Architectural ruins were picking up pace, more so because I had watched Tomb Raider; where Lara Croft, the main protagonist ventures into ancient tombs and hazardous ruins around the world. Hence, my journey to Cambodia began with chalking out an itinerary; exploring Ta Phrom, followed by Angkor Wat in Siem Reap.
Phnom Penh is the capital city and situated in the centre, hence it is very well connected by flights. Siem Reap was our primary attraction situated in the North and Sihanoukville, the white sand beaches right down South, the later being a developing city has very less air traffic. Therefore, we decided to start with Siem Reap, followed by Sihanoukville and finally fly out of Phnom Penh.
Our flight to Siem Reap had an early morning transit in Bangkok and Don Mueang International Airport is quite rickety in shape as it mostly caters as the budget airlines hub of Bangkok. Both Pradeep and I are suckers for hot Asian food, and we found it to be non-justifiable if we left Bangkok without having the authentic Tom Yum noodle soup and the "Real" Red Bull!
Red bull and Tom Yum soup at the DMK Airport - Bangkok
The weather was rather humid as we had traveled in the shoulder season between summer and monsoons, so loading up on fluids and carbs were a must and the gorging on a wok-full soupy noodle for breakfast, really paid off. Our hotel was well situated, overlooking the Siem River and at a 2-minute walking distance from the bustling streets. After a much-needed shower, we decided to stock on some local munchies and landed at a nearby supermarket, picked up couple of instant noodle bowls, coconut candies and there it was…. an entire isle loaded with a considerable variety of liquor where a 1000ml bottle of Baileys was priced at INR 900!
The bridge over Siem River
If one enjoys Khmer food, ice cream trucks offering an assortment of flavours, food trucks serving fried noodle or rice with a seafood mix, then Pub street is a must go to place. Also, as the name has it, fresh fruit juice or milkshake carts with a dash of liquor of your choice happens to be the most sought-after beverage.
Tom Yum Soup with seafood, Khmer coconut curry and Passion fruit juice
Pub Street is known for its hep night life, we headed out at around 6:00 PM and the area had already started to swell, with live bands picking up tempo, tables at all the American joints occupied and visibly on their 5th mug of chilled beer, the Hot Pot Buffet bistros all set to host. We strolled across the crowded street, stopping to admire the roasted reptiles on skewers, “very unappetizing, but quite unsettling.” We landed at the Khmer Kitchen Restaurant as we were going local and started with a course of chilled Angkor Wat beer. A portion of Tom Yum soup and Khmer dumplings followed soon and then we called for a coconut-based chicken curry with a side of sticky rice, the flavours were perfectly balanced. Finally to top it all, I grabbed a mango and coconut rolled ice cream on my way back to the hotel to call it a day.
Restaurants at Pub Street
Pub Street Mango and Coconut Rolled Ice cream
We had an early start the next day, our Tuk Tuk (the local auto) had reached before time for our day outing to Angkor Wat at sunrise. The ticket counter was packed at 4am but was being managed in a very orderly manner, we purchased the one-day passes , while a 3-day pass was also available. We reached well before time and perched ourselves at a good spot for the stunning view, and in no time the sky turned amber red, orange and then finally a prominent violet colour owing to a partially cloudy sky. We escorted ourselves to the main Angkor Wat temple and a major sneak peak in history. Angkor Wat is the heart of Angkor Thom and it was constructed in 1186 as one of the first buildings in Jayavarman VII’s grand vision of creating a network of public buildings and structures, which still serves as a monastery. You would find inscriptions from Mahabharata since this was constructed as a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu for Khmer Empire and eventually was transformed in to a Buddhist temple, this is admired for the grandeur of architecture, its extensive reliefs and numerous devatas adorning the walls. We spent about 3-4 hours scaling the galleried temple and followed by tender coconut water to our rescue before heading towards Angkor Thom.
Before sunrise click - Angkor Wat
Sunrise at Angkor Wat
Post Sunrise at Angkor Wat
Mahabharata Inscriptions - Angkor Wat
We started at the Baphuon, followed by the Terrace of Elephants; most of the monuments having staircases at an inclination of 70 degrees. I literally climbed with all four limbs, heavily proving my ancestral lineage and made some onlooking monkeys very proud. We moved to the Bayon temple next which was built about 100 years after Angkor Wat in the 13th Century and so most of the temple remains in ruins now followed by few other smaller constructions at Angkor Thom.
Photos at Angkor Wat, Bayon Temple, Baphon
Angkor Wat Temple
The best was saved for the last and we headed to Ta Phrom, the relic where Tomb Raider was filmed, the gigantic roots and sky-scrapping trees transported us to another era. We ended the tour by around 3PM and headed back to our hotel for a late lunch.
Gigantic Roots at Ta Phrom
As the dawn set, we strolled on the streets with a serving of spiked milkshakes, the local artisan’s night market - home to hand-made souvenirs and locally produced candies and cosmetics, the very famous dried fish market were our next go to place. The live performances at Hard Rock Café added a great vibe to our evening walk. You may also find good deals on exquisite bamboo products, however ensure to bargain to get a steal deal. We called it a night after a good Khmer meal.
Dry Fish Market at Siem Reap Artisan at Night Market
Sihanoukville was the next destination on our itinerary and we booked ourselves tickets on an over-night bus, managed by Great Ibis. It was originally a regular seater bus converted into a sleeper unit with an attached washroom, we were taken aback a little at first as we boarded the bus, but then giggled our way to Sihanoukville. We are in China; was my first thought as soon as we arrived because this place is infested with Chinese investors building tall casinos and hotels, much to the dismay of locals. We boarded the ferry to Koh Rong after a brief wait at the shore-side eatery and reached the White Sands Beach Bungalow. We were shown our room-villa as soon as we completed the check-in and gee, while we entered the place, the little girl in me saw her dream home in front of her- A TreeHouse! Constructed with solid wood, very artistically positioned against the misty hill top at a height of about 15 feet above the sea level, overlooking the ocean and connected with well-lit narrow wooden stairways.
Tree-house stay at White Beach Bungalow - Sihanoukville
We signed ourselves up for island hopping coupled with snorkeling, fishing and plankton watching. The water at the Gulf of Thailand is rich in plankton and hence derives the emerald green colour which is a major attraction and sought-after ocean activity. We spent the entire day involved in water sports and dismayed fishing and were pleasantly surprised when our helmsman jumped into the ocean, close to a reef and brought back 2 massive mussels. He was super skilled with his knife, popped open the shells, tossed the meat onto a sizzling barbeque tray and we were gobbling on fresh mussels in no time. The meat’s travel time from the ocean to my plate was under 15 mins! We ate some more barbequed meat and washed it down with a glass of coke and whiskey. All of this happened while we watched the sunset and tapped our feet to the dance numbers, disco lights just added to the mood of our small boat party. The trip ended at around 8:30PM with plankton watching. Sihanoukville offers a standard night life with a decent choice of food and drinks, but we mostly stuck with Khmer food, Angkor Beer and passionfruit juice for most of our trip.
Chicken Pad Thai Mussel
White sand beach - Sihanoukville
Floating at white sand beach - Sihanoukville
We had planned a brief one night-stay in Phnom Penh, booked the earliest ferry back from Koh Rong to Sihanoukville as we wanted to reach Phnom Penh on time for a quick sightseeing. This is the part when things did not pan out as planned. Firstly, the earliest ferry according to every website was supposed to depart at 7:30am, however, in reality, there are no ferries scheduled before 9am. Secondly, after a considerable delay in getting to Sihanoukville, we boarded the bus to Phnom Penh only to realize the well-advertised travel time of 4 hours is nothing less than 7 hours. I was bummed, since we would only reach in the evening with no time for sight-seeing, but God had his ways of treating us! We reached a little after sunset and just got a glimpse of the city palace but spotted an excellent food joint. Mollyda’s Sandwich is run by a very sweet Khmer lady, the sandwich was loaded with fresh crunchy veggies, moist and juicy meat patty topped with crispy bacon, the bread had a perfect crunch to it, lightly toasted with a slice of cheese and topped with some brilliant sauce spreads.
All is well that ends well, it was the perfect last meal to our trip! We flew out of Cambodia early next morning.
Expense Summary
Trip duration - 6 days
Flights - INR 50,000 return fare for 2 passengers
Stay - INR 11,700 for twin sharing rooms for 2 nights
Food - INR 8,000
Bus tickets - INR 3200
Ferry tickets - $30 return for 2 passengers
Basic expense total - INR 75,000 for 2 people
Additional Expense
Water activity - $40 for 2 people
Shopping - Extra
Additional expense - Approx. INR 2,880
Recommendations -
Stay at Sihanoukville, Koh Rong on Airbnb. You must stay at White Beach Bungalows
Food - Try out a hot pot meal in Siem Reap
Food - Khmer food is a must try if you like Thai or Oriental cuisine.
Do not miss the water activity with Plankton watching at Koh Rong