided to travel to Seam Reap - Mission: to see Angkor War in all its antiquities and glory. The bus schedule is 9:00 pm but it arrive almost 10:00 pm already. I felt extremely drowsy waiting at the reservations office. The clerk was patient to remind me though where the bus already is.  The reservations office is near the park and the museum. I sometimes peep into the night market while waiting in order to...

Type: Park tour Tonle Sap River Location: Phnom Penh Tonle Sap Riverside Park Length: >1 km Date: 26 June 2019 Mode: Walking, sitting, and conversation with locals Duration: 1 day (less than 12 hours) Expenses: Street food, alms, drinks, offerings Difficulty: Heat of the sun, lack of green shades, somehow smelly Highlight: Royal Palace and Park, Tonle Sap River, meeting point of Tonle Sap and Mekong river, Night Market, Local culture, Flags of ASEAN nations, near the post office, near night clubs, city centre This is a continuation of my walking tour from Phnom Penh International Airport to the Central Post Office of Cambodia. The post office is near the Tonle Sap River. It is surrounded by buildings and just a few meters away are strips of parks. I just realized that I was already at the city centre as I saw the parks at the southern area. Speaking of sending post card, it was very fast and relatively cheap. I paid less than 5 USD for 3 post cards i...

Phnom Penh Post Office Route: Phnom Penh International Airport to Cambodia Central Post Office Tour date: 26 June 2019 Mode: Walking tour Distance: >10 kilometres Duration: three hours (8:30am – 11:30am) Fare:  Free Difficulty: Unpaved pedestrian strips, lack of shades (trees) along the road, air and noise pollution Highlight: experience Cambodia street life, taste street food, see people around the area, photo of buildings and streets On 26 June 2019, I stepped on Cambodian soil the first time. I arrived at Phnom Penh International Airport (PPIA) at 7:52am. The heat can be felt this early hour. But the airport looks cool and new. Phnom Penh City Centre Because of the successful walking tour in Malacca, I got the courage to explore this new city. My target is to tour around by walking from the Airport to the central post office of Cambodia. I will buy post card there and send them to mom in the UK and to my sister in the US There is no fre...

Statue at the facade of Phnom Penh IA Route: KLIA2, Malaysia to Phnom Penh International Airport, Cambodia Date:  26 June 2019 Mode: Airplane (Air Asia) Duration: >2 hours   (6:30am – 7:52am) Fare: 129.80 MYR (with 16.80 insurance, 4 processing fee, -5 discount via Air Asia website) Difficulty: Turbulence due to weather, fear of flying/ height Highlight: First time to travel to Indochina via airplane, beautiful bird's eye view sights of the sea and land Monitoring flight @ KLIA2 From Melaka Sentral, I arrived at KLIA2 at 12:05am. It was still early because my flight was at 6:30am. I still had time for money exchange and take a nap but I could not get to sleep because I was afraid that I might oversleep and skip my flight. To keep me awake, I searched for a money changer. I thought of changing buying dollars because my friend mentioned that dollars can be used in Cambodia. I was also thinking that rupiah might be difficult to exchange there....