The Malaysian Star
Saturday July 2, 2011
Two weeks ago, two friends and I took a trip to Siem Reap to see the majestic Angkor Wat. It was a holiday where everything went wrong.
First, we chose the wrong season to go. The temperature was a blistering 38°C. The heat made us lethargic and I sprained my ankle while climbing the steps of Angkor. I spent the entire holiday limping around with a swollen ankle.
Then we got dinner from one of the street vendors near our guesthouse. We had nearly finished our meal when my friend found a cockroach leg in one of the dishes. He got food poisoning the next day. Thankfully, I was spared.
After resting the next day, we regained our energy and ventured out on rented bicycles. It started to rain heavily in the evening and the roads began flooding.
We had to leave our bicycles at the hospital where we took shelter and took a tuk-tuk back to the guesthouse as we needed to rush to the airport.
At the airport, our woes continued. We had to pay a departure tax of US$20 (RM61) per person. After digging out all the money we could find, we were still short of US$15.
The boarding gates were closing, and we began to panic. Frantic, I looked into my purse and found an old angpow packet [a gift of money in an envelope] given by an aunt many years ago. There was a US$20 bill inside!
We paid up and ran all the way to the boarding gate.
Back in Malaysia, our misfortune continued! The following day, I started having the chills and came down with diarrhoea and high fever, which lasted five days. I had to visit the doctor twice and down two courses of antibiotics before I recovered.
Would I go to Cambodia again? Yes, but hopefully I will have better luck next time.
It’s a beautiful country with polite people who are always trying to please tourists.
Choong
Kuching, Sarawak
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