Siem Reap, Cambodia

Siem Reap is the gateway to the millennium old ruins of the Angkor era Khmer Empire. The main reason we were here is to explore this temples.
We landed at the Siem Reap  and was greeted by the pleasant and clean resort concept medium size airport. It was 9 am in the morning. We were picked our by our hotel driver and headed down to Somadevi Angkor Resort and Spa which is located 15mins away. It was a straight long road which i presumed was the main road of this city. Was extremely clean to our surprise. And all the cars and motorbikes were moving at around 50-60km/hr…amazing…no speeding at all!!
We checked into the hotel and headed out for a walk. Our hotel was located 10mins walking distance from the main entertainment areas. The old market and new market is also very close by. The markets sells all kind of souvenir items, silks, carvings, silverworks, jeweler, clothing, arts and handicraft. Old market is the most visited one. On the way to the old market, you will notice Fish spas all around, so we decided to give it try. It was my first time, and i must say it was amusing and ticklish indeed. I really could not stay still with the feeling of the little fishes biting of the skin on my legs and feet!! After getting our legs and feet baby smooth..we headed to buy some souvenir items.

Then about 3 hours later, we hired a tuk tuk and went to check out the Tonle Sap Lake. This  took nearly 45 min on some bumpy roads. Tonle Sap lake is Cambodia’s Great Lake, a main feature on the map of Cambodia. We were told that during the wet season the lake really gets filled that it submerges some of the houses nearby the lake. Half of the fish consumed in Cambodia is from this lake too. Apparently the floating houses which you will see on this lake is occupied by the Vietnamese. We took the opportunity to visit a local Vietnamese floating school as well. After that made a short stop a the crocodile farm which was quite disappointing, the crocs didn't seem alive:-(.

On the second day, we met with our driver, for our Temple tours. Made sure to be in comfortable cotton attire and sneakers, not forgetting-HATS!! It can pretty hot during this long journey.
Our first stop, Angkor Thom. Impressive was the words.  There is a huge tall trees which has its roots set on top of this temple.Angkor Thom is a 3km walled royal city and was the last capital of the Angkor empire.It was constructed by King Jayavarman VII in the late 12th century.  This is also where the Tomb Raider was filmed. However you are not allowed to enter that particular temple.
Next we headed to Bayon. You will see 37 standing towers with four  carved faces. There is a lot of climbing involved here and if you make it up, you will see amazing view of the stone faces. This is certainly the best of Bayon. Interesting extensive carvings on the walls of this temple.
  
Final stop, Angkor Wat..visually, architecturally simple breathtaking. Really a massive temple build on 3 levels. Suryavarman II constructed Angkor Wat dedicated to Hindu God, Vishnu. It remained his state temple. The interior walls of this temple has lots of Apsara carvings on it. And almost all of them different versions of Apsara. You can find here carvings on Hindu Mythology, Ramayana. If you keep climbing to the top most levels, gives you an aerial view of the Angkor Wat’s ruins. You can then imagine how majestic it would like been, during that era. truly mesmerising.
   

After an exhausting but amazing day, we headed back to our hotel with sore and tired feets….what else….head to the Spa of course. Before that we stopped at a Kerala indian restaurant at the Pubstreet for dinner. The back to the hotel for some foot reflexology.
Day 3 was spent in the spa again for a much needed body massage….heavenly. Then more shopping.

my new wardrobe ext, finally DONE!!!

The spice trail, Cochin

We started our 12 days journey in Cochin (Kochi), India. It was a reasonably clean city and a major seaport. Cochin is filled with history and culture. Located in South west coast of India. It was an important spice trading centre on the Arabian sea. It was occupied by the Portuguese in 1503. Kochi hosted the grave of Vasco Da Gama, the first European explorer to set foot in India, until it was transported back to Portugal in 1539.

State of kerala also happens to be the richest state in India. Its also known as the state with highest literary rate of 94%.

We spent one whole day in Cochin, the next day we travelled to Kumarakom, which is a major tourist destination, well known for the boat house. We stayed at the Manor Backwater resort, which gave us a splendid view of the backwaters from our rooms.

It was very relaxing and peaceful here. Next day, we went to Alleppey, now known as Alapuzzha, for another 1 night stay. We did a 2 hours boat cruise on the backwaters. Certainly was an interesting experience. You can see lots of houses by the river and see how people carry on with the lives so close to nature. They solely depend on boats to travel, like how we depend on buses and trains. There are ladies in sarees scrubbing clothes on stone slabs.

Next we arrived in Kovalam, the beach town of Kerala. We checked in Uday Samudra resort for 2 night stay. I immediately proceeded to a 1 hour facial here. There is endless sight of coconut trees here in Kovalam. The most famous beach is the light house beach, it was like a party going on for 24 hours at this beach. Rows of seafood restaurants by the beach was certainly tempting. Lots of people just chilling out with youngsters playing volleyball. I like it here, clean and breezy . Just too overcrowded with tourist.

I was very much excited as we approached our next destination, Thekkady-periyar, The wildlife sanctuary of Kerala. The next morning, I was up at 4.30am to go to the ticket counter of Periyar wildlife which opens at 5.45am. I was informed by the hotel reception that there are only limited tickets per day, so I have to be early. However the entrance ticket which cost about 250 rupees, is separate from the boating ticket. The boating ticket counter is about 300m away from the car park. Wow, believe it or not, I ran as fast as I could once we reached the car park to grab a spot on the queue. Was not very happy with this arrangement. There were also senior citizens who had to run along, for sure this is not right.

Anyhow, over with that scene, finally got on the boat at 7.30am. Armed with my camera, we were told to sit silently so as not to frightened the animals that may approach the lake to drink. The landscape was amazing, such a huge enormous jungle it was.

We managed to spot some wild boars, bison and some species of birds. After 2 hours, was disappointed that the tigers and elephants did not come out to play.:-(

Heard from another tour guide that its best to take the cruise at 3pm as the hot weather gets the animals out to drink at the lake…ahhhhh…doesn’t fit my schedule, soo balik la.

Reached back at the hotel which was 10mins away. Roamed around the streets for an hour which are famous for its spice markets. Spice shops are everywhere you turn!!

Kerala is also very well known for Ayurvedic medicines and massages. Its definitely a must buy. Here you can find medicines for just about anything at all you can imagine. Name and you shall find it. I have tried and tested….Certainly will guarantee its worthiness.

Food was in generally pricier here than Tamil Nadu. Coconuts are used generously in all the dishes.

Mabuhay….Finally set foot in Pilipinas

My trip to Philippines was to visit Kath, after she was transferred there for work….aaanndd also to take a short break from work la. Took Air Asia flight to Manila early Friday morning and landed in Clark Fields which is about 2 hours drive from Manila City.

I spent 6 days here and visited couple of places such a Tagathay Volcanos, Villa Escudero ,The American Cemetary and the Manila memorial park.

Tagaytay (Taal Volcano) is located about 70 km south of Manila.The volcano is one of the smallest and most dangerous in the world. It was soo small and not impressive as i had imagined, after visiting the Kintamani Volcano in Bali.

Lake Taal  is a huge volcanic crater that has filled up with water and has become a lake. Within the lake, other eruptions have occurred producing more craters and micro-lakes.

 

The Manila  Memorial Park is where the Aquinos (Curazon and Ninoy) are laid to rest. Its a very simple mausoleum compared to the others built surrounding it. It definitely looks like a park instead of just as a memorial park. There’s lot of open spaces, gardens and greenery, as well as ponds and fountains. It seems like quite a serene place actually. The best time to visit this place is in the daytime so that you can appreciate the different styles of Mausoleums, tombs and other forms of burial place. We were there after the recent typhoon, the place looked a little like a disaster scene out of a movie, huge trees has uprooted all around the park.

I spent the rest of the days, touring Manila city and boosting Manila’s economy by doing what a girl knows best ….shopping shopping and shopping..hehhe. I visited the SM Mall of Asia is the 2nd largest mall in the Philippines and the 4th (Ref. Forbes' World's 10 Largest Shopping Malls) largest shopping mall in the world!!! This is mall has just about anything you can do for the rest of day..IMAX, discovery centers, foods, ice skating rink, Cinemas, Music Halls…soooo happening. Well Ladies, if you are in Manila, this is certainly a must visit mall!

Overall i observed couple things during my stay here, the Ladies here are very fashion consious, most girls can be seen wearing oversized sunglasses and well dressed. The guys too!

Service culture is apparent. The employees of malls and any tourist areas here are well trained to attend to customer needs.

Besides that, anywhere you go, the public toilets are extremely clean, impressive. Although the city seems a little polluted, the roads are kept clean. The life in Manila seems very shopping mall oriented. They even have chapels in malls! How cool is that?