Cambodia

Cambodia is a charming country, where an ancient kingdom blend with a nation that is projected toward the future, you will not get bored there.

For us, it was our second time in Asia and we ended up very satisfied and happy about our trip!

We organized our travel following the idea of our first holiday in Asia, so we divided cities and temples first and islands at the end. Unluckily for us, we left for Cambodia on February 2020, Covid-19 was just about... we didn't have any problems travelling and during our stay, but at the same time we didn't feel completely free as we would have been in different circumstances.

That definitely made our holiday different, but still, it was an amazing experience!

Flying from London to Cambodia is a 15h flight, with one stop in Bangkok. We'll leave you a small itinerary referring to our experience

• 4 days in Siem Reap

• 1 day in Phnom Phen

• 3 days in Koh Rong

• 3 days in Koh Rong Sanloem

• 4 days in Koh Tah Kiev

Siem Reap

We stayed for the first 3 days in Siem Reap at the Bayon Boutique Hotel a very cosy hotel right in the centre of the city, and the last day that it was actually at the end of our trip, we slept at the Golden Butterfly Villa that it was slightly cheaper, with good rooms only a little bit smaller compared with the first one, but in any case, both hotels were clean with warm and smiling staff.

Cambodia is very famous for its temples, the most known are in Siem Reap and the surrounding area.

Angkor is the old Khmer capital, there you will find a complex of temples who has been built by different kings, during the ruling of the Khmer Empire. and now are possible to be easily visited by car, tuk-tuk and for the braver ones by walk or bike.

In fact, Angkor is huge... at least 3 days are needed to visit most of it. We organized our tour by tuk-tuk, and it was real fun! We booked it for two days and then we organised a one day tour by car to get to other temples which were slightly far from Angkor. You do have to pay a ticket to get inside the park, but the price is really fair.

We would like to give you our list of personal recommendation, without listing all the temples that we visited, and to be honest with you, contrary to what we thought, we fell in love with the most famous (and most touristic) temples, no matter how crowdy they could be, they were simply magnificent, but in the end, is a matter of taste, so the best solution is to do like us, explore them all :)

You will have to choose from a Small Circuit and Big Circuit, both of them will show you some of the most famous Temple.

If you have only one day then just stick to the Small Circuit, but if you have more, then divide both circuits with a day each, because the tour is pretty long, and at least that you don't want to run in each temple, you will need a full day for each Circuit.

Angkor Wat

As we said, every single thing you will see in Angkor is pure history, We've never seen anything like it, and it's all worth a visit.

Besides that, we highly recommend you to see the sunrise in Angkor Wat even if is a very touristic thing to do, we can't deny its charm and magic, it's a must do experience, no matter the crowd and how early you need to wake up :)

You'll get there while it's still dark... the hard part will be finding a cool spot where to sit, as the place is quite busy, but as soon as the sun starts rising it will show the temple in all its majesty, we're sure you'll love it!

Angkor Wat is beautiful and it's extremely big, that's why is the largest religious structure by land area... our advice, just have fun getting lost inside this beautiful temple!

Such an amazing experience!

Bayon

Another beautiful place to visit is the Bayon temple, which is also a very big structure, with its own characteristic 216 smiling stone faces, placed in the many towers of which the temple is composed. The faces have a similarity with one of the Khmer King but are not actually proved for real, this is by far the favourite temple of Andrea.

Neak Poun

After, not far from the Bayon, you can get to see the Neak Poun It's definitely not a majestic structure as the previous one, but We found it really unique due to its location. In fact, the temple is in the middle of a small lake and to get there you'll have to walk through a floating bridge, the nature around it is beautiful.

Ta Prohm

Last but not least... the Ta Prohm Temple, mostly known as "Tomb Raider Temple", won't be necessary for me to explain to you why...

What we loved about it, are the big trees that seem "eating" the structure.

The temple on its own is really nice, but it's also much busier than the other ones due to its notoriety.

Prasat Beng Mealea

We also choose to organize a one day trip outside Angkor to get to visit more temples.

From Siem Reap, it's 1h drive and you'll get to the Prasat Beng Mealea This is so far one of the favourites from Irene, its location is extraordinary, it's in the middle of the jungle far from the crowded roads...

This is also a famous location, but the temples are so big that you won't even notice.

You'll be surrounded by nature and silence, all of these trees breaking into the walls it's something you won't see everywhere, simply stunning in its own particular way.

We highly recommend it!

Special mentions in Angkor goes to Eastern Mebon and Ta Som that even if a bit smaller than their famous brothers, they still, are rich in charm and history. While if you step a bit outside Siem Reap then Banteay Samre is another really nice temple with a very little crowd all day long

Besides temples and history, Siem Reap is also a lot of fun! In fact, during the night is lovely, there are many restaurants, bars and the centre of the city is full of night markets where you can find local products.

The most famous road is Pub Street that's where you won't get bored when the sun goes down.

And amongst the activities that you can do in Siem Reap at night, we advise you to see the Apsara Dance, a famous and old Khmer Dance, that now is been practised here and there in the city.

We find out a really nice spectacle at the Art Shadow Restaurant

We weren't able to visit the floating village, mainly due to the fact that it was the dry season, and we preferred to visit more temple instead. But after hours of research, Andrea came to the conclusion that if you want to visit the Floating Village, then you must run away from the one close to Siem Reap, because are a real trap for tourist, and you need to head straight to the Kompong Khleang that is for sure farther than the other, but you can have a better feeling of the lives of the local, without being ripped off.

Phnom Pehn

Cambodia's capital! As you read previously, we only spent one day and one night in Phnom Pehn as we don't really enjoy spending time in such crowded places simply because when we travel in certain locations we are looking for different experiences.

We stayed at the Feel Good Residences who gave us a really big room for a very competitive price, everything was clean and the location is very central, we definitely recommend it.

Now, Phnom Pehn is an interesting city, it definitely has its must see places. From our trip, we can advise you of some of the things we visited :)

The Royal Palace

To get there we decided to take a walk by the river as the palace it's really close to it, it's a pleasant walk and a nice way to get to know more about the city!

The Royal Palace is still in use by the king, and it's open to the tourist only on certain dates, and it can be closed on a short notice period if a cerimony, or a special guest is coming to visit the royal family.

Once you get there you'll have to pay for a ticket, but as always the prices are pretty good. Don't forget to cover your legs and your shoulders, as a sign of respect when you will enter sacred places :)

The Royal Palace is not crowded so you'll have the chance to visit all of it without rushing. Personally, we did like the structure and the different temples we found inside, on the other side though we maybe expected more, still, it's definitely a location worth to be explored.

Wat Phnom

In the centre of Phnom Pehn, we visited the Wat Phnom It's a really interesting temple and we absolutely loved its location. The Wat Phnom, in fact, it's literally on top of a hill and a majestic stairway is what will get you to the top! Once arrived, the temple is really nice and you'll also get to see Phnom Pehn from above!

On the other side of the hill, a big path surrounded by very cured gardens, it's really pleasant to walk there.

Killing Field

Best known ad Choeung Ek or simply Killing Field for the tourist, this infamous place has been the location where the Khmer Rouge, has killed over one million Cambodians in just 4 years, while in the whole nation around 25% of the whole Cambodian population has been killed.

At the moment of the discovery of the killing field, 8895 bodies have been found, and more than 5000 skulls of man, women and children have been collected in the Buddhist Supa.

The period running from 1975 to 1979 was a real terror regime, with the Communist Party ruling under the name of Khmer Rouge, that with the excuse of a better nation, brutally killed millions of innocent people.

To better describe it we suggest you to see First They Killed My Father a very well done movie that better described the Khmer Rouge and its dictature, but still nothing will touch you more than step into the killing field and read about the stories of the slaughterer who rule it.

We are pretty much sure that you already know that, but please do not take any pictures there, unfortunately, we were spectators of tourists who took selfie here and there, in a very unpolite way, there is nothing more disrespectful than someone taking pictures just for the sake of it.

The Markets

As our time in the capital was limited, by our choice, of course, that's all we've seen in terms of monuments. But our adventure in the city continued and we visited three of the most known local markets.

The Central Market was the first we've visited, I recommend you to do it during the day as it's more a kind of mall as it's developed inside a building, but still, it's a very typical place for locals and we had fun wandering around it. More of an emblematic place to see it's definitely the night market also very close to the Old night market (also worth a visit), and both of them are really nice and busy, where you can find whatever you can think of, yea... also food!

And then the Russian Market where you shouldn't get confused with the name, this market is very famous amongst local, so is a nice choiche if you want to explore a less touristic area of the capital.

I will say rooftops are very famous in Asian countries, also Phnom Pehn has really cool locations where to go in the evening, for dinner or even just for a drink, but we have wrote about that in the food paragraph.

Koh Rong

To get to Koh Rong island you'll have to get a ferry from Sihanoukville which is basically a port, the city itself doesn't have anything to offer, at least at the moment. Sihanoukville in fact is a building site where mostly Chinese enterprises are constructing casinos and hotels. Sadly, this city is really not a pleasant place to be, so my advice is to get there only to grab the ferry that will take you to the island.

From the port to Koh Rong is a 30 mins ride. Koh Rong is probably a good combination between beaches and also nightlife.

There are many hotels and resorts, also many hostels if you are looking for an alternative and more spiritual stay, so definitely an island that will satisfy any kind of need.

We slept at the Smile Bungalow not far from the main port, unfortunately considering the price, the quality given was not great, and the room was a bit dirty, sometimes we can get a good deal in the choiche of our accommodations, and some other times not :)

In general, the sea is beautiful, a lovely light blue colour and white sand... a paradise!

Along the coast, you'll find few restaurants, nice for a typical lunch by the sea.

The most known beach is called 4k it's the longest and nicest beach in Koh Rong.

We rent a motorbike not far from our hotel, to travel a bit around and explore new places, but just to let you know, in 2020 the road was still in pretty bad condition, especially the one connecting the south with the west of the island.

The picture is actually the only moment where the road was in an acceptable condition

Coconut Beach was a really nice place, with mainly hotel and resort, and the atmosphere is calm and relaxing.

The Royal Beach is a long stretch of white sand on the east side of the island, easily reachable from the south via motorbike, due to its popularity it can get a bit crowded here and there, but thanks to its stretch is very easy to find a quiet place to enjoy the crystalline sea

It can be quite long to reach the north part of the island with the motorbike, mainly thanks to the condition of the road, but if you are really interested in exploring that part and you don't want to drive for hours, then just jump on one of the many boats service easily located in the main Pier area.

And if you fancy travel in the sea you can jump on an organized boat trip, they will take you snorkelling, fishing and you'll have some time to spend to relax too, there are different agencies on the island that offer you any kind of experience, it's actually hard to miss them and we're sure that if you like this kind of things you'll find something that will suit your tastes.

As we said, the nightlife in Koh Rong is quite busy considering that is not a big island, there are small markets, open bars, music, and they also organized some kind of festivals! We did enjoy our time there, really a beautiful place to be :)

Koh Rong Sanloem

Not far from Koh Rong, there are different islands, one of them is Koh Rong Sanloem We took a boat from Koh Rong and it's a 15 mins ride more or less.

We stayed at Sweet Time Bungalows who were a good compromise between price and quality, do not expect anything to fancy, but still, it was a fair accommodation.

Now, Koh Rong Sanloem is actually smaller than the previous one, so also the expectations need to be different.

In our opinion, this island is beautiful, not much to do at night but still, we loved the calm and its amazing beaches.

Where the boat will leave you is Saracen Bay and is actually the main beach and one of the most famous.

Many restaurants and small resorts are by the sea and the beach itself is super quiet and a lovely place to spend your day.

On the other side of the island, you can get there by walking through the jungle, there are two different paths actually, one will get you to Lazy Beach and the other will get you to Sunset Beach both of them are worth a visit!

They both have a resort and restaurant where to relax and have a nice meal, and both are good locations where to go and see the breathtaking sunsets :)

Koh Tah Kiev

That's another stunning island to visit.

To get to Koh Tah Kiev you actually have to get back to Sihanoukville and from another port, you can get a small boat that will take you to the island.

Koh Tah Kiev just opened to tourism in 2014, and is still a "virgin" island, what we mean by that is that the human presence is not major, there are not resorts or shops, only bungalows by the sea.

Those are actually managed by local families, and they also have small restaurants where you can have a nice typical meal.

The energy on this island is limited, the power is available until 10 pm, same as the water.. in fact, you won't find proper showers or flowing water sinks but daily they will full for you a big barrel of water and that's what you'll have to use.

We spent our stay at Kaoh Ta Kiev Island Resort that is not very much of a resort but is mainly bungalows right in front of the sea, with most of them having two bed, one inside and one outside, we don't have to tell you that we slept all the four nights outside, it was a really beautiful thing to do.

To be honest, we did love this island, but it's not a place for everyone. There are no comforts, nothing that we actually see normally when we travel, it's just nature and sea.

We enjoyed our time on this island, it was an unique experience and it was nice to try something like it once in our life, today is hard to find places that haven't been modified by men and modernity.

There's plenty of activities you can actually do, sometimes we just forget how to live without comforts and it's nice to disconnect for a few days from our standard life!

No need for us to say that the beaches and the sea are extraordinary, we really recommend you to check out this island, it will be an adventure you'll never forget!

Cambodia is beautiful and charming, unfortunately, we were on the edge of the Pandemic due to the covid19, but that didn't stop us from enjoying in full this country

Did anyone say Food or Drinks?!

Here our favourite places

Cambodian cuisine has a poor approach to the ingredients, is similar to Thai cuisine, but with less spicy, sugar and coconut milk, (all of those ingredients still present, but in less quantity so from our point of view is more direct in terms of flavours.

Probably the most famous dish is the Amok most of the time made with diced fish, mixed with coconut milk, eggs and fish sauce, usually all inside banana leaves, this is definitely a Cambodian comfort food in our opinion.

Kuy Teav is a noodle soup mainly made from pork, very simple is eaten from the local at breakfast.

Beef Loc Lac is created with stir fried stripes of beef, all mixed with tomatoes, cucumber and onion, the more close to the sea you got, and more easily you will find this dish with a huge component of black pepper.

Bai Sach best known simply as pork and rice, where the meat can be marinated or not, this dish is very popular during breakfast, and in small or remote places is only served in the early hours of the day

Green Mango Salad is something that either you love or hate, the mix of sweetness from the mango and the spiciness from the chilly is not for everyone.

Tarantula is very famous in the capital, and thanks to its foreign appeal it became very touristic and now is easily obtainable everywhere, our only suggestions are just to eat from a restaurant or a street vendor that you trust.

Kampot Pepper is different from all the other type of peppers that you ever taste, has been heavily exported, especially in France in the Michelin starred and fine dining restaurants, for is fresh and elegant flavours, and you won't believe it that some simple pepper can taste like that, as always looks for the original one, because unfortunately there are many counterfeits around Cambodia, best if you head directly to Kampot :)

Siem Reap

We must start our list without favourite restaurant and cocktail bar, Sokkhak River Loung this modern places is divided into three floors, each one with its own different style, we had our dinner in the third one, and is actually a terrace surrounded by plants, it looks like if you are eating in the middle of a forest.

Food and drink were great, the prices are over the Cambodian average, but still no more expensive than a restaurant in London.

If you are looking for something more affordable then head to For Life Restaurant in our opinion it is a bit touristic, but still, the price quality is good and we ate a great Amok.

On the same style the Meng Cafe even more affordable, if you are looking to stay on the bargain side.

At Five Sons we were able to find our favourite Asian dessert, the Mango Sticky rice, when we visited the temples of Angkor it accompanies our breakfast in the early morning

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Cambodia is not well known for wine, and apart from some local beers, our best suggestions are to try their cocktails.

Just be mindful to drink cocktails with ice only in restaurant and bars that you known are clean, especially because the ice in an Asian country can be made with tap water, that most of the times is not clean and can have some bad bacteria in it, nothing that can kill you, but for sure something that can get you nausea and vomit, and ruin a few days of your trip.

So if you don't really trust the place, opt out for a beer, and if you are celiac like Andrea? Then just drink bottled water :)

Asana Old Wooden House is a really nice and cool cocktail bar, with a hanging bed and eggs where you can relax after a whole day walking around the temple.

Here the cocktails are all made using Cambodian ingredients, so you can easily find Kampot pepper and lemongrass in your drink, or you can go for a Khmer cocktail tasting from the house.

Then Pub Street is obviously very touristic, but in the surrounding alleys you can find many nice restaurants and bars, so it's always good to get lost in there.

Miss Wong is a cocktail bar with a Chinese twist, starting from the decor, ending in the cocktails.

A very fancy place, with cocktails a bit more expensive than other bars, we can definitely say that it's worth the price.

If you can't live without wine, then Balthazar Wine Bar is the right place to be.

But as we stated previously, Cambodia is not a wine country at all, and even if he had a French influence in the past, expect to find the prices of bottles very high.

Picasso Bar is located near Pub Street, is owned by an English lady, and even if it can be a bit touristic at a certain moment of the day, is a nice bar with good cocktails at the right price.

Then we couldn't mention Fcc Angkor this place is really beautiful and charming, it has even a happy hour from 4 PM until 7 PM, not bad :)

If you are looking for something a bit fancier then head to Menaka Lounge just be mindful that prices here are definitely higher than the surrounding bar, but obviously, you will have a different quality in terms of service and ingredients.

Phnom Penh

We only spent one day in the capital, so the restaurants and bars we visited were very limited, but still, we are sure we can give you some nice advice.

Romdeng is a very nice restaurant with a beautiful terrace, we had the opportunity to try out the ants, not very rich in flavour, but particularly crunchy. We enjoyed our dinner at The Sugar Palm in our opinion the best amok that we ate on our whole trip, prices were a bit higher than the average, but we were really satisfied with our meal.

We don't know why, but the day before we left we decided to eat some Japanese ramen at lunch, and we find out some really good ones on top of a huge skyscraper, the Sora Skybar to be honest, we were looking at the place just to have a good cocktail, but then we find out it was a Japanese restaurant, and we couldn't resist to it

We decided to enjoy our late night on two different rooftops, Le Moon Rooftop and Eclipse Sky Bar with the latest being a bit better in terms of quality and location, and slightly more expensive too, but anyway we recommend both of them.

Koh Rong

Known as the second biggest island of Cambodia, Koh Rong is very lively compared to its neighbours, so you will find several restaurants and bars across the aisle.

We spent our time close to 4K beach, mainly for a practical way, because from there you could "easily" reach most of the other beaches and point of interests, so most of the restaurant and bar that we tried were actually in that area.

Do not expect anything too fancy from the Cambodian Islands, most of the time is very straightforward, and a bit more expensive than the national average.

Paradise Restaurant was the closest one to our place, and we really enjoyed the vibe and the food there, plus is one of the fewer restaurants where we could get wine.

We actually got a nice Thai food ad

Sig n'Thai a really cosy stands hide in an alley not far from the main dock of the island.

Sky Bar is a really cool wooden restaurant and bar, who serves nice cocktails and happy hour from 6 pm, we definitely recommend it. And if you want to have some fun then just head straight to Police Beach who is actually a hotel that holds several parties during the week, definitely the right place if you want to dance.

Koh Rong Sanloem

Like most of the other island, all the restaurants here will provide a grill on the beach at night, so you just have to make up your choices on the night, but we still have some nice suggestions :)

We've stayed in Saracen Bay, and there we spent most of our evenings, Bamboo Jam Resort and Sara Resort were our favourites restaurants, especially for their offers of grilled fish during the night, definitely recommend it.

A great breakfast is served at Bounty Boutique this is a nice hotel, which serves a great meal during the day, a bit over the price considered the others around, but still serving higher quality food.

On the other side of the island, we recommend for a nice lunch to hit Robinson Bungalows on Sunset Beach and in Lazy beach to have a try at the Lazy Beach Resort that is actually is the only one on that beach, but it serves some really tasty dishes with smoothies

If instead, you are visiting the old town then our advice goes straight to Dragonfly Guest House who is serving nice drinks and lunch in a cosy atmosphere.

Koh Ta Kiev

This tiny nice island has been recently opened to tourism, and it doesn't have a huge choice in terms of restaurants, to make it quick we will give you our best two in the whole islands. Ten 103 Treehouse will be for sure the first one, great breakfast and dinner at a really good price. While on the other side at Crusoe Koh Ta Kiev we enjoyed some really good Amok.

Cambodia is a growing country, and its cuisine grows with it, so we will not be surprised if in 5 years from 2020 a lot of restaurants and bars will pop up here and here all over the nation.