It was a shame to have missed Tet (Lunar New Year) celebration in Ha Noi but 7 days holiday was so tempting that earlier on I made a plan to see the famous Angkor Wat in Cambodia. From my home leave I proceeded to my Cambodia trip and just waited for my friends in Saigon so that we can all proceed to Cambodia.
The bus ride from HCM City to Phnom Penh was not bad at all. It cost me US$11 for a one-way fare. The bus ride lasted for 6 hours but the trip itself was 5 hours however border formalities took an hour. Based on my observation, the border between Viet Nam and Cambodia was very organized compared to other land borders I have ever been or passed through.
We rested for a while and decided to have dinner in a restaurant by the riverside of Mekong. It was a restaurant called “Titanic” which most probably been named after the movie of Leonardo di Caprio. My first time to taste ‘amok’ which is a choice of fish, meat or vegetables covered with ‘kroeung’ and coconut milk. Kroeung is a Cambodian spice, which according to Wikipedia: From India, by way of Java, Cambodians have been taught the art of blending spices into a paste using many ingredients like cardamom, star anise, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and turmeric. Other native ingredients like lemongrass, galangal, garlic, shallots, cilantro, and kaffir lime leaves are added to this mix to make a distinctive and complex spice blend called "kroeung." This is an important aromatic paste commonly used in Cambodian cooking.[2] For somebody who is used to dishes with coconut milk, the food tasted nothing special except for the different taste from the spices. Anyhow, I enjoyed the dish.
At titanic restaurant, there was also a cultural show of the famous “khmer dance” which was impressive in terms of how the women bend their hands in a gentle and graceful manner.
On our way back to my friend’s house, we passed by a travel agency to arrange our bus ride to Siem Reap and hotel accommodation. Lucky Internet and Travel (#277HEo St., Sisowath Quay, Sankat Phsar Kandal 1, Khan Duan Penh, Cambodia) was the agency we randomly chose while walking along the streets of the riverside. The riverside is a street full of travel agencies, hotels and restaurants of all sorts of food which is a hub of expats and tourists. I would say that we got a good deal from the travel agency. Pick-up from our hotel in PP and Siem Reap was a very welcome package of the tour. They also managed to book a $20 hotel for us in Siem Reap. Bus ticket to Siem Reap costs the same as the bus from Saigon to PP. The travel time was also the same, but this time it was 5 hours less the border formalities. I would recommend Mekong Express for the bus. It has a toilet inside the bus which was relatively clean, free snacks on board with a helpful attendant and the restaurant where the bus stopped for lunch was clean.
The bus ride from HCM City to Phnom Penh was not bad at all. It cost me US$11 for a one-way fare. The bus ride lasted for 6 hours but the trip itself was 5 hours however border formalities took an hour. Based on my observation, the border between Viet Nam and Cambodia was very organized compared to other land borders I have ever been or passed through.
We rested for a while and decided to have dinner in a restaurant by the riverside of Mekong. It was a restaurant called “Titanic” which most probably been named after the movie of Leonardo di Caprio. My first time to taste ‘amok’ which is a choice of fish, meat or vegetables covered with ‘kroeung’ and coconut milk. Kroeung is a Cambodian spice, which according to Wikipedia: From India, by way of Java, Cambodians have been taught the art of blending spices into a paste using many ingredients like cardamom, star anise, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and turmeric. Other native ingredients like lemongrass, galangal, garlic, shallots, cilantro, and kaffir lime leaves are added to this mix to make a distinctive and complex spice blend called "kroeung." This is an important aromatic paste commonly used in Cambodian cooking.[2] For somebody who is used to dishes with coconut milk, the food tasted nothing special except for the different taste from the spices. Anyhow, I enjoyed the dish.
At titanic restaurant, there was also a cultural show of the famous “khmer dance” which was impressive in terms of how the women bend their hands in a gentle and graceful manner.
On our way back to my friend’s house, we passed by a travel agency to arrange our bus ride to Siem Reap and hotel accommodation. Lucky Internet and Travel (#277HEo St., Sisowath Quay, Sankat Phsar Kandal 1, Khan Duan Penh, Cambodia) was the agency we randomly chose while walking along the streets of the riverside. The riverside is a street full of travel agencies, hotels and restaurants of all sorts of food which is a hub of expats and tourists. I would say that we got a good deal from the travel agency. Pick-up from our hotel in PP and Siem Reap was a very welcome package of the tour. They also managed to book a $20 hotel for us in Siem Reap. Bus ticket to Siem Reap costs the same as the bus from Saigon to PP. The travel time was also the same, but this time it was 5 hours less the border formalities. I would recommend Mekong Express for the bus. It has a toilet inside the bus which was relatively clean, free snacks on board with a helpful attendant and the restaurant where the bus stopped for lunch was clean.
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