Today we had to leave the Pavilion, the haven of peace and tranquility that we had called home for the last four days and head off to our next destination, Siem Reap, and of course, the spectacular Angkor Wat.
Driver No10 took us to the airport in his TukTuk for just $8, a real bargain seeing as we were charged $15 when first we arrived four days ago!
Arriving at Phnom Penh International airport, mild panic set in as our flight wasn’t even listed on the departures board, there was nobody manning the Cambodia Angkor Air desk nor anybody on the airport information desk. We were advised by another passenger that the flight would appear in an hour… and it did! We checked in and were soon on our way for the 45 minute ’hop’ up to Siem Reap.
As arranged, our hotel, The Sokkhak Boutique Resort, met us with a TukTuk and a warm friendly welcome and very soon we were heading out of the airport. The roads towards the hotel were almost deserted so the journey went by in a flash, ending up in a potholed dirt track ,but from the second the driver stopped we knew that this was going to be a very special hotel. All the hotel staff were waiting inside the main gate – ‘Welcome Home’ were the first words we heard and we instantly felt at home.
Our TukTuk driver, Mao, picked us up as arranged ahead of our trip and we headed to the Angkor Wat ticket office to buy our entrance pass ahead of time and as tourists still haven’t returned in anything like the pre-covid numbers, buying a one day pass you’re given an extra day free.
With our tickets quickly and easily purchased for our visit the next day, our guide took us to the 9th century Phnom Bakheng to view the sunset. Usually there is a 300 person limit at this monument, on a first come first served basis, but we passed the gate unhindered and we climbed the winding trail, clambering up the steep temple steps to be greated by an unhindered view of the surrounding area from the top. Looking around there were probably fewer than 50 people on the top of the temple so everybody was able to find a spot with a good clear view.
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