BACK TO CIVILIZATION... SORT OF
AND MEETING NEW FRIENDS
After
sharing stories, a trip rundown and a couple of cold beers back at HiddenCambodia HQ, I bid a fond farewell to Slim and Paul the owner drives me back to
my new hotel in the centre of town, Sun Sengky. It
is not far from Pub Street, the main tourist and backpacker hub of Siem Reap
which is full of restaurants and places to have a few drinks, though I didn’t
stop in as it looked like a hard place to mingle being a solo traveller. The hotel was another great place under $15
with everything you would need and a great location, with the markets nearby
and plenty of food options.
I hobbled out into the street after a night’s
rest for some room supplies and a found small bar nearby so decided to stop in
for a quick beer. I was about to leave
when I heard an Australian voice order a drink next to me so I struck up a
conversation and within minutes I was sitting with the rest of the guys, all
expats, and another massive night was born!
They took me out all over town, plenty of local’s only places and it was a really great night. More contacts I will be catching up with on my return visit. As a solo traveller you have to be prepared to approach people and start chatting, most of my best nights out whilst travelling have started this way and you never know where the relationship will lead. I’m currently in Jakarta and through meeting the right people I am now staying in a huge apartment, for free!
They took me out all over town, plenty of local’s only places and it was a really great night. More contacts I will be catching up with on my return visit. As a solo traveller you have to be prepared to approach people and start chatting, most of my best nights out whilst travelling have started this way and you never know where the relationship will lead. I’m currently in Jakarta and through meeting the right people I am now staying in a huge apartment, for free!
But
the night out has not helped my foot in the slightest and I can’t even make the
journey to the famous Angkor Wat temple complex, Cambodia’s ancient iconic
drawcard and the site that brings the majority of tourists to this amazing
country. I am room bound for a couple of
days before making the call to head back to Phnom Penh to let my wounds heal,
and hopefully be able to make the journey south to Sihanoukville.
Another slow mini bus trip back to the capital sees me checking back into the Lyon D’or Hotel where my foot situation doesn’t improve and I pretty much spend my remaining couple of weeks resting up. I made friends with 2 sisters on my previous visit here and they take very good care of me whilst my foot mends, we go out a few times but it just inflames the injury and I quickly realize I will not be making it to Sihanoukville either.
I had made friends back in Pattaya with a guy who runs a guesthouse down there, ‘Wish You Were Here’ and had planned on visiting him plus some islands, camping, hiking and some more bike riding but this is just not going to be possible and I face the reality that I may as well head back to Thailand to recover. I have Mon waiting, plenty of good friends and a beautiful apartment to go back to. The rest of Cambodia will have to wait until my return visit.
Another slow mini bus trip back to the capital sees me checking back into the Lyon D’or Hotel where my foot situation doesn’t improve and I pretty much spend my remaining couple of weeks resting up. I made friends with 2 sisters on my previous visit here and they take very good care of me whilst my foot mends, we go out a few times but it just inflames the injury and I quickly realize I will not be making it to Sihanoukville either.
I had made friends back in Pattaya with a guy who runs a guesthouse down there, ‘Wish You Were Here’ and had planned on visiting him plus some islands, camping, hiking and some more bike riding but this is just not going to be possible and I face the reality that I may as well head back to Thailand to recover. I have Mon waiting, plenty of good friends and a beautiful apartment to go back to. The rest of Cambodia will have to wait until my return visit.
