Phnom Phen

I think it was safe to say the whole group was a little anxious about trying the public buses in Asia. Fon had done a good job of lowering our expectations, basically by advising that it won't be what we're used to, so we shouldn’t expect the same level of cleanliness or safety, as we get back home!

 
We weren’t really sure what to expect after that. However, when we arrived at the station we were surprised to be greeted by a shiney new “limousine” coach. 

Fon had also mentioned that we might want to take our IPods with us; in case we didnt fancy listening to Cambodian pop music or watching a Cambodian martial arts film (they tend to show these on full volume on local long bus journeys!), but again, we surprised to find it was actually 80s/90s American and British pop classics instead! Not long into the journey we also received complimentary water and snacks. So far, this beats the Megabus back home.  

The journey to Phnom Penh was pretty smooth, with just a couple of questionable toilet stops (I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the public toilets in Asia!). We arrived in a sunny Phnom Penh around 4pm.

 
Again, the hotel was fantastic. As well as free WIFI and a fully stocked beer fridge in reception, it also had a huge DVD library, with mostly brand new movies.

That night we dined in a small funky local restaurant. Fon recommended it as the profits from the restaurant go to the Streets Kids charity. During dinner, the lights went out in the restaurant for about 5 minutes. This, we were finding, was a little quirk of Cambodia. Apparently during the busy season, the electricity trips in a number of places due to the stress put on the grid by the air conditioning etc. It soon comes back on though, but it’s a bit inconvenient if it happens when you’re in the shower!

Phnom Penh was a beautiful city, with some of the friendliest people we’ve met so far. We would have loved an extra day in the city to explore a couple more of the sights – it would have been great to see round the Royal Palace and the Russian Market.

Our main activity during our stay was visiting the S-21 Prison and the Killing Fields. It was a pretty difficult morning visiting both places, it was even more upsetting to see that it was still difficult for our tour guide to talk about it, but we felt it was an important sight to see and we were pleased we did. We actually got to meet one of the survivors of the prison, an artist, and we bought his book.

 
After a heavy morning, we spent the afternoon chilling out in the hotel before taking a walk around the nearby Phnom Ping Temple.

 
Next stop Sihanoukville, this time it’s only a four hour public bus journey!

Siem Reap, Cambodia

There are 15 of us in total, on the group tour, including a couple of Germans, Scandinavians, some Brits and a whole lot of Canadians!

Our tour leader is a lady from Thailand called Fon. Fon, is her nickname. Apparently everyone in Thailand has a nickname and its much easier to say that, than her real name!
 

We spent last night with our group going over our trip. Fon gave us some really useful advice about money and security, but probably the handiest was a tip to avoid mozzie bites...apparently, the best defence is to eat spicey food (it doesn’t have to be too spicey, just as long as it has a bit of chilli in it). Fon also advised that the areas we’d be visiting would carry no risk of malaria, so there was no real need for the malaria tablets, but as we'd started taking ours we thought we’d continue on until the end of the course.
 

We set off for the Thailand border, from our hotel in Bangkok, in two small mini buses.
Getting out of Thailand (through immigration) was so simple. We stopped off at a gas station on the way out of town and sat at few picnic benches to fill out our departure cards and Cambodian visa forms. Then all we needed to do was hand our passports and money to the bus driver and he checked us all out of Thailand, by nipping into the consulate. It was so quick and easy.

When we reached the border, we stopped for some lunch in a small restaurant and had some delicious fried duck with rice and a beer for the equivalent of £1.20 (the choice was only duck or chicken with rice or noodles, but still it was a total bargain!)

Our bags were taken over the border by a hired hand, which we were all really thankful of, given the distance and the baking heat!  

As we walked over the Cambodian border, we were surprised to the find the area saturated with large casinos and bars. It was like a mini Vegas! It's apparently so people from Thailand can visit and gamble without going through the process of applying for a visa, as it’s not technically in Cambodia.

Once over the border, it was a two hour bus journey to Siem Reap. We had our own private coach, which was pretty comfy. All was going well until we pulled into a small village about an hour in and the driver popped the lid to the bus and announced that the bus had broken down.

Nevermind though, 20 minutes later, we were up and running again. Fon mentioned that most bus drivers are also semi trained mechanics too. They have to be apparently, as most of the buses they drive are pretty old – apparently the buses in Cambodia are old buses from Korea.

Our hotel was lovely and the staff served some very much needed cold drinks and cold towels upon our arrival. The one quirk about our hotel was that they turn the electricity connection off, when the bedrooms are empty, so you had to remember to ask at reception for your electricity to be turned back on, when you came in at the end of the day.

We spent our first night in Siem Reap at a charity called New Hope. A charity set up by a local Khmer and an Australian to provide free education for children in the slums area of Siem Reap, as well as a free hospital. The tour provider we are using for this trip, G Adventures, is a major sponsor of this charity, mainly paying for a training restaurant to be set up next to the school to train students interested in hospitality work.

New Hope was a really amazing and inspiring place. We arrived just before 5pm (by Tuk Tuk from our hotel) so were allowed to sit in on one of the English classes. The children were lovely and so friendly. Each class was based on skill level, rather than age, so the classes really varied in age from 7 years old to 22 years old. 

 

We then headed over to the training restaurant for a a delicious Cambodian dinner of spring rolls, mango salad, vegetable curry and duck...oh, and we had crickets with dry roasted nuts as nibbles! Fon mentioned the night before that meat is really expensive for locals in the poorer areas, so to get protein people usually go to nearby fields and catch crickets and snakes. Thankfully, the snake wasn't biting that day, so we only had the crickets.

The next day we got up at 5am, and headed over, with the rest of the group to watch the sun rise over Angkor Watt temple. Fon suggested it was the best time to go, as it was fairly quiet and it was a good way to get some pictures of the temple before the Chinese tourists roll up with their tripods!. It was a pretty amazing sight, such a beautiful place.
 

We spent the rest of the afternoon, exploring Angkor Watt, the Ta Prohm, (the temple used in the Tomb Raider movies) and the jungle temple.
 

Just before sun down we took a boat trip around the floating village - a village of houses and boats, built on top of bamboo sticks. The bamboo helps the houses to rise in the floodwaters during the raining season. The village even had a floating restaurant, school and basketball court!
 

In the evening, we went out with the rest of the group and to a local Cambodian restaurant for some yummy Cambodian curry and traditional Cambodian dancing.

After dinner, we headed along to the night market for a bit of shopping (we successfully haggled after picking up some handy tips from Fon) before heading out for a quick drink on Pub Street.

Next stop – Phnom Penh, this time on a local bus...only a six hour journey though!