Cambodia

Cambodia is a country that is rich with culture and history. I spent my time here diving into to the history of the nation and also enjoyed some relaxing beach days. I stopped in at the capital, Phnom Penh, Koh Rong and its sister island Koh Rong Sanloem, and Siem Reap.

Many areas within Phnom Penh have western grade infrastructure and there is lots of ongoing development within the city. Foreign investment is prominent here following the devastating genocide that occurred back in the 70’s. While in Phnom Penh, I visited S-21, a former high school turned prison during the rule of the communist party known as the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia in the mid to late 70’s following the Cambodian Civil War. S-21 has been turned into a museum, Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum to educate on the cruel acts and mass genocide of the citizens of Cambodia, driven by the Khmer Rouge. According to the museum, S-21 was the center of a network of nearly 200 prisons where people were tortured and killed by the Khmer Rouge. Per estimates, 12,000-20,000 prisoners passed through S-21 alone. Only 12 prisoners are believed to have survived. Estimates put the total amount of people killed at 1.5 million to 3 million during the Khmer Rouge’s rule. 

Before leaving Phnom Penh I also visited the Royal Palace of Cambodia. The palace was built back in the late 1860’s and is the home of the King of Cambodia.

After Phnom Penh, I headed down south to Koh Rong, an island that resides in the Gulf of Thailand. Koh Rong is a small island, predominantly operated by the locals. It is just shy of 20,000 acres. It’s known for being a “party” island, but there are relaxing beach spots too. The hostel I was staying at, the Wavy Sailor was about a mile away from the main port. A local offered me a tuk tuk ride for $10 when I got off the ferry. This was steep and I bargained the price down to $5 in exchange to ride on the back of a scooter. Riding on a scooter was not a great idea lol. There is one small road on the main strip of the island. It only stretches a few hundred yards towards the hostel, so we had to drive up and down a bumpy dirt hill to get to the hostel. All my gear was flying around and I was holding on for dear life. I got dropped off in front of a jungle and was told that there was no direct access to the hostel, other than walking. I found the hostel after some wondering around in the jungle. Thankfully no monkeys attacked me. 

I spent 3 nights in Koh Rong before taking a ferry to its smaller sister island, Koh Rong Sanloem for another 2 nights. A “chill” island with a laid back vibe. 

A majority of my time on these islands was spent relaxing on the beach, which was nice after an adventurous month in Vietnam.

During my second night in Koh Rong, I met Amy and Calum from Scotland while playing card games with a few others staying at the hostel. The following night, they invited me to join them for a pub quiz at a neighboring hostel, Nest Beach Club. We met up with Amy and Calum’s friends, Daniel and Cameron from England that were staying at Nest Beach Club. With the breadth of knowledge amongst the five of us, we ended up winning. My input as an American went a long way. I think we were one of many teams that got questions like where is the biggest China Town (San Francisco) and what does D.C. stand for in Washington, D.C. (District of Columbia) right. We won a beer tower and enjoyed a couple more to continue the celebration.

While in Koh Rong Sanloem, I stayed in M’Pay Bay. By the port is a handful of restaurants and beaches on each side of the port. The hostel I stayed at, Cliff Hostel is about 10-15 minutes from the port and it is by far my favorite hostel so far. It wasn’t the fanciest, but it had direct access to the ocean off the cliff it was situated on and amazing sunset views. The simple life.

My last couple of days in Cambodia were spent in Siem Reap. By my hostel, Bokre Angkor Hostel is a family owned restaurant called Sister restaurant and I stopped in a couple of times to try some traditional Cambodian dishes. I had Chicken Amok, a curry that is typically served in a banana leaf cup and Lok Lak, a beef marinated in a savory sauce. Light and very flavorful. I also had Bai Sach Chrouk back in Phnom Penh, a breakfast dish with pork, rice, and an omelette. I really enjoyed it.

While in Siem Reap, I visited a floating village, Kampong Phluk and a few temples, Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Bayon, Ta Prohm and Terrace Elephant. 

Given that it is Cambodia’s dry season, the water level of the river was very low so we weren’t able to take the boat ride through the village. We just walked through. We were able to take a short boat ride on a part of the river that led to Tonle Sap Lak, the biggest lake in Cambodia. Just for reference, it’s nearly 2.5 times bigger than the largest lake in Minnesota. We docked at a floating restaurant on the lake and enjoyed the view of all the floating boats. 

I visited Angkor Wat at sunrise for the iconic view. Angkor Thom, Bayon, Ta Prohm, and Terrace Elephant are neighboring temples that were just as grand as Angkor Wat. I’ve visited my fair share of temples while in South East Asia, but these have by far been the most intriguing. The temples were built several centuries ago, but they still hold their original structure and the detail of the sculptures and engravings are truly one of a kind.

Songkran, the traditional new year in several countries within South and Southeast Asia is a multi day celebration that falls on the 13th-15th of April this year. The celebration is known for the water gun fights in the streets. I was able to make it out of Cambodia and will be spending the last day of the celebration in Bangkok before flying down to Singapore!