Quick little shout out to Martin F. who I’ve been told is enjoying the blog. Thank you for reading!

PHNOM PENH

We arrived in the Cambodia capital after out bus journey. Our first thoughts was that its like every other south east Asia city. Lots of people, lots of buildings and lots of traffic.

Phnom Penh was just a quick stop for us. More of a ‘tick it off the list’ kind of place so we only booked 2 nights. On our only full day in the city we opted to take a tuk tuk tour to the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Museum. You pay one tuk tuk like $10 to take you around for the day and wait outside to bring us back. Its like your own private car service.

The Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Museum were so interesting and it was so disturbing to only really be learning about the horrors now. Its just not something you learn about in England (and I assume the rest of the western world). Both sites held artefacts from the time there were so many mass graves. We spent the whole day at each site just learning about the genocide. Its a must if you are heading through Phnom Penh.

Our evenings in city were just like all the other cities – pretty chilled because there is not usually a great deal to do. We have found that we often waster our evenings playing pool at a bar near our hostel.

We did come across this really cool night market that had a food court section in the middle. All the food stalls were set up and had what they were offering laid out in front and you fill up a basket of what you fancy and they cook it off. They had everything from spring rolls to battered shrimp to fried noodles. Once you got your food you picked a spot in the huge rug in the middle and sat and ate. Such a different experience from the other markets we have visited so far.

KAMPOT/ KEP

Our next stop in Cambodia was a place called Kampot. It was never a place that was ever top of the list to see in Cambodia but since travelling we have heard such great things about it. Overall we planned to stay three nights there.

Our first night we booked into a Mad Monkey Hostel which if you are in the know you will understand how crazy these places can be. The aim of the game is to just flat out drink all night, play beer pong and if you’re still standing to head out to a local bar around midnight. This place also had its own special Kampot Kamikaze drink which was basically a skittle shot as a chaser to a rum shot.

Naturally our next day in Kampot was a right off. We spent the day moving to our next Guesthouse which was a drive out of the main town near a small fishing village (Man’Groove Guesthouse – rating 8/10). It was a really chilled place and a great base for this relaxed town. This place was a good place for us to recharge and appreciate Cambodia’s beauty.

We hired out a moped on the next day to travel to Kep which was about a 40 minuet ride away. If you don’t know, Kep is famous for its crabs so after we spent some time checking out the crab market we went and had some crab amok (Khmer Curry) for lunch. It even had a side of Kampot pepper sauce which is also pretty famous too. Kep was a nice place to ride around as its right on the coast. We watched the local fisherman catching crabs for a while before we headed back to Kampot for our last night in our chilled out waterfront guesthouse.

 

KOH RONG

The next morning we left Kampot on a bus to Sihanoukville which wasn’t our final destination. Since planning to travel you always hear the same places coming up time and time again and Koh Rong was one of those places. We were so exited to get to an island and properly relax on a beach for a few days.

In order to get to Koh Rong you need to take a 30 minuet ferry from Sihnaoukville. We had picked to stay on a quieter end of the island on Coconut Beach. All the reviews said it was the best part and we weren’t disappointed. For some crazy reason, when we booked we thought it would be a fun idea to stay in a tent. It was hot box most of the time so we spent most of our time outside on the beach.

The part of the island we chose to stay on had about 4 other ‘hotels’ which were made up of bungalows and tents. The beach was so beautiful and peaceful it was hard not to relax. We took an adventure climb across the rocks one day to the other side of the island and spent a lot of time in the sea.

For meals we would take it in turns between all the different accommodations restaurants and try out their part of the beach for a little while. We made our way through each places cocktails menus too.

It rained a lot at night as it is rainy season in Cambodia but it was kind of nice to watch a thunder storm after a day of heat. On our last night the rain held off and we headed into the sea with a snorkel to see if we can see any plankton. This was hands down one of the best experiences so far. To walk through the sea and the water light up around you as you move was amazing. Even better when you put the snorkel on to take a look from below and it is so clear. It was so much fun.

 

SIHANOUKVILLE

Once we had arrived back from Koh Rong we had opted to spend a night in Sihanoukville. This place was more of a necessary stop on our way to our next destination so our one night stay wasn’t very exciting. We wandered through the small town area and waited around for our over night bus (yes I know crazy again).

This time our overnight bus was so much better. The actual beds were like double beds which were flat (unlike the reclined seat ones) and they all had curtains – which for some reason makes a huge difference when your travelling. We had our own AC vent and plug so we were all set. Ryan still struggled a little bit but I found it way better then the ones we had done before.

 

SIEM REAP

We were lucky enough that when we reached our next hostel in Siem Reap we only had time to have breakfast before they were able to check us in. Its always handy to have a early check in after a night bus/train.

We spent our first day in Siem Reap just checking it out on foot. We headed to the local market – always a good base in a new city – and wandered around for a few hours. We stumbles across the infamous Pub Street where we made note to head back there in the evening.

Pub Street is what I imagine Bangkok to be but on a smaller scale. There is food vendors and mini bars set up on the side of the street and of course there is the insect stalls where you pick the most appetizing creature to eat.

We didn’t stay out too late because the next morning we had arranged to go and see Angkor Wat at sunrise. That meant an early pick up at 4:45am from a local tuk tuk guide. Before you can head to the temples you must purchase a temple day entrance ticket. This was something we weren’t warned about. Fair enough you have to pay an entrance fee but what shocked us was the $37 per person cost. $37!! what do they even do with that?? We forked out the best of $100 just like the rest of the hundreds of people there and headed out to see Angkor Wat at sunrise – the main event. Of course its a tourist trap and there are hundreds of people there and you spent most of your time trying to get a picture with as little people as possible. We then were taken to a few more temples, even got to see the temple where Lara Croft was filmed. We were falling asleep by 11:30 so we got taken back to our hostel to have a nap.

To be honest, seeing the temples were just another tick of the list but if you are not that bothered about seeing them then don’t waste your money. They are all pretty similar and lets be honest not that exciting. Save yourself the $40 and get a decent lie in.

The next day we booked our bus to Bangkok. We got picked up around 7:30am for our 9 hour bus journey across the border.