Border Run to Cambodia!
9:33 PM
I just got back from Cambodia last night, and it was a fun but tiring trip. =) I had to go to Cambodia because I'm staying in Vietnam for more than 30 days, and that's why I went for border run, just to get my passport chopped at the immigration. The best thing about this is that; my coursemate, Jia Pei, is in Cambodia for exchange as well! So here we are, meeting up in Cambodia. =)
The food there is somewhat like Malaysian food, of course, I can't judge much because I was only there for about two days? But from the meals I had, yeah, it's like Malaysian food.
But this fish curry right here, it tastes so much like home that I could cry. T_T it's called Fish Amok, it's some sort of nyonya curry with coconut in it and it tastes really really good. It was a good change from the Vietnamese food I've been having so far.
Oh boy, one thing I loved so much about Cambodia, it's their architecture. Seriously, their buildings are beautiful. Their temples, oh my gosh, it was divine. It has some sort of Minangkabau influence but still, it's unique in it's own way. This is the Royal Palace, which I did not manage to go in, because it was closed at a really odd time; 10.30am - 2pm? o.o
This is the National Museum, it costs 5$ for the entrance fee. It was really nice, but I'd prefer if I had a tour guide to explain to me the historical/architecture/socioogical/??? part about the whole Cambodia. I'll read about it when I have time.
I enjoyed taking pictures in Cambodia, and wish I had a DSLR or something, but my camera is still doing a great job. =D
This is the Independence Monument, couldn't really get close to it.
One of their royal kings, Sihanouk.
Ah, this one, it's a temple, and almost all of their temples look like this. It's really beautiful because of the intricate carvings along the walls, sculptures, everything was new to me. I could really see the strong influence of religion in their country because when I was walking around, no matter how old the house looks, the altar that is placed in front of the house always looks really good.
Some really cheap and good street food that we stumbled upon the streets of Sihanouk Boulevard. =) 5$ only for the whole meal!
It was a really good but short trip to Cambodia. I wish I could've stayed there longer and had the means to travel further and interact with the people more, but due to the time constraint, we could only stay there for one night. =( I really want to go to the Angkor Wat, but maybe next time. But in that short trip of mine, I could see so much difference between Vietnam and Cambodia.
1. Cambodia has a higher proficiency in English, which was really awesome because we were lost and had no internet, so we couldn't really find our hostel.
2. The living cost in Cambodia is higher because the currency that they use is riel and USD, but for tourist spots, mainly USD.
3. The difference of their standard of living between the rich and the poor is really obvious when I compare the city and the outskirts.
In the streets, there were many beggars and homeless people living under trees and just along the streets. Their children were running around naked without any parental guidance and I could see flies around their hair because hygiene was not a concern for them. Sigh, I've seen so much poverty in Cambodia and Vietnam that, it really makes me feel grateful to be living in Malaysia, and it really really pushes me to do more for this world. And I've grown to love my course even more than ever because I could apply whatever I am studying everywhere, but I know I'm not good enough so I'm going to push for more.
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