Category: Travel Cambodia

Koh Kong

Cambodia Koh Kong

Nestled between the Cardomom Mountains and the ocean, Koh Kong ended up being a pretty good place for us to spend our time in Cambodia.

Koh Kong Mangroves

We spent some more time at the floating resort, and then set about exploring the area.  We walked through a huge mangrove forest – very different from the mangroves at home – and climbed up a tower to see views over the extensive mangrove and river systems.

Ocean Cambodia

A nice surprise for us was the discovery of the beach, mainly this area is marketed as river and jungle eco systems, so our first swim in the ocean this trip happened to be in Cambodia, rather than waiting for Lanta.

Cambodia Koh Kong

The water was warm and nice, and each day we would drive through the trees and undergrowth to find our own little spot on this completely deserted beach.

The way to the beach
Riding our motorbike to find the beach

Our mission to eat local food was harder than we anticipated, and after days of perseverance we managed to find the best black pepper crab ever, seriously neither of us think we have ever had crab that good before so we went back for the exact same dish the next day.  We also loved the Cardamom curry, with fresh cardamom from the mountains it was like no other curry we’ve had before.

Cambodian Black Pepper Crab

During our time here we had the idea to visit the huge Tatai waterfall, and each day we were too lazy to drive out there, finally on the last day though we made the 20km trip and it was amazing!

Waterfall fun

The waterfall was made up of so many terraces, it was easy to find many places to swim and hang off the edge and look at the river and trees below.  This turned out to be the best way to spend our last day in Cambodia.

Waterfall Cambodia

Now we’re heading back to our beloved Lanta to catch up with our friends!

Another Anniversary

Our 8th wedding anniversary began in Trat with a journey to the Cambodian border.  We got our first glimpses of ocean again as we traveled along the narrowest part of Thailand to reach the border.

Floating lodge

3rd time lucky, we made it into Cambodia!  After our first two attempts a couple of years ago when war broke out and the town we arrived in got evacuated, this was a welcome easy border crossing.

Staying at the floating lodge

We were really lucky to have found an awesome floating lodge in the Cardomom Mountains to stay in, and we definitely picked a winner – they picked us up from the border, took us for a special anniversary lunch, and then down to their pier to get to the floating tents which are only reachable by river.

Karen on our anniversary

The river journey was beautiful and as we headed further into the jungle we were really interested at how different it was to our rivers in Laos.

Sunset in the river

We spent the rest of the day enjoying the surroundings, seeing wildlife and swimming in the river.

Cambodian lodge

Dinner at the lodge was amazing and we spent hours looking at the stars – in this remote environment with no lighting or biting insects, it may have been the most stars we’ve seen anywhere in the world.

A very awesome day and definitely an anniversary to remember.

Not Cambodia

View our location map in Krabi

The following day from when we wrote the last post, we spoke to our Cambodian border guard guy and he assured us that he could stamp us through the border and get us a taxi to Siem Reap, and he said it would be safe. However contrary to this, we found out on the internet that the border was officially closed, as ordered by the Thai army, (although a few border guards were still working there to make money from tourists and ex-pats doing border runs!) and the 15,000 people living in the area near the border had been evacuated. Not a good sign. Then, we found out on an ex-pat forum, that someone who lives in Surin had crossed the border the day before, and could hear bombs going off in the distance! We also got told that the Poipet border (the main one between Cambodia and Thailand) had been closed briefly also… all of this lead to the realisation that there was no way we could go to Cambodia just now. We were so sad because our entire journey since leaving Laos up to this point was to get to Cambodia. The second choice was to go into southern Laos, but this would mean either backtracking to where we are now to leave Laos, or see if we could get to Cambodia from there. We just didn’t have enough time to be backtracking when we have to be in Singapore so soon, so we took the only option left, and travelled further down Thailand.

We have to say, that originally when we left Chiang Rai the only reason we got the bus was because all flights were fully booked for the following 2 days. So it was going to be quicker on the bus. We didn’t realise how amazing the first class buses are here – they are way more comfortable than the trains and planes, you get food, have a ‘bus hostess’ who brings you drinks and blankets and pillows, plus most of them have in seat massage functions… very impressive. So when we were leaving Surin, we went to check the train times and also the buses, and immediately decided on the bus – it’s faster, more luxurious, and includes food! The Thai roads are so smooth and well maintained that this option just made the most sense.

So we have now arrived in Krabi, en-route to Singapore. Today we are off to Koh Lanta in the hope that it’s not just a tourist town like Krabi is, in any case a few days or a week in a bungalow on the beach will be good (and much needed after all the travelling to get to Cambodia and now here) before we head further south.

Mission to Cambodia: successful?

View our location map in Surin

Our original plan to travel south down Laos and finally see southern Laos didn’t quite work out when we didn’t manage to leave northern Laos before our visa ran out.  So we had to exit via Thailand, and make our way down to Cambodia from there.  At first we were really torn, because we wanted to see the south of Lao so much, and also wanted to see Cambodia, and didn’t really have time to see both before we meet up with Ben and Christerine again in Singapore.  So we decided that since the number one thing we want to see in Cambodia is Prasat Prear Vihear temple, we would travel down Thailand and enter Cambodia at the border just beside the temple.

So this was all well and good, once we left Laos we spent a day motorbiking around Chiang Rai again, and then made our way south.  24 hours on the bus later, we got off near the Thai-Cambodian border only to be told that war has broken out at the Choam border crossing and Thailand was bombing Cambodia.  Oh dear.  So the friendly Thai policeman advised us to get back on a bus, and travel 2 hours back in the direction we had just come from, to access the other border Chong Jom.  We were both actually feeling really good because we’d come on the luxury bus – it was like business class on a plane so we decided to do it straight away.  Upon arrival at Surin, the Thai town that you catch the bus to the Chong Jom border, we were told that as of this morning this border is closed now too, because fighting has increased and Thailand has just bombed the temple, Prasat Prear Vihear!!!  This is the temple that we specifically wanted to see and apparently an entire wing of the temple has collapsed last night.  :-(  This is a world heritage site and it has made us very sad to hear.

So what to do next?  We could travel further in Thailand and go to yet another Cambodian border that is far from the conflict, we could go in the other direction and go to southern Laos.  Both options are enticing.  Then we came to a cafe, where we are right now, and met 2 English guys who live here in Surin.  They advised us that the border IS open, and one of the guys phoned his Cambodian friend who works as a border guard and asked him about the current situation.  Apparently this guy reckons the Chong Jom border is open now and the only conflict is at the other border (Choam).  He says if we call him in the morning he will let us know if the border is open and will arrange a taxi for us to Siem Reap if we want to go.  So the question remains:  will we be successful in getting to Cambodia?  Or is it back to Laos we go?  Or should we just stay in Thailand and go to the beach?  The answer will hopefully become clear in the morning!  We are not about to put ourselves in any danger whatsoever so we will just do whatever will be best for us.  Stay tuned….

A few random pics of our travels: