• Toto Zapata
  • Junita Fernandez
  • Toto Zapata
  • Junita Fernandez

Chinese New Year In Cambodia

This destination was on my bucket list for so many years - Finally we did it! Read more
  • Trip start
    January 20, 2023

    Phnom Penh - and the journey begins!

    Jan 20–21, 2023 in Cambodia ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Our flight from Shanghai took us to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia.
    We only stayed for one night before we left for Battambang. But this evening was such a good change versus Shanghai as we saw Backpackers, Bars, English speaking waiters, English menus and everything less show. We totally enjoyed this one night in Phnom Penh.
    Some facts about the city:
    He city was once the pearl of Asia as it had so much French architecture.
    Located at the River Mekong it has a population of around 2 Mio people.
    I will write about the time of the arrival of the Khmer Rouge on 17.04.1975 when we return to Phnom Penh at the end of our trip.
    98% of the people in Cambodia follow Buddhism.
    The politics of Cambodia are defined within the framework of a constitutional monarchy, in which the king serves as the head of state, and the prime minister is the head of government. It’s practically a One-Party-System.
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  • On the way to Battambang

    Jan 21–23, 2023 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Today’s journey was from Phnom Penh to Battambang, 290km on the road. In between we stopped at Kampong Loung, the former capital Oudong before Phnom Penh. It’s now a Goldsmith Village.
    Next stop at Kampong Chnang. Before we entered the ferry to get to other side we had bamboo rice from one of the local female traders. On the other side we reached the Kampong Leng peninsula. A Tuk Tuk picked us up and we explored the island. We watched ladies weaving mats and baskets. We had lunch under the sky at a very basic restaurant and finally visited a pre-Angkorian sanctuary tower of the 7th century, called the „the Women’s tower“.

    After heading back to the other side of the island, we did head to Battambang. Here we had a really nice kind of Boutique Hotel.

    In the evening we met a friend of Junita from Milton Keynes. Lorraine and her husband are traveling for 1 year across South East Asia. So we had a nice walk along Sangker River and talked about traveling during Covid times.
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    Trip end
    January 27, 2023