Cambodia Wins His Heart (Thank God!)

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We flew into Phnom Penh and I was excited to finally be sharing my true love (Cambodia) with my other true love... We arrived and quickly made our way through Customs before jumping in a tuk tuk – the look on Todd’s face kicking back in the tuk tuk was priceless and we hadn’t even left the airport.



The traffic was crazy insane on the way to the Hotel and it was a real eyeopener for Todd. We had booked at the Teahouse in Phnom Penh. It is one of the hotels in the chain of Blue Lime, Templation, The Plantation, The Pavilion, The Kabiki and Mekong Floating Bungalows. A great chain of socially responsible beautiful hotels if you make your way to Phnom Penh. I have always stayed at Blue Lime but my last stay failed to impress so I thought I would switch it up and go with the Teahouse… GREAT choice. This hotel was simply beautiful and at a reasonable price too!



We quickly jumped in the pool upon arrival and spent the afternoon sipping cocktails and chilling out. That night we made our way to Romdeng Restaurant – another socially responsible business well worth supporting for a meal. Romdeng is part of the TREE chain. A global alliance of training restaurants offering its partners in the NGO world access to established high quality standards of practice in the field of social enterprise. All of their profits are invested in the students who train there and the social programs which support them on their journey to become skilled productive and happy young people with a more secure future.



Romdeng serves Cambodian food and is set in a beautiful colonial building with wooden carvings, tables, chairs and unique lights all hand made in Cambodia. The food is sensational and if you are wanting to try tarantulas (yes the spider) then this is the place to do it. Tarantulas were on our list, as were their candied ginger, pineapple and chilli margaritas; and their frozen lime and kampot pepper daiquiris! Yum.



Once the Tarantulas came out, I again was having issues with touching them (let alone eating them) despite having done so back in 2013 on the last trip here! Todd tucked in and I managed a tiny bit. Once we finished them, the Chef made a surprise visit, opening his hand to reveal just how fresh these critters are… one burst out of his hand and crawled up his arm…. I think I was just in shock sitting there and he smiled his gorgeous smile, but Todd was up and out of his seat and bolting out the door. It was very funny! After dinner we made our way back to the Hotel for an early night, knowing we had a full day of sightseeing the following day at S21 and the Killing Fields…



The following day we made our way to S21 and paid to have a guide this time. Each time I have been there I have not had a guide but felt that this time it was worth it for the stories… Halfway around the guide introduced us to the Gardener that was wandering around the grounds. It turned out that he was one of the last children rescued here at s21. There in now a large photo of him as a child with soldiers in the grounds (not here on my previous trip). At the end we also met one of the survivors that was rescued who now has his own book and by buying the book we were able to get him to sign our copy and get our photo taken with him.



Once we finished at S21 we headed out to the Killing Fields. Once we paid our fee to get inside, we were given a set of headphones with a small handheld box that had a volume control and ability to pause/play at each stop along the way. It doesn’t matter how many times I go here, it is still heartbreaking.



Halfway around the rain came out of nowhere and we sheltered under a small hut. A lovely employee came around eventually handing us an umbrella so we finished it off in the rain (and the mud) before heading into the museum (again a part I have skipped previously) to have a look at the photos and artefacts. We were going to watch the free movie they screen but we had too long to wait for the next starting time so gave up and went to get some food.



Our tuk tuk driver took us to one of the nearby restaurants where I introduced Todd to Beef Loc Lac. Addicted (both of us). We then made our way back to the hotel for a swim, snacks and cocktails. Later that afternoon we headed down to the riverside for cocktails at one of the bars overlooking the river. I cannot remember the name of it but it was on the corner opposite the FCC.



Once the sun had set we went for a walk along the river front looking for a restaurant for dinner. We finally settled on La Croisette which looked quite posh but had a nice menu. With our drinks they served us Taro Chips and they were honestly the best ones we had ever eaten. We asked for a second batch and they promptly gave them to us! I settled on the Squid with Kampot Pepper for dinner and Todd when a crumbed veal snitzel with mushroom sauce and chips.



During dinner we asked the waitress if we could buy some of the Taro Chips to take away. We thought they would be a good snack for the following day. She asked the French manager and he said no as they only made enough to serve as a freebie each day. Disappointed but we accepted his explanation…. However a few minutes later the waitress bought us over a styrofoam takeaway tray full and told us they were on the house – we felt so guilty that we hid them next to us and upon leaving Todd acted as a decoy speaking to the Manager so I could sneak out with them! It sounds so silly now but at the time we were thinking it was beyond hilarious!



The following day it was time to move on. We had booked an overnight at their sister hotel Mekong Floating Bungalow which was a short boat ride on the other side of the Mekong River overlooking Phnom Penh! It is literally one small bungalow with a restaurant and bar attached. The hotel chain run a sunset cruise each day stopping at the bar for a sunset drink… but now have one little bungalow for persons who want to stay overnight.



We spend the morning by the pool after checkout and had some lunch before being transferred by tuk tuk to the boat. It was a beautiful converted rice barge and we were the only two on board. After a short half hour boat ride, we approached our bungalow and were beyond excited. It was so beautiful and romantic.



Included in the price of the accommodation was a 3 course dinner and breakfast the next day. We chilled out the front of the bungalow for the afternoon. At sunset about 6 people turned up on another boat for their sunset drink before departing not long after and we had the place to ourselves. We were served our 3 course meal at a private table on our balcony and spent the night sipping cocktails (beers for Todd by this stage) watching the sparkly lights of Phnom Penh from a distance, before having an early night. I don’t think either of us could have stayed longer than one night as you are literally confined to your bungalow and the restaurant but it was SO romantic and a wonderful experience. Highly recommended. The water lapped under our floorboards all night and we woke up to a beautiful sunrise.



Over breakfast we watched the local fisherman catching the days food. After breakfast we set off on the rice barge again, intent on making the lunch time bus to Siem Reap…. When we docked in Phnom Penh we walked a short distance to the bus station, got our tickets and confirmed that we had enough time to get some food.



We wandered around the corner and I was excited to find a Viva Mexican Restaurant where we got some takeaway nachos for the trip. Once we got on the bus we settled in for the 5 hour journey to Siem Reap….. About an hour out of Siem Reap there was some excitement. It was just going on dark when a local cow decided to play chicken with our bus….. The driver slammed on the brakes and I mean SLAMMED on the brakes before a last minute manoeuvre around the cow… Wow! I am not sure how the bus stayed upright and on the road but it did! LOL….



Next blog: Siem Reap

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