Sisters on Tour- Cambodia
Sisters on Tour - we flew with Vietnam Airlines from Heathrow to Phnom Penh in Premium Economy Class. Not as luxurious as Qantas, Virgin or BA Premium Economy Class, but a comfortable flight on the Dreamliner with good service.
Phnom Penh is a must for a couple of nights to see the Killings Fields Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields difficult to understand how this could happen, it certainly leaves a harrowing memory of the awful genocide that took place.
The next part of our trip was to Siem Reap, we decide to go by road via Battambang and experience I am not sure I would do any (long road journey) We did get a good feel of the country side but the roads are still being modernised, lots of road works and delays, slow traffic.
Battambang was a good stop we had the opportunity to visit a local family and cook lunch with them - that's after a visit to the local market to buy the produce which is always interesting to experience. it was lovely chatting to the family and helping them make the meal which we then ate.
The next day was my favourite, a day on the Tonale Sap to a floating village. All the images I had were so different to how it was. Its quite incredible to see every day life on floating pontoons, schools, shops, restaurants. These villages move according to how deep the lake is, in March they were a long way in the lake due to the water level being low.
A new amazing experience are now floating houses you can stay in for 1 or 2 night, located amongst the reeds so private. They are beautifully decorated and each one on its own floating pontoon. You have a small boat so you can row yourself to the main floating house where food is served, or a motor boat will collect you. The bird life is amazing, while we had lunch we saw pelican, heron, storks, Ibis and Darter water birds. I would have loved to have stayed overnight, the stillness and quiet was so beautiful to experience.
Another treat not to be missed are the Bat Caves, 12kms from Battambang. Every evening as dusk falls a colony of bats swarm out for the night, this takes around 45 minutes as millions of bats form a colony in the sky which can be seen for miles. A roof top bar is a great place to experience this!
Our final stop was Siem Reap and the amazing Angkor Wat - it would take more than a week to do Angkor Wat justice, this 820 square metres encases some amazing temples, most of which you can walk in or those with steps climb to the top. They are more incredible than any pictures can show.
The 9 days we spent in Cambodia was full of amazing sights and lovely friendly and welcoming people. The food is great and we loved pub street in Siem Reap with its lively atmosphere, excellent choice of restaurants and markets close by. It was very good value to eat out locally and we found the standard of cleanliness high - they were sanitising everything in March as Corona started to spread. the hotels also had hand sanitizers in reception and bar / restaurant areas. Standards of accommodation vary there are local 4/5* hotels and European style. We choose to stay in local style hotels which don't have the same high standards or finish of a European 4*. and the price reflects this. We enjoyed being with local people and felt they were good value for money.
So here's to the next trip