Day 1
Today’s travel day, not only I had to take the bus but also the ferry. Nevertheless, I was very excited to meet up with my friends – the kindest people on earth.
The Dutch helped me booking shared taxi to Sihanoukville for $12.5. The road condition was pretty bad though.
In about 2 hours or so, we arrived at the ferry terminal, just in time for the 12pm ferry ($21 – 2-way)
Unfortunately, due to lack of sleep in the hostel as well as the bumpy ride, I was getting motional sickness.
After about 45min, we arrived on the island. We were starving, so after checked into our hotel ($55/3) and started our feast.
Food was 125,000 / 3 Riels
After dunking in the water for a bit, we were ready for our evening boat ride ($4pp) to see the plankton. – it’s amazing really to see in person, impossible to capture in camera unfortunately
I went to bed early due to the massive headache that I had.
Day 2
We got up at 5am to see sunrise. The island was very deserted and peaceful.
We found a local beach resort for some egg omelets. (54,000 / 3 Riels)
After a brief break and shower, we decided to eat again (57500 / 3 Riels).. (ehhh, I don’t normally even eat breakfast, but my friend somehow got super hungry just a few short hours)
Then we took the ferry back to SHV and attempted via tuktuk (30000 riels / 3) to find a hotel, which was bit harder than we thought. The first hotel was in a deserted part of the town and second didn’t have towels and flies everywhere. We decided to settle on the second one nevertheless. ($20/3)
The local businesses were largely Chinese and didn’t even have Khmer languages, which I found a bit odd. Though I wasn’t happy, but I wasn’t in the position to judge or power to change anything either.
We walked passed the Chinese part of the town and went to the Khmer part to eat (206, 000 / 3 riels)
Day 3
Had a good night sleep, and time to eat again…
After lunch, it’s time to hit the road and get to Phnom Penh ($15pp)
After got to PP, we first got to my friend’s brand new condo to check his rooftop bar
At this point, I grew quite liking the city now.
My friend paid ($21?) for the food and beer. I became quite tired at this point, so headed to my hostel for a good night sleep. Still managed to get 2 beers though.
Day 4
Got up early for the tour ($30) genocide tour day. I intentionally didn’t take many photos out of respect of the dead.
The audio tours were really good. I think the perhaps the take-away is can we prevent it happening again. The fact this happened decades after Holocaust and so few knew about it, the fact that the US/UK/China/Franch supported Khmer Rogue 20 years after the end of the genocide due to Vietnamese invasion, I think the answer is probably no.
After a brief nap, I decided to walk around the city myself with a German since the city walk tour was cancelled due to lack of sign ups. I think despite the claim that tourism is completely open, I think there were still business didn’t manage to survive.
The water front is astonishing!
It was interesting that someone’s at the duck stand asking me where I was from after guessing if I was from Japan, Vietnam and finally China. He then said how lucky I was and I shouldn’t share my fortune.. not sure what to make of it…
Day 5
It’s supposed to be my relaxing day. Ended up pretty tiring. My friend said he was going to work at 9am, I figured why not join him and I could get some research done as well.
The noodles really good, though a bit fancier and pricer to my like (15,000 Riels plus coffee 10,000 I think)
I had a chance to talk to a few people at the Khmer Enterprise, was genuinely impressed about their mission, motivation and commitment. I do think with those people, the great progress shall be made.
Time flu by rather fast to lunch.
Back to the office for some computer time before we headed out for beers:
My friend also ordered some clams and steak ($25/2). Not my favorite nor was I hungry at all
Food and drinks alone were definitely over-budget for the day. Once a while to enjoy higher class life? (I am not opposed to spend money on food even expensive ones, but the value was a bit subpar)
We actually wanted to do a River cuisine on the Mekong River, it seemed no operators were running, only privates.
More food at the Russian night market (no Russian food, ironically)
I was pretty happy at the night market. Deep down I still enjoy more of the common people food!
Day 6
Finally a lazy day. Got up a bit early but went back to sleep until lunch time. My Cambodia friend wanted to eat Greek food, I figured I’d tag along.
After lunch I decided to go to the national museum ($10)
I was honestly pretty disappointed for spending $10, not only the facility seemed in poor condition (galleries in maintenance) but also the audio guide wasn’t provided. I wasn’t even given a brochure, and the complex is really tiny – not that I am into ancient artifacts that much to begin with
I was planning on at least getting some alright experience at the Royal Palace. It wasn’t even open.
In Asia, there also seems having issues maintaining tourist attractions. I really just don’t understand. In America, even a city or town level museums are in great shape. Asia only has money for high rises, which is really a shame.
I was pretty grumpy at this point, and the Grab driver chose to not to pick me up after accepting.
Do people in Southeast Asia don’t drink beer in a hot Friday afternoon? I also don’t know where were the backpackers. Maybe this is self-fulfilling to skip Phnom Penh in that community. I can definitely see why. If things aren’t in-order, how do you expect people to stay here longer?
Went back to my hostel for a brief break, and went out for dinner (17,000 Riels) with my Cambodian friends.
I missed the Family dinner at the hostel, probably the chance to network as well. I think I probably subconsciously made a decision to just not socialize. I think in part is unlikely I’d find anyone I can really connect at a party hostel. Then again, not socializing actually made me more tired. I wonder if I am actually an extravert.
My friend decided to take me around the city and check out a skybar.
The view and drinks are just fabulous. I’d say it’s definitely worth the $60 (technically should be split with 3, I picked up the tab this time)
In general, I don’t really like ordering expensive food at a drinking place especially since we’ve had dinner just before. (Might be a tradition to always have food to accompany drinks. I am probably more value conscious. I don’t mind paying for the price as long as it’s worth the value.)
I think coming to Cambodia really has upp-ed my spending hobbit. From having to think twice ordering anything over $5 (consider most of the time food is around $2) to paying for double digit. Mind you, I just came from de facto more developed Saigon.
Day 7
Another lazy day. I ordered some Chinese beers and a Baijiu to lunch where my friend’s mom’s cooking. Really lovely people, definitely one of my highlights of the trip.
The family was really lovely, they spoke a bit English since they’ve hosted guest houses before.
The uncle (ex-army general) really liked the Chinese liquor, I actually ended up ordering the second batch for him using a local delivery app called nham24 ($9.4)
Knowing that I love Durian, the mom purposefully went to the market to pick an expensive Durian (due to not in season at this moment)
The mom brought more fruits as desert, how lovely.
We looked at their family photo albums, seeing their growth (belly size) is fun!
After the meal. (I swear I grew 5 pounds since I started in Cambodia), we went to Wat Phnom in the city center.
My friend decided to take me to a local sauna shop ($6) for relaxation. What good value it is, we even had a fresh coconut. It’s just interesting to see how food and drinks can be very expensive (I think it has lots to do with not being able to produce everything inside the country? Technically, Cambodia is an agricultural country. I am pretty puzzled actually ) while services can be found at a bargain.
Some interesting economic data in the Indochina area:
Cost of Living Comparison Between Ho Chi Minh City and Phnom Penh: Consumer Prices in Phnom Penh are 27.06% higher than in Ho Chi Minh City (without rent)
 Restaurants | Ho Chi Minh CityEdit | Phnom PenhEdit | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meal, Inexpensive Restaurant | 54,505.52 ₫ (2.31 $) | 94,420.00 ₫ (4.00 $) | +73.23 % |
However, the GDP, according to the World Bank or https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=VN-KH Vietnam is more than 3 times higher than Cambodia.
Expenses
| Week 3 | ||||
| Day | Food&Drink | Lodging | Transportation | Other (tickets/tours etc) |
| 1 | $11.46 | $18.33 | $33.50 | $4.00 |
| 2 | $26.46 | $6.67 | $7.50 | $0.00 |
| 3 | $28.50 | $22.46 | $16.33 | $4.00 |
| 4 | $15.94 | $22.46 | $1.33 | $41.35 |
| 5 | $52.50 | $22.46 | $0.00 | $1.00 |
| 6 | $51.25 | $28.00 | $3.00 | $10.00 |
| 7 | $17.73 | $28.00 | $2.33 | $0.00 |
| $203.83 | $148.38 | $63.98 | $60.35 | |
| Grand Total: | $476.54 |