Trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia pt. 4 (Final part)

Assalamua’alaikum, heyaa! What’s up? Finally, we’re in the final part of my experience visiting Cambodia. Hope you guys enjoy the previous 3 parts. Feel free if you want something to say, you can comment below or send me an email. I’m opened to suggestion, critics etc. So, here we go!

As I told you yesterday that the third day had not been ended yet. We planned to visit the night market as our friend had been waiting for us there. Not all of us went to the night market, there were two of our friends who stayed in the guest house because there was something they had to do. So, 4 of us left at around 7.30 pm by tuktuk. We finally met our friend there, she was with her brother. The night market was so crowded and it was so different with the (wrong) night market we visited in the first day. There was a huge stage too with some people sang and danced on it. We did not understand the song at all but people around them were really enjoying it. There were many souvenirs sold there, not too different with what we found in the city market we went that evening. But I admit it that the things were much cheaper there in the night market. Beside souvenirs, there were also foodtruck with different meals including those unordinary meals. We had dinner before so that we did not eat at that place. They put the many tables on the floor so that people can eat there.

Fig 1. Phnom Penh Night Market

We had enough been in the night market and it was 8.15 I guees. We decided to visit a river near there. We thought of chilling in the riverside in the last day in Phnom Penh. We passed a few blocks. There was many lights and it was colorful. We also passed that one block which were fulled by the night clubs. It was new thing for me to see that night life even though we did not visit it. I know that there is no difference here, in my country. But I’ve never went out in the night passing some night clubs so that is why it was such a new thing for me hahaha.

It took about 15 minutes until we finally arrived in the riverside. We sat there and talked about stuffs. There were some ships on that river. It was actually a restaurant that was located on ship. We had ever got offered too to be on that ship. It needed around 20 USD to be and eat on that ship. We could see the city light across the river. It was so calming and peaceful. There were a few people there at that time. I felt I could just spend the night there because I loved the view and the feeling when I was there.

Fig 2. The view at the riverside

Time went by, it was around 10 pm. We had to go back to the guest house. We passed the same route when we went to the river until we finally ordered tuktuk. Oh, we stopped at the mini market to buy some drinks before we ordered tuktuk. It did not need a long time until finally we arrived at the guest house. We then took a rest because tomorrow we had one NGO left to visit and flight to Jakarta.

Last Day!

We prepared early because we had to pack our stuffs and the location of the NGO was kinda far. The guest house was so comfortable that made us difficult to check out, beside we did not want to leave that soon. And yes, we went to the last NGO with our suitcases. Then we finally checked out of that guest house and ordered tuktuk. It took about 30 minutes until we finally arrived at the school. So the NGO we visited organized some schools and it was one of them. It was international elementary school, so they speak english well. When we arrived there, there were students who were holding a ceremony. Then they played some games in the same field. They were so cute actually and it was their first day school. So, there were some parents too around that school that waiting for their children. We visited each of their class where they were learning at that time. After visiting their classes, we went to their office to have a meeting and discuss about stuffs. It took about 45 minutes until we finally left to have lunch. Due to our suitaces that will take spaces on the restaurant, we left our suitcases at school and walk to the near restaurant.

After we finished eating, we went back to that school to take our suitcases and said goodbye to each other. Then we ordered the tuktuk and went straight to the airport. Still could not believe that it was the last day in Phnom Penh. The journey was kinda far. It took about 45 minutes to the airport. We finally arrived at the airport and waited as we still got some time before boarding.

Fig 3. Waiting for boarding

I thought the flight was better than the flight we flew to Phnom Penh. This time, I sat near the window so that I could see the view clearly. The flight took about 2 and a half hours. So, at 6.30 pm we have already arrived in Jakarta.

Continue reading Trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia pt. 4 (Final part)

Trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia pt. 3

Assalamu’alaikum Hii Guys. Finally, we are here in the third part. How you doing, anyway? Hope you guys doing well ^^. If you have not read the previous parts you could just check it out so that you will know the whole story. Aaand here we go!

On the third day, we had already had an appointment which was in the morning and we found that the location was way further than the previous NGO we visited. So, we prepared earlier than yesterday. We ate not too much meals for breakfast, some of us even did not have breakfast. At 6.30 am we had already been in lobby to wait for our transportation. This time, we went to our destination by Remorque. It was ordered by our friend that is a part of the NGO we would like visit so that the driver knew the route well and we would not get lost XD.

I’ve explained about the Remorque in the first part anyway. So, it is like a cart pulled by motorcycle. It can contain more people than tuktuk. It has 2 face-to-face long seat. So, we were like 3 people in the first seat and 3 people in the second seat. And yes. It was divided based on our tuktuk group, called senior and junior hahaha. We were fit enough in that seat. We can barely move but that was not a big deal. You would not do anything while you were in the cart on the way to some place anyway. Some of us fell asleep because we could not even talk to each other. The wind was so strong that it caused the noise. We could not hear each other as well. The journey took for about 40 mins. We traveled from the city centre to the sububrs. Many buses and other vehicles passed by. Until finally we arrived at our destination.

We were warmly welcomed by them. One of them was Indonesian. She had lived in Cambodia for years and she taught children there. We introduced ourselves, discussed, they told us many things that it was very useful for us and gave other perspectives so that we knew the things from the different side. We were also offered to visit the islamic school near there. The way to that school, we passed the muslim village and there was a market too. We barely met muslim in the city, but we met many of them here. Many women there even wore hijab. The journey to the school took for about 15 minutes by walking. There were no students because it was holiday season for them. It was boarding school for guys anyway. But luckily, we met one of the administrator there to talk and share about that school and stuffs. The school and its area were so huge, there was not many trees, so it was hot there. Some of the rooms were equipped with air conditioner though. We spent for about 30 minutes there until we left and back to the NGO’s place.

Fig 1. One of the school they showed us

As we arrived there, they had prepared lunch for us. There were a lot of foods and it was various. It was like all-you-can-eat restaurant where they prepared the raw material like meats, the vegetables, and some seasons on the tables. So, before we had lunch, we had to cook them first. It was such memorable thing and they were very friendly. They said, it was common thing to there that they always try to serve the guests well. We then prayed on their praying room and met some kids there. They were so cute anyway. We chilled for a while there and played with the kids. After we thought we had enough of chilling and playing with the kids, we said goodbye to them, but before, they ordered us the Remorque again. It was so kind of them.

It was still 2 pm. We did not go back to the guest house. We planned to go to the Tuol Sleng Museum. It is a genocide museum where it was one of the centers for the torture and the execution that was established by Khmer Rouge. There was an entrance fee, it was 8 USD. the fee was different if it is included the audio. We bought 2 tickets with audio and 4 tickets without audio. The building looked so old and by seeing the building you could feel the sadness and the cruel things that ever happened before. We were not allowed to take a picture inside the building. There were a lot of room which inside, there were still things that was used to torture the people. There was a test that explain the story in each room as well. There were still cruel rules made by the Khmer Rouge for the people that were arrested. There was one building that contains all the pictures of the victims inside, with the detail like age, the occupation, etc. The way they tortured them using those things was also explained in audio so detail. So, yeah you can imagine it and it will make you hard to believe that it did happen. We had enough visiting all the rooms. Then we decided to sit for a moment, take a rest under the tree in that area before we finally went to the gate out.

Fig 2. Tuol Sleng Museum

We found that there was a big market near the museum which it sold many souvenirs. We had not bought any souvenir as that day was the last day of our trip. So, we dicided to go to the market first to grab some souvenirs. Because it was not too far, we decided to go there by walking, as always haha. After 15 minutes walking, we finally arrived to that market. Because we brought some bags that we thought that would attract some criminals or something, so we decided to go to the fast food restaurant near there. One of us decided to not go shopping, because she had another plan to buy the souvenirs in the other place. So, we kept our bags there with her watch our bags. Then, 5 of us left to the market to grab some souvenirs.

Fig 3. Shopping District in Phnom Penh

There were a lot of souvenirs available there with various range of price. Many sellers offered us to with nice offer. We finally got our souvenirs after spending some time to choose the best offer. There were bags, wallet, key chains, notebooks, shirts, etc. Then, we went back to the fast food restaurant to take our bags and order some drinks as well. Then, we left to mini market that sells Cambodian snacks. We grab some snacks too there as the snacks were unique and we barely find those kinds of snack in our country. After we got what we want, we went back to the guest house by ordering tuktuk. It was 6 pm anyway.

The day had not ended yet. We planned to meet our friends in the night market. ThE ReAl NiGhT MarKeT as we found the wrong night market yesterday. When we arrived at the guest house, we got some time to take a rest, change our clothes and have dinner.

Okay, I will continue tomorrow as the final part of this trip! So, stay tuned.

Continue reading Trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia pt. 3

Trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia pt.2

Assalamu’alaikum, hey there! Hope you doing well today. So, I wanna continue my story or experience in Phnom Penh in October 2019. If you have not read the first part yet, make sure you read that first so that you know the whole story XD.

As I told you, I visited Phnom Penh not for holiday, so the second day was working time haha. We got up so early, okay it’s not “got up” because I believe we do get up early every day for praying. I'm gonna change it become “prepared”. We prepared ourselves so early because we made an appointment with the first NGO in the morning around 9. We also did not know the route or the condition that might come up. So, it was better to be early than late. The meal we got for breakfast were only instant foods we brought from Indonesia because it is fast and halal ofc haha. It was cereal and noodles. Some of us ate had cereals and some of us has noodles as the breakfast. Morning view from our guest house was really nice, calming and peaceful. After we prepared and did some briefing in the lobby, we went out of the building.

Fig 1. Morning View from the Guest House

We decided to take a walk for a half of the journey then we continued to order the tuktuk for the rest of the journey. The road had already been crowded with the vehicles because it was rush hour I guess. There was a city bus passing by. We were interested to take a city bus but we do not understand the route and I think it is hard to understand the route of the city bus. We did not want to take a risk because we made an appointment haha. We also thought our destinations was not really near with the shelter so, we prefer to walk or order online transportation.

We walked around 30 mins until we decided to order the online transportation, it was tuktuk. Oh when we were in Phnom Penh, there were 2 people who in charge to bring the money (in riel and dollar). It was me and a friend of mine. I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but I guess it was kinda funny haha. The group of tuktuk has been made up correctly this time. It was much better than the first time we ordered the tuktuk hahah.

Okay, so we got the driver and we went to the first NGO. One more thing about the road in Phnom Penh, they were seemed in hurry and there was a guy who control the traffic there. Not a police man but an ordinary guy standing in the middle of the road. It was terrifying as the vehicles were so close like about to hit each other. But, the people there were so chill, they even did not use the horn as I told you in the first part. They were not angry as well. It was so unique. So, another impression come up. Cambodian people are so chill which is cool!

We finally arrived in the first NGO. We were too early for about 30 mins or something. At first,we did not notice the building because of it did not show the name clearly  so it is hard to notice that it is that NGO’s building. We were even separated, the first group of tuktuk and the second group of tuktuk. We called it junior group and senior group by the way based on the batch haha. I was in that group who separated too far, so our tuktuk did not notice the building and we passed it for about 500 m(?). It was kinda far. We also did not notice about that, that is why we stopped there until we realized that we had to walk again haha.

We met an indonesian there again. He was from Java, or something. I forgot anyway. We had small talk and leave. There were some fancy cars parked there like Tesla, Ferrari, etc. Then we spent those 15 minus to take pictures there til finally the time showed 09.00. We were there, in the first NGO for about 3 hours. So, at 1 pm we left. The people were so nice anyway, we discussed many things. They were so friendly too.

It was so hot there (ofc, it’s 1 pm). We decided to look for place for us to pray but there was no mosque near there. We finally found a mall near there (around 1 km). there must be praying room there. We decided to walk to that Mall. It was Aeon Mall actually. It was so tiring and hot, not gonna lie. We finally arrived at the mall. It was so fascinating when you are from outside with hot temperature then going inside to the building with cool temperature hhhaha. There were a lot of visitor at that time.

Fig 2. Near the Royal Palace

By looking at map, we found the praying room. We took a rest for a little bit in the praying room. The praying room was so clean, neat and seemed elegant. There were only us who pray at that time. We actually planned to have lunch there, but one of the employee at the mall said that most of the meals there were not halal. So, after praying we went out from the mall and ordered the online transportation to go the halal restaurant. It was actually Indonesian restaurant and it was near the destination we would like to visit. As always, the junior group got tuktuk so late while the senior tuktuk always had their tuktuk so fast.

Fig 3. The National Monument

Finally, our tuktuk had come. Here’s another funny thing. So the driver was not alone. He was with a girl that we assumed she was her wife or her girlfriend. But, they were so young, so maybe her girlfriend. They were so romantic. They listened song together through one earphone while the driver was driving. The driver seemed so pro at driving. We barely got hit by the big truck but luckily we were safe :”). After that, the journey felt so long, I and my friend feel asleep. In tuktuk. Those rocky roads woke us up and we had not been in the restaurant yet.

Okay, so finally we arrived in the restaurant. Our senior group had been waiting for us. We even did not believe whether we were still alive or no hahah. Long story short, we ordered the food and ate it. The taste was so nice and so Indonesian haha. We exchange some money there as well, riel to dollar. So we had more dollar. Oh the destination we visited was uff I forget the name. It was national monument or something. But the point is we were just strolling around to get there. We passed the beautiful huge park. There were  so many people there as well. They were playing football, dancing, etc. We surely took pictures there. A lot of pictures.

Fig 4. River view

Oh I got it! we planned to visit the royal palace but it was closed because we were late. So we just stroling around it as many people chilling there. It was also near the big river. We sat there and played some games. It was so fun. There were also some sellers sold unordinary things like spiders and other unordinary insects. We could see the sunset there actually. But we left it before the sun went down because we wanted to go to the next destination, night market.

The night market was kinda far from the Royal Palace. But, we decided to walk because we wanted to see the city night view in Phnom Penh. It was colorful, many lights light up this city. It was actually tiring, but with that view, the crowded, I did not feel so tired. Long story short, we arrived at the night market. Guess what?!1!!1 it was not the night market we would like to visit! Well, it was such a nice place too, so colorful and the music was too loud haha. But, it was a place for kids to play :’). It was more like amusement park. Then we realized that it was not the Night Market we planned to go. Our Cambodian friend also told us the same that we were at the wrong place hahaha. So we just bought some mineral waters there. There were ice creams but we did not know whether it is halal or no.

Fig 5. Night River View

Because we did not know what to do, we ordered tuktuk to go back to our guest house. This time, the driver was hard too find. I mean, we found them, but they could barely find us. After a few times trying, we finally get the driver who could find us.

Fig 6. Evening City View

We finally arrived at the guest house, we did some evaluations for today in a lobby and short briefing for tomorrow. Then we went to our bedrooms to take a rest and sleep. 

Continue reading Trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia pt.2

Trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia pt. 1

Assalamu’alaikum hello there! Hope you are okay and doing well ^^. Finally I can see you again after 4 years I left this blog empty. After I found that I need something different to do aside from academical stuffs, youtube and stuffs. So, I decided to write again on this blog. I wanna share my first experience going abroad in 2019. It was Cambodia. I have actually ever written an article which was published in International Humanity Newsletter held by SALAM UI. Here’s the link https://issuu.com/salamui/docs/ihn but I wanna make this more detail here.

I visited there in October 11^th 2019 after all the drama and the doubts came back and forth whether we would go or nah. The visitation was not for holiday anyway, it was for organization business and stuffs. You know, like visiting the relations, discussion and stuffs. The sponsorship proposal has been made. Until that time when we booked our ticket plane, we knew that we were gonna make it come true.

Ticket plane on October 11^th 2019 at 11.50 am was booked. Yes it was morning flight. Then we had to deal with the hotel or place that we would spend the nights there. Luckily, we got relation or pal, kinda, that help us to book convenient and nice guest house there. Everything seemed easy at that time.

The day came. We went to the airport, to the gate in, checked the passports and stuffs. And flew. Oh anyway there were 6 of us (4 girls and 2 boys). I was so excited and panicked at the same time. It was my first flight. I was actually so scared of flying by plane and always avoiding plane even though when I had to went to another island in my country as my country is archipelago. So I always went by ship, not plane. Okay so the plane finally took off and I just closed my eyes at that time XD. It was so horrifying tbh. Until I know that the plane has became steady (?) I mean when it flew steadily, I opened my eyes.

Fig 1. a view from the airplane

The flight took 2 hours or something, I do not remember it well. We finally landed in Phnom Penh. There was a bus which picked us and other passenger up from the plane to the airport. I still could not believe that I had landed in another country haha. Okay, so as we arrived in the airport, we filled a form about our details and went to take our suitcases. The immigration session was not so difficult anyway and did not take long time. We could answer the questions well and we probably seemed trustworthy haha.

Fig 2. Phnom Penh International Airport

When we were outside the airport, the first thing we afforded was the SIM cards and the data packages. Then we opened up our online transportation app where you can find your driver and take you to the places that you want. The app was so different with what we usually get used to in Indonesia. There were more choices on transportation mode like SUV which is a fancy car, remorque (it was like motorcycle with the face-to-face-seats cart that can contains up to 4 people), and tuktuk (the transportation we always used there. Tuktuk is really unique transportation, it is like bajaj (the transportation in my country). I’m gonna make the special single paragraph to describe it.

It can contains up to 3 passengers with the driver drives in the front. The machine is actually like the motorcycle. Each tuktuk has its own characteristic. The drivers seemed love to decorate tuktuk. Another advantage of tuktuk is it is much cheaper than the car and with its size, it was okay in any kind of road. The driver could drive well and seemed familiar with the road and where ever the destination we would go. Most of the drivers could speak English, but even though they could not, there was no problem in paying and getting exchange. Oh Cambodia uses 2 kind of currency, US Dollar and Riel. It was kinda difficult to get used to use 2 currencies as they have different conversion.

The first impression that came up in my mind about Cambodia is the sky was sooo clear, not gonna lie. I think the pollution is not that bad there. It was a bit hotter than Jakarta tho, but it was not a big deal. So, the tuktuk has arrived in a place we were waiting for it. We ordered 2 tuktuk and we have not had any idea about the position of the people at that time so we made a bad decision of dividing people or you can say group of tuktuk. We could barely move as we brought suitcases too at that time.

The way to our guesthouse was not that far, about 15 – 20 mins. The road condition in Cambodia was crowded but they did not use horn that much which was a good thing. We often saw many fancy cars there and the driver told us that it is common thing there. The drivers also sit in the left side of the car which it was not common thing for us. So we tried to adapt ourselves about the side where we walk on.

Finally, we were about to arrive the guesthouse. We decided to stop in a big mosque near our guest house to pray first. Not all of us, actually. It was me and 2 friends of mine. The first group had arrived in the guest house. There was also a problem with my suitcase where it could not slide properly because something cracked. Nice friend of mine finally exchanged the suitcase, so I brought his and he brought the cracked mine. The mosque was so beautiful. It was all white and it had nice park there. There was a yard where you could see children playing football too. There were no other people there. Until Guess what, we met Indonesians there to pray. We talked to them for a minute and continued our journey to the guest house haha. Here’s the picture of the

mosque by the way.

                                                               Fig 3. Al-Serkal Mosque

We finally arrived at the Boeung Meas guest house. The guest house was nice there was 4 or 5 floors I’m not sure. There were also a mini market there where we could get free hot water. So, we made our things, cleaned ourselves, laid down for a minute and checked out stuffs until 7 pm.

Fig 4. One of our rooms

We have already made an appointment with our relation/pal/friend there. She was with her sister who still studied in university near there. We had dinner together in a halal restaurant near out guest house with them and talked about Cambodia. It was kinda difficult to find halal foods actually. Luckily, our guest house was near the mosque, then there were some halal restaurants available there. Another unique thing (well, at least it was not common thing in my country) was they, Cambodians really loved salty ketchup. In their tables there were always salty ketchup instead of sweet ketchup. The day finally ended and we went back to our guest house to take a rest before the next tiring day. 

Fig 5. Bonus pic : Mineral water i got from our guest house

Continue reading Trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia pt. 1