A 5 hour drive to Siem Reap

Our guide was ridiculously early picking us up today; we had just brought our cases downstairs, deciding to check out and then have breakfast. Sophy told us to go and enjoy breakfast first; it was a bit weird and more like room service as we had to tick exactly what we wanted. I had scrambled eggs on toast and some fresh fruit which was delicious even though I wasn’t particularly hungry.

After breakfast, we packed up the car before visiting a few sites in Phnom Penh followed by a drive up to Siem Reap; firstly, we visited the Royal Palace and then the National Museum. We were lucky to see the palace as the king was in residence and he can close it whenever he pleases. The palace grounds comprise of different sections, some of which are off-limits to the public, including the royal regalia. The palace sits overlooking the Tonle Sap River and the Mekong River in a very prominent position. We saw the Throne or Coronation hall with its amazing Cambodian architecture all covered in gold leaf. We then walked through to the Silver Pagoda, another compound in the palace complex. Here we saw a building which was for the Buddhist priests; it contained a Buddha statue with a 25 carat diamond and was beautiful. It also houses a small crystal Buddha, known as the “Emerald Buddha.“  There are many beautifully built stupa for the previous kings and family as well as a replica of a traditional farmers house and various other bits and pieces.

We spent about 2 hours at the palace before taking our car to the National Museum; the largest museum of cultural history in Cambodia with almost 14,000 pieces of Khmer art. We were given a guided tour by one of the museum officials, but thankfully we glossed over much of the exhibition as there was little to no air conditioning. It was interesting to see but half an hour is recommended; the most beautiful part is the garden courtyard in the centre of the museum.

After a short but hot visit to the National Museum, we left Phnom Penh, not really looking forward to the 5 hours drive ahead. I took some travel sickness tablets and promptly fell asleep, although I did see a few of the local houses and rice fields as we left the city. We had already been warned that we would be stopping off a few times but our first stop was beyond horrible! It was a local market where they sell lots of local produce including tarantula, scorpions, silk worms, locusts, spiders...if it moved, they would fry it and eat it! We were offered a try but even I couldn’t bring myself to try anything crazy! We bought some dried banana chips, fresh mango and Sophy bought us a boiled duck egg; a bit odd but amazingly tasty especially with the peppered salt you get in a tiny bag on the side!

We got back in the car and headed to our next stop; it was a lake which was really the overflow of the rivers during monsoon. We were a bit worried about the food as it was just a service station off the route 6 highway; I had spicy chicken stir-fry which was better than I can make at home; stick to the local food and it all seems to be good!

After a half hour, we got back on our way, eventually arriving just after 5pm; we said goodbye to Sophy, who kept telling us it was great to work for us, and we checked into our hotel. Hotel Viroth was named the best hotel in the world by tripadvisor in 2018! So we will wait and see how good it is. I was delighted there were no rose petals on our bed; this time, some chocolate brownie cookies. We ate them along with some of the fruit basket before collapsing on the bed for an hour or so.

We weren’t particularly hungry so decided to wander to “Pub Street” for a few drinks; wow, it was not what I was expecting! It was like a mini Las Vegas strip and the music was blaring! We went to a place called Temple Bar, as Iain’s brother recommended it from his time there; we ordered a pitcher each and a wood fired pizza to share. It was ok, but the music was horrendous and the young crowd started to arrive; we decided to go elsewhere and be old farts. The Red Piano was calling our name so we headed upstairs to look out over the balcony; turns out we were sitting next to a young guy from Glasgow who was out volunteering in Cambodia, what a small world! We had a couple of drinks before heading back to the hotel; it was a nightmare trying to get a tuk tuk as everyone wanted to take us. We picked a young guy who wasn’t looking particularly bothered and this time we got back without any detour!