On our final day, we made a stop at one of the orphanages with respect to Wen Yan’s request. Wen Yan who is Angeline’s ex uni mate was in Cambodia a few weeks before us but she didn’t have the chance to donate. So in return, we were commissioned to carry out her task, lol.

Of course giving cash wouldn’t be the ideal thing. We instead went to a nearby market to buy 100kgs of rice. The seven of us too chipped in to round up the cash so we could get 100kgs. Siya then brought us to this orphanage which was quite near to the place we stayed.

We arrived without informing their caretaker as there weren’t any phone in the house and so he curiously greeted us. We mentioned our intentions and he gladly brought us around the compound. It was like a mini-tour. They have a small classroom in the compound and also their own farm for them to grow their vegetables. We were also shown the rooms of the children and it was definitely small judging from the amount of children that gathered in front of us. Besides that, one of the girls was diagnosed HIV+. We were told that her school knows about it and they are trying their best to give her a normal environment, just like any other kid.

After placing the bags of rice at the kitchen, the children starting singing to us

This all happened after we returned from a long hike up the hill to see the river of the 1000 lingas.

We had to wake up early as the journey to the hill was quite a distance and since there were a few temples on the way, i thought it would be wise to include it into our itinerary. The name of the place is Kbal Spean.

The roads were not forgiving throughout the 1hour plus journey. It wasn’t tarred like the major roads in Siem Reap.

When we arrived, i noticed …

this super …

duper …

large …

weed!

Well you might not be able to tell the size of it from this photograph, so i had to make a simple comparison.

Ai Ling vs Super Lalang.

The hike to the River of 1000 lingas.

If you are not outdoorsy kinda person, you might as well skip this part of the trip but if you would like to see how the 1000 lingas came about and why are they even there, then by all means go to Kbal Spean. It was said that the 1000 lingas were at the river bed so that the water is fertilized before being irrigated to the rice fields.

On the way down, we saw a tree which had it’s branches all over the place and it gave  that rattan chair look. Or probably it looked more like a throne made out of branches.

When we reached the foot of the hill, Siya mentioned that lunch was on the house ! and it was thanks to Mr Kunn !

Being on a budgeted/backpack trip, it’s always GOOD to have free things, especially food. Because places like Kbal Spean which is far from the main town, the price could be a bit steep.

For some reason, someone decided to show his true colours and started complaining about the variety of food -_-!

The food was free and he is complaining. Gosh, i really would love to see him pay more for all his future trips and then i will see who is complaining. This actually made me appreciate the girls more. Instead of having a hard time with the girls but i had zero complains from them.

Simply shows that the world is changing and guys can be as annoying as how girls were thought to be.

Anyway that didn’t deter me because it was the final day and i definitely wanted to enjoy myself.

*stays positive* oumm oummm oummmmmm

After lunch we continue on to a few more temples on the way back. These temples were slightly newer than the ones nearer to Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom.

After viewing the final temple which is probably the most modern out of the lot (you can see it’s made out of proper red bricks), we headed back to refresh ourselves.

We then adjourned to a nearby massage center for a full body massage. After 5 days of walking which included a crazy bus ride from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap for 8 hours, we definitely deserved a full body massage. Of course all these were pre-planned before we arrived in Cambodia. Ai Ling was initially reluctant to do so but after convincing her that it was damn expensive to have the whole massage parlour to ourselves, she finally gave in. Hehehehe.

We all had our legs washed first before being ushered upstairs.

The guys in one room and the girls in the other. On the mattresses were PJs for us to change into. I tried setting a timer for my trusty iXus but i was too slow and thus the awkward looking pose -_-!

I thought i felt all my limbs being dislocated and repositioned during the massage. We were even stepped on by the Cambodian ladies, LOL. What an experience. Of course, this can’t beat what Chiaw Yin went through, which was a spa treatment. Gila sial.

After the massage we went back to wash up again for dinner and just before dinner, that’s when we dropped by the orphanage as above.

Before leaving for Cambodia, we all agreed to actually eat lavishly on the final night and that’s what we did exactly. We were spoilt by the choices of eatery at PubStreet. This is a definitely recommended place for anyone who drops by Siem Reap. It’s just a road filled with different types of restaurants and the ambiance is really nice.

We dropped by the night market again to do some last minute shopping before heading back to Jasmine Lodge to call it a day.

The next day we had to wake up early and it was clear that everyone was kinda reluctant to leave.

Everything definitely went according to plan and this definitely wouldn’t have happened if there weren’t AirAsia in the first place. The only reason the whole trip was conceived in the first place was because we managed to get cheap tickets.

For those who plan to visit Cambodia and have the intention to drop by at both Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, i would highly recommend to go to Phnom Penh first then followed by Siem Reap

With this, i am happy to say the Chronicles of Cambodia has finally come to an end !

You can find all entries on Cambodia with the following link

The Chronicles of Cambodia