Siem Reap – Page 8 – Traveling Mark

Tuk Tuk Riding in Cambodia

Tuk Tuks represent the primary means of transportation for tourists visiting Cambodia. A Tuk Tuk is supposed to be a three wheeler, but the Cambodian version of it is a semi-enclosed trailer that’s rigged behind a motorcycle – often a moped. Tuk Tuk riding is inexpensive and widely available all over the place. It will likely be the most used, if not solely used means of transportation for vast majority of tourists visiting Cambodia.

I have made a reservation to stay at Two Dragons for a week after arrival to Cambodia and part of the deal was to provide free transport for me from the airport to the guesthouse. Most guesthouses and low to mid range hotels will offer free transport from the airport and this transport is basically always provided by Tuk Tuks. Unless you are staying in a high end hotel with rooms ranging in three digit numbers per night, in which case you will get a ride in a taxi (aka an actual car).

While Tuk Tuks are omnipresent, Taxis are virtually invisible in Cambodia. After a few weeks of living here I have not seen one, but I know they do exist. Upscale establishment offer taxi transportation for their patrons, but as average tourist, you will not see a single one.

My First Ride in Tuk Tuk

After I have gone through Cambodian immigration and got my Visa on Arrival I walked out of the Siem Reap International Airport and straight into the hands of vulture like locals. It was puring cats and dogs outside and it was dark so Tuk Tuk drivers were all over every tourist who stepped outside with offers to take care of their transport. I opened the door and got swarmed by money hungry Cambodians who are on an endless mission to squeeze as much out of every tourist as possible. People of Cambodia are impoverished so there are hardly any hard feelings, but as a savvy traveller who knows the drill, I respectfully ignored every single one of them. I did imagine ranks of unsavvy tourists walking out behind me – all vulnerable and lost in a new country. Many have surely fall victims to the schemes of these Tuk Tuk drivers who know every single trick which works on a tourist and utilize it without remorse.

I knew I had my ride arranged so for me it was only a question of ploughing through the crowds of money hungry locals and watching out for a paerson standing out there somewhere holding a sign with my name. He was all the way in the back and up to the last minute I had people breathing down my neck to get me take a ride with them. Not only would they want to overcharge a tourist for a ride to town, but they’d also want to take the tourist to a guesthouse or a hotel which pays them the highest commission (if you ask a Tuk Tuk driver to get you to the best place, they will only and solely take you to the place that pays them the most in commission fees for each paying customer. Never otherwise).

Riding Tuk Tuk in the Rain

Once I have tracked down the Tuk Tuk driver holding a sign with my name, I told him I was Mark and he ran to get his Tuk Tuk and park it by the side of the road where I was standing as it was still under the roof. Sky was truly pissing that rain down without any shame. My driver put on the helmet and a raincoat, hopped on his moped and pulled over by me. I sat inside the trailer which is not fully enclosed so the seat was partially wet and rain was pounding me from both sides, I sat my main bag on the wetter seat opposite of me and held my camera bag on my lap. We took off and rode through the dark. I was actually a lucky one being within that semi-enclosed trailed. Even though I still got rained on from the sides, I just thought of poor driver who was riding that Tuk Tuk unprotected, facing the rain form the seat of his motorcycle.

The ride from the airport to the guesthouse wasn’t long. About 10 minutes or so, suggesting that the airport is not far from Siem Reap at all. Tuk Tuks don’t ride too fast. It’s a bloody moped that can go at max maybe 40 or 50 km/h plus it has a trailer to haul so I doubt the speed was any higher than that.

By the time we made it to the Two Dragons Guesthouse, it was already past 11pm local time. The guesthouse was quiet, but I was expected. A girl who was waiting for me at the reception took me to my room and turned on the air-conditioning as it was hot. I must have looked tired as hell (and I was) because she said no more. She just looked at me and left to leave me alone so I can get some rest. There was always tomorrow to go through formalities.

Even though pick up from the airport was to be provided for free by Two Dragons guesthouse as I have made a reservation to stay at the establishment for a week, I gave my Tuk Tuk driver a mighty tip of $1. It may sound like a laughable amount to pay to someone for hassle of sitting on a motorcycle in heavy rain to drive my fat ass to a guesthouse, but it is not so in Cambodia. Mighty $1 bill can take care of one local family for a day.

My first Tuk Tuk ride and an initiation to Cambodia with proper down pour of rain was successfully concluded. Let the adventure begin.

Immigration and Visa on Arrival Process in Siem Reap, Cambodia

There are way too many confusing records all across the internet regarding the immigration and the visa on arrival process in Cambodia. I have done my thorough research on the subject and quite frankly, I didn’t know what the truth exactly is. Now that I have gone through Cambodian immigration and have applied and received visa on arrival, I know exactly how it works. At least how it work in Siem Reap as that’s the only point of entry in Cambodia I have used so far.

To sum it up in a few word – the entire immigration process and visa on arrival situation in Siem Reap is well streamlined, painless, fast and with no bribery involved or needed. There are people who claim that immigration officials ask for more than normal $20 for tourist or $25 for business visa and unless you pay up, you’re gonna get held up. Even more often than that you would find claims that applying for visa on arrival is a major pain and one should apply for e-visa instead. This must have been a long time ago, or those people simply exaggerate big time. This is what it looks like at Siem Reap International Airport as of August 2009:

The plane from abroad lands in Cambodia, people disembark and enter main airport hall where there is a long counter that goes around entire one side of the wall behind which several Cambodian immigration officers are seated. There’s about a dozen of them. You get sent to the one on far left who asks what kind of visa you would like. If you want tourist visa, you get asked to pay $20. If you’d like business visa, it’s $25. You hand the guy your passport with one 4 x 6 cm photograph of yourself and that basically concludes the process of applying for visa on arrival in Cambodia. You will get your passport back with visa in it within a couple of minutes.

Difference Between Tourist or Business Visa to Cambodia

I have asked for business visa because you can renew those indefinitely. Tourist visa can only be renewed once. Both are only valid for 30 days, but if you happen to fall in love with Cambodia and you have applied for tourist visa on arrival, then after 30 you will have to extend the validity of your visa which can only be done once for additional 30 days. After that you’d have to physically leave Cambodia and go through entire process of applying for visa on arrival again. Business visa on the other hand can be extended over and over and over and then some. Costs $5 more, but well worth it. BTW – no questions asked about why business visa. I was just told it’s $25 for business visa and that was it.

Once you have paid for your visa, you get moved up to the last guy behind the counter (on the far right) where you wait for your passport to come back to you with visa of your choice affixed within. The whole process only takes a few minutes. That first immigration officer takes your passport, passport photo, cash and filled up immigration forms you will be handed on an airplane and passes it on to the guy next to him. Each of them does their part and the last one gets your passport with valid visa in it, calls your name so you can get your passport and this is it. You are free to enter Cambodia. You have just been given visa on arrival and it didn’t involve bribery, it didn’t involve slow processing, it didn’t involve anything otherwise fishy. It’s a smooth, well streamlined process that makes your start in the country hassle free.

It is worth a mention that the plane from Seoul, South Korea in which I have arrived landed in Siem Reap at 10.30pm. It was a night hour and it was pouring outside. You’d think that given late hour and miserable weather no one would want to run the immigration shift at the airport, but based on my experience, immigration and visa on arrival processing is taken seriously by authorities in Siem Reap to benefit the tourist to the maximum possible extent. If other points of entry are any different, I’m sure they will soon follow suit. Tourism is becoming one of major sources of revenue for Cambodia and efforts to make the stay for every tourist as enjoyable as possible from the very first minute are becoming obvious on every step.

Rainy Season in Cambodia

I was fully aware of the fact that I’d arriving in Cambodia during rainy season. It didn’t put me off one bit, afterall I each season has something different, something unique to offer that can only be experienced in that particular season. But the main reason I was headed for Cambodia in the rainy season was that it was the right time for me to go. It just so happened that September fell within the rainy season and knowing I would stay for a while would allow me to experience this country during both rainy season and dry season.

Heavy Rainfall During Cambodian Rainy Season — You Get to Experience Heavy Rainfall A Lot During Cambodian Rainy Season

While rainy season in Cambodia extends from June to October, I have done my homework prior to leaving Canada and checked out the rainfall (precipitation) stats and damn – historically the month of September gets pounded by more rain than any other month of the year in Cambodia. I’ve traced down some expats who have been living in Cambodia for a few years on the internet and asked them about rainy season and September and sure enough, I had it confirmed by being told that it rains every day. Rains every day? Boy… that’s a whole lotta rain!

It still bothered me not. I have not lived in any country during rainy season so I saw this as an amazing opportunity to experience this natural phenomenon first hand. Afterall, locals have been going through rainy season every years for centuries and they’ve dealt with it fine, so why would I have any issue with a bit of rain, albeit it was gonna be more than just a bit. But when speaking of living in extreme weather conditions – I come from Alberta, Canada where winters last for 8 months each year and temperatures get below -40 Degrees Celsius. If I could live through that for years, rainy season can’t possibly irk me off.

Leaves of Cambodian Tropical Trees Are Covered in Rain Droplets During Rainy Season

Cambodia is located very close to the equator so temperatures are tropical year round. I was told by one of the expats that the coldest it ever gets here is 20 Degrees Celsius in winter. That’s what summer looks like in Canada. This simply meant that I had to make sure I have decent sandals to take with me as I would not get to wear any actual shoes, it would also mean that I should bring light, summer clothing and take it easy on long sleeve shirts and long pants. Rainy season or not, winter or summer, a visitor to Cambodia will be wearing summer clothes unless they want to walk around drenched in their own sweat.

Causes of Rainy Season in Cambodia

Extended research on rainy season in Cambodia provided answers to why monsoons repeat with such solid timing each year. To cut down on all the technical jargon and sum it up in a few simple sentences, the casues of the rainy season in Cambodia are:

Air pressure over central Asia drops in Summer. This drop in air pressure draws moisture that otherwise gathers above the seas over land. Cambodia is right in the way so the clouds full of moisture settle above the country for good few months – from June to September
As air pressure over central Asia rises with coming of colder months and winter, this pressure then pushes these rain cloud back above the seas and keeps them there. That’s why during the rest of the year Cambodia experienced dry season with very little rainfall

So it’s all in the air pressure. When the air pressure drops (that’s what happens in warmer time of year) it attracts moist clouds from above the seas. When the air pressure rises (happens in colder months of the year), the clouds get pushed away. That’s the whole magic behind clockwork like monsoon cycles Cambodia gets exposed to each year. It is commonly known and referred to as the rainy season.

Barb Wire in Siem Reap Collects Moisture During Rainy Season in Cambodia

Arriving in Siem Ream Amidst Rainy Season

I was rather encouraged seeing how sunny and cloudless the weather was in South Korea. Knowing that South Korea is an adjacent part of the same continent on which Cambodia is located, it gave me hopes that perhaps I would find the same sunny weather in Siem Ream when I arrive. I hopped on a plane in Seoul, tired from previous long flight I nodded off and when I woke up shortly before landing, I noticed rain drops landing on that small circular window I had right next to me (yes, I scored the window seat). All my hopes for sunny weather were gone.

As we have landed in Siem Reap, it became even more obvious that it’s not just raining in Cambodia, it’s pouring like there’s no tomorrow. Our scheduled arrival time in Siem Reap was at 10.20pm and we got there on time. It was dark outside and rain was just gushing right down. Siem Reap international airport (REP) does not have those fancy movable walkways that connect directly to the door of the aircraft. We had to walk out of the plane and board the bus that was waiting outside. There were locals with umbrellas waiting to assist us with boarding without getting too wet which was fine and did the job, it simply showed me that I was foolish when I made associations between weather in South Korea and weather in Cambodia. The two are on the same continent, but are 5 hours away by plane from each other and are in different tropical zones. Rainy Season in Cambodia is for real and arrives as expected every year. No exceptions. I have expected it and here I was – I have made it to Cambodia. Woo hoo!

Young Cambodian Girl Rushes Under The Roof to Avoid Getting too Wet from the Rain

Flight from Seoul to Siem Reap

When I landed in Seoul, South Korea, it was the first time in my life I set foot on Asian soil. It was an exciting feeling. I have never been to Asia before so finally make it meant a great deal to me. The view of South Korea from the window of an airplane suggested that weather in this country was spectacular. It was virtually cloudless, other than some random tiny cloud here and there. I thought – if weather is this gorgeous in East Asia, surely it will be equally nice in South-East Asia, where I was heading to. But then again – I was well aware of the fact that September is the peak of the rainy season in Cambodia so I did not hold my breath. Seeing cloudless, sunny weather South Korea was enjoying left me a little bit encouraged.

Flight from Vancouver to Seoul took well over 10 hours. It was a long, long flight. Pacific Ocean is not a short distance to cover. Seeing the land below our plane delivered the feeling of landing soon which I’m sure every passenger aboard could not wait for. Good thing about South Korea is that once you have reached the east coast, the west coast where capital city Seoul is located is not far away. It also means that wherever in South Korea you are, you’re never too far from the beach. Having this narrow shape definitely has its advantages.

Incheon airport in Seoul is not very large. I was only transiting as my final destination was Siem Reap so I wasn’t hassled by Korean customs authorities and just followed the signs to connection flights. There wasn’t that much to do at Incheon, however connecting to their free WiFi internet was hassle free, unlike the crap experience in Vancouver. I was glad to have equipped myself with the universal power plug adapter which made its first use at Incheon. I only had a couple of hours to kill there and thanks to the internet, my time waiting for the Siem Reap flight flew by quickly. Before I knew it, the boarding was started. I have waited until everyone was in, have packed up my lap top and headed towards the gate to be the last person on board.

The plane wasn’t sold out solid, but I was the unlucky one to have been given the seat right next to two kids. Having just gone through near 11 hours on a plane, I really didn’t feel like being exposed to screaming kids for additional 5 hours. I felt tired and wanted to take a nap. I’ve asked the flight attendant if it was possible for me to sit elsewhere as I didn’t want to sit by the kids, but since this was the flight between Seoul and Siem Reap (aka none of the ports of call were English speaking), my words were not understood.

One person who did understand me was the father of those kids who was willing to aid me in re-seating myself. He however suggested that his daughters are well behaved and generally quiet. That was a bit encouraging, but I was really tired to risk it and it did prove a good idea. Well behaved or not, kids talk too loud and too much disturbing everyone around and while it’s sometimes bearable, it becomes excessively difficult if you’re exposed to it right after a long flight.

Luckily for me, I was able to increase the distance between me and the kids and even ended up taking a brief nap during the flight. Before I knew it, we were landing in my terminal destination for this trip – Siem Reap, Cambodia. And yes, it was pissing cats and dogs.

Plane Ticket from Edmonton, Canada to Siem Reap, Cambodia

The quote I got from Ivy at the Unity Travel was a no brainer. Being able to fly all the way to Siem Reap, Cambodia from Edmonton, Canada for $1,250 return, all fees and taxes in was better than expected. I knew this was it and I had no doubt whatsoever that I was gonna call her up the following day and purchase the ticket. The only decision I still had upon me was whether I should put off my departure until September 10, 2009 to get this attractive price, or move it up to originally intended August 31, 2009 but pay an additional $200 on top of it.

While $1,250 was without doubt an attractive price, if I were to take it, I’d have to house myself in Edmonton for additional 10 days. I have already made arrangements with the on site manager of the apartment building in Edmonton’s Inglewoods where I was staying that I’d leave at the end of this month (August). In order to stay for additional 10 days, I’d have to make new arrangements and pay for extra time spent on the premises. This would cost more than $200 so what I would save on the plane ticket would be spent three fold on accommodation. Furthermore, cost of living in Canada is much higher than in Cambodia so food and all other provisions I’d need during the additional 10 days of my stay in Canada would vastly outgrow the $200 needed to depart before September 10. But most of all, there was my ever growing desire to get on the road as soon as possible.

Needless to say, I’ve purchases the plane ticket departing for Siem Reap from Edmonton on August 31. I was ready to leave and wanted to do it at first available chance. $1,450 was still an amazing price for a ticket from a city like Edmonton to a destination like Siem Reap. Plus unlike all others, Ivy has hinted that this would work as an “open return” plane ticket, which means that once you’re abroad, you’d be able to set the date of your return.

Having an option to return would give me great peace of mind. That’s why I was not looking for one way tickets. With return tickets, should there be a need to come back to Canada – whatever the reason, I’d have that return ticket in my pocket so it would be a matter of making arrangements to set up a date with Korean Air. However as Ivy had explained to me, in order for her to book the ticket, I’d need to give her a preferred day of return as it is mandatory to have it booked for some day, but I’d be able to change it should there be the need.

After a little bit of consideration, I have decided to book my return flight for mid January, 2010. As I have learned in January of this year, flights to the islands in the Caribbean are very cheap after at the beginning of a new year ending the period of extremely high priced tickets available for Christmas and New Year holiday seasons. So if I were able to return to Canada in the middle of January, I’d be able to take advantage of inexpensive flights to the tropical zones of Central America, moving me on at my quest to travel around the world.

And that’s precisely what I have booked. I am leaving for Siem Reap, Cambodia on August 31, 2009 from Edmonton and have the return flight booked for January 15, 2010 to take me back to Edmonton, with the possibility to change the date of return flight provided that the new flight of choice still has seats available at the time of rebooking. Sounded great to me. I paid the money, got my conformation email so now my flight was booked and my start up trip set in stone. It has ended the unceasing quest for cheap ticket to an exciting location to start off my round the world travel. I was able to start focusing on other things that still needed attention.

Unity Travel Agency in West Edmonton Mall

I don’t remember what I went to West Edmonton Mall – the largest shopping mall in North America for that weekend. I was already in the process of searching for flights to Asia from Edmonton and had a pretty good idea of what I should expect to pay should I decide to take that route, instead of going to the Caribbean. When I’m at West Edmonton Mall, I like to go to the Chinese supermarket called T&T where they always have this really great fast food style hot buffet. Food is great, prices are unbeatable and I love Chinese food so I never miss the opportunity to have munchies at T&T Supermarket when I’m at the West Edmonton Mall.

Photo: Chinatown in West Edmonton Mall Where T&T Supermarket Is Located

As I was walking out with my belly full after a nice snack, I popped in the travel agency that’s got the office right outside of the entrance to T&T. The agency is called Unity Travel and is obviously focused on primarily serving the Asian clientele. There were two ladies inside, both of Asian descent and most of their signs on the shop windows were written in Chinese characters. The location itself suggested that it’s Asian people living in Edmonton that they specialize in and as such – or so I thought – they specialize in flights to and from Asia. Wow, isn’t that precisely what I’ve been focused on lately?

I walked in Unity Travel despite my overall belief that dealing with travel agents is an obsolete and pricey way of buying travel packages. If you deal with an agent face to face, their commission will have to be included somewhere in the price you end up paying. This is often not the case when purchasing on line as the process is automated and can be done even outside of store hours. But since Unity Travel is so obviously all about Asia which is where I wanted to go, I walked in believing I had nothing to lose. I just wanted to ask to get a general idea on prices I could get through, and I was in the neighborhood so why not. I didn’t think I could get anything comparable to what I saw on line, but they wouldn’t kill me for asking, would they?

Photo: Unity Travel Office in West Edmonton Mall

I talked to a fine lady whose name is Ivy and judging by the business card she handed me, she may be the owner of Unity Travel. I stuck out like a sore thumb because I’m Caucasian and I walked into a travel agency for Asian people but even though everyone stared, Ivy treated me with respect and answered all of my questions. I basically wanted to know how much a ticket from Edmonton to Bangkok would cost if I wanted to depart at the end of August, or beginning of September. I also asked Ivy to look up the same option with departure from Vancouver, as I already knew flying from Edmonton was gonna be significantly more expensive.

It was already the beginning of August when I visited Unity Travel. And I wanted to score a cheap ticket to Bangkok from Edmonton. I knew I was a dreamer, but the quote form Ivy got my instant attention. She said that if I were to fly on September 10th or later, I could get the Edmonton – Bangkok return ticket for $1,250 all in. My jaw dropped. This is about total cost I’d be looking at if I were to fly to the Dominican Republic at about the same time. With $800 being the base price but $300 in fees and taxes I’d be pretty damn close. But $800 was the cheapest ticket which departed at the end of September. End of August was in four digits. This sounded more than great to me. Afterall, Bangkok is more than three times as far as the Dominican Republic and it’s in Asia. The value for money was definitely there. That’s what I’d call a bargain plane ticket for high season. Ivy also mentioned that because we are already well into August and it’s the high season even for Asia bound flights, that if I wanted to fly before September 10th, it would be possible, but the ticket would be $200 more expensive.

The real breakthrough came when I asked Ivy – just out of curiosity – how much more I would have to pay if I were to buy a return ticket all the way to Siem Reap, Cambodia (a town right next to Angkor Archaeological Park that serves as a gateway to Angkor for all foreigners). I only asked for Edmonton to Bangkok ticket because I knew Bangkok is the nearest major international hub with lots of flights coming in every day. Because Bangkok is served by such a large number of carriers, I believed the price would be less expensive than flying to areas such as Siem Reap. My ultimate destination would still be Cambodia, but getting to Cambodia from Thailand didn’t seem like a big deal hence I asked for the ticket to Bangkok. But now that I knew how much it was to fly to Thailand, I also wanted to know how much extra it would be to go all the way to Cambodia as if it wasn’t going to be that much more, I might as well pay the extra money and be delivered all the way to my final intended destination.

Ivy said that I would be flying with Korean Air and would have to make transfer stops in Vancouver and Seoul. And because Korean Air has regular, daily flights to both Bangkok and Siem Reap from Seoul, the price would not change. So whether going all the way to Bangkok or to Siem Reap, it would still cost $1,250 total if departing on or after September 10th, or $1,450 if departing before September 10th.

Photo: West Edmonton Mall from the Inside

These quotes were staggering for me. I didn’t even want to know how much a ticket would be from Vancouver at this point as quotes from Edmonton were more than reasonable. I expected some $3,000+ figures and even more for Cambodia, yet here I was with a quote I would have to pay to go to the Dominican Republic which I originally wanted to do. I left Unity Travel agency office with Ivy’s business card and quotes written on it. I am not an impulsive buyer so I needed a little time to have this settle in my head. Plus there was still a dilemma of whether to go after September 10th and save $200 or before, but pay more. I had to give it a good think-over and was gonna get back to Ivy with what I have decided in a day or two. It is quite possible that Ivy thought I was just a passerby, just someone curious but not really serious when I walked in their office. She treated me professionally but I still had that feeling that she didn’t expect much of me. Caucasian in an Asian travel agency… what the hell was I doing there anyway?

Photo: Sign on the Corner Marking West Edmonton Mall at Night