Once we were done with our visit to the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, we walked back to our hotel to have our breakfast.
Our hotel was near Botum Park
I had seen this monument from afar and wanted to know what it was.
It was the Cambodia Vietnam Friendship Monument. Installed to commemorate Vietnam’s role in liberating Cambodia from the Khmer Rouge.
Once back in the hotel, we packed up, had our breakfast and took a taxi to the bus company’s office.
We took a short ride to the Phnom Penh Night Market area where private bus operators are all located
We bought tickets at Mekong Express since we just wanted to leave as soon as possible. But even after 30mins of the scheduled time, the bus failed to show. Eventually we boarded and were on our way. The bus has a toilet inside.
Tickets cost $12 for the Phnom Penh to Siem Reap journey. You even get a snack box (came with a sausage roll and a cupcake). They also give each passenger water bottles.
I was looking forward to seeing the Cambodian countryside and get a glimpse into local life
We would stop in the town of Kampong Thom at around 2pm
This was a lunch break stop and even though it may not look like a fancy place, they were clearly charging “tourist” prices
Past Kampong Thom, we were very much in rural Cambodia
But it was nice to see the farmlands
Although I hardly saw anybody working these farmlands at this hour
Although the bus was “air conditioned” it was not cold enough and we were still sweaty
Hey, cows on the highway. That feels familiar 🙂
It was past 5pm by the time we reached Siem Reap
From the Mekong Express office in Siem Reap, the hotel I booked at sent a trike taxi to pick us up
The pool was something we made use of the following day
The hotel was just off Sivutha road
You have plenty of restaurants, bars, shops… including shops selling bags made using crocodile skin on Sivutha road
Phsar Leu Bakery is a popular bakery in Siem Reap. After 7pm, many items are sold at 50% off. We picked up some croissants for dinner.
And then picked up some grilled chicken and sausages from a street vendor
We walked into to a grocery store to pick up some beer… but got distracted by the furry cats they had milling around the store 🙂
We had our dinner back in our room itself. Tired from a bus journey and an early morning wake up, we decided to sleep early as we planned to visit Angkor Wat tomorrow. And that’s going to be the next post. (Finally!)
