Today is exactly 2 months since I turn 30 and flew to Cambodia – the starting point of our multi-country escape in Indochina to celebrate a new milestone. To be honest, I haven’t really had the time to check all the pics and do a cleanup since we return. And sometimes, everything feels like a dream. But I know it’s not because I have pictures to prove it. Plus every now and then, I get messages from strangers commending about our kick-ass and detailed plan too. I have Trip Zilla to thank for that. 🙂 Just grateful that I could share and inspire others to travel.
After detailing the everyday activities, I still have lots to tell but unfortunately, things happen. When I finally caught up, I got super busy that I felt the need for extra hours just to do the things that I wanted to do. 24 hours is just not enough. But today is a bit different. There’s this little voice in my head that’s telling me that I need to write to calm my raging thoughts. Oh yes, my to dos are still endless but I need this.
I need to remember how great our adventure was. The thought of just hopping from country to country alone was an adventure in itself especially the border crossings but the best adventure was being able to see the places that we’ve only seen in books or in pictures. So stay with me as I relived our 11 day adventure that started in Cambodia then Vietnam then Laos, and finally Thailand. Yay!!! You can do this too! Maybe even better than we did. 🙂
First stop: SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA
When you thought of Cambodia, of course the first place that would come to mind is Angkor Wat right? We were there. But to our delight, Angkor Wat is not just a single monumental structure. The place was HUGE. And that’s not all it, Siem Reap was actually home to lots of Angkors or city in ruins. IT WAS MIND-BLOWING. And because the husband is a National Geographic fan, it was like playground for him. For me, every corner is a place to photo shoot. Haha! If we ever come back to Cambodia, we would surely take the 3-day pass. But if you are in a hurry like us, you can just have it in 1 day and visit only the musts. See below our pictures arranged from our first stop to the last.
Day 1 Siem Reap, Cambodia (Currency spent: USD-cash on hand)
-Sunrise @ Angkor Wat
-Bayon, Baphoun, Royal Enclosure, Terraces of Elephants
-Checkout
-Lunch
-Bantay Kdei, Ta Phrom, Sunset @ Phnom Bakeng
-Night bus to Phnom Penh
Second stop: PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA
We didn’t really knew much about Phnom Penh. When the husband asked why we would go there, I just answered because the bus from Siem Reap ends there and I want to rest after sleeping on a night bus. But surprisingly, we were able to sleep well on the night bus. Plus when we arrived at our accommodation, we were allowed an early check-in. So having rested, we don’t have a choice but to spend the rest of the day wandering. But what a wander that was. In all of our stops, Phnom Penh’s was the most heartbreaking. At S21, the husband had to asked that we shouldn’t take a selfie because it seems inappropriate. And to my disbelief, I just agreed without 2nd thoughts. We visited two sites from the horrors of Polpot’s regime in Cambodia: Choeung Ek Killing Fields and Toul Sleng Genocide Museum (S21). We spent the half day in Toul Sleng listening to the history of Polpot’s terror. I was teary-eyed all throughout. Those places are not for the faint at heart. It will really break you. But don’t fret because there’s still other nice places in Phnom Penh too like the Royal Palace and some others that we missed because we’ve stayed at Choeung Ek and S21 too long.
Day 2 Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Currency spent: USD-cash on hand)
-Early arrival in PhnomP
-SLA early check-in
-Killing fields 9-12 AM
-Lunch
-Toul Sleng 2-4 PM
-Royal Palace
-Independent Monument
– Buy tix to PP & Laos
-Slept @ SLA
More pics to follow from Phnom Penh soon. I will make time to scour in the coming days and post it in instagram since I’m still having problems with the storage and I don’t have time to tinker the new blog.
Stay tuned!!! We’d love to hear your thoughts of Siem Reap and Phnom Penh as well. Were you amazed at how big the Angkor Wat too? What are the nooks of Angkor Archaeological park that you’ve visited and we missed? How about Phnom Penh, were you as sad as we were upon hearing the stories of Polpot’s terror? Do tell.
PS: Please follow us at our INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK page. We’d love to hear and reconnect to wanderers like you. 🙂
Thank you for reading. May God bless you on your travels.
Cheering on you,
Migo & Miga
The WANDER (FULL) LIFE 
Awesome blog.!👍🏼
LikeLike
Hi Jacob! Belated! Just so swamped. Was able to check the comment today. 🙂 Will visit your blog!!!
LikeLike
Cambodia looked like quite the adventure, thanks for sharing!
Today, in honor of my 29th birthday, I’m picking 29 random blog friends to send some extra special thoughts of love. Come visit my blog and say happy birthday if you wish, and keep spreading the love!
LikeLiked by 1 person