#itinerantfoodie ✈️🍴

I’ve been always wanting to visit Cambodia or the Kingdom of Wonder. The opportunity came at the most opportune moment - firstly it was a cheap 700 HKD Cathay Dragon flight from Hong Kong.

Next, it was between the New Years period (I needed to get away somewhere to keep with the tradition of spending NYE in different cities and prices were above 2000 HKD for short hops between Asia). And Finally, it was during the dry season. Sure there might be less greenery, but at least there was no heavy rain.

Phnom Penh

As a city, there’s very few things for a first time visitor to do apart from the Tuol Sleng Museum and the Killing Fields which give an insight to Cambodia’s dark and grim history.

However, Phnom Penh seems to be a good travel hub to get to other places.

Another cool highlight of Phnom Penh is it’s another city which has the Pyongyang Restaurant. An opportunity to try the Pyongyang style cold noodles. It is expensive but worth the visit.

Not to mention, trying out “pizza” with a Cannibis as a topping. Makes visiting places such as Wat Phnom a little bit more interesting.

And finally, the city actually has the most snapchat filters.

Siem Reap

Doing some research on where to go initially - I didn’t spend too long in Phnom Penh, it was basically land and then take off to Siem Reap the next day. And glad I did.

Pub Street

This is the main party area for Siem Reap. Where there are drink carts charging $1.50 for cocktails, and towards the late hours of the night it turns into a street party similar to the vibe along Khao San Road in Bangkok (particularly in front of Temple Club where the music sound system is very powerful).

My two favorite haunts is both Temple Club and Angor What? bar.

Angkor Archaelogical Park

Obviously, high on my list was to visit Angkor Wat.

Angkor Wat

Definitely was amazing. The temple apparently took 35 years to build. Highly recommended to get a 3 day pass, rather than a single day as you cannot cover all the temples in a day.

The park is about 6 km to the north, so you will need to hire an e-Bike, scooter, or bicycle. Or you can join a tour. Or go hire one of the many freelance tuk-tuks around. The cheapest option is to self-drive your own e-Bike/Scooter/bicycle.

I visited this particular temple on 3 separate days - first was a normal visit during the daytime, second was for the sunrise on the first day of 2017, and my third visit was for the sunset.

First Sunrise of 2017

Angkor Thom

This is a a walled city of many temples which used to house 1 million people. Therefore the area was quite big.

Part of this area exists the Bayon Temple complex where there are faces carved into the rock.

Ta Prohm

This was where the Tomb Raider film was filmed, and also one of my favorite temples as it has a mixture of nature and ancient ruins.

I particularly liked how the tree roots have been growing. The trees in this temple are estimated to be a few hundred years old.

Notable Businesses

Coin Cafe in Phnom Penh

This is a restaurant in Phnom Penh which takes bitcoin. Payment in bitcoin is bit of an honor system where you pay and scan the QR code on the wall.

Angkor Hub Co-living/Co-working space in Siem Reap

Another bitcoin business. It’s more of a coworking and coliving space, so you can pay your accommodation and coworking space in bitcoins.

There seems to be quite a few events here.

Future / Followup Trips

There’s a lot more to Cambodia than being a modern day Indiana Jones, trekking around the temples in the Angkor Archaelogical Park.

I’d definitely check out Sihanoukville for the beaches on my next trip to Cambodia.