11 July 2015, Saturday (Day 6 in Siem Reap)
The French hosts recommended us to check out West Baray – kind of near Angkor Wat – for a chill day and relaxation. It was exactly what I needed – some downtime.
Walked over to Ann and Jacob’s guesthouse, hopped onto a tuk tuk and hired him for the afternoon (USD10, 3 – 4 hours). Asked him to bring us to a lunch spot before heading over to West Baray as I read online reviews that food there was pricey.
I’m glad we ate before we reached there cause the only food we saw were chicken skewers, bugs, and drinks! We would have starved there.
If you’re in Siem Reap, I’d recommend you to check the place out if you have no other plans! It’s a bit out of the way so you’ll need to hire a tuk tuk driver for a few hours – just like what you do for Angkor Wat. He’ll drive you there and wait for you till you’re done, and bring you back to wherever.
It’s basically a beach with lots of shaded hammock spots along the shore for you to sit and just chill, enjoy the breeze. There’re also tubes which I guess is for rental but we didn’t get into the waters.
I’d highly suggest you eat/ bring snacks before you get there. Jacob went to buy a drink and the guy wanted to charge him USD6 for the drink + 3 hammock spots which was a ripoff! I did read online beforehand that they’ll charge you USD1 for one person/ hammock so bargain it down if they’re trying to get more money from you!
Went back to the city to start on dinner! We had so many things we wanted to eat cause it was Ann and Jacob’s last day before they fly back to Bangkok the next day. Had to stuff ourselves silly cause who knows when’s the next time you’ll come back.
1st stop: Vietnamese!
2nd stop: Boat Noodles! (Thai)
Was exploring the streets and stumbled into this shop, partially cause Ann didn’t get a chance to eat boat noodles one last time when she was in Bangkok previously.
3rd stop: Angkor Pizza Tuk Tuk! (Western)
Jacob saw a similar mobile woodfire pizza tuk tuk a couple of days ago and we were lingering around the store for a pretty long time cause we couldn’t decide if we wanted to stomach some pizza. We had plans to head to Curry Walla because I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THEIR FOOD. I had it in 2013 and it was some of the best curry/ Indian food I have ever had and I’m not really a fan of Indian food.
After walking away reluctantly, we decided to go back and order a pizza cause… who knows when’s the next time you get to eat food out of a mobile woodfire pizza tuk tuk!
After this meal, we walked around a little to digest our food and that’s where we parted ways. I spent a good four days with Ann and Jacob. I guess sometimes things happen for a reason and I’m glad we all had a chance to cross paths again and make more memories! We just might meet again in Melbourne in a couple of months’ time but that’s still an open plan.
12 July 2015, Sunday
Boy, was I all pooped out from all the activities the past few days. I took my day slow and easy and decided to head to Curry Walla to relive some memories!!!
Trudged in the heat from the guesthouse to the restaurant. The walk is worth the food! I ordered exactly the same as what I had two years ago – Butter Chicken Curry (comes with rice) + Garlic Naan (four pieces). I love garlic bread of sorts!!! I get pretty excited when I talk about Curry Walla cause the food is absolutely delicious! I raved about it in my Instagram as well.
It’s a bit pricey, but I would say it’s worth the price. I had it for lunch and I didn’t eat the rest of the day cause I was so stuffed.
Kind of forgot about the portion so when the food came, I was a little worried I had over ordered. BUT NAH, I USUALLY ALWAYS FINISH MY FOOD. I just didn’t finish all the rice. I took some so it wouldn’t be a waste.
Too distracted, talking about food. I forgot to mention that now that Ann and Jacob left, I needed to plan the next leg of my trip. Of which I decided the morning itself. I would explore somewhere new and take a sleeper bus the next day down south to Sihanoukville! I honestly didn’t do any research about the place and had no idea what was in store for me. All I did was search for hostels near the bus terminal so I could save on transport cost when I reached there.
Bought my bus ticket for I think USD13, and then I had my late lunch.
Went back to the guesthouse after stuffing my face and just hung area and rested.
13 July 2015, Monday
The sleeper bus to Sihanoukville was at 7pm, which meant I had one whole day to kill (uurgh).
Packed up my stuff, washed up and all, and headed out to fill my tummy. No prizes for guessing where I went for lunch… again. CURRY WALLA!!! YUMMY.
Went back to the guesthouse around 4++pm. Oh, so I realised that I lost one side of my sports shoe. The day when I went mountain biking with Ann, I left my muddy shoes outside the guesthouse to dry cause I didn’t want to dirty the floor. I kind of expected my shoes to go missing and after leaving it a day too long outside, the right side of my shoe disappeared…
I don’t think it was stolen cause the thief would’ve taken both shoes. Probably a dog took it. OH WELL.
Washed up, took off my contacts, and I was ready to be picked up.
Pick-up was surprisingly early – came at 5.55pm when it stated 6.00pm – 6.45pm. The driver tried to get me to take his brother’s tuk tuk to my destination when I reached Sihanoukville for USD6. Declined his offer cause I found it too pricey, especially if I was going to bear the full cost of it on my own! He wasn’t too pleased.
Picked up four other backpackers and we were brought to the bus company’s office (Virak Buntham) to wait for the bus.
So when I booked my ticket, I was told it’d be a direct bus from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville.
- Departure: 7.00pm
- Arrival: 6.00am
No one mentioned that THERE WOULD BE TONS OF STOPS ALONG THE WAY. There was another option where you can take the 10.30pm bus, stop at Phnom Penh at 2.00am to change bus, and reach Sihanoukville at 6.00am. Why would I want to wake up and stop at 2.00am?!
WELL. After a dinner stop, the bus made lots of stops along the way to drop off and pick up locals. Soon, I found out the hard way that the bus stopped at Phnom Penh as well around 12++am. The staff were yelling for people heading to Ho Chi Minh to do a bus transfer. And in exchange, other people came up the bus.
Oh goodness I barely got any proper sleep cause the bus lights were turned on every stop they made. Not complaining though. I welcome every interesting experience with open arms.
What was really surprising is that we reached Sihanoukville earlier than expected! Plus, it started pouring pretty heavily in the morning. For that, I respect them for their time management.
That’s pretty much the end of my Siem Reap leg. More on Sihanoukville in my next post.
Till then!
Bed for One 
Leave a Reply