From Kampot, via an overnight in Phnom Pehn.

Days 22

Monday 4th

Kampot to Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. (Country no. 20 on our travels this year!)

After breakfast we bid a sad farewell to the gorgeous little hotel in Kampot and got into our taxi for the 3 hour drive back to Phnom Penh. We took the same route back but chose a different hotel for our last night in Cambodia’s capital city.

Disappointed with our last hotel here we decided to try the Hyatt Regency.

You get what you pay for and we certainly did. Christmas lights were everywhere in the hotel, they have a Santa’s grotto, thou sadly, no Santa and a magnificent Christmas tree made up of many potted poinsettias amazing .

First thing we did was go out for a quick tuk tuk tour. We met a lovely tour driver by the Royal Palace – nearly opposite the hotel, and he gave us a whistle stop tour and info on the top sites in the city. Fair to say they are all relatively close, it’s just too flipping hot to walk around them .

Our guide explained the Chinese influx and money they have invested. We’ve heard a lot about this. Apparently Sihanoukville is now 90+% Chinese and has been transformed from a delightful paradise to high-rises and casinos.

Everyone we have spoken to has advised against staying there, luckily our Andrew already told Gareth about it – we had never planned a stop there – most people now just transit through it to the Cambodian islands, which is our plan too.

Moving on, he explained that the new king had no son to take his place which will be a problem, the king of the monks lived in a temple here and his bones are now in a Stupa there. There is also a statue of him on the main road.

A tiny island – Diamond Island – used to grow all the fruit and veg for the city but was bought by the Chinese who now have reclaimed the land, reducing the river and built ….yes, you guessed it, casinos and hotels.

I did read that since online gambling has been outlawed in Cambodia there has been a reduction in Chinese visitors ( gambling is against the law in China).

We finished our little tour with an icecream, buying one for the driver. When I asked what flavour he would like, he said any, he hasn’t had it before as it’s too expensive! I was going to get him a Durian flavour but the server got it wrong and gave him coconut. He was very happy when we left him.

Back at the hotel, we went for a swim in the pool, it was heaven . Then dried off, had showers and went out to a little restaurant near the hotel where the chef makes the noodles while you wait. Sweet. Didn’t manage to get a photo sorry, but the food was very tasty.

On our way back to the hotel we passed a barber. Gareth has been desperate to get his hair cut for days so in he went. It’s very short now – Cambodia no.3 is shorter than a UK no.3 – which is perfect for this weather .

We finished our time in Phnom Penh at the hotel’s skybar with a couple of cocktails each.

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Day 23

Tuesday 5th December

This morning, we grabbed breakfast downstairs, the choice, as you can imagine was immense. Sadly, the heat is getting to us and our stomachs have shrunk so it was just a small breakfast each.

Our taxi wasn’t coming until 11.30am so we had another swim before heading off to the airport.

Our flight was only 40 minutes again, but the waiting around seems to take up most of the day. We were also apprehensive about the airline cancelling on us again but the flight to Siem Reap left on time . The plane was less than half full and as soon as we were up, we were coming back down again. A bit like flying from Southampton to Jersey!

The new international airport for Siem Reap is further away from the city and takes 50 minutes in a cab. Bless the driver. He wanted to take us on a little tour but we were desperate to get to the hotel. We have booked him for our tours tomorrow though and will use him for our airport run again on Thursday.

By the time we were checked in, the sun was going down so we didn’t get to go in the pool. We’ll make sure we use it tomorrow.

We ate tonight at a lovely restaurant – café Indochine. We had the north Cambodian tasting menu. Delicious but like most meals here, very sweet. We tried some different raw vegetables too.

I’m up early in the morning to catch the sunrise so it’s an early night for us.

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Day 24.

Wednesday 6th December.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

The alarm went off at 4.45am . I dressed quickly and went downstairs to meet my driver – same guy as yesterday. This time I was going in his tuk tuk and we headed out of town to the Temples of Angkor Wat to catch the sun rising over them.

Angkor is a collection of temple sites, Angkor Wat being the most famous and prominent. There are loads of others, including Angkor Thom, the statue of the Leper King and one you’ll all be familiar with, Ta Prohm – better known as Tomb Raider temple. It’s a huge site and the half day we have given over to it will in no way do it justice. It is recommended to do the lot in 3 days!

You can buy your tickets online – you have to submit a photo which is printed on your ticket. All to do with scams previously I am told. Every now and again there’s a checkpoint, some, just on the side of the road, where they scan your ticket and then you carry on.

My driver dropped me at the entrance, in the dark, no streetlights or anything and I walked, with loads of other early risers towards our destination. Out of the dark come ticket officials and tour guides. I think they are reasonably priced and if you wanted to know the ins and outs of the temples they are definitely worth the charge.

I was going back to our apartment after sunrise so didn’t need a guide. It was a bit like the blind leading the blind, every now and again I needed my phone torch to guide me. The terrain underfoot changed a lot and then all of a sudden we were walking up wooden steps to a platform. Tickets scanned again and then down the other side of the platform – not steps, instead, a ramp with stays across – to stop you slipping.

The last step of this ramp was a bit higher than the others so I called out to my neighbours to take care. What was really strange was that we were then walking on a pontoon, wide and bobbing up and down with every step. A bit surreal in the darkness. This pontoon crosses what would have been the moat.

Then we had the wooden platform in reverse which finally brought us to the outer walls of Angkor Wat. As it was getting light you could just make out structures to walk through to the inner temples. The old footpath/road is uneven and pitted (as you would expect) and draws you down towards the main attraction.

The main temple is not open until 7am so everybody milled around one of the two ponds (waiting for a sunrise reflection of the temples) or on the walkway, where I waited. I’d heard a guide tell his group that the sun was in solstice at the moment and told them where it would come up – unfortunately at this time of the year, not directly behind the temples.

That didn’t matter to me, I just wanted to watch these amazing buildings appear before my very eyes. And they did. It was beautiful though not spiritual for me. I think the constant hum of others around me kept me grounded. If I ever do it again, I will chose a spot on one of the walls leading up to the temple and sit back, relax and wait patiently. Maybe put some white noise on my headphones too.

As the sun rose higher I turned around and realised that a glorious sight was happening behind me. Basking in it’s light and warmth, the entrance temples (or castle keeps) with their red brick walls were glowing , absolutely stunning.

I retraced my steps, @6:30am, passing the hoards just turning up and could then see the path I had taken earlier. It’s quite a walk back and took me sometime to find my driver.

Back at the apartment, we had some french pastries for breakfast and then went to the pool.

Gareth was feeling really well so we booked the tuk tuk for a whirlwind tour of the temples, all depending on how we did in the heat really. We’ve been to a lot of places and Cambodia seems to be the hottest so far.

Our driver knew exactly what we wanted and drove as close as possible to the different sites, waited while we had a quick reccy and then on to the next.

Angkor Thom is amazing. The faces on the temples are still visible from any angle. The terrace of the elephants is beautiful.

Ta Prohm defies gravity in some places. When constructed, they didn’t use a cement type join so once it was abandoned and left to the elements, trees started to grow through the structure.

There are a lot of stone piles, structures held up by metal stays and Acros, and some looking like they have been wrapped or smothered by trees growing downwards .

Walking into one area, I looked up and thought ‘we’re not walking in there’, the ceiling did not look safe but what do I know? It’s been that way for thousands of years.

These places are now UNESCO world heritage sites which will hopefully mean they gradually get the restoration they deserve.

In the meantime we’ll enjoy how they look right now .

We managed to cram 3 days worth into 3 hours before we wilted. Back to the pool and a kip before we headed to Pub Street, a 10 minute walk away.

This was the most civilised bar street we have encountered so far. Lots of lovely restaurants and bars, massage parlours and shops lining a very wide road leading to the river. Also a market for holiday bits and some lovely twinkly lights to make it all a pleasant evening.

We weren’t hungry so had beers and cocktails, getting to be connoisseurs of Pina colada and blue Hawaii , and just watched the nighttime Siem Reap go by.

Cheekily we finished the evening with a KFC , just because it’s the only one we’ve encountered on our journey so far. How strange, you get the normal chicken bits but…you have a portion of potato mash with gravy, and rice as well as fries! Carb overload.

We really liked Siem Reap, it’s calm, it’s tidy, well laid out with wide pavements you can walk on and wide roads, making crossing them easier funnily enough.

Travelling most of tomorrow so early to bed

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