I must admit, when planning this trip, my intention was to avoid Cambodia. I visited in 2004 (the same trip I visited Laos), while I was working for a Japanese university, and I was completely depressed by the poverty and begging in Phnom Penh (possibly made worse by the fact that we were all wearing business suits!). I couldn't see how it would be possible to enjoy yourself in a situation where you're constantly surrounded and followed by ragged kids, men on crutches with legs missing and dirty mothers holding dirtier babies, all begging. But I really wanted to travel through Vietnam from Saigon all the way north, which is difficult to do without travelling through Cambodia. So I took the path of least resistance, and I'm glad I did!


Although I can't say it got off to the best start! I was in the back seat of our plush minivan, sitting next to a Swiss girl I didn't know and her boyfriend as we approach the Laos-Cambodia border point, when she asks me (not him, for some reason?) whether I thought it would be okay for her to carry a joint through the border! (I think it's worth pointing out here that she was carrying a single joint, which would have cost her a couple of bucks on Don Det, for which she was willing to face – if I remember correctly – a $500 on-the-spot fine in Laos, and who knows what in Cambodia.) Her question was overheard by some of the other passengers, who were as incredulous as me, and she tried to drop it out the window as we approached the checkpoint, only to be spotted by the driver who told her to close the window. Thankfully she managed to ditch it as we queued up before she could get herself (or us!) into any sort of trouble. After paying the customary “overtime” fine, lugging our bags through the no man's land to the Cambodian border, paying the Cambodian visa fee plus their customary fine, we were bundled into noticeably shabbier and smaller mini-vans for the short drive to Stung Treng. From Stung Treng, we were bundled into the crappiest minibus I've ever been on; bags were stowed in the cabin on top of the engine (alarmingly, smoke started emerging from our backpacks during the journey as the engine began to overheat), which meant that there weren't enough seats for everyone (and many of the seats that were available had child-sized legroom). After a push-start, we were off on a very long and uncomfortable journey to Kompong Cham; many hours, a couple of pit-stops for unresolved mechanical problems, and one road-kill pig later, we arrived late at night to find we'd been misled about accommodation options, and instead found ourselves at the mercy of a gang of motos who insisted they have to drive us to “the only guesthouse with rooms available”, which happened to be located a 2-minute walk from the bus station, and remarkably had more than a dozen unoccupied rooms! I was beginning to see why my fellow travellers referred to the country as Scambodia... As the only solo travellers, it looked like I'd have to share a bed with an overly-friendly middle-aged Japanese guy in the only remaining single room, but thankfully two Virginian girls (Helen and Jessica) rescued me, and let me take the second bed in their double room.


We completed our journey to Siem Reap the next day on a Cambodian public coach. Since the public buses are cheaper and used by locals you might think they'd be lower quality than tourist buses, but (at least in Cambodia) it's the opposite; locals aren't stupid enough to pay for crap, whilst ignorant tourists get themselves into “take it or leave it” situations. I spent the trip entertaining a Cambodian baby, in between the frequent times he was being breast-fed by his mother. On arrival, there's a scrum of tuk-tuk drivers spilling into the bus trying to attract your custom. While psyching myself up to tackle the scrum, I managed to forget my travel towel, which was wedged in the bus air vent in an attempt to shield the baby from the freezing aircon. I'd already managed to leave a travel torch behind in Vang Vieng (I'll blame the food poisoning for that one) and lose my USB stick somewhere between Chiang Mai and Houai Xai (no excuse). They all seem like minor losses in hindsight (considering that some fellow travellers had much more expensive items stolen during their travels), but when you're travelling with so few possessions you do get really annoyed at yourself whenever you lose something through your own incompetence.


Siem Reap (6-13 March 2007)


Siem Reap is the city nearest the amazing ruins of the ancient Khmer capital at Angkor. While there are dozen of luxurious hotels, expensive restaurants and shops catering for the countless well-heeled tourists who flock here, it's also possible to find cheap but decent guesthouses and eateries on the east side of the river, off Wat Bo Road. Like Laos, Cambodia produces it's own cheap beer, but unfortunately it doesn't compare...


The 3-day pass for the Angkor complex probably makes the most sense; you can't see everything at a leisurely pace in one day, and you'd probably get templed-out after three; as it was, two was enough for me – although I had already been here for one day during my 2004 trip... It is one tourist attraction that definitely lives up to the hype, and I'd recommend travelling with someone who knows which individual sites to see (or else book a driver for the whole day as a guide; they are all pretty knowledgeable about Angkor). Be prepared for the waves of little kids selling bracelets, food, drink, books, etc, throughout the complex. On my first visit, after the beggars of Phnom Penh, I found them a nuisance. But Helen and Jessica, who are both teachers, did a great job of engaging with them, and they are clever little buggers; we had them competing with one another as to who could count up to ten in the most languages, and tell us the capital cities of obscure countries (many of which we didn't know, so we had to take them at their word!). I'm really glad I came back – even if just to get rid of the irrational attitude I had towards people just doing what they can to survive.


Bizarrely, the guesthouse I stayed in happened to have a cable channel showing Scottish football (the only time I saw Scottish football on tv in the whole of my time in Asia, and the first time I'd seen a live match in years). As luck would have it, that weekend was the Old Firm match, and I had the joy of sitting with some Beer Lao, watching as Rangers beat Celtic 1-0 away from home. What a great way to finish my visit!


Phnom Penh (13-19 March 2007)


Next on the agenda was a return to Phnom Penh – something I was apprehensive about. Guidebooks will tell you that this is a dangerous place, relatively speaking, and there have been some major incidents involving tourists in recent years – shootings, muggings, rapes. Together with my memory of the widespread begging, I thought I'd be spending most of my time holed up in my guesthouse room waiting until my Vietnamese visa application was processed.


On the contrary, I really enjoyed my time here. Although there are motos everywhere, I walked everywhere in Phnom Penh – day or night; I just enjoyed being amongst it. Yes, the streets are dirty, the smell sometimes nauseating, and you have to avoid stepping on the occasional rat, but that's all part of the appeal! :P Although, sadly, I doubt solo female travellers could be as blasé as I was about it all...


I stayed in a guesthouse in the southwest of the city, which is more of a residential area, and a good choice if you want a bit of quiet. In comparison, I've been told that the lakeside area is a bit rowdy (a good party atmosphere) and more “backpacker-ey”. I don't know much about the riverside options, aside from the ideal location... I wandered around the various markets during the daytime (including the air-conditioned Sorya mall, just south of the Central Market, which is a good bet if you're feeling sapped – although it also houses a rollerskating rink on the roof if you're not!), as well as visiting the Royal Palace (where I bumped into friends from the Gibbon Experience), and the morbid S-21 school – also known as the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum; depressing, but it really hammers home just what Cambodia is recovering from. Like many visitors to Cambodia, I read – and can thoroughly recommend – http://www.amazon.com/First-They-Killed-Father-Remembers/dp/0060931388" rel="nofollow">“First They Killed My Father”, by Loung Ung It is truly hard to believe that such insanity happened so recently, and all while the outside world did worse than nothing...


At night, I usually walked to the riverfront and found somewhere to eat amongst the many cafe restaurants. This is more expensive than the corner restaurants where the locals eat, but is slightly cooler (being near the water) and a good place for people-watching, since everyone (local or foreigner) seems to head to the riverside at night. There was some rugby on one night, so I went to one of the Aussie-run expat sports bars, which was a good night, but I usually found myself going to the infamous Heart of Darkness nightclub with a few of the people from my guesthouse; again, this place has a violent reputation, with armed local gangsters known to goad foreigners into fighting them, but either they've cleaned up in recent times or we were lucky! I'm a big Queen fan, and apparently so was the DJ, so I couldn't help coming back every night... Drinks are more expensive than at bars elsewhere, but no way near as expensive as some of the clubs I visited in Bangkok, for example. It has a good mix of foreigners and locals, and is a good place for a dance, a game of pool, or just enjoying the music (although tastes may vary!).


I'd already arranged my Vietnamese visa, otherwise I might have checked out Sihanoukville on the coast, which I've heard is like some of the Thai beach resorts as they were a few decades back. In hindsight, I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't visit anywhere out-of-the-way, like Rattanakiri, but maybe next time...