Mbah & Atok go to… Cambodia - Day 5
Day 5: Siem Reap round and about
Wednesday 15 November 2023
This is a series of Mbah’s and Atok’s travelogs to Cambodia on 11-18 November 2023 originally published in Mbah’s Facebook (some original formatting have been modified to suit this blog page presentation). You can read the rest of her postings (and the originals in Facebook) here:
- Day 1 - Part I: Kuala Selangor - Phnom Penh (published in Facebook on 11 November 2023 at 18:08)
- Day 1 - Part II: Phnom Penh (published in Facebook on 11 November 2023 at 22:22)
- Day 2: Route to Siem Reap (published in Facebook on 12 November at 20:49)
- Day 3: Kampong Thom - Siem Reap (published in Facebook on 13 November 2023 at 21:50)
- Day 4: Angkor Wat & Lara Croft (published in Facebook on 14 November 2023 at 23:20)
- Day 5: Siem Reap round and about (published in Facebook on 15 November 2023 at 23:21)
- Day 6: The loop to Phnom Penh (published in Facebook on 16 November 2023 at 23:24)
- Day 7: Phnom Penh round n about (published in Facebook on 18 November at 00:08)
- Day 8: Phnom Penh (published in Facebook on 18 November 2023 at 19:02)
Just before bed last night, we decided against going to Batambang for the ride would be long. Two and a half hour ride one way. That would take us half of the day for ride and only a short while for any other activities. Batambang is known for its bamboo train. However, there are mixed reviews of it. The it is famous for bats’ caves of which we are not too keen. Put them together, its a no.
What next? during dinner the night before, we met Haji Nasir Ismail, the owner of Cambodia Muslim Restaurant. He is also the imam of Masjid An Naekmah, the only Muslim Councillor for Siem Reap and the assistant one to the Hakim (Qadhi) of Cambodia for Muslim community. He has been to Malaysia and he has been involved with the Qurban in Cambodia programmes. He said that Masjid An Naekmah is the biggest in Saem Reap and there are a few others. Thus, finding the other mosques was the plan for the day.
Breakfast around the masjid. Nasi goreng with telur mata kerbau and nasi ayam. This time rasa biasa2 aja. Before departing for the jalan2 cari masjid (the hunt for Siem Reap’s mosques: HSRM), we bought two beef pau and another cant remember the name kueh but i called it ppp (pulut pisang panggang). The new favourite is ppp and we planned to get some tomorrow. We need to be early for ppp is a hot item.
Off to the first HSRM. Masjid yang tak tahu nama coz it is written in Khmer with no Roman spelling. This was to be the furthest from the centre of Siem Reap. It took us roughly half an hour along a rather bumpy and potholed road. We followed waze when there was phone signal and google map when there was none. The route showed to turn left but it was to someone’s house. We tried using another turn, followed it to dirt road till we stopped at a rather submerged road. A short discussion - not to continue the search for the location was rather obscure and the motorbike is not meant for this kind of adventure. Turned back. Not our rezeki to find the first HSRM.
The second HSRM. Masjid Rahman Tropeangses. It is about fifteen minutes from the first. We passed by a Water Aid for Cambodia organisation. Parts of the road remain bumpy, potholed and red dirt. We reached the masjid and met the imam, Ustaz Imran, who could converse in BM. He was once a tahfiz student at Bukit Payung, Kuala Terengganu for seven years. Came back, got married to a lady from Kampong Cham and relocated to this area. He told us that there are only about five Muslim families presently. There used to be more but they have moved elsewhere. The mosque was still in use and the building was bought by global donations. There were kids attending sekolah mengaji and kids being kids, they are naturally curious. But due to language barrier, we could only smile to one another.
The third HSRM. Masjid Rahmah Psar Lew. This masjid in across the road to Pasar Lew. The location is rather secluded that we need to ask a Muslim lady to point us to the right building. It looked just like an ordinary house. The signboard was old and could hardly be read. We did not meet anyone and therefore, not story to be told. We assumed that the Muslim are those that we saw at the market.
The fourth HSRM. Masjid Al Mohsinien. It looks like a modern tiny house until you see the tall minaret beside it. Its cute. Its beautiful. Ustaz Osman was there, teaching a group of kids. Mengaji and islamic studies. Yet another ustaz who studied in Malaysia. He was in a tahfiz in Kelantan for seven years, Selangor another seven and then worked in Kg Baru Puchong for another four year. 18 years in Malaysia before coming back to his hometown Cambodia. Married to a lady from Kampong Cham and now resided here.
The fifth HSRM. Masjid yang tak tahu nama coz it was written in Khmer. We met a man who said that the masjid serves 35 families in the area. Since the man was rather limited in his English, we could only get that much information.
The sixth HSRM. Masjid Norul Iman. When we arrived, there were a few kids playing hopscotch around the area. Upon seeing us, they got curious. Again to language barrier, we could only say - you Cambodian, we Malaysian. One of them ran home and a lady came to greet us. Mariam. She could speak a bit of BM for she was in Malaysia for four years. Based on her information, this area and the masjid is a new village. Only six years old. There are 25 Muslim families and most of them are in the makanan ringan business (Indusri Kecil dan Sederhana for us in Malaysia). One unique thing about the masjid is the traditional water pump which can still be used.
The Seventh HSRM. Masjid Ar-Rafee’ah. Masjid kampung atas air (floating village). This is the only masjid that is located right smack by the main road leading to Tonle Sap lake. The interesting thing is that this masjid faces one of the tributaries. Beautiful. When we arrived, we noticed three Malaysian motorbikes. True enough, four Malaysian were inside arranging a boat trip around the floating village. The imam was making the arrangement. They invited us but we had to turn it down for we didn’t make any plan for it. These four guys made a detour to Cambodia upon non admission to Laos despite having made all the necessary arrangements.
So, eight masjid in Seam Reap (7 + An Naekmah). From our observations, the masjids are in rather obscure locations and the road leading to them are rather challenging. Bersyukur atas nikmat Allah buat kita di Malaysia. This HRSM taught us a lot. Truly.
Kena masukkan juga pasal makan. Before leaving Masjid Ar Rafee’ah, we decided to have iced coffee at a small Muslim stall beside the masjid. We took our time. The we saw the coffee lady crossing the road to buy something from a mobile stall. I have seen a few of this kind of mobile stall but ada rasa syak nak beli. Seeing the lady buying it, i decided to try it. One packet of Somtam. One packet of sausages and fish cakes with vegetables. Ten Riel. Tapau coz we decided to head to our abode. Lunch was simple but superb. The somtam has those small crabs in it. A different interpretation of somtam, a Cambodian somtam. Trying local cuisine is rarely disappointing.
To the cute pool again.
Rested for a while.
Din din.
A final round of cheers lane.
The final night in Seam Reap.
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