Sunrise Villa, Kampong Cham, Day 1

So we leave Phnom Penh and head off to Kampong Cham. It is the third biggest city in Cambodia apparently, but you can't tell when you arrive. As we get off the bus it is impossible not to notice how empty the roads are and how quiet the place is. It is lovely.
We get a tuk tuk to the homestay we are staying at and chill out in the room for a few hours. It has been a long few days of walking and we are glad for a bit of rest. After that we head off to the town on a couple of bicycles for a little explore. We grab something to eat (i try lok lak, which is a local dish which consists of beef in a spicy gravy style sauce and is pretty good) before a friendly tuk tuk driver comes and talks to us. He informs us that the bamboo bridge, one of the main tourist attractions of Kampong Cham, has been removed and replaced with a larger concrete one. We're disappointed but can't really complain at the locals making their lives a lot easier for themselves! All in all though Kampong Cham is a delightfully pleasant town, and the riverside benches and bars are lovely as we look out on the Mekong for the second time this trip.
After eating we start the very dark and rather scary cycle back. The potholes in the road that we can't really see and the lack of knowledge of the area means we are pretty glad when we get back to the nice room we have in the homestay (4 pound a night!).
It's strange that you can have long days of cycling or walking and yet the days you feel most tired are the travelling days. It just seems to suck the energy from us, so we have a quiet night, ready for an explore tomorrow!Read more