My flight from Da Nang airport arrived into Siem Reap around 9pm that night, i was still feeling partially withdrawn from everyone around me and i was so exhausted, the sky was pitch black and people were chaotically rushing around for flights and taxis. I’d been told about the Funky Flashpacker hostel prior to my trip by a friend so i thought i’d check it out. I hopped on the back of a tuk tuk and headed straight there, as i walked into the hostel i noticed a sign reading ’24 hour food and bar’ which made me feel right at home. I checked in after booking a night on my hostel world app which was so useful and saved time incase there were to be no beds left if i had just headed straight there. All the dorms were names after capital cities in Europe, i cant actually remember which one i stayed in, again i chose the bottom bunk; trying to put my safety first. It was a shared dorm of around 20 people which didn’t bother me, i went straight to the rooftop bar feeling parched for a cold beer and deprived of conversation, I shortly realised i arrived on gender bender night; girls dress as guys, guys dress as girls. Everyone looked brilliant and I was given a shot and a full introduction within a minute. It was a staff members last night on the bar so everybody was going to be heading out to Pub Street soon, turns out travellers who stop here find it pretty easy to get a job there and stick around for a month or so to save money, one guy had been there for quite a few months already. After speaking to a few people I decided I should go to Pub Street with everyone, being around the loud music and intoxicated travellers woke me up and I thought my first night in Cambodia should be one to remember.
Unfortunately I do not remember. I know the beers were around $1 in most places and each bar was pretty similar. When I came in around 4am people in my dorm were getting ready to go and see Angkor Wat on a sunrise tour, I crawled into bed and had one of the best sleeps yet. I woke around 10am the next morning to have some breakfast. Funky Flashpackers food reminded me of a British cafe having everything from a full English breakfast to toasties to Sausage and mash. One of my favourites was a Heinz beans and cheese toastie, something cheap and easy, from this time in the morning onwards around every hour the hostel would offer free shots, there would be games of beer pong and each day of the week they had something going on; whether it be gender bender, a pool party, shot limbo or bucket night. I was prepared for a day of drinking so I thought to be practical and book my Angkor Wat tour for the next sunrise thinking I could head to bed early. The hostel offered a shot called an overload for €2.50, it was a joss shot and a jäger shot balanced in a plastic cup with some redbull in, evidently once you had the joss shot, the jäger would fall into the cup of energy drink to finish the shot off. I mainly spent my day with Americans getting involved in everything that was going on and meeting new people. Stupidly, drunk me decided it was ok to go to bed an hour before needing to be up and ready, even though I was drowsy and needing a lot more sleep I made the choice of going!
A few of us jumped onto the back of a taxi and headed over to Angkor Wat, the sun just slowly starting to rise above old broken buildings, there were locals opening up shops and cafes; placing tables and chairs outside and setting up their fruit and veg stalls. When arriving at Angkor Wat you’re given trousers to cover up while in the monuments and you pay a small fee to enter, around £2. We were walked around by a guide explaining all the facts and history of the monuments which I found really interesting, I’d always wanted to come here so learning about it while walking around was great. The Khmer architecture was very impressive and the detail was exquisite, there were lots of travellers all over the show dressed in trousers or silk embroidered skirts, I brought an orange one from one of the locals selling them here, thinking it will be sentimental in a few years time. The sun was quickly rising behind Angkor Wat leaving a beautiful view, monkeys were jumping around the temples and artists were drawing the scenery. I noticed a few food stalls so I avoided the crowds of tourists and headed over for some pancakes to begin the day right before climbing stairs and taking photos, we continued to look around and have discussions on the topic before heading to a cafe for lunch. There were two more smaller temples to go and see but I left early to catch some more sleep.
Later the same day after a nap and a shower I thought I’d have a Mexican lunch made by Funkys lovely chefs then head out to have a look around the city; there wasn’t a whole lot there except bars and cafes, I’m pretty sure Siem Reap is almost only famous for Angkor Wat and other temples circling the area. I walked past a stall that made ice cream rolls, of course I brought one. The cutest Cambodian lady made me Oreo flavoured rolls in a pot, I remember her always being extra smiley which took me back here more than once. I paced around for quite a while in search for something as interesting as my morning had been, absolutely nothing. Super markets on supermarkets. I headed back to the hostel and booked my bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh for that evening, one of the places I’d most looked forward too during my trip as the killing fields were located here which I found captivating. I spent another boozy afternoon in the hostel, two girls had arrived who became two of my favourite people I met while travelling; Joanna and Lilly. The day was consumed doing overloads and downing beers around the pool, music blaring and everyone wasted, connect 4 is a huge part of SE Asia, a lot of hostels played this in order to give free drinks or for the staff to receive one brought by us. The manager of the hostel was an uplifting, loud guy who was always drinking and wanting to play connect 4, he decided we would play and if I were to lose I’d move my bus ticket for the following day.. I of course lost.
This happened again the following night after another day of hard partying from the moment of waking to the moment my head slammed the pillow again, our days were spent with all sorts of people, we met a girl and boy who had been living Vietnam teaching school children who were great fun to drink with, Jess and Paul. Everyone would start their day down by the pool then head up to the rooftop bar for games of pool and beer pong competitions, a constant flow of drinks and loud music before heading to pub street to finish the night. Joanna and Lilly we’re heading to Phnom Penh on my 4th night here so I decided I’d definitely be heading there with them on the same night bus, we were close to not making it after the piss up we had been on all day, we’d been with a few guys from London (which from this moment on I bumped into them at every place I’d travelled too) and an American guy called Ryan, alcohol yet again stole a huge part of my memory in Siem Reap but my days were filled with endless laughs and great people.
The sleeper bus arrived at 12am, we were all scattered in different places around the hostel so it was a mission for us 3 to find eachother and wait patiently without wondering off, I had my last cigarette before jumping on a small open taxi to take us to the sleeper, I didn’t realise the sleepers in Cambodia were sharing only which took me by surprise and it wasn’t the best thing to happen when there’s 3 of you travelling.
Jez's travels 