Phnom Penh Part II

(updated 24/10/12)

Assalamu'alaikum...

It's been more than 2 weeks since my last trip to Cambodia/Kampuchea/Kemboja

I won't be updating much on what are the activities as...it would be pretty much the same as other tourist/travellers such as:

Phnom Penh:

1. Genocide Museum

2. Killing Field

3. Royal Palace

4. Night Market

Sihanoukville:

1. Serendipity Beach

2. Occheuteal Beach

I won't be elaborating more on the activities above... feel free to browse other blogs which explain those places really well, and there are my guidelines as well while we were there.... just google it =)

In this entry I will give some ideas on what was the total budget and some other things that we did...

It is a 4D/3N stay.

Apparently this was an adhoc trip as my friend apparently got discounted tix from Air Asia.

The total damage for the return flight tix. (all in with 15kg baggage): RM 253 $$$ KACHING!!!

As for the accomodation the total damage would be: USD 65 $$$ KACHING!!!

Before I proceed, I just wanna let you know that the transaction is mostly in USD. USD babe.... so my pocket money was USD 135 only.... see how miskin i was in this country T_T

The conversion rate is 1 USD = 4000 KHR (Khmer Riyel)

Day 1 (5/10/2012)

Bus tix from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville: USD 5.5 $$$ KACHING!!!

We were so lucky that we met a Tourist Guide (TG) (Ust. Salleh - contacts will be given later) and he brought us to the nearest bus station without any charge. We didn't book any TG, however we met him at the airport while he was waiting for his tourist... anyway we didn't take him as our TG, but he just offered his kindness to us and brought us the nearest station which is just close by the airport.

The journey from Phnom Penh (PP) to Sihanoukville (SV) took around 4 hours... it wasn't that far, but the traffic was rather slow as the road was not as our highway in Malaysia... ala jalan kampung gitu...

The condition of the bus is very satisfying, air-conditioned with a TV that plays some good chinese movie...

Anyway the bus is pretty satisfying... ala2 bas ekspress from KL to Melaka yg tak berapa besar sangat tuh...

After a one hour drive plus plus.. the bus will stop at station like RNR station... it's very humble, offer some meals, snacks and drinks. Also toilet cangkung & cebuk. Hehe now i know people here cebuk... and the toilet is pretty clean... with clean water...

Total Damage for Snack and Drinking water: USD 0.875 $$$ KACHING!!!

Once we arrived there, we took a TukTuk (TT) from the bus station at SV, to the SV town centre itself... the TT charge around USD 5, but we nego to only USD 4, so since we met another tourist from a scandinavian country it's Estonia if am not mistaken, currently working in Aussie.

Total Damage for TT: USD 1.5/person $$$ KACHING!!! (USD 4/ TukTuk)

We straight away headed to our hotel which is the BEACH ROAD HOTEL. (Review on this hotel will be given in the next entry)

After settling down, unpack some things bla bla bla... we straight headed to the Serendipity Beach which is just around 3-5 mins walk from the hotel. It's like walking down the hill all the way to the beach.

Since it's pretty hard for us to get Halal food, we just bought some sotong bakar (cuttle fish) to fill in our stomach. They sell lotsa snack along the beach...as my friend said, buy one, more will come.... hehe so not to worry... some sell fried lobster, fruits etc etc....

Total Damage for sotong bakar: USD 1 for 5 pieces of sotong $$$ KACHING!!!

After strolling along serendipity beach, which was quite windy due to rainy season... we then off to another beach which is Occheuteal Beach. It's pretty far from Serendipity Beach, i mean can walk but will take u an hour or so maybe? So we hire another TukTuk to bring us to the Occheutal Beach - Centre of the Town (for dinner) I think it's somewhere in Victoria Hill i guess - back to hotel....

After several nego...

Total Damage for TT: USD 9/person $$$ KACHING!!! (USD 18/TukTuk)

Then we have our dinner in Maharajah Restaurant (It has another branch in Seam Reap) a halal restaurant which offers authentic Indian/Pakistani cuisine... Really nice... I had vegetarian Thali for USD 4.50 and Fresh Milk for USD 2.0

Total Damage for Dinner: USD 6.50 $$$ KACHING!!!

After having dinner around 1700hrs... we headed back to Serendipity Beach...

Along the way we noticed that there's a gate that lead to a mosque, Khalifah Mosque/ Masjidil Khalifah/Musoue Dil Khalifah (it's in French i guess). So we walked up the hill till we find the mosque, along the way, we met a muslim young-man showing us the Takbiratul-Ihram signal... Rupanya... anak imam la...

We were so happy and so grateful that we have the chance to meet our saudara seagama here... we met another imam son who can speak simple english as he's the only one who can speak english, even though there's limitation in communication... but i know, and they know, that we are so happy we could see and meet each other...  It was a wonderful experience as muslims are minority in this country consisting approximately 4% of the total population. They welcomed us, as if we are their family... We met with the whole family member, the wife, the sons, the daughters, the cousins as well!!!!

After performing  'Asr prayer.. then we headed back to hour hotel... and have free and easy activities walking along the beach. Not much night life because of the rainy-windy season... but the atmosphere is still nice...away from hustle and bustle of the city life...

Total Damage for Supper: USD 1.50 $$$ KACHING!!!

The total expenses for 5/10/12 is (including the flight tix and accomodation):

RM 253 + (USD 91.875 X 3) = RM 528.63