[1.5 Dinner at Red Piano] - Sotong

1830hrs: Left Phnom Krom and headed back to the Old Market. By the time we made our way down to the foot of the hill, it was already quite dark. We were as usual, undecided where to have dinner and we settled it by the proven and tested way to decide. WE VOTED!!! So we ended up going to Red Piano for our dinner.

Oh... before that, an interesting Chicken we saw at the foot of the hill..... yeeeeeeks...... it must be very cold!!!










Anyway, the dining place was a pretty cosy and comfortable place. The chairs were all engraved with the restaurant name. It's sort of a fusion place where they sell both western and local food, pasta, spaghatti, and the usual local fare..... I ordered Fettuccini "Marinara" - that comes with fish, crabstick, tuna, smoked salmon, shrimps & garlic creamsauce. Cost USD4.75.













Set meals comes with a free bottle of drink..... I chose 'Soda' water which was like *BLEAH* ... tasted like carbonated water..... incidentally, the Wongs love Tonic/Soda water..... I had to order a glass of Banana Milk Shake (USD 1.75) to wash down the taste left by the 'Soda' water... *hic* Nice dinner. Oh... what's left of my dinner *burp* and a nice wall deco at the restaurant.











We pass by Blue Pumpkin to purchase pastry for next day's breakfast.
We were suppose to wake up REAL EARLY in order to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat!!! Glorious pastries... we bought croissants, raisins croissants, banana cakes and stuff. Prices were 50% off after 7pm!!! YAYYHHH.... what a bargin!!! *slurp* Hmm... Red Piano and Blue Pumpkin, notice that everything is colour coded?

Here's a nice restaurant we intend to visit one of these days.... Soup Dragon. Wow!!! Sounds like a restaurant fit for the Emperor!!! And another photo of the bustling street.










Thus ends Day 1 of our adventure. All in all a very fruitful.... eh... FOODFUL day... *ahem* Tomorrow we conquer Angkor Wat and the sunrise!!! Plus many other places in Angkor itself!!!

Time to rest!!! *yawn*

[1.4 Sunset at Phnom Krom] - Sotong

1700hrs: Finally left the floating village behind us and return to the foot of Phnom Krom. This is supposedly a nice place to view the sunset, let's hope it's worth our climb up. Looks like an easy climb, the stair ways are still well maintained. The engraving along the way look very distinct and well maintained.




















Little do we know, that once we reach the top of the stairs, there's more to come!!! But before that, some nice sceneries we can see half way up the hill.

Anyway, back to our climb..... after the initial flight of stairs, we still have to trudge up some trails. Not only that, we still had to be mindful of 'mines' left behind by cows..... Half way up, we can spot the sun is setting fast, we have to quicken our pace. Guess who's silhouette are these?
























Climb! Climb! Climb! A climbing we will go!!! A climbing we will go!!! Another paranomic view of the area from the top.

We climbed the stairs, we lumbered through the trails.... and what did we see but..... MORE STAIRS!!! "Are we there yet? Papa Smurf?" *sigh* This second flight of stairs seems to be quite well maintained, with some inscription which I do not understand.....











We finally reach the summit after a couple of minutes walk up these second flight of stairs. We were greated by a modern temple and after veering off to the left, we approach the three ancient towers that were building on Phnom Krom in honour of the three hindu God: Shiva, Vishnu & Brahma.


Anyway, we walked pass these three towers towards the side of the hill where we can see Tonle Sap Lake with the sun setting at the horizon. Here's a few shots of the setting sun..... that's the best I can do.... must wait for LaoKaYu or Vincent 's sunset shot.....













The crowd of onlookers here on the hill.
Fortunately, not a lot of people,
so it was quite nice that we don't have to jostle and elbow our way to get a good shot. We spent about half and hour to climb up...... and the sight was definitely worth it.

[1.3 Floating Village of Chong Kneas] - Sotong
"Green apples? anyone wants green apples?"

1450hrs: We left the old market to head south toward Tonle Sap Lake, which was about a 25mins drive. We travelled through some old and dusty road which were pretty badly maintained. We had a lot of fun along the way as you can see from the picture below.

Passed by Phnom Krom where we finally saw a decent looking building which was a temple, everything else were like make-shift huts and slumps. You see kids running around bare-footed, living conditions were really appalling. Road was dusty, and water had to be pumped from a well, houses has no doors, and some don't even have walls!!!



















We finally reach a part of the village whereby you see a sudden influx of buses and vans, which is where we alighted to board one of those little motor boats. This marks the start of our journey in search of the floating village. "Green apples? anyone wants green apples?"



















The floating village is where people stays in boat-houses. The whole community consists of boats, including religious, educational, entertainment, shopping... boats. Fishing is their main mode of living, and the village moves depending on the season.



















At this stage most of the boats were just lined along or near the banks..... but at one stage, our boat brought us out to what seems like the ocean where you can see nothing but the horizon. But of course, we are still in the Tonle Sap Lake!!! "Green apples? anyone wants green apples?"










Okay okay... so what's with the green apples thingie? I think only those who went will understand..... oops... let the cat out of the bag..... "No more green apples liow!!! *munch*"

Talk about necessity is the mother of all invention..... they have now invented the floating souvenir shop!!!!! Lots of souvenirs, food, drinks on board..... even with a viewing gallery at the top of the boat.

























Here's a view of the fishing village from the viewing gallery, with all the boats lined up at the side.

A view of the village from the top of the souvenir 'boat', and a snapshot of the 'pets' they keep on board the boat. Scary eh? Anyway, more views on the journey back: A 'Water Traffic Police Office' and the looooong boat is supposedly able to take 100 passengers, all the way to Phnom Penh.