Blogs from West, Cambodia, Asia

On Christmas Eve we set off by taxi to travel to a bridge on the river Preat in the Southern Cardamon Mountains National Park. Having experienced unsurfaced and pot holed roads outside Battambang we feared the worst but the roads, for the most part, were surprisingly good and there was even a toll road. The journey took about 6 and a half hours passing rice fields and through various small towns. We stopped at a petrol station which was a mini services with decent toilets and a small shop. The last hour and a half was akin to driving through a building site as the new road is under construction. We were very glad to reach our dropping off point where we were picked up in a long boat. We were taken swiftly along the river ... read more

One of the highlights of my trip Angkor Wat is the foremost and most visited center of attraction in Cambodia. It is the largest religious monument in the world and the World Heritage Site of UNESCO. Angkor Wat is now a significant national symbol of Cambodia. Angkor Wat was originally created as a temple of Hindu, and it is still stuffed with stone reliefs and statues of Hanuman, Shiva, Ganesh, and the Apsaras. After Khmer Empire disintegrated, Angkor Wat was then changed into a Buddhist temple. Over the centuries, the temple has still been in use, and there are still some observations and ceremonies for both the Hindus and Buddhists. King Suryavarman passed the order for the Angkor Wat temple to be constructed, and he made it his official capital city and temple. Its location was ... read more

After our extremely uncomfortable but less hair raising 4 hour taxi ride in a 5 seater car with 8 people (including baby) we arrived in Koh Kong. Our first impression of it was the that it was a bit of a dive. We hadn't planned on staying here but figured we wouldn't have enough time to hitchhike to Sihanoukville so went out to explore. We did find some delicious street food - BBQ sticky pork, pickled vegetables, soup and rice (standard) all for £1 which perked up our spirits. After our feast we then got a tuk tuk to take us to the Mangrove Forest. This place was definitely worth the visit. It was eerily quiet aside from the popping of air bubbles through the marsh. With hundreds of thousands of crabs all shapes and sizes ... read more

The path is bumpy and sandy. I lurched and squealed and shut my eyes in the scary parts. Scary parts: crossing bodies of water on a tire-wide concrete bridge with narrow rails on the sides for balancing with the feet. My second godson from Chi Phat, Rat, is an excellent motor bike driver. He has driven the path to the Wildlife Alliance Animal Rehabilitation Station, 7 kilometers outside of Chi Phat many times, so we arrived safely. First thing I noticed were the ducks toddling about (a source of eggs for the workers there), and then the hill myna birds who greeted us. These noisy black birds flash orange sideburns. They are fond of communing with the guests, perching atop motorbikes, luggage, chairs, and heads. Mr Souen, one of the caretakers, greeted us with a radiant ... read more

Of all the places we have been, we really fell in love with this place and the idea behind it. It's set in the Cardamom mountains which are home to wild elephants :) Once notorious for logging and poaching, it is known an eco tourism spot for trekking, elephant spotting and homestays. We arrived here from Kep, the bus dropped us at a wooden hut in Andoung Teuk which felt like the middle of nowhere! Lucky for us, the girl in the hut served us coffee and showed us the long boat :) People in this region are very friendly and kind. We got on our longtail boat with a couple from England and a local female captain (I love how there is gender equality in the jobs here, we've seen female construction workers building the ... read more