Backpacking South East Asia - Siem Reap (Part 2)

My journey begins on the following day after my overnight stay at Travelers' Inn for only 5.5US Dollars a night, a small single bed room with a fan. I bought a cheap bus ticket to Siem Reap Cambodia for only 11US Dollars from a popular travel agency along Khao San Road the night before.   A little hunting around resulted in finding what was possibly the most affordable passage to Thailand's neighboring countries.

As a backpacker, my travel intention is to cross the borders in the Southeast on a tight budget. It isn't the luxurious hotels or the rich cuisine that I am after. For me, the experience of capturing the grandeur of any new place in a photograph is the ultimate reward in itself.   Stories of scammed tourist abound online.  It isn't uncommon to hear such stories straight from a fellow traveller on a long bus ride to the border. No matter how intimidating or discouraging the stories may be every picture I take only leads me forward as every photograph becomes richer and more interesting. 

Any thought of taking the easier route is overshadowed by the nagging thought that every picture is going to come out better than the last.  

          

There are three ways to the border of Aranyaprathet, Thailand, by taxi, bus and train. I opted to take the bus because for me it is more relaxing and the fare is rather affordable.  Aranyaprathet is 300 kilometers from Bangkok.  Our bus left Khao San Road at 8:00 in the morning.  

The road is a paved highway and the journey to the border is scenic enough to keep the mind pleasantly pre-occupied, keeping the boredom at bay during the four-hour ride.  The bus ride ends a few meters before the Thai border and the driver inform us to transfer to another big bus which will take us across the border of Cambodia which is Poipet.

Everyday thousands of Cambodians and Thais cross the border. On a rainy season there are not western tourists.  The trip from  Poipet to Siem Reap is a bumpy one because of the partially constructed highway damaged by the rain and mud.   Such slow progress took the bus six hours to reach Seam Reap, the sight of the magnificent temples of Angkor.

I arrive in Seam Reap with a couple of buddies I met on the bus.  Henry, a Korean from San Diego, USA, and Killian from Germany. I spend the night at the Golden Village guesthouse for only 6US Dollars, a fan-bungalow hut with a clean toilet, a washroom and a mosquito net.  What  amazes  me most about this lodge was the internet use is for free and there were 5 working computer units for travelers to use. The next day the three of us arranged for a tuktuk (a popular 3 wheeled taxi type ride in Bangkok and  Cambodia) to take us around the temples of Angkor for 10 US dollars a day, the cost to be divided among the three of us.

Seam Reap is famous for the hundreds of temples of Angkor built by ancient Khmer empire. Visitors have three choices to visit the temples: 20USD for a day pass, 40USD for two day to three day pass and 60USD for a week pass. I paid 40US Dollars for a two-day pass which is enough for me to take pictures of the beauty of Angkor.  

I stayed in Seam Reap taking pictures of the temples Angkor Wat, Ta Phrom, the Bayon and other temples.  While in Siem Reap I rented a bike for 2 US Dollars a day and enjoyed the sights along its streets.  My next stop is Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.