Beautiful Cambodia

We approached Phnom Penh with a delay of 4 hours during dusk. It is an amazing experience to see this metropolis coming closer after the long time in the jungle. Now I have an idea how the refugees felt in the beginning of the 20th century when reaching New York.

 

The passenger port is in the middle of the pleasant river front where one can find numerous pubs, bars and hotels. It is the face of the city and the counterpoint to the dark Khmer Rouge history of the 1970s. Here you also see a lot more cars than in Vietnam and one can feel that a lot of reconstruction money has been transferred to Cambodia in the last 40 years.

I stayed for two nights at Ma Mates Villa which was not easy to find. Further it didn’t have a real backpackers’ atmosphere and they overcharge for additional services like bus tickets. So make your choice when going to Phnom Penh.

The evening I spent with follow backpackers at the river front having Cambodian food and some beers.

For my only full day in the capital I rented a motorbike. A good decision as it provides the necessary flexibility and mobility to reach some of the remote sites like the killing fields but one has to get used to the adventurous traffic rules of South East Asia. Unfortunately I was stopped by Phnom Penh traffic police officer 27217. It proved that the Cambodian police here is corrupt as he directly asked for a 20 US$ bribe. After some negotiation he let me off for 10 US$ which is the worth of a light dinner for two in an average Cambodian restaurant.

 

My Moto safely brought me to the Choeung Ek Killing Fields, the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, the royal palace, the market and the main train station. While the Killing Fields and the Genocide Museum were about the sad but very interesting and well presented history of Khmer Rouge the other sights reflected the current Cambodian life. The evening I enjoyed by having dinner was at a good Indian place near the passenger port followed by the very recommendable dance opera at the national museum.

 

 

In the morning of the 21st of November a Tuktuk picked me up and brought me to the bus agency. The bus was supposed to leave at 8:30am and should arrive 6h later. We finally arrived in Siem Reap at 3.30pm.

 

A Moto-Taxi costing 1.50 US$ transferred me the last 7 km to the Mantra Boutique Hotel. It is a nice and welcoming place close to the archaeological park of Angkor. The hotel is not primary a backpackers’ location as most rooms are rented on a monthly base. But service was great anyway.
For my Angkor visit I had to get up at 5am. For 2 US$ the hotel rented me a bicycle. Perfeclty in time at 6:09am I was at the pond inside Angkor Wat. But unfortunately it was cloudy and the sunrise experience limited. Breakfast was a 1 US$ ice Coffee (use negotiation skills!) next to the pond inside Angkor Wat. The great view is included!

  

 

I followed the rout of the small cycle towards Angkor Thom where I easily spent another 3 hours. The nice thing with the bicycle is that you are very mobile and can drive around Angkor Thom and the park following your preferences. Next bigger stop was Ta Keo which I liked very much as it was not overcrowded. Tour groups don’t stop here so I had a longer rest on this temple before playing Indiana Jones at Ta Prohm. On the way to Phnom Bakheng I detoured at Sras Srang and cycled around the artificial rectangular lake. 13 hours of cycling and 4 litters of water later I reached the summit of Phnom Bakheng. Here I and hundreds of other people were rewarded with a beautiful sunset. The way back to the hostel was rather pleasant as there was heavy traffic on the road and as a last two kilometres before reaching the hotel my bicycle broke down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a little fresh up and a good dinner at the hostel I was ready to take my Moto-Taxi to get to the airport. Here I boarded the 9:45pm AirAsia flight towards Bangkok.