The Long but Not-Winding Road to Siem Reap

From Phnom Penh onwards, the beauty Cambodia is renowned for slowly emerges. Every few kilometers, we were greeted by the sight of a temple. Some were old and gray and brown with crumbling facades and overgrown with weeds. Some were like freshly minted coin, all bright and shiny all over. But, old or new, they were all hauntingly beautiful.



Once we've hit the last few hours of the trip, the road gets rough, dirty and dusty due to road constructions. Scenery becomes blah once more -- rice fields, small wooden houses, small roadside shops -- typical scenery you find in the Philippines (of course, if I were from the West, these would surely captivate me).


By the 10th hour, I was already crazy with boredom...and this was coming from a person who made 8-hour bus trips weekly for 2 straight years! I have drained my iPod's battery. Read the Cambodia, Vietnam, and even the Laos and Yunnan province sections of my Lonely Planet guidebook. Dozed. And, made meaningful and senseless conversations with friends.

By 8:00 PM (or about 12 hours or so later), the gods have finally heeded my call: we have FINALLY reached Siem Reap. By this time, I was tired and wilted that I just couldn't muster the energy to be excited.

Oh well.

But tomorrow is a different story.


Note: Photos taken by my friend, Cla, using the Hipstamatic application of her iPhone.