There are about 2,000 temples found all over Cambodia and some still haven’t discovered yet. And this amazes me on our 4th country to visit in our South East Asia trip – Cambodia. It is located north of the border of Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos.

Phnom Penh as its capital and uses Cambodian Riel and USD as their monetary. 2 of the popular destination is Siem Reap where we spent 3 days and Phnom Penh for 1 night before heading to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

If you are a cultural and historical fan and would love to visit numerous temples then Cambodia is the best destination for your travel itinerary. Not only you will enjoy the temples but also learn how was their life back then. Also, in Cambodia Buddhism and Hinduism co-existed.

Centuries ago, Hinduism is the religion in Cambodia, however, centuries passed it became Buddism – 95% of the population practices Theravada Buddhism.

After spending 5 days traveling in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, we have 4 days to spend in Cambodia. 3 days in Siem Reap and 1 1/2 days in Phnom Penh.

We arrived in Siem Reap at around 3:30 in the afternoon from an 8-hour bus ride from Bangkok, Thailand. We booked a bus ticket at www.12go.asia for 34 USD / 1,700 PHP with snacks and lunch onboard plus Giant Ibis Bus has wifi!!!

We had a smooth ride and had no problems crossing border Thailand-Cambodia because Giant Ibis staff assisted all their bus passengers. We never experienced any scam at the border ( thank goodness).

Drop off is at Giant Ibis Siem Reap station where tuk-tuk drivers are all waiting. We almost got scammed with one of the taxi drivers offering us a free cab ride to our hostel and in return, we’ll hire him to Angkor Wat tour. Instead of accepting his offer we decided to call our hostel and thankfully the hostel has their own tuk-tuk driver and they picked us up at the bus station and we paid 5 USD (as far as I remember).

We stayed 3 days at Oasis Capsule Hostel in Siem Reap, Cambodia at their 4 Beds Mixed Dormitory Room. Rates per bed/night are 5.85 USD / 300 PHP only! I saved 900 PHP for a 3-day stay which by the way huge savings for me because I’m able to have a budget to buy ‘pasalubongs’ and fridge magnet also this is my budget for my food and drinks for 3 days.

 

We have our room all to ourselves, I am traveling by the way with my co-blogger/travel buddy and my college friend/kumare. Our room is small but it’s clean and we have a super cold a/c and surprisingly super comfy bed with its own lampshade every bed and power socket.

 

BOOK YOUR DISCOUNTED SIEM REAP HOTEL ROOMS HERE

BOOK YOUR DISCOUNTED PHNOM PEHN HOTEL ROOMS HERE

 

So after settling in our room we had a quick shower and change clothes, we went to straight Pub Street which is across our hostel.

 

 

 

Affordable to expensive food are all here plus you get to buy fresh fruit shakes for only 1 USD / 50 PHP.

 

 

We had our late lunch at Le Tigre De Papier an Italian restaurant in Pub Street and we spent around 30 USD / 1,500 PHP for our meal. We ordered Lasagna, Chicken and chips and 12-inch pizza.

 

 

On our second day in Siem Reap, we spent almost 7 hours in our Angkor Wat tour. We hired the same tuk-tuk from yesterday and spent 30 USD / 1,500 PHP for the whole day tour/entrance fee. We first visited Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument in the world in a massive 162 hectares wide.

Imagine that we spent almost 2 hours walking and taking photos here under the scorching hot and humid weather. But it was totally worth it!

 

 

Remember that you are visiting and entering a temple do please wear proper clothing that will not expose your shoulders and legs especially to women so I strongly suggest wearing a long skirt, malong, pants, and blouse with sleeves.

 

 

 

 

This is Ta Prohm where the famous Hollywood film Tomb Raider shot their film and because of that Cambodia became more popular especially for western travelers and backpackers.

 

We arrived in Phnom Penh after lunch and we’re all starving so after check-in in at Velkommen Guesthouse we went out to find a restaurant to have late lunch (again). By the way, we paid our 1-night stay at the hostel for only 1,000 PHP / 20 USD and our room is good for 4 pax with 2 double bed, large bathroom, tv, a/c and personal fridge.

We found this resto-bar along the streets of Phnom Pehn and tried their western food. I ordered pasta with chicken and 1 Anchor Draft beer for only 1 USD. I totally forgot how much I paid for the pasta and chicken. It was a huge serving and I’m able to take away my leftovers.

 

 

Staying at Phnom Penh is not in our itinerary. Because we can;t bear to travel by bus for 16 hours from Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam we all decided to stay 1 night in Phnom Penh instead. Our hostel is close tot he market and other tourist destinations like the Cambodia Palace, National Museum of Cambodia and Baywalk.

 

 

The Cambodia Royal Palace

 

I DO NOT HAVE 3RD EYE BUT I REALLY FELT SOMETHING WHEN I WAS IN HERE!!! I FELT LIKE I WILL FAINT ANY TIME SO I ASKED MY FRIENDS THAT WE LEAVE IMMEDIATELY AND AFTER EXITING THE GATE I PRAYED SO HARD BECAUSE I FELT LIKE SOME SPIRIT IS WITH ME.

 

P.S. You cannot take photos inside the rooms but only outside and the facade of this OLD SCHOOL BUILDING. After spending almost 3 hours in Cambodia Museum and Genocide Museum we head back to our hostel, pack our bags and head to Giant Ibis Bus Station.

Cambodia is an interesting country and I guarantee you that you will enjoy visiting temples and other tourist sites in this country. I plan to go back here by next year (hopefully).

Vietnam blog soon…

4 Days in Cambodia