After being driven to Phenom Penh by Nigel Mansell on a bus with no seatbelts, we miraculously made it there alive!!
Phenom Penh is different to Bangkok as a capital city, the transport links are more or less non existent, as we learned when we turned up on leaving day to the train station for the advertised airport express train, which did not exist! You solely rely on tuktuks, and have to negotiate a price with the driver before getting in, in general I would say they try and double or triple the fare compared to what is should be, but will come down. There is an app you can download before arrival called grab which is like Uber for tuktuks and you can then get an idea of what it should be costing……. We unfortunately did not have this app and had to ask the reception staff what we should be paying!
You can also tell that the city is still recovering from its days under the rule of the Khmer Rouge where their banks were destroyed, everywhere you go children are sent up to you to either beg or to try and sell you chewing gum or friendship bracelets. There is a lot of poverty and it is terribly sad.
Having said that we explored the city and saw the Royal Palace, watched a thunder and lightening storm in the distance over the river Mekon which was spectacular!! We didn’t have much time here but we visited S21 and the killing fields which we will post separately as it is very heavy and is likely going to be distressing for some to read. I therefore want to give you the option to skip.
We have loved our time in Cambodia, we wish we had more time here, we definitely needed more time in Siem Reap, it would have been lovely to explore Sen Monorom more, and we would have loved to have gone down to the beaches of the South Island. We are leaving with a definite intention to return!