Busy Intersection in Bangkok

Satisfied with the shots I’ve taken from the Golden Mount, I made my way down to where my tuk-tuk driver was waiting for me. To my consternation, I was unable to locate him. I went around the Golden Mount several times looking for the tuk-tuk driver but I couldn’t find him. One of the gates had a row of tuk-tuk drivers waiting for passengers but none of them look like my original tuk-tuk driver. They even asked what I was looking for and they said that my driver was gone.

Pedestrian Walkway

Thinking that it was just a trick by those tuk-tuk drivers to get me to hire them, I kept searching for my driver. After an hour of fruitless searchiing, I finally conceded, the driver was truly gone. i kept thinking that the driver won’t disappear just like that since I haven’t even paid him yet. But it was true, he was truly gone. Anyway, irritated that I got abandoned in the middle of nowhere, I walked past the tuk-tuk drivers and onto the main road and quickly hailed a cab. I asked the cab driver to bring me to the shopping district since I still need to shop for snack to bring back to the office.

This is Obviously A Little More Upmarket

The driver doesn’t speak much Engllish but was only pointing out landmarks along the way. I got to experience the infamous Bangkok traffic, but it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be. Probably because it was still before the lunch hour rush. The driver brought me to Siam Paragon, one of the large malls in this area. This was so convenient, I thought to myself, I should have taken a cab in the first place.

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From the Black Buddha Temple, the driver told me the we will be making a detour to the jewelry export factory where I will be able to help him just by showing up. Since he seemed to be a nice guy and was honest enough to tell me that he will be getting a petrol coupon if he brings a touriist there, I, always willing to help someone out, agreed. The factory itself didn’t look like a factory but was more of a store front. It was along a small alley along the main road. The it looked decent enough.

My Tuk-tuk Driver

From the onset, I was already set on not purchasing anything from this place. Despite the best efforts of the salespeople, I held fast, I told them, no money means no money. I would have to admit that some of their stuff looked nice. I hung around the air conditioned place for 20 minutes before heading outside back to my tuk-tuk. I asked the driver whether he got his petrol coupon and he said yes, and he even thanked me for it. Satisfied, he then brought me to the Golden Mount which was not too far from the jewelry place.

The Golden Mount is simply a temple on a small hill in the middle of Bangkok. After dropping me off, the driver told me that he will be waiting for me right there. I then proceeded to work my way up the stairs of the Golden Mount.

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The Golden Mount

The "Black" Buddha or "Lucky" Buddha

Finally done with the Grand Palace, I started to walk to my next destination. I was intending to go to the Wat Pho which was just nearby the Grand Palace. While I was trying to get my bearings on my map, big mistake, a nice middle aged man approached me and asked where I was going. He told me that he once worked in the Middle East and he had a lot of colleagues from where I came from. I told him I wanted to go to the Wat Pho. Luckily for me, I ran into him and he told me that the Wat Pho was closed at that time.

The Black Buddha Temple

He rcommended that I go visit a temple with a Black Buddha which, surpise, is open only once a year and only on that day! Imagine my luck! He then hailed a tuk tuk passing by to bring me to the Black Buddha Temple, the Golden Mount and a mandatory trip to the gem factory which he said will give the driver a petrol coupon, so he was requesting that I drop by there and not even buy anything from the place. Fine. Since the trip was cheap, I could do him a favor.

Bell Outside the Temple

The tuk tuk driver quickly got me to the Black Buddha or Lucky Buddha temple, whatever. It was suspiciously located in a back alley with a lot of cars. The driver then asked me to get off to see the Black Buddha. When I got there the Buddha wasn’t black at all but golden. Fortunately someone was there to explain what was going on. So convenient. This Buddha temple was supposedly open only one a year and I was lucky enough to be here when it was open. I didn’t think there was anything special in the Buddhal itself as it seemed ordinary to me.

Scam or No Scam The Detail on the Temple is Good

The nice gentleman was a business specializing in jewelry, he claimed he goes to Singapore quite often on business and even has a business card of his client to prove it. He said that if I was interested, there are gems that can be bought for “factory” price without taxes. But I need to hurry since the government will be imposing taxes on them soon. I was not really into jewelry anyway and I think he was able to tell, so he just continued on with his offering of incense.

Scam or not I would never know either way it didn’t work, I think. I think it was all in preparation for the trip to the jewelry factory. Either way, I’m not really interested in any of their stuff. But this story sounds suspicious similar to other scam stories I’ve read about. It seems that they are really that good.

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As we stepped out of the impressive Siem Reap International Airport Terminal building, we watched as our fellow passengers boarded their tourist buses and cars from their hotel. I was thinking that the Cambodian hotels really provide great service since they fetch their customers at the airport. I realized that competition is really tough since each hotel is trying to outdo each other. We were admiring the terminal building when the guy from our hotel approached us.

Golden Temple Villa Guy Fetching Us

He was a Cambodian local in his twenties. He spoke a little English and carried a sign with our names on it. He then motioned us to follow him to our transportation. I was looking forward to riding an air-conditioned car to our hotel when it turns out all he had was — a humble tuk-tuk.

Bedroom

I started at our tuk-tuk in disbelief for a few moments. Apparently, my friend was also having the same thoughts and started laughing. We started taking pictures of our transport and loaded our luggage on the tuk-tuk. And we were on our way. The tuk-tuk is basically a motorcycle attached to a small carriage. Our carriage is good for two people and is cushioned so sitting on it was pretty comfortable.

Terrace To View Siem Reap

It was actually not a bad idea to experience riding the tuk-tuk here since we can see Siem Reap in all it’s glory – warts and all. There is a nice paved highway from the airport to Siem Reap itself. The highway is lined with huge palatial hotels. Big hotel names all sit side by side each other along the highway. I find it a little depressing to see these huge castles and knowing how poor the country actually is. Then again, these hotels just may be the Cambodian people’s ticket out of poverty.

The Hallway

Siem Reap is a simple town. There are not a many high rises, in fact, one would be hard pressed to find a place that is more than ten stories high. There is a river that runs though it and there are a lot of bars and hotels along it. Our tuk-tuk then entered a small road and stopped outside a nice little hotel – the Golden Temple Villa.

Statue Outside the Building

The hotel is just off a main road of Siem Reap and is within walking distance of the restaurants and Siem Reap market. The hotel itself seems to be quite new, as everything seems to be well maintained. There is a Khmer statue along the driveway. The lobby is a little small, and there doesn’t seem to be space to hand around. Just off the side of the reception counter is a room with computers for guests to surf the internet. After checking in, we went to our room to leave our stuff.

Small Pond

The room was on the second floor. Along the way, we saw a lot of tastefully done decorations, this was a nice hotel. Our room was quite small but it has two beds, TV, an attached bathroom and air-conditioning. Just like the airport terminal, the room has a touch of native design to it. And all of it was tastefully done. The bathroom even has hot water. And finally, our TV actually has cable TV. I wasn’t really expecting that for a budget place like this.

Street Outside Golden Temple Villa

For anyone coming to Siem Reap for the temples and are on a budget, Golden Temple Villa is certainly great value. The staff is very friendly and would not hesitate to practice their English and help you at the same time. Location is also great since it is right at Siem Reap unlike the big hotels outside the town center along the highway. I would actually prefer this than staying in those big hotels since they are quite far from the town center. Besides, there is nothing beside those big hotels.

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