Unlike our previous bus journey's we decided to do this one during the day as the prospect of being awaken at 3am to cross the border was not appealing at all. At least during the day we could appreciate the scenery and watch where our passports went. For $25 the process could not have been any smoother. The $20 was for the visa and the $5 was for the guy who was running around filing in the form, collecting the passport and telling us where to go. Talk about smooth! The only thing I didn't expect was a drunk German man's foot secretly pop up next to my face while I was on the bus! I then turned and nudged Charlotte and we both burst out in laughter and looked back at Charlotte's other travelling friends (who'd we had bumped into after watching and reading about their travel through Charlotte's Facebook) who were trapped as the German man had also pushed his seat way back. What a man! Throughout the whole journey he was grunting and drinking beer and when the bus stopped before the ferry crossing, he was subject to children hanging off him! He was a very strange man.., Even Charlotte and Mark had a brutal experience as they walked outside; kids grabbing her bracelets because she wouldn't give them money and poor Mark had a punch in the stomach for also refusing to give money.
After arriving safely into Phnom Penh it was interesting to see how developed the city was. Not what I was expecting Cambodia to be! The main road we were on was clearly developed for tourists as the alleys, we were told were a little dangerous at night because of the poor kids who would attack you for money. We'd heard a little horror story from our roomie about kids who raided a tuk tuk full of tourists too, which so didn't help the imagination from thinking the worst.
One Stop:
Apart from being on the fourth floor and in a place with no elevators the atmosphere of the hostel was pretty chilling and calm. On both nights we watched movies until on the last night we heard a massive bang behind us (me, Charlotte, new girl Vanessa and a guy who asked me if I was from India- not the first time I was asked that) downstairs and the transformer had blown. The poor guy at reception had no clue and called the owner who turned up and started to bat the outside switch with a broom whilst balanced on his motorbike. Nice! We were later reinstated with a bit of electricity (think I was more wounded about not finishing the film. Luckily once the power was back on, I got to finish it! Phew. It was World War Z) once I made it up the stairs I realised the wifi wasn't working so made my way back down to tell the man at reception. I found him sleeping so I got ready to write a note when the pen clicked and he woke up! Uh oh! Think I have a WiFi problem.
The morning was a little tragic... No electricity and no lights in the bathroom meant Ed pulled out his head torch to visit the loo What a genius! Whilst myself and Mark found that the bathrooms had electricity on the second floor so we scooted on down the many stairs to have a hot shower and light.
Killing fields:
The journey there in a tuk tuk was mental at one point we thought we were going to fall out of it! But as we drove towards the outskirts of the town you could see the real Cambodia, similar to India, it had a quiet work ethic feel about the place where the parents were wrking and the children were at schoo. We were individually guided around the fields with an audio guide and learnt of the horrific tragedy which occurred here. The skulls, bones, pieces of cloth and even the weapons used to kill the innocent people we all on show. The worst part of it was the tree which was used by the Khmer soldiers to kill babies. I won't gross you out about it on here but the film 'the killing fields' is definitely worth a watch. One of the more hardest places I've had to visit whilst travelling.
A bumpy road into the sunset and onto Siem Reap:
And what a bumpy road it was! We all took it in turn to a sit on the back seat in the corner which endured the hardest of the bumps... what a journey! The boys were so traumatised by the thought of going back by the road that they chose to fly back to Phnom then stopover in Singapore and on to Krabie (what a journey)!
Siem Reap:
What a city, equipped with its own pub street and a brand new One Stop Hostel (with only two floors because none of the buildings can be taller than Ankor Wat) it's another unexpected gem. Equipped with its own night market and street of bars and restaurants it was an awesome night out on the street, deciding which song from which bar to dance to!
The whole city has a safe and friendly feel to it and everyone knows a good amount of English to help us get by. Definitely one place I will be back to visit if any.
Temples:
Obviously the main reason to come to Siem Reap was for the temples and they did not disappoint! They were tiring to walk through but beautiful all the same. The heat was the hardest to get past but once you did boy was it epic. We ended the day watching the sunset on Ankor Wat and escaping from the monkeys! What a way to end the mainland...
Next stop Singapore!
After arriving safely into Phnom Penh it was interesting to see how developed the city was. Not what I was expecting Cambodia to be! The main road we were on was clearly developed for tourists as the alleys, we were told were a little dangerous at night because of the poor kids who would attack you for money. We'd heard a little horror story from our roomie about kids who raided a tuk tuk full of tourists too, which so didn't help the imagination from thinking the worst.
One Stop:
Apart from being on the fourth floor and in a place with no elevators the atmosphere of the hostel was pretty chilling and calm. On both nights we watched movies until on the last night we heard a massive bang behind us (me, Charlotte, new girl Vanessa and a guy who asked me if I was from India- not the first time I was asked that) downstairs and the transformer had blown. The poor guy at reception had no clue and called the owner who turned up and started to bat the outside switch with a broom whilst balanced on his motorbike. Nice! We were later reinstated with a bit of electricity (think I was more wounded about not finishing the film. Luckily once the power was back on, I got to finish it! Phew. It was World War Z) once I made it up the stairs I realised the wifi wasn't working so made my way back down to tell the man at reception. I found him sleeping so I got ready to write a note when the pen clicked and he woke up! Uh oh! Think I have a WiFi problem.
The morning was a little tragic... No electricity and no lights in the bathroom meant Ed pulled out his head torch to visit the loo What a genius! Whilst myself and Mark found that the bathrooms had electricity on the second floor so we scooted on down the many stairs to have a hot shower and light.
Killing fields:
The journey there in a tuk tuk was mental at one point we thought we were going to fall out of it! But as we drove towards the outskirts of the town you could see the real Cambodia, similar to India, it had a quiet work ethic feel about the place where the parents were wrking and the children were at schoo. We were individually guided around the fields with an audio guide and learnt of the horrific tragedy which occurred here. The skulls, bones, pieces of cloth and even the weapons used to kill the innocent people we all on show. The worst part of it was the tree which was used by the Khmer soldiers to kill babies. I won't gross you out about it on here but the film 'the killing fields' is definitely worth a watch. One of the more hardest places I've had to visit whilst travelling.
A bumpy road into the sunset and onto Siem Reap:
And what a bumpy road it was! We all took it in turn to a sit on the back seat in the corner which endured the hardest of the bumps... what a journey! The boys were so traumatised by the thought of going back by the road that they chose to fly back to Phnom then stopover in Singapore and on to Krabie (what a journey)!
Siem Reap:
What a city, equipped with its own pub street and a brand new One Stop Hostel (with only two floors because none of the buildings can be taller than Ankor Wat) it's another unexpected gem. Equipped with its own night market and street of bars and restaurants it was an awesome night out on the street, deciding which song from which bar to dance to!
The whole city has a safe and friendly feel to it and everyone knows a good amount of English to help us get by. Definitely one place I will be back to visit if any.
Temples:
Obviously the main reason to come to Siem Reap was for the temples and they did not disappoint! They were tiring to walk through but beautiful all the same. The heat was the hardest to get past but once you did boy was it epic. We ended the day watching the sunset on Ankor Wat and escaping from the monkeys! What a way to end the mainland...
Next stop Singapore!
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| Pub street all lit up at night. Its one big party every night on the street. |
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| The killing fields. |
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| This is the place where women and children a were killed. |
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| A road in Cambodia on the way to Siem Reap |
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