06.30.07

Hop, Skip and a Jump to Cambodia

Posted in Landscape, People, Travel at 6:00 pm by Warren Williams

After an already hectic first 3 days of travelling, I thought it would be great to keep up the momentum and head straight to Siem Reap, Cambodia. The cheaper flights arrive in the capital, Phnom Penh, but then there’s a 5-6 hour bus ride (314km), to Siem Reap. Transportation is very cheap, with buses costing between US$4-10. I had a bit of a run in with a taxi, who took me straight to a hotel on a back street. I didn’t ask to go there, but he took me there, unloaded my bags, before I reminded him I’m not staying the night, and will be travelling by bus to Siem Reap. The driver swore at me, then said “don’t you speak to me again!” and drove eratically to a nearby bus station. Unfortunately I just missed the 10am bus, and had to wait for the 11:30am bus. First impressions of Phnom Penh were obviously not good, and I was very glad to get out of there.


Flying in from BKK to Phnom Penh, can see the wet landscape of rice fields


At the half way point of the bus trip, we stopped for some lunch… Just at this moment a heavy rain storm passed, which over the next couple of days proved to be a regular occurence.

Once arrived in Siem Reap, there were 50 odd tuk tuk drivers, who charged up to the few Westerners travelling by bus, offering cheap rides of $1. Surprise, surprise there was a young man there with my name. He showed a place of recommendation on the back of the tuk tuk, a simple advertisement. I decided to trust him, and also made mention that the place is only a year or so old. We arrived at “Siem Reap Riverside“, which was actually quite nice to what I had seen driving through the town! Finally something was going well.


The ride can be bone-jarring


Tonight’s dinner


Siem Reap Riverside guest house was 100metres past here on the right. 300metres out of town

My first early night, as I have a 5am get up for Angkor Wat.

NASA image of Angkor Wat

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