Siem Reap to Phnom Penh (Dec 7, 2009 - Monday)

This morning, we took the Mekong Express from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, and it was going to be a 6 hours ride. It felt a bit like going to Kuala Lumpur from Malaysia, just that there are a few more stops for toilet breaks. Since the bus comes with a toilet facility, we only stopped once for lunch. There are also snacks available and a free bottle one mineral water, all for just USD11. This is a lot more cheaper than taking the boat across the Tonle Sap river to get to Phnom Penn which is USD33 and the boat is rather small and looked very flimsy, which Hua immediately declined to it.

Upon reaching Phnom Penh, we took a tutu to Hotel Cara. Having stayed in good 4-5 star hotel and when you move to somewhere of lower standard, it is quite visible of the comfort level you are getting.

With Angkor Century Resort & Spa having carpeted floor, bath tub, ,pipe connecting basin to sewers, spacious room and of course higher price. Hotel Cara, well, it is decent, but one bad thing is that you cannot anyhow pour water into the basin as the water will flow on the floor to the sink at the shower area. Well for the price of around USD 50 a night, I think it is good enough. Oh, at Angkor Century Resort & Spa, even if you put "Do not makeup room" sign, the staff will still dutifully clean up your room. But we are very paiseh as we do not left any tips, on the last day, we do put more tips for them.




Since we do not have much plan for Phnom Penh, it will be more like a Rest and Relax kind. And hence, we went for a haircut at this posh looking salon, De Gran. It was opened by a Japanese and I must their service is very good, however, I think their cutting style is not really that fantastic. Service wise, there are a few translators since the hair stylists only speak Japanese – there is one who translate from Japanese to Khmer, then Khmer to English, but there is also one that can translate Japanese directly to English. Price wise of haircut for VIP is USD25, normal is USD15, Shampoo for VIP is USD 8 while normal is USD5.

We had the VIP service, since Eric mentioned that before the normal hair cut is USD50, so it is consider very cheap now. There are also free drinks and the people will serve the drink to you. When shampooing, they will massage your head which is quite norm if you go to those better salon, but during blowing dry the hair, there will be someone to massage your hands too. This is something you will not get and do not expect from any salon in Singapore or Malaysia. And you even get a small gift like chopsticks, handkerchief, cup, origami paper or postcards, depend on your liking.

Oh, the toilet is a bit fun, it comes with a sensor that auto opens the lid cover, they can wash your butt with different water pressure and airs dry it too. The most exaggerating part is that after you left, all the staffs came out with you and see you off, a bit like those Taiwan Idol show. But I did not get to take any photo, as it was a bit pressurizing to leave as there are so many people out there. And the total price for my hair cut is around USD 50 (25 + 8 + 10% tax + 10 tips).

Dinner time, we had sort of like Khmer BBQ food, however the BBQ was done by the staff and not we cooked ourselves. The food was okie, we had BBQ meats, cockles and hot & sour soup, and I “LOVE” the cockles. I prefer the food at the Khmer Kitchen more than this, maybe next time I should tried the BBQ myself, which will be more fun and get the lingering cooked food smell on our clothes.

After dinner, we went to satisfy our ice cream craving and this time we went to Swensen. Frankly speaking the pricing here is so much more economical, where in Singapore can you get an ice cream sundae for USD1.50. Before turning in for the night, our last stop is at a restaurant near the river named Titanic Restaurant to meet Eric’s friend, Pana (not sure of the spelling) who is a very friendly and humorous person. Oh, we did not take a group photo, hence I do not have his picture. And I think I forgot how he looks already. Ops…