10 Days in Cambodia

I love traveling with a blogger. I always want to document my travels in extreme detail. While on the trip, I constantly think about what I’m going to write about the experience, what I’m going to do with the awesome photos I’m taking, and so forth; but the moment I sit down at a computer, that all vanishes. From reading profiles on CouchSurfing, to working on my blog, to extending the warranty on my Macs, there are 1,000 other things I need to do when I finally get on my MacBook. So it’s no wonder that travel blogging somehow never really happens.

The first time I really traveled with a blogger was when I visited Canada with my sister, Audrey. She did a good job of documenting the trip, and even put the posts in their own well-organized Category: Canada.

My most recent trip, to Cambodia, is the second time. Angela blogged the trip day-by-day. It’s fantastic work. It includes photos, dates, times, people, places.. all that important stuff. Here’s an outline of the series:

(The link text is not the same as Angela’s post titles. Usually it’s one extraordinary point that I decided to highlight.)

[I didn’t specify for these links to open in a new window, so if you want that, be sure to hold ‘shift’, ‘command’, or ‘ctrl’, as you desire.]

Jan 27: Preparing for the trip – this is an overview of what we planned to do. Our transportation would consist of buses, from HCMC to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.

Jan 29: Packing for the trip – this describes how we packed stuff to bring on the trip. Generally, we packed light. I am considering leaving behind my LuxuryLite Cot on my next trip, because I only used it once, yet it’s one of the largest things in my backpack. Because I’ve found it difficult to stay warm when sleeping on the cot, a $4 dorm bed is equally comfortable. On this day, Angela also wrote an Outline of the trip.

Feb 1: Bus through the Moc Bai border to Phnom Penh

Feb 2: Lunch at Friends the Restaurant, a social enterprise (business) that helps street children

Feb 3: Check-in at Chhorvivorn Guest House, where we were referred by someone we found on CouchSurfing

Feb 4: A fairly long post in which we visit the famous temples of the Angkor Wat area

Feb 5: A post with many photos in which we visit Dr. Fish

Feb 6: The day on which a group of CouchSurfers visited more temples and took pictures of themselves jumping

Feb 7: Cooking with a local Cambodian family

Feb 8: We intended to take a sleeper bus to Phnom Penh, and although we had a ticket, it was somehow still overbooked. I slept at Chhorvivorn Guest House, while Angela went sleepless.

Feb 9: Angela eats like a local, while I got some work done at a restaurant with free Wi-Fi near the riverbank.

Feb 10: Our bus ride back from Cambodia was noisy for Angela, but we sat separately. Near the back of the bus, where I was, it was relatively quiet, and nobody really bothered me.

2 Responses to “10 Days in Cambodia”

  1. Aaron Lin says:

    Hey Elliot,

    How much is the cost of living in Cambodia? I’m paying ~$300/mo. per person for food and rent in Taiwan. I wonder if it’s much cheaper in the rest of Asia.

    • Elliot Lee says:

      I’m not really sure: I didn’t stay long enough to rent. Low-cost hotel rooms were available for as little as $7/night, though. The local food is very inexpensive, but there’s a wide range. Some street food costs only cents, but of course it’s easy to find a restaurant with Western-level pricing.

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