The Royal Palace in Phnom Pehn
One of the joys of Facebook is it gives you daily memories from 1 , 2 and 3 years ago and the week I wrote this blog I had just returned from several trips to Cambodia , so it seemed like a good idea for a Blog!
Ch Hai on Pub Street in Siem Reip
I have been five times to Cambodia staying in Phnom Pehn, the capital, ( twice) Siem Reip (SR) in the North ( twice ) and Sihanoukville and the Island of Koh Rong in the south. On my first trip I met Ch Hai in the Sarai Resort and Spa at Siem Reip and we lazed by the pool and had lunch. In the evening we went exploring Pub Street . The next day I had my first early morning tour of Angkor Wat.
The beautiful Sarai Resort and Spa in Siem Reip
I also love Cambodian food and have done two cookery courses with the chefs at the Sarai Resort and Spa in Siem Reip. It is an amazing hotel and I have stayed there twice. They have a Spa and I have had several Lemon grass massages there over the years . They also arrange transport and tours and there is a great on site restaurant. I thoroughly recommend it ( https://www.sarairesort.com/ )
When I left Sarai last time they told me to Book direct for more discount ( they have to pay a huge commission to Booking.com)
My first Cambodian cookery course at Sarai Resort and Spa
SR is also home to the amazing Angkor Wat and other temples . With a good guide you can get great photos as the sun rises and learn the history of these amazing buildings.
The temple at Angkor Watt is the biggest in the world and was built in the 12th Century. According to Wikipedia
"The monument was made out of 5 million to 10 million sandstone blocks
with a maximum weight of 1.5 tons each."
Siem Reip also has a street full of Restaurants and pubs called Pub street, if you like that kind of thing. There are many markets selling food and a night market for tourist gifts. There is also a tour to the floating market on a boat. Siem Reip is usually a one night stop on most peoples itineraries of Cambodia, Malaysia and Vietnam. I would suggest that Cambodia should be a country you visit on it's own and Siem Reip is well worth a 3 day visit, maybe 4.
Early morning at Angkor Watt
Phnom Pehn ( PP) , the capital, has plenty to do and lots of really good cheap hotels like Okay Boutique and Royal Mekong, which are close to the Palace. It's easy to walk around and you can wander by the Mighty Mekong River, or visit the many markets and the National Museum.
Do not be put off by the Tuk tuk drivers who will tell you the Museum is closed but they can take you to the Killing fields ( a long way out of town and best done as part of a tour). PP has preserved some very sad memories from the time of the Khmer Rouge. Largely unseen by the West millions were tortured and killed at the Killing Fields or at the site of the Genocide Museum. Both are must see places , but not on the same day- they are just too harrowing. Sovarth and I had an interesting discussion about how Cambodia is trying to put this harrowing part of it's history behind it and move on. At the same time it respectfully pays tribute to those who died in the genocide many years ago. I for one grew up not knowing about the Khmer Rouge or the Killing fields. I even took a young Cambodian there for his first visit and he too was moved by what he saw.
Map of the Killing fields- Google it if you want to find out more
Again there are lots of restaurants , bars and clubs in PP and Chin Meng Jau was a waiter in the VIP suite at Friends restaurant. He invited me one night and I had a great meal and watched the live band ( and got very drunk in the days when I used to drink!)
One of my favourite places to eat was hidden away in the grounds of the National Museum. It is a cute restaurant with Cambodian staff , amazing music and lots of young customers from the surrounding schools and Art College.
The other amazing thing about Cambodia is the great looking guys and their friendly hospitality. Sonchek took me for dinner on his moped ( scary experience!) when I ran out of money . The same week when I had no money Sovarth paid for a Grab ride to the airport.
Chin Meng Jau accompanied me to the Killing Fields outside PP and on various other tours. He was back in touch last time I visited but we could not find a mutually convenient time to meet!
Chin Meng Jau
Having breakfast with beautiful Panha at the now closed Jay's diner in PP
The guys all showed me around, came for meals, and a couple stayed for a few nights. It is always helpful to have a translator and someone who knows their way around! Sovarth is still in touch to this day .
Sovarth, who went to college in East Sussex and worked as IT Consultant at
Save the Children Cambodia. He paid for my Grab to the airport when I ran out of cash on the last day!
Mr Chen joined our Challenge Aref weight loss challenge in 2019 but I had to pay his contribution to the charity!
Mr Chen who still owes me 50 bd!
The Cartoon Mr Chen , drawn by one of my students, Salman Alzaimoor
( For more information on the Challenge Aref Charity weight loss competition you can read our eBook by copying and pasting this link into your browser:
Back to Cambodia!
I first went to Phnom Pehn in 2016 as part of my Asian tour taking in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Cambodia and Thailand . I flew into Siem Reap and then Business class from SR to PP ( by the time I booked it all the other seats had sold out so there were 38 economy class passengers and me in Business for the 45 minute flight- hilarious!) . You can read more about that in this eBook:
My second trip was to PP and then Sihanoukville and Koh Rong , but I will cover that in another Blog!
Finally I went back to Cambodia and Thailand in December 2019 (and visited SR and PP). That is when Gulf Air lost one of my flights and I had to pay again in Thailand to get to Cambodia and back. That is why I ran out of money in the last few days in PP!
I thoroughly recommend you visit Cambodia!
 |  |
Hello, I am The British Kabayan! Feel free to read my stories.
No comments:
Post a Comment