We were all slightly dubious about the estimated travel time between Siem Reap and Phnom. 'Around 6 hours' we were told. Around? Was this determined by the traffic? Dependent on the weather? None of the above, it was invariably down to the number of people climbing on and off along the way.
To our surprise the bus we had boarded was rammed with Cambodians and not the expected clientele of backpackers and tourists. Every now and then the bus would pull to the side and grind to a halt. Somebody might get on, somebody might get off. This explains why we were only given an "approximate" trip time. The drive itself was very enjoyable - the scenery was exceptional and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride through the countryside. Our bus finally arrived in Phnom Penh at 9 pm on Friday 5th.
Earlier that morning I had learnt that my Hong Kong Visa had finally been approved! As expected, this news disappointed me as I was secretly hoping that I could spend more time travelling abroad. I needed to be back in Hong Kong on the Monday to start work on the Tuesday. With a definite end point to this trip I braced myself for my final weekend on the road. Also after 2 weeks of glorious weather ominous clouds rolled into Phnom Penh and the heavens opened. Symbolic perhaps?
Phnom Penh Itinerary
Spent one evening around Sisowath Quay aka 'The riverside'. Plenty of pubs and restaurants although it didn't strike me as anything terribly exciting, again definitely geared towards tourists. While wandering the streets we saw a pretty brutal fight involving a couple of Antipodeans. For our only full day in Phnom Penh we hired Cheng a Taxi Driver for 40 USD who would drive us around to the various sites in town.
Tuol Sleng, the Genocide museum.
Choeung Ek, the Killing Fields.
Psah Thmay, Central Markets.
The National Museum of Cambodia and the Royal Palace as well as a sneaky meal of KFC
(The food is starting to get repetitive).
For an additional 20 USD Cheng was kind enough to entertain us in the evening. We were treated to a nice local restaurant, as well as a live Variety Show, complete with Cambodian Boy Bands and on stage dramas with transvestite lead actors and Platinum the local club scene. The end of the night we gave him an extra 10 USD so that he could find a place to stay the night instead of heading back to his village.
We left Cambodia the following morning with majority of the party heading back to Kuala Lumpur. It was at KL where I left them and headed back to Hong Kong. What an extremely fast two weeks. Hong Kong. Go!
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