After a VIP luxury journey from Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam to Phnom Penh in Cambodia we arrived to hordes of Tuk Tuks trying to charge us $10 for a $2 trip to our hostel. Thanks to another travellers tip we knew no city journey was worth this much so managed to barter down an unsuspecting driver to the $2 mark.
Once we got to our hostel we were beat! With only enough energy to eat and sleep we treated ourselves to a burger in the attached restaurant and then climbed our way up the steep steps to our room. I’ll admit I was very doubtful as to how the night was going to end up after we exited through the back of the restaurant and past the owners bedrooms on the way up to our room however fear not, as when we were shown into our room it certainly did not disappoint!! Luxury queen sized bunk beds, soft blankets and extremely clean room and ensuite – we were in backpacker heaven!!
The next morning after we had finally finished planning and booking the rest of our Cambodia adventure we set off for the local markets to pick up some more jewellery and of course I couldn’t say no to a few extra souvineer pieces, they don’t seem to have many masks for sale here to add to my collection so instead I’ve started developing a collection of local canvas paintings. If I ever do end up settling down into my own house I’m going to have some fantastic pieces to decorate it with!
We’ve treated ourselves to a bit of a bakery day today after needing a break from noodles galore! You can definitely tell that Phnom Penh is a bit more of a tourist city!
Next up was a chance to appreciate some of the Cambodian beauty at the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda – despite the hefty price tag ($6 extra if you don’t turn up in appropriate clothing)! Unfortunately we didn’t get much of a chance to sit back and admire with another bus to catch this evening but I don’t think I could have stayed much longer in the blazing heat anyway! The tshirt which is sold (not provided!) was far too thick to sit around in for any longer!
Back to our hostel for a quick rinse down before catching a supposed VIP bus to Sihanoukville – supposed being the key word there! There was definitely nothing VIP about this bus! It was very crowded and very small!! On the way out of Phnom Penh we managed to get some photos of the crazy ways in which Asians travel around!
Kerry and I went for window seats either side of one aisle but boy was that a bad idea! A young couple then joined our bus and the only remaining two seats were between us… This would have been fine if the couple could keep their hands (or faces) off each other but of course knowing our luck they couldn’t! Shortly after the man in front of us began watching some kind of porno on his iPad! We really worried what kind of bus we’d gotten on!
Luckily we arrived safely in Sihanoukville and after a few taxi/tuk tuk issues we made it to our hostel for a good nights sleep before heading off to Koh Rong tomorrow morning for a piece of the island life!
eyes abroad 