Cambodia 1. Phnom Penh: Spring Festival 2018

Spring Festival in my current job involves nearly a month off somewhere in January or February. Cambodia had slowly crept its way to the top of my 'to go to' list so I decided to use my month holiday to finally visit the country.

I managed to find cheap flights to the capital city Phnom Penh and booked a hostel. They picked me up in a tuk-tuk from the airport and I had my first hair raising trip in one of the cities many speed of light motorbike taxis driven by a fool on his phone.

I wasn't hugely taken with Phnom Penh, I found it too big, too busy, too chaotic and lacking in interesting things to go and see or do. Maybe if I lived there and knew my way around a bit things would be different but I might actually like the place, but as a tourist just asking through, not so much.

My hostel was in one of the multiple alley ways about a half n hour walk from the river. The hostel itself was nice with a little pool in the bar area, which, in the 30+ degree heat was a real day saver. Every day finished with a relax in the pool with a beer, chatting to the other people staying in the hostel. We all exchanged travel ideas and recommendations of places to see but we all a little stumped with the city itself.

I wandered around by the river and watched the boats coming and going for a while, found a market or two and had a look and that was pretty much it for the city. I had been warned not to expect too much and so only planned on a few days in the city and the rest of the time to travel nearby.

The markets all seemed to be crammed into little side streets and as far as I could tell, they all disappeared a little after the sun went down. They were very similar to the ones we get here in China but, if possible, with even less order and planning. They were interesting to look around, if cramped and busy.


My next stop was one that came as a recommendation from Sean and, as he used to live there I trusted that it would be worth visiting.

I booked a bus to Kampot and readied myself for the 4 hour journey to the river.