Before we start, here is a brief intro you’ll find at the start of all of my blogs!
This is a story-style travel blog featuring my adventure through Southeast Asia in the fall of 2024. I spent 1 week on my own in Laos, then joined a 14-day tour called Ultimate Cambodian Adventure from the company G Adventures, and a final 3-day solo stop in Singapore. You can read the blog in order, or about whichever destination intrigues you! Within my stories, I’ll offer some recommendations and some tips and tricks for a smooth journey. When I travel, I mostly do group tours and the reasons are:
* As a solo woman traveler, it is much safer especially if traveling long distances or to countries that can be dangerous in some areas
*The itineraries are amazing and usually include all of the things you’d want to see and do…and if not, there is free time to do as you wish
*You don’t have to worry about booking transport, finding hotels, etc. Sometimes that can contribute to the adventure, but it’s also nice to sit back and relax and let your Tour CEO be in charge
* And finally…the new people you meet on your tour become your family, and I’ve made lifelong friends in these journeys. For myself, this has equal importance with exploring new countries.
Cambodia is located in Southeast Asia; it is a land of ancient wonders and vibrant traditions. The history is rich, and the country is abundant with temples – the most famous being Angkor Wat which is the largest religious monument in the world. Here you’ll find lush jungles, stunning natural landscapes beautiful baches, and the most kind and welcoming people you will ever meet. The population id around 17 million, with the majority being ethnically Khmer. In the mid 1860’s, Cambodia became a French protectorate, and gained d independence after World War II. You’ll still find a lot of French influence in the country. The country became involved in the Vietnam war, which brought in a takeover by the communist Khmer Rouge in 1975. During this time, Cambodia experienced one of the world’s largest genocides, carried out by the Khmer Rouge. I will talk more about this further on in this blog. Life isn’t easy for Cambodians today, as there are still much corrupt practices in their everyday lives, another problem has been the many unexploded landmines, but luckily the country is expected to be clean by the end of 2025.
Siem Reap is the second largest city in Cambodia, and a major tourist hub because of Angkor Wat, which is the largest religious monument in the world. It was once the capital of the Khmer empire, and is home to many ancient temples and ruins. Like many other cities in Southeast Asia, the architecture is French colonial mixed in with Asian and modern styles. There cuisine here is diverse, the nightlife is bustling, and we are lucky to be spending a couple of days here!
After lunch, we have a few hours to kill before our next excursion. Tristelle and I need some drinks and snacks, so we walk across the street to a convenience store. And to our surprise…this place is FULL OF CATS. Like, fancy cats. I don’t know how many the shopkeeper owns, but I would say at least 15.
And they are just hanging out all over the store …on the floor, in the shelves, on the payment counter, above the coolers.
It’s completely awesome. I could stay here all day. Haha. We admire and pet the kitties, and then it’s back to the hotel until we are picked up by our driver and guide. It’s just myself, Tristelle, Eline and Chris. We are headed to Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. We drive towards the river that branches out from the lake, and hop onto our boat.
Our main destination is the floating villages. The houses are built up on stilts, made from wood and they’re far from luxurious but also beautiful at the same time.
There is a main road that goes through the middle of this village, and the rest of it is surrounded by water. Some of the houses rise up to over 30 feet high above the river.
The main income here is from fishing and farming. As soon as we arrive to have a look around, there are a few young girls on bikes that come to greet us.
As you can imagine, the 4 of us draw a lot of attention. And then as we walk through the village for the next half hour, we are greeted by pretty much every child in the village…I’ve never given so many high fives in my life! It is so cute.
They are running around, laughing and playing. Following us down the main road, for more high fives. Trying to practice their English with us. The adults also wave and say hi, and it is a heartwarming experience. Everyone is so welcoming, and so kind. We had giant smiles on our faces the entire time, and what could be better than that?
We get back in the boat and head out to the lake so we can watch the sunset.
This is a very touristy activity, so there are a couple of other big boats, and some small snack boats that pull up beside us offering chips, drinks, sweets. Since it’s cloudy tonight there’s not much of a sunset and the clouds are looking more ominous by the minute so we can’t stay too long.
Don’t want to be stuck on the water in the storm! As it gets dark the sight of the houses along the water is magical.
When we arrive back into Siem Reap, we need to meet up with the rest of the group for dinner. They are somewhere along Pub Street, a famous eating/drinking/party spot.
We find them at a place called Hanuman’s. I end up having another pizza…I think this is number 3 of the trip. I don’t know why, but the pizzas in Laos and Cambodia have been awesome. After dinner, I drag the group to a karaoke spot called Ambar, recommended by my friend Merryn. It’s a small place with the singing taking place in the upstairs lounge. There are a couple other people here but we basically have the room to ourselves. It’s just a computer system, no host.
I manage to get everyone to sing at some point, even if it’s just a few lines of Bohemian Rhapsody. Jason is actually a metal singer back home in Australia; we get a small taste of his skills but he doesn’t want to do a full song. The real standout is Eline, who is quite the karaoke queen. She dances around, sings almost every song and it is awesome. I’m so happy that my new friends are sharing this with me, since karaoke is near and dear to my heart. After a couple of hours, Dave and I sneak off and grab a tuktuk back to the hotel, so no one can twist our rubber arms to have more drinks. Haha.
Today is our free day, and Tristelle and I are going to chill and enjoy Siem Reap. It is sooo nice to sleep in after the long day we had yesterday. Eline is off on a jungle tour, so we will meet up with her later. Our first stop today is the APOPO Visitor Center, a non-profit organization where they house and train rats to detect landmines and unexploded ordnances in Cambodia and beyond.
Since most rats don’t have a very long life span, they train the African Giant Pouched Rats, as they are very smart and can live up to 9 years!!! They have an extremely developed sense of smell, so they are ideal for this job. It is also much cheaper to train rats than dogs, and they generally weigh less so there is very little danger of their weight setting off any bombs. A visit to this center includes the history of the use of these rats, plus we get to see one of the rats live in action while he sniffs out a mine from the sand. It’s so neat!
The handlers bring out Jordan, and we get to hold him. I’ve had pet rats, so I’m super excited for this!! When I get him in my arms, he is so comfy and I can tell he feels safe because he’s very still and is licking my arms. I don’t want to put him down! I hold him longer than anyone else. Haha.
Now it’s time for lunch, so we head down to Pub Street and choose The Red Piano. Since Angelina Jolie is very popular here, the bar advertises a Tomb Raider cocktail, so of course we have to try it. Apparently, a bartender here at the Red Piano created it for her, but I’m not sure if she actually drank it while she was here. This whole city is Angelina crazy. It is vodka, Malibu rum, and pineapple juice. Nothing fancy.
I order the carbonara pasta and it is so rich and delicious…I feel like a stomachache is inevitable after this, but totally worth it.
For the rest of the afternoon, we check out the markets and I do the bulk of my souvenir shopping. This is my favorite kind of shopping!! The most popular things to buy in Cambodia would be silver jewelry, lacquerware, silk, coffee, and these things:
Paintings – everywhere I go, I try to bring home something like this:
This is an Apsara dancer – unfortunately I do not get to take in a performance of this traditional dance, so instead I get a mini statue
And of course I need a tiny replica of Angkor Wat!
These bags are made from other recycled bags. What’s cool is they are waterproof and highly durable, and they are locally made. Such a unique souvenir!
We have fun looking around and haggling for the best price. While I love a good deal, I’m also very aware that this is a poor country so the price I pay is always reasonable. After shopping, we walk back to the hotel and stop in at a massage shop across the street. Eline is back so she joins us. The girls opt for a full body massage so they head upstairs to the private rooms. I only want the foot massage, so I can sit in the more public area.
My massage also includes a bit of neck and shoulders. For all of my massages in Southeast Asia, it’s been women. But today, I get a guy. His hands are strong and he’s super sweet. He uses this weird pressure point device on my feet and I can’t decide if it feels good or if I’m about to punch him in the face. Haha. One hour of pure relaxation? Well, until he gets to the shoulders part and starts to twist me around and stretch my back. Haha.
Tonight we have an included dinner so we meet up in the lobby, where we are picked up by an all female fleet of tuk tuk drivers. It’s not a super common profession for women here, but it’s starting to be a thing so that’s cool.
They give us flowers, and their tuk tuk’s are decorated pink with sparkly lights. I love it! We drive to New Hope, an organization that provides free education, health care, and community/crisis support for children and youth from this area.
It’s a charity that G Adventures supports, so it’s cool that we get to dine at their restaurant. This restaurant helps unemployed or uneducated Khmers gain cooking and hospitality skills, to give them better opportunities. And our tour CEO, Ratha, also got his start here! If you or anyone you know might be interested in donating, here is the link to their website.
It’s happy hour, so all of the cocktails are cheap and tasty. Jason vows to have each one of the cocktails on the list..I think he gets pretty close to accomplishing that! They bring a bunch of dishes to the table and we all share the food. There is salad, wonton rolls, veggie curry, beef lok lak and fresh fruit for dessert.
It’s a really fun night and it’s so nice to support this local charity.
After dinner, we can get dropped off wherever we want so Chris and I decide we’d like to go to the night market. Walking around the markets and the streets, someone is always trying to sell something and get my attention – it’s a bit annoying. And on the way home, I stop for these ice cream rolls. They take forever to make it, and I’m almost regretting this decision but it is worth the wait.
I walk back to the hotel, taking in the atmosphere and my last night in Siem Reap…….
Everywhere On Earth With Erin 