Cambodia Diaries-
So, I finally decided to take the trip to Cambodia I had been planning to go since 2018 after a friend prompted me.
Back in college, I can’t exactly say which year but surely before 2018 is where our story starts. I had just completed my first paid internship and I had money to spend. I decided to use this money to travel. I was not too big of a traveler back then, especially not a solo one but I thought it’s time for me now to explore things and take risks to see the world out there. I was especially fond of Japanese culture and media, so my prime planning was to spend my money on a trip to Japan.
Although, with my budget, a trip to Japan was difficult. So, I tried talking to a friend of mine who used to travel. She redirected me to another friend of hers who was a travel blogger (still is) and had visited most of the world’s countries. With my budget in mind, she suggested Cambodia as a super affordable option at the time. And I liked the suggestion of visiting a country with cool temples, rich history and ample clean beaches.
Soon, I got busy with life, then the pandemic happened and then I started a full-time job with little time to go on longer vacations. After 2 years of Covid-19, then 2 more years of a high-pressure, consuming job, I finally found a window to take a longer break- with my role change. I was about to join a new team and was wrapping things up in my previous role. I had a break of little more than a week between the transition. That's when I decided that it was finally time to cross the long put-up item from my checklist and visit the Land of the Khmers.
But nevertheless, I was determined to go on my trip, and I finally boarded the flight to Cambodia around midnight from the IGI Airport, Delhi. This was a flight around midnight amidst very bad weather & high turbulence. Around the outskirts of Cambodia, my flight was shaking more than an off-road bus. Weirdly twisting and turning, going up and down and simply shaking non-stop, it finally landed at Phnom Penh airport sometime after 4AM in the morning of 22nd June 2024.
On a nearly empty airport, before the first ray of sunshine, 1 lone flight landed at a ghost airport. There were a handful of staff members in immigration who did our checks, all of whom also seemed to be scattering, after all passengers from our flight were done.
Once I somehow found the exit to the airport- and with every single outlet closed, I waited around for a cab. Before I could book one via my app, a driver approached me with a slightly expensive but reasonable fare and with the knowledge of the route and area where my hotel was located. So, I hopped on the cab, and we took off into the broad roads of Phnom Penh still yearning for the rays of sun and covered in a blanket of darkness.
Soon as we reached my hotel, unfortunately we hit another roadblock- that my booked hotel was closed. Thankfully, my cab person dropped me off to another hotel which had spare rooms and I stayed there. Despite a bit of a rocky start, I was determined to straighten out the rest of my trip and have fun as planned.
Now, let’s start with my days and nights:
Saturday, 22nd June 2024: I spent most of my morning catching up on the lost sleep in the overnight travel. Once awake, I decided to roam around, check out the local shops, see where I can get decent meals and the usage of currency here. Curiously enough, I discovered that we use US Dollars and Cambodian Riel together at all outlets. Like you can pay either by Riel, or USD or a combination of both and you’re going to get the change in the same format. Admittedly, this was a bit confounding as now I had to use a currency converter and a calculator at every purchase. Thankfully, all the locals were accustomed to this and showed me everything on their screens and calculators.
From the beginning to the end, I found the Cambodian (Khmer) people to be very accommodating, welcoming and warm at all the places I went to. As expected, the prices were hiked everywhere for tourists but other than that, the people were reliable and decent everywhere. Polite and helpful too.
Then I spent the next 2 days exploring Phnom Penh- changing hotels each night to stay in a different part of the city each time. Also visiting all the local sights, the city had to offer- the Buddha Stupa Park, Wat Botum Park, Royal Palace, National Museum, Silver Pagoda, Night Market, Bassac Lane and it’s multiple cafes. And most notably the serene boat ride across Tonle Sap River during evening to watch the sunset.
And honestly, it was a little too much for my digestive health and then I decided to switch to only vegetarian food for a while which was surprisingly difficult to find in Phnom Penh.
Then I took a prolonged bus ride, again amidst severe thunderstorms to the coastal city of Sihanoukville. Now it was time for me to explore the beaches and islands of Cambodia.
Tuesday, 25th June 2024: This time the weather was so bad that I could not reach my far away beach resort so I decided to make a short stay at a hostel nearby. And this was something I wished to try this time. I’m not usually a hostel stay person; I prefer my personal space and the security of living in a hotel. But for 1 night, I thought let’s give it a shot. And it was a chance worth taking. The hostel had all the amenities for solo travelers. The food was great. The commute and transport from the hostel were well sorted, the staff was amazing and there were many other people who were travelling by themselves. All for nearly a quarter of the cost of staying at a big hotel.
Apart from the sea food, I found some terrific Italian, Chinese and even English food options. Being a seashore city, I also made it a point to try lots and lots of fresh fruits and fruit-based drinks. With a really standout passion fruit soda drink. Somehow I feel, all cuisine foods are great in Cambodia (didn’t try Indian though). Khmer food, however, I found a little bland for my palate. The flavours and spices were too distant from each other so I wouldn’t think it was as good as everything else there.
Then the remaining days of my holiday, I spent exploring the beaches at Sihanoukville, exploring nearby Islands- Koh Rong and Koh Rong Sanloem- all of which had great day & night life, clean beaches with clear water, ample water sports and diving activities and just enough population to feel welcomed but not enough to be crowded. Amazing sights of the flora and idyllic resort destinations with cozy wood cabins. These islands were an ideal haven amidst nowhere experiences.
Another interesting happening was when it got time for me to return to India. I had visited during one of the monsoon months but got lucky as I had found heavy rains on just 1 day. However, it got a little rainy when I was on an island nearly 40km away from mainland with my flight from Phnom Penh which was again 3-4 hours away from Preah Sihanouk. Ferries from the island don’t run if it rains. And had this happened, I’d have been stuck and missed my flight. On Thursday, I was consistently looking at the sky and counting the minutes for my ferry to arrive at the island. It was late, but thankfully it did. And after checkpoints at all islands, I finally reached the mainland. From there I took a luxury minibus to Phnom Penh and made it on time to the airport. From there, I boarded a flight delayed by 2 hours and reached Delhi amidst very heavy rains and news of accidents at airports.
Another little something I noticed more at home was that there is a distinct smell of the cities. As did with Cambodia, probably due to being closer to water bodies. A flowery flowy kind of scent which envelops you in it’s lovely embrace as long as you’re in Cambodia. A place full of lovely people, great food, absolutely amazing beaches and a largely undiscovered territory which is full of young visitors yet still wonderfully joyous and unspoiled by the overflow of tourists.
Whenever coming back to your home country, no matter from which place- however enjoyable it was, we feel a sense of relief and belongingness to our nation. Atleast I do. The moment I landed back in Delhi, I was elated. I had come home with a suntan and a sunburn on my legs, but it was an extremely enriching, opening and joyful experience. Once I came back and settled, I started missing the sense of freedom with no responsibilities besides going out every day- with the sole objective of having fun. Sparking in me an urge to travel again soon to my next destination.
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