Category The big Indochina trip
I haven’t seen the sea since leaving Cat ba island so when I read about white sand beaches in southern Cambodia I knew I had to go there. Thanks to a recommendation from some other travelers we set our sights on Koh Rong island. It took a full day to get there, first a bus to Sihanoukville then a speed boat ferry from there. The island is not very developed, save for the main boat pier, most of the hotels and restaurants are right on the beach. There is a kind of main area where the bars and restaurants are … Read the rest
Having seen all there is to see in Kampong Thom, we headed back to Phnom Penh right after breakfast. We arrived at our hostel around lunch and, since we weren’t able to access the room for about two hours, we decided to kill the time by going to the nearby Wat Phnom which is one of the main temples in the city.
I feel a bit templed out so I didn’t take as many photos as normal but it’s nice all the same. The inside especially has some nice paintings depicting scenes from the Buddha’s life.
Temple selfie 
Inside of
For some reason, the name Sambor Prei Kuk has stuck in my mind after flipping through the guidebook countless times. When I looked up the details I realized it’s only about 200 kilometers from Phnom Penh which is suitable for an overnight trip.
We got on the bus in the morning, and sadly the aircon wasn’t quite as good as advertised so it wasn’t a very pleasant ride. A little worse for wear, we arrived in Kampong Thom (the closest city to Sambor Prei Kuk) in the early afternoon. We checked in to a surprisingly nice hotel, rented a motorbike … Read the rest
After the harrowing journey here it has felt really good to not have to travel for a few days, just stay in one hotel. I came down with a case of traveler’s diarrhea so I’ve been cooped up in the hotel for a day but other than that we’ve been out exploring the city.
Right around the corner from our hotel is the National Museum of Cambodia. It houses quite a collection of ancient statues from all around the country. The building itself is pretty nice too.
The front of the museum 
Museum courtyard 
The most famous statue 
Some of
After many trials and tribulations I’m finally in Phnom Penh. I started at eight in the morning at the travel agent where I left the motorbike, with a large tourist bus. The air con was cranked all the way to eleven, some of the airvents even had curtains stuffed in them to stem the flow. Since I was in sneakers and long trousers it was ok though.
We took off about twenty minutes after schedule and stopped a few times along the way so when we reached Nakasong ferry terminal it was already eleven. I thought the people headed for … Read the rest
There are two possible solutions to my border problems that I can think of: to sell the bike here and possibly buy a new one in Cambodia, or to stash the bike here, go to Cambodia for a few days. Then, when I have been away for long enough to avoid the 30 day rule for Vietnamese visa exemptions, come back, collect the bike and ride it back to Vietnam and from there into Cambodia.
I was lucky enough to find a way to combine the two methods which gives me more options than anything else. I put an add … Read the rest
My goal for the day was to reach Stung Treng in Cambodia, but it’s only about 100 kilometers from Don Det so I spent the (relatively) cool morning hours exploring the islands. Close to Don Det is a slightly bigger island called Don Khon which is famous for two things, waterfalls and river dolphins.
I like the way the boats are surrounded by islets 
View from the bridge, who builds a house on such a tiny little island?
I took the motorbike along the little path that counts for a road in Don Det, crossed the bridge and went out … Read the rest
Except for ziplines there are plenty of watetfalls on the Bolaven plateau and the area around Pakse. Normally I would want to visit all of them but the next stop on the way to Cambodia, Four Thousand Islands, had such an interesting name I wanted to go there earlier. The main island that travelers visit is Don Det which can be reached by a small ferry from Nakasong. When I reached the ferry terminal I was excited to see that the ferry was actually just a small catamaran built by two narrow boats connected by a wooden platform with a … Read the rest
When I got my eye infection some days ago I missed my booking at The Gibbon Experience where you zipline through the jungle and stay overnight in a treehouse. Here in Pakse there is a similar thing called Tree Top Explorer and when I read about it in my guidebook I decided I should do it as compensation for the one I missed. I Just came back to the city after doing it and I will say right away that it was great.
After picking up our group as well as a TV team from Thailand filming a travel show, … Read the rest
The next city I wanted to go to is Pakse which is little over 300 kilometers from Thakhek. The reasonable thing to do would be to do it in two days but I’m tired of transit towns with nothing to see so I made a deal with myself; if I reached Savannakhet, the biggest city along the way, before lunch I would continue all the way.
I didn’t manage to take off quite as early as I wanted but I made good time and by eleven I was already passed the junction with the Savannakhet road so I decided to … Read the rest