Cambodia

April 2017
A 16-day adventure by Her and Her Travels Read more
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  • Day 1

    Phnom Penh

    April 12, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    We took the bus from Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The bus was fairly okay, there was constant music playing and a random movie on which starred Mike Tyson and a lot of fighting. Every scene was a fight! Crouching tiger hidden dragon style fighting. Anywhoot...we stopped of at the vietnam border and then the cambodian border. And we was on our way. On arriving in Phnom Penh we was immediately bothered by tuk tuk drivers who shouted dollar numbers at us. We didn't have any dollars as yet and went to the bank to get some cash and low and behold the bloody tuk tuk driver followed us. In the end we walked to our hostel as it was not far and saved on a few quid.
    The next day we head out to see the Royal palace. Was pretty temples with pretty greenery surrounding it.
    Our next day in Phnom Penh was quite intense. We went to the Killing fields where we learnt about the atrocities committed under the Khmer regime. Millions of Cambodians killed by other Cambodians. Mothers, babies and men all slaughtered ....we were took round each section and informed of what took place in the killing fields. We also visited the Genocide musuem. This displayed many pictures of the prisoners kept there and it was harrowing! There was pictures of babies who were sat up and posed to look like a mug shot. It was very difficult but interesting as we did not know about any of it.
    It was then time to leave Phnom Penh for Siem Reap. Awaiting our pick up it started chucking it down! The streets were flooded with water it was crazy! But luckily we arrived safely.
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  • Day 1

    Siem Reap

    April 12, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    We arrived in Siem reap after quite a pleasant journey, better then some we've had anyway! Our hotel was very up market fancy. Hosting three restaurants and a massive swimming pool! Anyway we booked through them a tuk tuk to go see all the temples over a two day period. We set out for our first temple day. Picking up the (expensive) tickets which was accompanied with a photo of us. They took it pretty seriously ...checking the ticket at every temple! And there's a lot of temples. Anywhoot...we explored the 'smaller' temples of our first day which was really cool! My favourites of the two days. The structures were grand and rugged and one even had the most beautiful lake I've seen with my own eyes. Like the sort of lake ya see on TV. It was a long day especially having lost our tuk tuk driver at one point...but nothing compared to the next day. The next day we set out early morning to see the main Angkor Wat and the others. These were much bigger and much more tiring! Each time we got back into the tuk tuk we wasn't sure whether we was heading home or to another temple. And believe me when I say...it always seem to be ANOTHER temple haha. There was so many. It got a bit tedious after a while as some of them looked exactly the same or were like 5 mins down the road from the other so didn't exactly feel like a new bit. But it was all still very nice and after two full days of temple trekking we were happy to have the next two days to lounge about by the hotel swimming pool. We sunbathe, swam, ate and drank. It was lovely. Dipping in and out the pool at our pleasure while drying up in the sun to then get wet again splashing straight back into the pool! We also got to see crystal palace play chelsea and even better...we got to see them win! The sports bar we went to was huge and had many a TV and as always they were showing the boring man utd game on the big screen. But it was still a good night and a good game. So yeah Siem Reap had many goodies and was thoroughly enjoyed.Read more

  • Day 2

    Kratie

    April 13, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    Our next journey was...interesting. we were told that we were to change buses at some point but it wasn't exactly smooth sailing when it came to it. On our way to Kratie we continued to look out for where and when we had to change bus. Looking for the name of the province and some sort of something resembling a bus station. We had hoped the bus driver and/or bus conductor (if ya can even call him that) would give a bit more info or help but nope...we was completely left to worry and threat most the way. We did eventually get to a bus station and was asking if this is where we had to change and initially they pointed us to the ticket office but then suddenly told us to get back on the bus. Which we did. Left wondering what was going on we finally came to another stop. In the middle of pretty much nothing but a stall and a bunch of men with their tops half way up. Not only this, because we had come to a stop and people had got off including the driver and conductor without telling us nothing...we got off too. And to our suprise found our backpacks on the side of the road covered in dust and just left there. We tried to ask the 'conductor' why they had taken our bags of and tried to get some guidance on what was happening yet he was completely unhelpful and useless. All we could do was stand and wait in the scorching heat with our bags not knowing if they were taking us to Kratie or whether we had missed our change of buses. No clue and by this point no patience left. Eventually he called to us to follow another guy who led us to another bus fairly quickly and seemingly out of the blue. We stumbled along dragging our bags and rushing onto the bus frantically asking people if it was to Kratie. It was...thankfully. What a bloody disorganised mess it was though! Anyway we arrived in Kratie and luckily our hotel was nicer then expected. So we settled in and the next morning set out to see the dolphins. The road there was a bumpy one in the tuk tuk and we even saw a snake just like...wiggling about on the road in front of us! The snake was silver and quite small but still it's a freakin snake on the road! Like wtf! Anywhoot fast forward to the dolphins. We climbed aboard a boat and sailed slowly around while we saw dolphins dip and dive in and out the water. But mainly you could hear them! They sounded like they were exhaling out very loudly ...breathing very heavily almost, so we knew when they were coming. The scenes from the boat were a nice touch too. On our way back from the dolphins we stopped of at the mountain. We were faced with long steep sets of stairs surrounded by statues of buddha. It was long and hot but we got to the top and had a lil peak at the view. It wasn't anything spectacular but it something to check out if ya in kratie as there's not much else to it haha.Read more

  • Day 2

    Mondulkiri (Sen Monorom)

    April 13, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    We soon arrived in Mondulkiri from Kratie though not soon enough! Bus was again...not the greatest. Very crammed...they even put little plastic red chairs in between the actual bus chairs so they could squeeze others on. And at one point a lady was leaning all over Katie! We were also going at an incredibly super speed ... an apparent 5 hr journey took 3 hours! But yes we got there and we got there in one piece! Mondulkiri is a little place. Very grey very dusty and very basic. Though our guesthouse was nice considering. And we was thankful we wasn't staying in the jungle like originally planned. We had booked an elephant tour just for the day...which again I am thankful we didn't go for the two day. The day two involved an 18km trek which takes roughly 8 hours to complete. In the jungle! We almost signed up for it...imagine...me and katie.. we would of been done in like 2 hours in...if that! Anyway the one day tour we did was considerably easier...it did involve a lot of walking up and down in wet conditions so it wasn't no walk in the park either. But we saw three elephants in their natural environment and got to feed them bananas. It was a really special experience...they are so huge yet so quiet haha. Ya would think you would hear them coming but ya don't. And yeah it was scary putting the banana to their mouth at first but then after a couple tries it wasn't all that bad. There was also an option to swim with the elephants but after being told to watch ya feet as they could step on them and break them or that the rocks in the water are slippery...we opted not to. However we still watched the elephants splashing about in the water and it was still pretty cool. It was a full on day.. out at like 7....and didn't get back till 5ish. We was exhausted...covered in mud and hot but it was all worth it and really fun! We also lazed about in some hammocks out in the jungle on our lunch break. On our last day we made a friend. This friend was a dog. He followed us from our guesthouse to the cafe we ate breakfast in...he like...sat at our side not even bothering us for food. He then followed us to the bus station and waited with us. We named him Julian. We took a picture for memories haha. I must admit when he first came to us we was weary and scared he may bite us or bother us for food. But we warmed to him and it was slightly sad waving him goodbye.Read more

  • Day 4

    Kampot

    April 15, 2017 in Cambodia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    After our quite tiring couple days in Mondulkiri, Kampot was a pleasant pause. It was different from any other place we had been to in Cambodia. Hosting a beautiful long lake with many cafes and quiet roads. We strolled along the river and saw the sun reflecting on the water. We ate some tasty food and I indulged in a few milkshakes! But most of all... a half pint of beer was only 50 cent! So we definitely filled our guts! We drank pretty much every evening at the same little cafe and so did the other locals and expats. We saw the same faces at this cafe also drinking and taking advantage of the very very cheap beer.....I mean 30p pretty much to us. Kampot is also known for pepper...they did have a pepper farm which ya could go see but it ain't really our thing haha. But I did try the famous pepper in the form of a pepper burger which was yum...I had it twice! The hotel also had a roof terrace which me and katie sat on most days to top up our tans and listen to music while watching the lake. It was so relaxing! And so much more peaceful and easy to walk around then other towns.Read more

  • Day 16

    Kep

    April 27, 2017 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    A short drive away was the city of Kep. Up a dirt hill we went to reach our resort. And it was our first bungalow type accommodation we would stay in. It was okay...though we only had a fan and no air con so we was sweating buckets! Anyway...we went to see what we thought was the beautiful kep beach. Well...it was a beach and it was in Kep but it certainly wasn't beautiful. It was small so more like a Cove but also dirty and smelly and just not at all what we had imagined. As soon as we stepped foot on it we took one look and sniff and turned back around. The surrounding area was also full of rubbish and it was just generally quite grubby. The next day we also checked out the crab market which was packed...smelly...smokey and well...we couldn't get out of there quick enough haha. Despite all this, we did find an okay spot to have a few beers in which overlooked the sea and had a nice sunset. And we had a lovely crab amok so it wasn't all bad. But yes...kep wasn't exactly what we expected and we wasn't too sad when we had to leave it.Read more

  • Day 16

    Sihanoukville

    April 27, 2017 in Indonesia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Now...after keps stuffy bungalow...sihanoukville came as a lovely suprise. Also a bungalow but loads loads nicer! It had air con...it was bigger and just much more comfortable. Also sihanoukvilles beach (otres beach) was just idealic! Beautiful clear blue sea and white sand. Our resort was also pretty boasting a swimming pool, a terrace and a nice restaurant! Which all made a difference to our time and experience. We also did a trip to Koh Rong island which was absolutely stunning! Though due to mother nature visiting me and the scorching heat...it impeded on my ability to enjoy it completely haha. But I still had a really nice day with Katie...we laid on the beach for a bit... had some fizzy drinks and nice bruschetta. We walked the full length of the beach back and forth and by the end of the day we was exhausted! Back in sihanoukville we visited a pub and ordered a beer. This beer was flat and warm and we suspected possibly diluted. With that... we took a few sips and opted to pay and leave. We may have looked strange but we didn't want to risk it! We had some lazy days sitting on the porch and drinking beer and enjoyed the comforts of the resort.Read more