Cambodia Trip: Roads Less Travelled

Sihanoukville - Koh Rong Island

Booked my bus ticket via Giant Ibis website (14 dollars), the bus station was 10 minutes walk from my hostel, which is located next to Phnom Penh Night Market. The bus departed almost on time and I was provided with a bottle of mineral water and bun, which was sufficient to cover my stomach for close to six hours journey to reach Sihanoukville. For your information, AirAsia has launched direct flight route from Kuala Lumpur at the time of this posting. I noticed the fleet while I was on the bus passing by the airport to town.

The bus drop off point was just few hundred metres away from the hostel I booked, Onederz Hostel which cost 11 dollars per night. It came with an indoor pool and food can be ordered over the counter. Googled and found an eatery called "Titanic" in town and the review was quite decent. Subsequently, I decided to have my late lunch there.

The menu cover

Apparently this is the Amok chicken which is different from what I thought it would be.

This serving was dry for me to finish

Despite of the breeze from the sea, it didn't alleviate the heat felt from the tropical weather of Cambodia. Sihanoukville is rather a small town and I noticed there were quite a lot of Chinese casino around. Signage with Chinese characters were easily sighted around.

The pier that I supposed to get off to the island

The street that leads to the pier

The golden lions roudabout

Had my dinner at Sandan Restaurant, another eatery under TREE Alliance. This time I ordered another Amok and concluded with caramelized black sticky rice with mixed fruits and ice cream as dessert.

Booked my ferry ticket online with a price of 25 dollars for return trip. There are a number of service providers and after a number of reviews, I went for Buva Sea. Actually the hostel I stayed got offer shuttle service to the island as well which could cost less. Lesson learned from here is that you may not always get the cheapest package when buying in advance. It was raining and we supposed to depart to the island from Serendipity Pier, which is just 900 metre away from the hostel I was staying (though I hopped on a bike for 1 dollar due to the weather condition). Along with other travellers, sat onto a truck which brought us to another harbour to get onto the ferry. The ferry ride was around 45 minutes.

The harbour.

Arrived early at the island, I went ahead to check in at High Land Beach Bungalows for 15 dollars though I still couldn't get into my room. Disappointed for not getting beach view, I proceed with first agenda at High Rope Adventure Park. This was the first time I'm doing ziplining.

Cute puppies cuddled at the hostel

The view of the island from the top before my final descent

Had Tom Yum for my late lunch. I noticed Tom Yum has been listed one of the local cuisines hence I wanted to give it a try to know whether there is any difference. Have to say, this one wasn't really my cup of tea.

Though the coconut shake compensated on the lack of taste of the tom yum

Spend most of my evening rested at the hostel, I hopped on a bike for 10 dollar to get to Long Beach. The beach was less crowded compared to the one near to the town. White sandy pristine beach. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and sunset was nowhere to be seen.

No sunset to be seen

This part of the island lighted up at night

Had a quick dinner before calling it a day

As before I went to sleep, apparently there was some karaoke session going on and it was rather loud. I have been pre-warned by the reviews online but thinking to give it a shot since I was only staying for one night.

Initially thought to have a beach run in the morning, however the intention was scrapped due to the soft sand. It didn't stop me from taking a stroll all the way to 4K beach. The beach was not entirely clean albeit the clear water.

The visible rocks beneath the water surface

The very definition of paradise on an island, with hammock under the coconut tree (somewhat)

Need to cross this water to get to the other side

The stays at this part on the island is on top of the stilt for the best view that you can get (which cost more, obviously)

Relaxing by the beach and enjoy the seaview

Tried tom yum again at another eatery and it validated my earlier opinion on this dish

Heading back to the shore using 3pm ferry. The hostel I initially stayed allowed me to chill at their place while waiting for my 7pm bus to Battambang. As I did my search on the intercity travel from Sihanoukville to Battambang, I noticed there's a sleeping bus. Intrigued, I booked for it. As I get onto the bus which was kind enough to pick me up at my hostel, I thought I would get the whole bed for myself. Only to realise afterwards I have to share it with another passenger. Personally I find it was odd to share a personal space with another stranger and I found myself trying to keep myself close to the window as much as possible. Not only that, I have to switch bus at Phnom Penh and it was around midnight. Other than that, it was an okay experience for the overnight journey.

 Not an experience that I wish to repeat unless with someone I know better

Battambang

Arrived at Battambang Bus Station, I went to my hostel via "tuk tuk".  The driver was offering me a half day trip for 11 dollars covering the places that I wish to cover. Checking in at The Place, I joined with another 3 Swedish tourist for the evening itinerary at 1pm. We started off with the bamboo train. The train was first used by the local community to commute from one place to another. From the way I look at it, it is more to tourist attraction these days with hopping fee of 5 dollars. It is foreseen that this bamboo train will soon to be obsolete due to the upgrade of the railway where it is currently operating on.

Sharing the bamboo train experience with another three Swedish tourists

The lady smiled and made a peace sign when I wanted to capture the moment

On our way to where we started

Next place in the list is Banan Temple. The stairs to reach the site was steep. It was a small site and it was sort like a teaser for my upcoming agenda in Siem Reap. The entrance fee for tourist is 2 dollar. As I was walking up, there were few kids approaching me and seemed to volunteer fanning me though I was quickly aware they would like some money in return. I noticed there were other tourists being fanned all the way to the top.

It's like climbing the stairs to Tiger Cave in Krabi all over again, though this one has less steps

The ruins of Banan Temple on top of the temple

Refreshing mango shake to quench my thirst after walking down the stairs 

As dusk was approaching, we were just in time to visit the Killing Caves of Phnom Sampeau. Similar function to the one in Phnom Penh, this was used to be execution site for Khmer Rouge prisoners. The evening trip concluded with a view of the bats flying out from the cave for their nightly hunt. It is claimed there are around millions of bats living at the cave.

Have a quick stop at outside of this wat while on our way to the killing cave

Walking down the cave

Sleeping buddha with recovered skulls from the cave in the glass box

The statues show the torture during the cruel Khmer Rouge

View from the top of the hill

Caving while exploring the nearby temple after visiting Killing Cave 

Swarms of bats coming out from the cave

Trip advisor listed a number of restaurants and I decided to go for About the World for my dinner. The shop is operated by a friendly couple. I opted for chicken amok and I find myself loving it. The presentation is different from what I expected after trying Amok in other places.

For my last day in Battambang, I decided to go for a city walk which is usually part of the tour packages offered around here. With a map in the hand, after my hearty lunch at Coconut Lyly Restaurant,  there I went for my adventure which started off in the Catholic Church. It was a small town in which I can easily cover on foot within 2 hours.

Mini Catholic Church

Central Market of Battambang

Chinese Temple

This particular building seems to be the icon of Battambang for French influence in this part of the town

Abandoned railway station of Battambang

Cambodian kids playing around the railways

Final pitstop of the DIY walking tour

Recovered my calories lost for the day at Jaan Bai with another round of Fish Amok. There was a rooftop bar at the hostel I was staying. Had Angkor Beer to mark the end of my adventure in Battambang and I have one last city to explore.

As I was enjoying this meal, there was a lady holding her baby and standing in front of the shop. When I was done with dish, she was still there.

Chilling with Angkor beer to end my day in Battambang before my last pit stop

Phnom Penh - Sihanoukville - Koh Rong Island - Battambang - Siem Reap