The Pinay Solo Backpacker

One thing I like about Cambodia aside from its extensive  temples is — it  is dirt cheap!  For as low as USD20 you can tour some of the temples for 1 day, the hostels, the food and shopping  is almost as cheap as Thailand.  And of course, I can rent a bike for as cheap as USD1.5  a day, not to mention I don’t have to worry about exchanging my  US$ to local currency it because they accept it there.

I met two Filipina moms while eating at the sidewalk.  They are teachers based in Phnom Penh and since they have 1 week of  holiday because of  Cambodian New Year, they decided to go north and tour Siem Reap.  I overheard them talking about Alabang, and since I’ve been alone for a week already, I started a conversation with them.

Unlike your typical backpacker, I’m not really the friendly type, that’s one of the reasons why I don’t like joining tour packages.  I do smile or talk whenever a Caucasian approaches me, but I am more comfortable joining fellow Asians and talking to the locals.  I have nothing against them, they’re really friendly and nice and all that but maybe I’m just shy  or I fear that I may not be able to relate to what they’re talking if I engage in a long conversation with them, or maybe because I used  to talk to Caucasians at work and talking to them while on tour will just remind me of work.  I know  it doesn’t make sense, but well maybe in the future I’ll get the hang of it, it is inevitable.

So the two mommies became my shopping buddies at  the night markets.  They’re really good at haggling, like I took home a medium size Apsara dancer made of  carved wood for half the price they’re being sold.  I love flea markets, I make it a point to check one on every trip, but I rarely buy because I’m always on a tight budget, except in Siem Reap.

Everyday, I visit my two new-found friends in their room, there hostel is just a few meters away.  I didn’t join them in their tour though because I prefer to tour the temples in my own pace — using a bike.  If  there’s one thing that kept me company when I was in Siem Reap is my trusty blue bike.  I decided to call it “mine” because the owners let me used it during my entire stay in the city.  So everyday I pick up my good old buddy and bring him back at dawn before the shop closes.

Biking around Siem Reap is pretty safe, except at night when the roads are dark and the vehicles are everywhere. I almost got into an accident twice.  I prefer to bike around the rough roads leading to the farm and quaint villages to see th local life and ended up discovering several monk’s home, school, cemetery/pagoda, sand temples and befriending monks.  Well, of course, I didn’t know it’s a cemetery until I peeped in to one of the pretty tombs.  I thought they’re just miniature temples  of the monks in their compound so it wasn’t really scary being surrounded by these tombs.  I guess because the atmosphere is so calm and there’s not a hint of  eeriness except for one. When I am in a monk’s compound, I feel safe and secure and calm, like the rest of the world is at peace, like I wanted to join them and shave my head and wear that  cool orange outfit! haha Seriously, hearing their laughter, seeing them smile and some short conversations with them completes my day.  I find Cambodian monks pretty  friendly, unlike the ones in Thailand, at first I thought it’s a taboo for women to get too close to them but I was dead wrong.  And I’m talking about those young Cambodian boys in their mid-20′s perhaps.

After biking around and seeing  the remote areas of  the town, I know I had to turn back when I saw an alluring single track that disappears into a picture-postcard field flanked by hills.  It’s nearing dawn, I’ll saved  it for my next few days in Siem Reap.

*This is part of  my Cambodia series.

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*********************************************************************************************** About the Blogger : Gael is a Filipina solo adventurer, a dream chaser and a student of life.  Her (mis) adventures are documented in this blog. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter. For advertisement, partnerships and sponsorship, click here. or email me at thepinaysolobackpacker(at)yahoo(dot)com. **********************************************************************************************

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