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Asia » Cambodia » Central » Kampong Chhnang March 13th 2023

Actually the AmaWaterways cruise started in Kampong Cham which was a 5 hour drive south from Siem Reap. We met the tour group at the gorgeous Sofitel hotel in Siem Reap. I loved Viroth's Villa (in Siem Reap) but this was an increased level of opulence! Along the way we stopped a couple of times to use the "Happy Room" as we now refer our bathroom breaks to. One of the stops featured this incredible dragon sculpture made up entirely of bicycle tires. There was a giraffe as well which makes so much sense in Cambodia - go figure! The cruise really captured life in the countryside of Cambodia. We stopped and toured a local village that was attached to a buddhist monastery. Children starting at the age of 6 can attend as buddhist monks but ... read more
Darold with Dragon made out of bicycle tires!
Monks going home for lunch in Village
Monastery with Head Monk who was assasinated in 1993

Asia » Cambodia » Central » Kampong Thom January 3rd 2019

The reason for staying in Kampong Thom was to see the nearby temple complexes of Sambor Prei Kuk. These temples were built between the 6th and 10th century AD and are all tributes to the Hindu God Shiva or his consorts. They pre-date Angkor Wat and were recommended by the Lonely Planet as being more jungly and thus more like Angkor Wat used to be like before it was cleared. It recently became a World Heritage Site (2017). The temples are around 25km from town. You can get tuk tuks or a moto there but this works out quite expensive ($30 return for tuk tuk). We chose to rent a scooter for the day. Our hotel rents them out for $10 a day, and there’s somewhere else in town. These bikes are less well looked after ... read more
Temple outside the 3 main groups
Group N - view through forest to central temple
Wall around group S

Asia » Cambodia » Central » Kampong Thom January 2nd 2019

Today we headed to Kampong Thom, a small town which is used as a base to visit the nearby Sambor Prei Kuk temples (recently made a world heritage site). Our bus wasn’t until 1230 so we got to enjoy another leisurely morning first. After breakfast we packed, I went for a swim in the rain, we read a bit and then checked out. For some strange reason you cannot buy a bus ticket to Kampong Thom. Instead you buy it to Siem Reap and ask to be dropped off early. We struggled to find out where the drop off point is but it’s opposite the Arunus Hotel in the centre of the town for all the bus companies. We travelled with Giant Ibis again, finding them professional, safe and comfortable, albeit more expensive than the alternatives. ... read more
Interesting fellow road users

Asia » Cambodia » Central October 21st 2018

Od tejto krajiny som nic necakal a tym padom ma ani nesklamala. Vobec ma neoslovila, nic zaujimave som tu nenasiel. Itinerar som mohol riesit inak (z pp do bb, sr, pp a potom dole a odtial do bkk) a hlavne som si mal zachovat chladnu hlavu v sikhaville a nie ho hned opustit nazad do pp ale ist radsej na ostrov koh Pozitivum bolo lacne capovane pivo. S lokalmi som moc nedebatil, ono sa mi zdalo, ze ani nemaju zaujem. Sa ani necudujem ked sem ludia chodia len chlastat a za kurvami a popri tom si kuknu angor wat. Ten tez nieako extra neoslnil. Jedlo vcelku dobre ale opat nic za cim by sem mal clovek cestovat. Velka skoda, ze sa mi nepodaril vlak co chodi zadarmo. Fajn bol moto vylet na bokor. Kambodza sa radi ... read more

Asia » Cambodia » Central January 21st 2018

Leaving our hotel at 6am we are greeted by Sock, he will be taking us to the railway station, our last journey with him. We have booked seats on the newly reinstated train service between PhNom Penh and Sihanoukville, which stops at Kampot, today's destination. For more than fourteen years there were no trains at all in Cambodia, so we are looking forward to this trip. The carriages are refurbished 1950s stock, (think UK train services for us children of the 1950/60s) with limited seats costing USD6pp and if you are lucky and book in advance, your car can travel with you, for the same price strapped onto the rear freight truck. It is not a fast service, taking over five hours, but as we leave the city behind, scruffy heavily polluted scrubland and ghetto style ... read more
Leo on Royal Cambodian Railways
Lauren's backpack travelling Cambodia
Rikitikitavi bedroom

Asia » Cambodia » Central » Kampong Chhnang January 20th 2018

Day 3 starts with glorious sunshine and a peek over our balcony confirms our suspicions, the health-conscious Cambodians are pumping away on the outdoor gym across the road. No expensive membership subs required! Feeling very lazy, we make our morning coffee and watch them for a while, then get down to the serious business of planning a leisurely final day on PhNom Penh. Of necessity we will stop over again next weekend for one night when we travel from Sihanoukville in the South West, to Battambang in the North West of Cambodia, however unlike some Capital Cities this has not been an endurance test. The people are polite, the streets not too dirty, and the food outlets very good. Added to the fact that our Hotel Cozyna is on the major tourist strip, allows us easy ... read more
French style central Post Office
Paula at the Central Watt
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Asia » Cambodia » Central » Kampong Chhnang January 19th 2018

As arranged, we met our driver 'Sock' at 0830 hrs for our day's sightseeing, we were all early! We started with a short trip to the train station to book our seats for Sunday's journey to Kampot. For once, at the price we expected, USD6 each. Then the more sobering stuff, a 20 minute drive to the former Suburban High School nicknamed S21- also known as the Tuel Sleng Genocide Museum that Pol Pot and the Angkor (Organization) turned into a horrific torture chamber. Somewhere between 12,000 and 22,000 innocent Cambodians were tortured and killed, infants and old. The drama of those times are well documented and anyone who does not know about these terrible deeds can easily Google the basic facts on line. We make no excuses for not taking photos this morning, to do ... read more
TaProhm
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Asia » Cambodia » Central » Kampong Chhnang January 18th 2018

What an epic journey - After waking at our home in Cyprus 4am and being unable to get back to sleep, it was shower, tea and on the road by 5.10am. After various modes of transport I.e. Truck/shuttle coach/aeroplane and finally taxi, we reached our hotel exactly 31 hours later. Only 13 hours of this was on airline transportation. Arriving at Pnom Penh tired and a little Jet Lagged we were disappointed to find that the "Give a small man a uniform syndrome", is alive and thriving here. Having pre arranged our E-Visas we presented them at immigration only to be shouted at and told off for not filling in additional Landing cards/visas on arrival - our fault, but the abuse was galling. To add insult to injury when we re presented ourselves, Leo was also ... read more
Balcony view by night

Asia » Cambodia » Central » Kampong Chhnang January 18th 2018

After catching a much-needed night's sleep, we were woken by some lovely chanting melodic music, and when going out onto our balcony, the source was easily identifiable as a Yoga/Pilates style of morning exercise class. White, tunic-clad enthusiasts of all ages and gender getting their limbs lumbered on the riverside, in fact, the whole length of our visible vista showed a veritable outside gym, every type of machine in fervent use, and this at 6.30am with the sun barely risen. We almost felt the urge to join in ( only lasted a second though) and we settled to watch a perfect orange sunrise as the heat of the morning began to settle and whilst Leo slept , Paula drank coffee and enjoyed the morning bustle which is Sisowath. Today we plan to explore on foot, as ... read more
Exercise Class
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Asia » Cambodia » Central » Kampong Chhnang January 10th 2018

Wednesday 10th January, typing from home, which happens to be Cyprus. Testing this blog in readiness for next week's journey into Central Asia. More soon.... read more




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