Blogs from South, Cambodia, Asia - page 3

1. Long day off in April 2019. I was quick to grab cheap flight ticket from Kuala Lumpur to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 2. Never had in my mind to tour this place of famously associated with Pol Pot. 3. Flight time : 1.5hrs. 4. Left airport around 4pm. There’s a city train to city center that cost me USD4. 5. I was informed the train was actually a kind of donation to the govt. 6. While i was impressed with the new mode of transportation here, yet i wish the govt would get and replace this train with more modern one. 7. 10km ride costing me 1.5hours in the train! 8. Reached central station I decided to take a Taxi to hotel. 9. Locals ade nice and friendly. 10. Nothing much to do on the first ... read more

In Hanoi it was the bicycle taxis that you needed to keep saying “no” to. In Phenom Penh it’s the tuk tuks. “You want tuk tuk?” “You want one hour city tour?” When I eventually felt up to it, we set-off on our own two hour walking city tour. We walked along the river front, which is clearly the backpackers area, with all the little hostels, travel shops, mini markets and the like. Then past the stunning and huge Royal Palace (which we will be visiting tomorrow as part of our tour) and then back to that area I walked to yesterday near the Independence Monument. Just as we got back to the hotel, down came the rain. A bit of a tangent, but Cambodia seems to use the UK plug sockets. Great - no need ... read more

This is a late add, but even more justified. For the second day, we rented scooters and motored our way to Kep. This is a smallish town on the coast known for its crab and city statues. We enjoyed our time cruising along the water, stopping at the crab market, reading and playing cards in the bungalows. All-in-all a good day, except the one time I parked my scooter and turned only to have my calf touch someone else’s exhaust pipe. IT WASN’T EVEN MY BIKE (which had a cover over the exhaust pipe to prevent rookie drivers from doing such a thing)! Well my skin immediately turned ashen and blistered and throbbed in pain. Anatomy class tells me those are the key signs of a second degree burn. We explored the town a little more ... read more

Did you know there are different types of pepper? Today we visited the Kampot Pepper Farm (La Plantation) and learned move about pepper than my previous knowledge times 1000x. Due to Kampot’s soil composition, pepper grows extremely well here. In fact, at one time Cambodia was known for its pepper quality around the world. However, during the Khmer Rouge, all pepper plantations were shut down and exportation of it was stopped. There is now a revival of the industry particularly in the Kampot area. We visited a plantation which grows normal pepper which can produce: green, red, white, and bird pepper based on when it is picked and how it is fermented. Bird pepper is the most expensive because the grounds are collected out of bird waste. The digestive process (fermentation) in the bird stomach is ... read more

After a late night last today was a very lazy day. We had a leisurely breakfast and then spent the morning reading and booking accommodation for the next leg of the journey. For lunch we headed out to the luxury Raffles Hotel for afternoon tea. We were sat down in the very plush elephant bar and ordered a traditional tea (they also offer a Khmer alternative). The tea is just $15 each (that’s the same price as their cheapest drinks so a good way to get a nosey at the hotel). I was very impressed with it - we had plenty of tea, little sandwiches, warm scones and tiny cakes all served on 3 tired plates. It wasn’t the most filling tea I’ve ever had but it was delicious and very well done. After tea I ... read more