Exploring an Ancient City

Our final stop in Cambodia was Siem Reap and the ancient city of Angkor. First though, we had to get a bus from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh and then from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. It was a fairly uncomfortable journey and one I am glad I never have to do again. It took just over 13 hours to do the trip and by the time we arrived at our guesthouse in Siem Reap all I wanted to do was crash. After a over a week in bamboo huts and beach shacks we had flashed out a little on a double room with aircon and it was a welcome treat after a long journey.
 
Siem Reap is a great base for exploring the ancient temples of Angkor and for $30 you can get a three day pass that gives you access to everything. We also hired a tuk-tuk driver for the three days at $60 (so $10 per person per day) and he was a great guide and point of contact for all things Siem Reap and Angkor Wat. His first piece of advice was to visit the Phnom Bakheng temple for sunset. As he drove us through the complex where we saw our first glimpse of Angkor Wat before reaching the foot of the hill. We walked for 15 minutes up to the top where we found the ruins of the temple. We climbed its steep stairs to the top and waited with the rest of the crowds for the sun to set. We were there so early and had about an hour to kill before it set so we wandered the ruins, people watched and waited patiently while we were jostled and pushed around by everyone else trying to get their sunset shot.

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Beach Bums

We have just spent a lovely three days beach bumming our way around the southern shores of Cambodia near Sihnoukville. I had been looking forward to more beach time for ages and as our minivan from Kampot arrived at the beach I was excited to sea bright blue-green water and long stretches of sandy white beach. We transferred into a tuk-tuk to take us to our accommodation and, once again, we had a bumpy ride along dirt roads before we found our riverside retreat, Mama Clares.

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Salt and Pepper

We arrived in Kampot town in the early afternoon and grabbed a tuk-tuk to our guest house. We knew we were staying a little out of town at the Ganesha Eco Resort but when we started going off road through tiny village dirt roads I was curious to see where we would end up. Thankfully we arrived in once peace, albeit with sore bums from the bumps, to a lovely guest house and friendly hosts. We were shown to our room for the next two nights – tribal hut one – a bambo bungalow on stilts. It was quite cute and the whole area was so relaxing. There was a river near by and a nice chill out area but what I liked the most was the hammocks.

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Cambodian Capital

SMPH1109Our first stop in Cambodia was the capital Phnom Penh, and as we arrived into the city by bus we saw that every shop and food stall were shut up shop due to Khmer New Year. We were worried that we would be stranded but thankfully there were plenty of remorque drivers ready for us at the bus station to take us to our guest house, which was thankfully, open. We had a bit of a wander around our area, walking through the gardens and watching Cambodian families enjoy the holidays with picnics in the park but unfortunately, with most things closed, there wasn’t much else we could do. It was a welcome excuse to have a relaxing afternoon at our guest house.

The next day we were told that everything should be open so we were keen to head out and explore. When we got to the Royal Palace though, it was still closed. We decided we would walk along the river and check out the next point of call – a temple complex, but it too was closed. It was a slightly frustrating feeling, not knowing what may be open,so we decided to walk back to our guest house to get some more info. On the way however, we saw that the Museum of Cambodia was open. Finally! Something to visit! We paid our $5 entry free and spent a couple of hours exploring.

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