Being a fast-growing capital city, Phnom Penh is a thriving place with that special feeling of many things happening at the same time, a small but motivated art scene and new urban trends breeding all over.
Smaller things that we didn’t forget
A smell: the smell of gasoline when we follow the lawn-tractors and the trucks through the roads of Kratie.
A sound: the noise of the engine from the boat taking us to the island of Kaoh Trong in the middle of the Mekong, hoping it doesn’t cut out in the middle of the journey.
An image: the smiles of the kids proud of saying “hello” when we cross paths with them with our scooter.
Tip: hire a scooter to stroll around the Mekong in the Cambodian countryside. If you witness a water buffalo cart accident don’t hesitate to stop and givea hand to allow his owner to resume his way…
When we first landed in Cambodia we rushed our way to Sihanoukville as we were taking part in a volunteering program in a yoga centre over there. Thanks to camboticket.com we were able to book our itinerary beforehand and managed to get from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville in time for the volunteering program.
While we won’t get in details about our volunteer work, we would like to share our experiences during our 1 month stay in Sihanoukville.
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After three months travelling around the amazing South East Asia and being in a few of the islands on the Gulf of Thailand, I thought it was going to be hard to get impressed once again. But Koh Rong is totally different than the other islands I’ve seen before and I really enjoyed my time there.
So if you are wondering about the differences between the two main touristic islands of Cambodia, Koh Rong and Koh Rong Samloem, this is what my experience was like.
After reaching Stung Treng from Phnom Penh by bus and then to Pakse in a mini van, we finally got to Vientiane on Sunday morning, after more than a day of travel. We dropped off our stuff in the hostel (Garden backpackers, pretty recommended), and then decided to hire motorbikes to see the city. Read on for our Laos travel story… (more…)
Phnom Penh is an amazing place to live in. But it’s nice to sometimes get away from the city life for a change. Where to go if you want to relax and only have a weekend?
As good backpackers that we are, we didn’t really plan the from Cambodia to Laos by bus to the minutest details. The only thing we knew was that we had a flight ticket on the 23rd July from Vientiane in Laos to Bangkok in Thailand. How to get there? We had no clue whatsoever. But it’s part of the adventure, right?
The journey between Cambodia and Laos is NOT straightforward. In addition to the difficulty in logistics, there is acute shortage of pointed and updated information about traveling from Cambodia to Laos by bus. This is why I’m sharing this with you, hoping someone will find it useful.
It is Friday evening and I’m sitting in a mini-van about to leave Phnom Penh for a weekend in Siem Reap, and the van is super hippie: we look like a rock band touring the West Coast. Not quite the same thing though. The way from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap is filled with the tropical mix of clay orange and dark green trees so prominent in South East Asia. I’m all surrounded by locals, who seem to be having an animated discussion. I still don’t understand a thing so I focus on reading my Lonely Planet guide. (more…)
Last year my Khmer New Year celebrations were pretty intense. I went to Sihanoukville and partied until all hours of the morning, caught up in the energy and happiness of the occasion. Khmer’s do really know how to throw a party. This year however, as I entered my second year in the Kingdom I wanted something a little bit more relaxing for my holiday in Cambodia and was desperate to find more secret tourist destinations in Cambodia.
I wanted beaches without people and bars, ruling out Sihanoukville. I toyed with the idea of Thailand but was held back by budget constraints. In the end Koh Ta Kiev was put to me and my girlfriend Evie by another couple we know.
Most travelers who enter Cambodia from Thailand by bus will cross the border at Poipet. Once on this route, the first stop on the tourist circuit is Battambang, Cambodia’s second largest city. Battambang is a sleepy city set on the banks of the Sangker River. It is famous for its French Colonial architecture, mountaintop temples and as being the place where tourists in Cambodia can ride the bamboo train, called the Norry locally. It is also less than 100km away from Siem Reap and the world famous Angkor Wat.
This write up describes the quickest way to travel from Siem Reap to Kampot and Siem Reap to Kep by bus.
The majority of tourists who enter Cambodia by air fly into the Kingdom’s busiest airport in Siem Reap. They do this in order to see Angkor Wat – one of the architectural and religious wonders of the world. After that, most of them will make their way down to the South of the country to Kampot, Kep or Sihanoukville for some rest and relaxation after the heat of Siem Reap.
