Unlike most of my trips, we put this one together relatively quickly. We only just solidified our plans and we depart in less than two weeks.
Some people were surprised to hear that we’ll be spending our full two week vacation in Cambodia. While the temptation to fit in a neighboring country is strong, I also love the idea of giving Cambodia our full attention.
While we tried hard to fit in some time at an elephant sanctuary, it unfortunately wasn’t in the cards for this trip. They were either too remote, weren’t a true sanctuary, or required too long of a stay to be feasible. I’ll miss them, I have such fond memories of my time at the Elephant Nature Park during a 2014 trip to Thailand.
On my previous trip to the region I popped into Siem Reap for a just a couple days to see the temples. Having been before, however briefly, takes some of the edge off. I’m less concerned about fitting everything in and instead am looking forward to a much more relaxed pace. It will be nice to be there for a much longer stretch.
After a long flight, with a brief layover in Guangzhou China, we’ll arrive Siem Reap around 7pm local time. We’ll have the evening to recoup and adjust to the new time zone. Then in the morning we’ll be hitting it hard with a full day of temple exploration at Angkor Wat. However, I’m certain we’ll find time for massages once we’re back in town that evening - we’ll need it! Day two is another temple day, and on one of these days we’ll aim to catch the famous sunrise over Angkor Wat. When I was in Siem Reap back in 2014 the sunrise left a lot to be desired, it was more like a gradual lightening of an overcast sky. Hopefully this time we’ll have more luck. The following day we’ll explore in and around town, and shopping and kitschy mini golf might also be on the menu, along with some more r&r.
The next day we plan to head over to Banteay Srei for a homestay with a local family, we’re not quite sure what to expect but it will be an adventure. After that, we’ll make our way back to Siem Reap to catch a flight and subsequent ferry ride over to Koh Rong Sanloem for a few glorious days relaxing in a beachfront bungalow.
From there it’s another ferry ride back to the mainland and a short bus ride over to Kampot. We’ve got what sounds like an excellent little riverside bungalow booked over there. We plan to have some fun on the river with a stand-up paddle board tour and to explore the town for a couple days before heading up to Phnom Penh.
We’ll be in Phnom Penh for a long weekend, meeting up with friends before flying back home. I can't wait!