Ruined Cities Tropical Islands

A new addition to our Cambodia itinerary, this half-day tour to discover some of the local cottage industries in one of the villages outside of Battambang has proved very popular.  Also very practical since it can just as easily be done by bicycle or by tuk-tuk for the less energetic and the 3 or 4 hour round tour then leaves…

Been visiting Trat Province Thailand, and its most famous island, Koh Chang, for 25 years now and sure it’s changed a lot. Most places would do in a quarter of a century and now it has myriad resorts, car ferries, 24-hour electricity, sealed roads and Tesco Lotus stores – none of which it had in 1990 – but having just…

Traditionally the kingdom’s 2nd largest city, the western town of Battambang Cambodia has surely been overtaken by now by booming Siem Reap and although still relatively prosperous from the Province’s fine farming land, (indeed it’s sometimes known as ‘Cambodia’s rice bowl’), it has, so far, been largely bypassed by the country’s tourism boom. Well, until recently that is, and these…

The famous floating villages and fishing communities around Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake are well known, with the more easily accessible ones such as Chong Kneas and Kampong Phleuk now firmly on tourist itineraries. Far less known are these River nomads of Western Cambodia – people who spend the whole year travelling up and down the rivers leading into the huge…

Leaning Tower of Kampong Thom An isolated and very rarely visited Angkor period temple site, Prasat Kok Rocha (or Kok Roka) in Cambodia’s Kampong Thom Province is famous – well locally at least – for being the area’s very own leaning tower. According to some locals, the depression in the ground in front of the temple is rumoured to be…

Phnom Penh A few photos of Phnom Penh street life taken within the space of just a 10-minute, 500 m or so stroll from Street 178 to Phsa Kandal, (Kandal Market). Starting at Wat Sarawan on the corner of Street 19 and 178, we came across this nicely restored French-period colonial villa – now a tapas bar of all things!…

Cambodian Food Sadly, Khmer cooking has traditionally taken a backseat compared to the more prestigious and much better-known cuisines of its neighbours Thailand and Vietnam. Obviously, the Khmer people had far more serious concerns during much of their recent history; however, Cambodian food has made a strong comeback of late and more and more excellent local-style eateries are appearing in…

Cambodia World Heritage Sites We’re delighted to see that since we originally wrote this post, the number of entries on the UNESCO Cambodia World Heritage list has doubled with the addition of Sambor Prei Kuk in 2019 and Koh Ker in 2023. While this means additional funding as well as expert assistance in terms of restoration and maintenance, it also,…

Boat journey through Cambodia Our boat journey through Cambodia from Siem Reap, across the Tonle Sap Lake and down the Sangkar River to Western Cambodia’s Battambang Town, was a particularly tricky one this month due to the combination of low water levels on the lake and a slow current on the river itself which had lead to a serious build-up…

Sunrise at Angkor Wat We’d have thought it was fairly obvious that a dawn experience, whether sunrise at Angkor Wat, the Taj Mahal or anywhere else you can think of, will vary enormously from day to day. It is clearly unpredictable and beyond anyone’s control. Some mornings offer spectacular explosions of vibrant colours, whilst others grey, overcast scenes and however…

Phsa Chas Phnom Penh Siem Reap’s Phsa Chas or Old Market, with its souvenir stalls, packaged herbs and spices and tourist-friendly cafes is well known amongst visitors to Cambodia yet the similarly named Phsa Chas Phnom Penh is rarely included on anyone’s city itineraries even though it’s centrally and conveniently located on 13th Street close to both the riverfront and…

Ta Prom Prasat Ta Prom, at Cambodia’s UNESCO World Heritage-listed Angkor. with its giant trees and sprawling roots, is certainly one of the vast Angkor complex’s most famous and photogenic sites, Commonly called the ‘Tomb Raider Temple’ due to its appearance in the 2001 film of that name, the late 12th-century, Jayavarman VII-period ruined sanctuary does consequently see a lot…