wandering... can't go home: Bus Trip from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap

After spending a few days in Phnom Penh, it was time to continue my journey to Siem Reap, the land of Angkor. This is the highlight of my journey in 3 Asean countries, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.

Mekong bus terminal

I booked my bus trip through Circuit hotel and paid 10 USD. I was fetched from the hotel by a mini-van and brought to Mekong Bus Line terminal at Sisowath Quay.

Several staff were collecting our luggage and numbered bag tags were attached for security reason. They won't release your luggage unless you show them the duplicate tag. We were accompanied by a tour guide who from time to time explained the different places that we have passed.

All of us were given wet towel, bottled water and a box of pastry.

The journey lasted for 6 hours. In the middle of our journey we stopped at Kampong Thom for our lunch. Several passengers alighted and their luggage distributed by the tour guide upon inspection of their duplicate numbered bag tags. Two thumbs up for added security.

I saw this little girl standing outside the restaurant. She was very friendly and kept on smiling to all of us. I knew what she was thinking. I see many street children in Manila too. I took my untouched box of pastry and gave it to her. Other tourists followed.

I ordered chicken fried rice and a bottle of local beer.

While travelling, I noticed that the road going to Siem Reap was quite narrow. Most of it were two lane black-top road. Because of this, our bus sometimes had to crawl if some animals, tuk-tuk or slow moving vehicles were ahead of us. I am not surprise if accident normally occurs during evening trip because of numerous road hazards along the way, not to mention the lack of road lighting. I remember an accident wherein one Filipino tourist was injured while travelling on the same road but in opposite direction.

The bus was comfortable and it has toilet inside. It was unfortunate that I was seated along the aisle thus I wasn't able to take some shots along the way. In addition, the local lady seated beside me could be a vampire for whenever the sun seeped through the window she immediately closed the curtain thus blocking my view of the sceneries. Anyway, I took the opportunity to sleep and relax for I know that I have busy days ahead of me in Siem Reap.

There is one common bus station in Siem Reap. Normally, all tourists arriving to Siem Reap by bus are met usually by their hotels' staff or representative. In my case, I saw one guy holding a paper with my name printed on it. It was Moori. He was my tuk-tuk driver for few days. A very friendly and down to earth guy. I hope I'll meet him again when I bring my wife to Siem Reap in near future.