Cambodia Sojourn

We reached Sihanoukvile in the afternoon and we had planned our stay at the very beautiful Koh Rong Sanloem island. So we headed to the Ochheuteal Beach straight from airport and bought our tickets to the island. The boats leave from Serendipity Pier to the island and takes about an hour. The return ticket from Serendipity Pier to Koh Rong Sanloem costed us 22$.

By the evening we reached the beautiful island of Koh Rong Sanloem and headed to our hotel. The views are to die for. Just have a look at the photos and you would understand. We spent the rest of the day exploring the island.

We woke up really early to see the morning views and it was beautiful. Beach was right in front our room. After a lazy breakfast we headed out to do Snorkeling , however we were not very lucky as it was wavy and muddy and did not offer clear views of the under sea life.

The rest of the day was spent lazing at beautiful hammocks by the beach. In the evening we headed to the sunset beach on the other side of the island to catch the sunset. This was a 30min walk through a forest path.

On this day , we headed back to mainland Sihanoukvile by the morning speed boat. We reached Sihanoukvile by 10 and then had a bus to Kampot. It was a 2 hour drive. Kampot is a sleepy little town. After a quick freshup at the hotel , we headed to see the famous Kampot Pepper Plantations and bought all kinds of pepper souvenir such as pepper of all Colors packed in small cute bamboo buckets to pepper soaps. In the evening we took the Sunset Cruise in the Kampot river which is a 2 hour ride up and down the river. The cruise was bustling with people, you could place order for food or drinks and enjoy the ride.

Today we hired a bike and started for Kep which is about a 45 min ride from Kampot. As the city was prepping for the Water and Moon Festival which takes place for 3 days and marks the end of country's rainy season, the place was jam packed , specially the Kep Crab Market for stocking up on the crabs for the festival. We tasted delicious Crabs at a local restaurant. We also did some sightseeing in the Kep town.

Today we headed to the capital city Phnom Penh. It took us 4 hours ride from Kampot to Phnom Penh. The city was in the midst of celebrating the Water and Moon Festival. People from all over the country come to Phnom Penh to celebrate the festival which is considered the most magnetic traditional festival. One can see numerous Illuminated boats on the river and cracker show as the boats move along the river. We also saw the illuminated Royal Palace and Independence Monument.

Today we planned a local tour of the city, we arranged a tuk tuk through our hotel. First we visited the killing fields Choeung Ek , it's about 15 kms from the central Phnom Penh. We spent about 2 hours at this place knowing about the heartbreaking history of Cambodia wherein about 17000 people were killed in these killing fields.

Next we went to see the National Museum of Cambodia. Then we went shopping in the Central Market. We ended our day with a visit to Wat Phnom(wat means temple)

Today we had a morning bus to Battambang. It took us 6 hours to reach Battambang. After reaching Battambang , we quickly started to have a fun ride at the Bamboo Train or Nori for which Battambang is famous. It a makeshift train made of 4 wheels, a motor and a bamboo flatbed to sit on. It completely disassembles and was a new and different experience for us. If a Nori meets another Nori on the line, the lighter Nori is removed from rails to make way for the other one. The Nori driver took us 7 kms up and down. It was a fun experience. Next we headed to see another tragic killing fields on top of Phnom Sampov mountains. There are a few temples on top of the mountain to see as well. Next a very fascinating experience is the Bat Caves of Battambang. Millions of bats fly out of the caves at sunset to look for food. A steady stream of bats fly out of the caves and continue for about 40-45 minutes and people line up the roads to see this amazing spectacle. We ended our day by walking along the river and exploring the city.

Today we left Battambang and reached Siem Reap. It was a 4 hours bus ride. Siem Reap is the gateway to Angkor Wat. We hired a tuk tuk and went to Angkor Wat Ticket Station. There are passes for Angkor Wat with option of 1 day, 3 day and 10 day pass. We opted for the 3 day pass and costed us 62$ per person. The 3 day pass is valid for 10 days and can be used on any 3 days in that period. We then proceeded to the Angkor Archeological Park as it's called and saw Bayon Temple, Ta Prohm , Ta Keo and Chau Say Thevoda on our first day.

Today it was a little cloudy and there was prediction for rain, we did not choose to go to Angkor Archeological Park. Instead we spent this day shopping and a visit to the Museum. I must say the museum was an amazing experience as it explains everything about the Angkor Archeological Park. We spent a good 4 hours inside the museum. It was a wonderful experience. We then went shopping, there are numerous shopping centres in the city. We feasted on some local food and drinks and concluded it with a hearty 1 hour foot massage. There are numerous massage shops in the city. It was evening by this time and at evening the famous Pub Street of Siem Reap is lit and people enjoy good music, food and drinks. We strolled along the Pub Street and checked out the places.

Today was our second day for the Angkor Archeological Park. We started early at about 5 to catch the sunrise over Angkor Wat. However it was cloudy so we could not see the sunrise. Still the transition from darkness to light over Angkor Wat was fantastic to see. In the morning we choose to not go inside the Angkor Wat Temple. We instead went to the farthest off temple i.e. Bantaey Srei which is 30 kms away from Angkor Wat. On the way back we saw Prasat Neak Pean, Ta Som , Pre Rup, East Mebon, Preah Khan and Banteay Kdei. This was a day long trip and we had fun climbing the stairs of the temples and experiencing the magnificent architecture.

It was late afternoon by the time we finished seeing these temples. We then headed to Angkor Wat temple. Its the biggest of all the temples. We explored the temple , saw its magnificent architecture and carvings on its walls. We have another early start to the day tomorrow.