Hello! Here we are again. Looks like I've been traveling much lately hehe but no worries this is going to be my last (overseas) trip for this year. Peak season is coming and thus my annual leave is frozen till next Feb. Sobs.
So let's cherish every moment from now!
A month after returning from Australia, I packed my bag and fly again. This time to Siem Reap, Cambodia. The ticket has been bought way earlier than the Perth one (yea I told you my Perth trip was last-minute). Sarah, a friend I met in Twitter whatsapp-ed me with "I've bought Siem Reap ticket already. I'm alone. Join me?" Damn girl is damn. What kind of question was that? Haha.
This trip was a bit different from my past trips. All these while I've been staying in hotels, with a hand-carry luggage all the way. But this time I backpacked, and stayed in a box! It was literally a box, no kidding. And no wardrobe/cupboard or even hanger to hang your clothes. There's a square locker to keep your stuff so yeah happy sardine-ing in there.
But it was clean, good enough, and totally satisfying with its price.
I was with Sarah from KL, and then we met our another Twitter friend there, Tira. Tira was with her sister and they've been in Phnom Penh (another town in Cambodia) for 4 days and then made their way to us in Siem Reap by bus.
Yes we were all strangers :)
Traveling with someone you don't know might be risky, but you have their social media so go stalk!! Haha. Well social media is undeniably a good place to picture someone's personality, but please don't go beyond that. Just get yourself an insight of their interests, how they dress and how they communicate with friends. And then you meet them and get to know them better from there :)
Alhamdulillah all the girls are as fun as I could ever wished for. They're all avid travelers anyway so we got no problem getting along with each other.
Talking bout the country. Well, Cambodia is not a beautiful destination. It's hot, it's dirty, and most travel reviews brought you to bad stuff like scams and pickpockets.
But it taught me something I can't really explain here. Seeing poverty right in front of your eyes, child beggars, sellers sold everything at bargained price (because it's better than not getting any money) - it hit you. It made you want to help them once you got back to your country.
I lived a hard life too as a kid. Mom's a housewife, and dad only worked as a driver and we have 7 siblings under my parents' liabilities, all at one time. But we never got out of foods, we attended schools and we always have clothes to wear - even new clothes every Raya (festive day). Cambodians don't get those.
My mother - she came from a very poor family. All these while I've been hearing mom's stories about her difficult childhood life, and in Cambodia I witnessed myself how it's like to actually live in poverty. I admit there are even Malaysians who still poor, but it's not the same. Malaysia got a lot of helping bodies (gov, non-gov, and those generous people) but I don't think Kingdom of Cambodia has it. Even if it does, well I can't see it!
They owe Angkor Wat big time. That's the only reason tourist came to their country. But I'm telling you know, if you want to travel and do something good in your life, come to Cambodia and carry some extra bucks. Donate to them, tip them, help their economy. A little good deed goes a long way, insyaAllah.
I'll be blogging about this 4D3N trip soon. Stay tuned.
Alhamdulillah all the girls are as fun as I could ever wished for. They're all avid travelers anyway so we got no problem getting along with each other.
Talking bout the country. Well, Cambodia is not a beautiful destination. It's hot, it's dirty, and most travel reviews brought you to bad stuff like scams and pickpockets.
But it taught me something I can't really explain here. Seeing poverty right in front of your eyes, child beggars, sellers sold everything at bargained price (because it's better than not getting any money) - it hit you. It made you want to help them once you got back to your country.
I lived a hard life too as a kid. Mom's a housewife, and dad only worked as a driver and we have 7 siblings under my parents' liabilities, all at one time. But we never got out of foods, we attended schools and we always have clothes to wear - even new clothes every Raya (festive day). Cambodians don't get those.
My mother - she came from a very poor family. All these while I've been hearing mom's stories about her difficult childhood life, and in Cambodia I witnessed myself how it's like to actually live in poverty. I admit there are even Malaysians who still poor, but it's not the same. Malaysia got a lot of helping bodies (gov, non-gov, and those generous people) but I don't think Kingdom of Cambodia has it. Even if it does, well I can't see it!
They owe Angkor Wat big time. That's the only reason tourist came to their country. But I'm telling you know, if you want to travel and do something good in your life, come to Cambodia and carry some extra bucks. Donate to them, tip them, help their economy. A little good deed goes a long way, insyaAllah.
I'll be blogging about this 4D3N trip soon. Stay tuned.
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