After I got to Siem Reap with AVT van, there were tuk tuks waiting for us – it seemed organized and free. It didnt sound legit at first point, but basically they drive you to your hostel and hoping you will take them for Angkor Wat tour – which I did as it is the easiest way if he speaks English and can tell you at least little bit.He also brought extra water.
When mentioning tuk tuks, this was different experience as they usually run along the bus to get you or other customers. I always smile at them from the bus as it seems really funny. They seem extremely happy like kids who see CocaCola truck for first time π I usually use them after I check how far it is and bargain to maximum 1-2 USD. Even if it is close by and i decide to walk, they are kind and help with directions.
Siem Reap and Angkor Wat
Siem Reap as main tourist destination has lots of to offer from trips around – mainly Angkor Wat temples, waterfalls, lots of restaurants and food. I personally wanted to see the jungle temples mainly, but as luck of research in advance I missed Beng Mealea, which is probably the best jungle temple(not part of Angkor Wat complex).
Angkor Wat complex is huge, there are 2 main circles, small and big one that you can divide it to multiple days. We decided to do one day tour over small circuit and part of the big one(I thought i will die by heat and exhaustion by the end of the day). We started with my friends April and Mary in less popular sunrise temple and then moved around with temples which were partly occupied by jungle. I do recommend to divide it to 2 days, unless you are on tight budget. You will enjoy it way more.
Temple Angkor Wat has a moat and apparently the reason is to avoid jungle impact. It makes sense. The whole area around Angkor Wat and temple itself is huge compared to others. It is also build in Budhism believes and not Hindu as the others.
For me Siem Reap was also about reunion with my friend April from Prague, who used to live there. I am happy i could stop for few days, chat and relax with an old friend. We have also done fish massage, which means fish eat your old skin on your feet. It was extremely ticklish. I have laughed for few minutes without any drugs. Totally worth it!!
Battambang and bat cave
I haven’t heard about anything else than Siem Reap in Cambodia, but there are less touristy places π One of them is Battambang. I have visited bat cave during sunset, where every day millions of bats leave the cave and come back by sunrise. I have not seen anything like that in the past and it was great how nature life works. In addition to that, as soon as bats started to leave the cave, all insect got down in their air space and were extremely annoying. Wear a mosquito spay in advance! You can also kind of shout “shhhh” (shush) and bats will expand and regroup.
Does Cambodia have beaches?
Not only beaches on the coast, there are islands too. You can reach them from Sihanoukville and Rabbit island from Kep. I visited Otres beach close to Sihanoukville. It was quite nice and relaxed. As i am not proper beach boy and sea was too warm, I decided to move on after 1 day to Kampot.
Kampot and abandoned village Bokor
Kampot is small town with less tourists and few things to offer. It definitely felt more like Cambodian village life, especially on the way to La Plantation Pepper farm. The navigation said 1 hour for 15 kilometers. I did not believe it, but it was dirt road with lots of holes. It was not comfortable at all on my hard seat scooter. The plantation was owned by French couple and their employees give free tour. I saw how the pepper grow, how you store it and what kinds of pepper there are. Quite interesting – later on I had some meal with it, but could not really taste the difference between Kampot and normal pepper.
There is one special place in Kampot, which is Bokor. Town was abandoned in 1940s due to war conflict. Although it is abandoned, there is still great view from the palace hotel at the time.
I went to Kep crab market afterwards and tasted some grilled crab and calamari, but I had similar feeling when i tasted a lobster. Too much work for nothing special. It tasted fine, but for the price and mess is not worth it. I was not evening thinking they just dropped him on the grill like that and he slowly opened up.
Phnom Penh
This was my last stop in Cambodia. After Kampot, I again realized that I do prefer smaller towns where there are fewer tourists. Anyway I visited the S21 museum, which was pretty mean, basically same thing what Hitler did, except this time it was Pol Pot, leader of Khmer Rouge. He killed millions of people who betrayed the country by being smart. All doctors, engineers, lawyers, teachers and so many other position were sent to prison for torture and after they committed impossible crimes (being spies or some act against the country). Then they were killed and put to mass graves. Crazy stuff.
On the other hand, there is a new leader who is in power for 40 years. I think it is pretty messed up, but people seems quite happy and joking around.
Good luck and good bye Cambodia for now.
