How I managed to squeeze multiple trips into a week across Cambodia is a mystery even to myself. This is purely my experience and what I chose to do while there, there is a lot more to see in Cambodia as well and I would go back to see other parts.
I started my trip in Phnom Penh, arrival from Shanghai was around 9pm. Luckily, I had applied online for a visa before arriving and could go through to the customs area straight away. Taxi's are outside the airport along with TukTuk's or locals ready to help.
It's always been recommended to check the charges for a ride before jumping into a taxi or TukTuk, this is something I did throughout my trip.
Check in at my hotel was super easy - freebies offered on arrival and incredibly friendly staff.
Hotel in Phnom Penh - https://uk.trip.com/hotels/detail/?hotelId=4342790&cityId=303
Sun & Moon Urban Hotel
Day 1 - Phnom Penh
Late arrival meant Day 1 was pretty much over but I did venture out into the pub streets close to my hotel.
Day 2 - Phnom Penh and travel to Siem Reap
Breakfast at a local 24 hour pub first to start the day - this was a regular venue for me. (Ostro Bistro). For this day, my taxi driver, from the airport the previous night, took me round for the day at a fixed cost. He charged me $45 for both places including waiting for me and basically spent the whole day being a chauffeur for me.
Sightseeing 1 - Choeung Ek Killing Fields
Sightseeing 2 - Tuol Sleng Prison Museum
These 2 photos are as much as I will share regarding what lies within these places. I don't necessarily mind gruesome or historic places, but these 2 left a mark for me. The sheer way Tuol Sleng has been left is shocking even for the most prepared of people.
After these two places, I headed back to the hotel for drinks in the Rooftop bar. I would recommend doing it in this order as if you've seen the museum you probably won't want to go to the Killing Fields. It is hard to see, both areas, but I felt it was an important stop in my trip.
Next up, I went to visit the riverfront to walk along over to the Night Markets - I have to say, these were disappointing at best. So I very swiftly left and headed to grab a drink over at my new favourite 24 Hour bar before heading to Le Moon Rooftop for drinks and dinner.
On Day 2, I had booked an overnight bus to Siem Reap. The bus departed at 00:30 from the middle of a street and safety was of concern at one point. I had my own bed space as I booked the 'upper' deck which wasn't necessarily any higher than a seat on a bus would be. The trip took 5 hours with multiple rest stops along the way, don't expect to sleep especially if it's your first time on these.
Day 3 - Siem Reap
Hotel - Hotel Somadevi Angkor Resort & Spa
This hotel was huge and a little dated but it was a short walk away from Pub Street and close to a calm area.
Arrival into Siem Reap was ridiculously early with the bus, 5am arrival was a bit too early for check so I got changed, had a quick recharge and breakfast by the pool and by 9am was back in contact with that mornings Tuktuk driver for a trip to Angkor Wat.
I purchased the 3 day ticket ($62) from the tourism office, which my driver took me to initially before the entrance to Angkor Wat. Prices for 1 day tickets are $37 and 7 day tickets are $104. I would say 2 days was sufficient to ensure you don't get 'templed-out' but also to give you enough time to explore many of the ruins.
On my first day, I walked in and explored the main area of Angkor Wat and went up inside Byron Temple. The steep staircase is slightly scary to climb but it is safe enough once inside, most people struggled to come back down.
By around 12pm, I was too hot and slightly bored of the temples. So I headed back to the hotel to meet my friend. We went for a walk around to find Pub Street (for lunch and drinks). As we weren't necessarily keeping an eye on where we went, we did end up taking the wrong direction and walked in the opposite direction so it took a good hour to find Pub Street.
Pub Street is a great place to hang out and we had a few drinks here before we set off back to the hotel for a relax by the pool.
In the evening, I ventured over to the Made in Cambodia Market - this was located right behind the hotel so was very easy to find. The market is only small but the attention to detail here was great! I bought 2 little souvenirs from one stall and a canvas painting of Angkor Wat from another. Prices are quite cheap and stall holders were really friendly. The paintings were all made by a local named Kong So Phanit, who uses the money raised to support his 2 children and pay for their education. The paintings are incredible.
To end the night, I headed back to Pub Street for the nightlife and took a few photos of the lights.
Day 4 - Siem Reap and travel to Sihanoukville
For Day 2 in Angkor Wat, I used the TukTuk driver to find a guide as well. This was SUPER helpful as this guide then could call up the driver and have us escorted via TukTuk between the sights I had aimed to see. To start, I had agreed to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat and it was worth the early wake up call of 4:45am. When myself and the driver arrived, he said we would wait on the outside of the temples to have a better view, we were the first people to sit in this area (it is pitch black at this time here).
By 7am, we went inside the temples. First up he did give me a tour of the main area of Angkor Wat to be able to give me some history.
I had asked to see:
Ta Ket
Banteay Kdei Temple
Ta Phrom
Having a guide was incredibly useful and I learnt so much about the building and restoration of Angkor Wat and its collection of temples.
By 11am, we had finished the tour of these parts that I had wanted to view so the driver took me back to the hotel. My friend was still around, so we headed back to Pub Street for lunch and ice cream rolls!
From here, I had noticed a place called Wat Preah Prom Rath close by, so we took a TukTuk across to this area. It was incredible, gold statues everywhere and free to explore. It seemed we were the only people in here as well so it was calm and quiet.
A final trip back to Pub Street to meet colleagues before a dinner trip to a local Indian restaurant. Just beside the hotel, we found Curry Walla - a Cambodian/Indian mixture. The food here was delicious!
Finally, it was night bus time. This time we left at 8pm to reach Sihanoukville by 5am.
It was a much calmer bus ride this time, as we were prepared based on overnight bus No.1 and we had to share a bed cabin this time.
Day 5 - Arrival at Koh Rong Sanloem
The bus arrived at 5am and we took a TukTuk down to the pier, which opened at 7am. It turned out that we weren't the only ones doing this and there was a huge number of travellers at the pier entrance with us.
The ferry to Koh Rong Sanloem took around 30-40 minutes and it is the first stop from Sihanoukville Pier.
Hotel - Sara Resort
Not to be mistaken with its sister hotel - Sarasea Resort, which if you are walking to the hotel, you will reach first. The hotels on Koh Rong do offer a pick up from the Ferry Port and a drop off, I had forgotten to book in advance though.
Beach, Sun, Sand and Alcohol - that was my time on Koh Rong Sanloem. So basically I spent a day, walking down the beach, taking photos and generally relaxing in the resort bar.
I had booked to visit the Plankton Tour (Bioluminescent Plankton) and snorkelling but I seemed to come down with a bout of heat stroke/food poisoning and was basically inactive for 24 hours. That evening, a storm came and flooded the island somewhat.
Day 6 - Koh Rong Sanloem
Today was a stay in the resort day, my friend had attempted to take the ferry back to the mainland to meet her husband and was delayed from 9am to 4pm. On the island, most places had water up to their door. The tide was in and in for the whole day! The beach wasn't usable for the most of the day so I did spend the day recovering and relaxing in the resort restaurant/bar.
Day 7 - Leave Koh Rong Sanloem and return to Phnom Penh
The tide was slightly better today, however the evidence of the days before was clear to see. I went for a short walk along to see the damage and quickly return before taking the resort's boat trip back to the ferry port.
Unfortunately, as Koh Rong Sanloem was the first stop on the ferry, it also meant the other 2 areas would be visited before the mainland. This meant the ferry back to the mainland port took around 1 hour 15 minutes. I had booked a bus ride back to Phnom Penh for 1pm and arrived just before 5pm in Phnom Penh. As my friend and her husband were here, I chose to meet them for dinner and drinks that night.
Day 8 - Phnom Penh
As I was returning to Shanghai, I had to get a Covid test. I had been given the location of 2 clinics that could do the testing and I had booked into one of them during the week. I arrived at 8am for a test and then had the TukTuk driver (from the hotel) take me to Wat Phnom. It costs foreigners to enter here - $1 entry. Wat Phnom is a nice garden like temple area and its somewhere you walk up into the temple areas.
For my last day in Cambodia, I wanted to see as many landmarks as possible. Next up, I walked over to the Royal Palace area and ventured inside. I ended up paying for a guide around the Palace, it was useful to know more about the areas but also not an essential guide to take. I spent around 40 minutes on this tour and saw the whole palace grounds. It's a very pretty place to see. Entrance costs $10 and the guide fee was $30.
Next up I went to the National Museum of Cambodia. Entrance fee here is $10. I walked around the museum without a guide, its a simple square structure and easy to follow around. The exhibits inside are all relatively related to the temples and religious history of Cambodia. It's a nice place to visit but I wouldn't say it's essential to anyones trip in Phnom Penh.
I grabbed quick lunch from here, then went back to the clinic to collect my printed Covid test results. The same TukTuk driver from the hotel escorted me to the clinic again and then onto the airport for $20.
Flying from Shanghai, Phnom Penh is currently the only direct flight to take into Cambodia and with China only just opening up, flights are slightly price. My return flights to Shanghai cost around 5000RMB (around £500).
Cambodia Notes:
I would visit Cambodia again and I would specifically visit different areas, including Koh Rong. I would have liked to see Battanbang and there are some parts of Siem Reap I had missed out.
Your itinerary is helpful. Thank you for sharing .