Phnom Penh: Day 1

Following a quick breakfast we jumped on a coach, and headed through rural Vietnam on route to Cambodia. From what we have seen of Vietnam, it is definitely a country we would like to return to. Especially having heard great things about the North from various friends.

The bus had a fairly light load, considering its maximum capacity, but that did’t make the trip quiet… as the bus driver (in true Ho Chi Minh style) honked his horn at anything (on or off the road) that moved.

After a couple of hours we reached the boarder. We had heard that this may have involved an additional payment of sorts, on top of the eVisa, but as it turns out this was not required… we sailed through.

After another four hours or so we reached the outskirts of Phnom Penh. As with Vietnam, it was interesting to travel through rural Cambodia to get a glimpse of life here. Life and activity fringed the main road almost consistently throughout our four hour trip from the boarder. We past an array of interesting loads too, from a man carrying an alive pig on a moped, to a dumper truck filled to the brim with water and fish!

Our tour guide gave us a couple of hours to reboot after the 6 hour bus journey, and then we headed out on a ‘Cyclo’ tour to see the key sights in PP. This was great fun, if a little terrifying, the rickshaws were very talented at weaving us safely through traffic on the fixed gear bicycles.

It is understandable why mopeds are so popular, as traffic (from all directions) seems to flow relatively smoothly through junctions unguided. The moped is a perfect size to navigate the river of traffic.

Fortunately we took small pauses at each attraction as otherwise the experience would have been a complete blur!

After the tour the group went to a riverside restaurant for a drink (to settle the nerves) and some glorious grub.

All in all a fantastic day; great that we were able to get an overview of the city in such a raw and interesting way, and finish off by sampling some really excellent local cuisine!

James