Siem Reap: A spiritual journey 2.0

Thursday Manila

2 p.m. — Just escaped from work half-day in order to accommodate the much-awaited trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia.

3 p.m. — I decide to send some sentimental texts to my friends Kath and Isa and tell them I am ready for my spiritual journey in Cambodia. Considering I have been quite a mess lately, I need to pray, I tell them.

3:05 p.m. — Kath replies, “What did you decide to do again?!”

3:10 p.m. — Isa replies, “I will pray for you!”

4 p.m. — My travel buddies, Lour and Misha, arrive. The three of us have 9-to-5 jobs and three very different personalities. We volt in our hands and say, “Spiritual journey! Break!”

7 p.m. — My last text in Manila is work-related. I don’t bother to wait for the reply.

Siem Reap

11 p.m. — We arrive at Siem Reap, Cambodia and meet our gracious host, Mr. Sokun at the Prum Bayon hotel. Western style hotel rated an underestimated 3-stars. It’s only a few minutes away from the popular Pub Street.

From the room: no high-rise buildings, no lights, no spectacular view. It’s just a small, quiet town. It’s quite nice.

Say cheese: The multitude of smiling faces at the temple of Bayon

11:30 p.m. — We head out to Pub Street to grab late dinner. We settle for a restaurant called Cambodian Soup Kitchen. We have our first taste of Khmer (Cambodian) food and we are in love. Fresh spring rolls, green chicken curry, Cambodian soup and the native amok, which is a delicious, steamed curried fish.

Khmer food is simple, delicate, but makes use of a complex fusion of spices that deliver full taste. It’s similar to Thai food but not overpowering at all.

We decide we want to have Khmer food every day for the rest of the trip.

Friday

8:30 a.m. — We told the tour guide we would meet him at 8 a.m. It’s 8:30. He tells us that we cannot wear our Tomb Raider short shorts to the temples. I’m thinking, holy cow, I didn’t bring anything past the knee. I pretend this scarf is a real skirt.

“Is that a wrap? Because they will not allow that,” he says.

“No,” I answer. But it is.

10 a.m. — We visit the temple of Bayon, the temple of a multitude smiling faces.

The tour guides all know which angles will produce funny picture illusions where it looks like you are kissing one of the temple faces. Kitschy fun.

11 a.m. — I get rejected at one temple entrance because they recognize that I, indeed, was wearing a wrap.

11:30 a.m. — I buy some pants.

1:30 p.m. — After lunch, we head out to the majestic Angkor Wat, the largest Khmer temple complex. Its five iconic towers are enclosed and protected by a moat. The galleries display intricate carvings that tell the stories of their famous epics.

5 p.m. — We miss the sunset.

7 p.m. — We have dinner in the infamous Happy Herb Pizza. It’s pizza that is served with a sprinkle of a certain illegal organic leaf (à la ganja). How would you like your pizza: happy, very happy, or ecstatic?

8 p.m. — Of course the options “happy, happier, or ecstatic” isn’t on the menu. To order this you have to do it with a slight wink and a nudge. “May I have a very happy pepperoni pizza, please?” Wink, wink.

10 p.m. — Happy Herb Pizza is a fake.

11 p.m. — We head to Pub Street for the Night Market and a few drinks. Lonely Planet notes some bars: Red Piano (where Angelina Jolie used to hang), Angkor What? (drunken Caucasians dancing on table tops), Laundry Bar (looks a bit pricey).

The floating village is a “tourist spot” in Siem Reap which is a small community of fishing families who cannot afford to pay rent on land, and therefore create makeshift boathouses in the river. Here you will find floating schools, a floating church, and a floating basketball court.

Saturday

9 a.m. — We tell our tour guide to meet us at 9 but we finish breakfast at 9:30.

10 a.m. — We visit Banteay Srei or the Lady Temple, about 40 minutes away from the town and the only one that lies farthest from the rest. The Lady Temple is made of red sandstone, giving it a pinkish glow. It’s most known for its very intricate carvings. We are surprisingly impressed, until we see Pre Rup temple.

11 a.m. — Pre Rup temple is beautiful. It is majestic in its architecture, high, symmetric. It reminds us of the architecture of the Inca empire.

11:30 a.m. — We’re in the mood and we decide to climb up the steep steps of Pre Rup temple. Lour stops halfway to catch her breath and admire the view in the classiest manner, “OMG, ang ganda. Nasusuka ako.”

2 p.m. — We visit Ta Prohm temple, a “jungle” temple where large trees have begun to grow out of the ruins creating a stunning, eerie atmosphere. Also, known to have been the location where Tomb Raider was shot. The trees are massive and the canopies of their branches shade the ground. The roots wind and cling around the ruins. It’s uncanny. Trees have spirits.

2:30 p.m. — It’s ironic how our tour guides talk about the fighting in the war. They even show us their scars to prove it. And now they just talk to foreigners about intricate carvings and ancient ruins. It’s surreal.

8 p.m. — For dinner, we have the yellow noodle soup at a corner carinderia.

“We don’t have McDonald’s here, so you can just have the local yellow noodle soup,” everyone tells us. It’s crazy delicious noodle soup.

Sunday

10:30 a.m. — We’ve run out of things to do.

11 a.m. — We decide to pay $13 to see this so-called “floating village.”

12 p.m. — The “floating village” is actually a small community of fishing families who cannot afford to pay rent on land, and therefore create makeshift boathouses in the river. A Korean company runs the tourist programs in the floating village.

Me Lour and Misha throw knowing glances to each other. Tourist trap, poverty tourism.

4 p.m. — We spend the afternoon walking through the small boutique shop houses, which hide some interesting art spaces and artists selling original work.

5 p.m. — We hang out at the infamous Blue Pumpkin, the owner of which is actually Filipino. The second floor lounge of Blue Pumpkin is absolutely delightful, with sprawling white couches to lie down on. We snack on fresh spring rolls and fruit shakes.

10 p.m. - We have our last Khmer supper.

The spiritual journey reveals no revelations, but provided a much needed detachment from the black hole that is Manila. Cambodia is a rustic reminder of a fantasy no one can fully comprehend. What it does is make you realize you are not the center of the world. It tells you how small you can be in this big, beautiful world. It’s humbling.