10 Day Cambodia Itinerary: On and Off the Beaten Path
Three years later, and we’re still catching up on country guides from our 3.5-month trip in Spring 2018!
Previous guides from that trip include: New Zealand, Australia, Bali, Singapore, Myanmar, Thailand, and Japan.
Today’s guide: Cambodia
Cambodia was our second to last planned country, a 10-day interlude between Thailand and Japan, and one of the quirkier stops on our adventure. Our activities ranged from the ancient history of Angkor Wat to the sadly not so ancient history of The Killing Fields, from long motorbike rides and river swims on sweltering days to parties with expats on just as sweltering summer nights.
When we went: Mid May. The end of Cambodia’s dry season and the hottest month of the year, with temperatures in the high 90s Fahrenheit. Being in SE Asia during the warmest months meant less crowds, but sweating our asses off. Kampot, Cambodia was the only town we’ve ever stayed in to date that didn’t have air conditioning anywhere, and we had to get used to just never feeling relief from the heat, unless we jumped in the river for a swim. We got a couple rain showers while we were there, but never for long and they never seemed to disrupt our day.
Use the table of contents below to jump around and dive into our 10 day Cambodia itinerary!
GETTING TO & AROUND CAMBODIA
We flew into Siem Reap from Bangkok. Cambodia and Myanmar were the only two countries on our trip that required us to have tourist visas, both of which were pretty easy to apply for online as we planned our travels. See the U.S. Department of State site for more info.
While in Cambodia, we booked tuk tuk drivers, sometimes for the day, or sometimes for quick rides within cities or to and from the airport. We took lots of bus and van trips between the different cities.
Pro tips: Same with our travels throughout all of SE Asia, the easiest way to book intercity trips is to have your hotel or hostel book the buses for you. If you’re doing this, we’re not sure you can really control which bus / shuttle company you use, but we certainly experienced some good ones and some shitty ones while in Cambodia. We wrote down Giant Ibis as a really nice bus company, which we took from Phnom Penh to Kampot (it had air conditioning, TVs, spacious seating, free water bottles and snacks), while we got a shitty, crowded bus with none of those things on the way back from Kampot to Phnom Penh. Luck of the draw.
Our Cambodia itinerary was Siem Reap >> Battambang >> Phnom Penh >> Kampot >> Phnom Penh.
We probably would have gone to some of the islands in the south, but Ray actually had an old family friend who was living in the small town of Kampot, so we chose to check that out instead. Map of our itinerary below!
Our route: Siem Reap >> Battambang >> Phnom Penh >> Kampot >> Phnom Penh
WHERE TO STAY IN CAMBODIA
We stayed at mostly pretty nice quality hotels in Cambodia. But then on the flip side we also picked the shittiest hostel we’ve ever stayed at in Kampot. Here’s the full, no holds barred rundown below!
Siem Reap
La Niche D’Angkor Boutique Hotel
Wat Bo Village, Salakomroeuk Commune, Street 27, 17254, Cambodia | Booking
Really pretty place with rooms surrounding a gorgeous central pool, luscious gardens and flowers all around.
We remember yummy breakfasts here, lounging by the pool in a torrential rainstorm, and one of the funniest signs in our room. To this day, we still refer to our bed / our room as a “warmly nest” from that sign.
That iconic pool.
And that iconic sign.
Battambang
Jasmine Hotel, Skybar & Cafe
#441, Street 121, Toul ta ek village ,toul ta ek commune, City Center, Battambang, Cambodia | Agoda
Battambang is a strange, sleepy town in low season and this was a similarly strange, sleepy hotel of the variety you find all throughout less trafficked SE Asian cities. It’s par for the course for what you’ll find in Battambang, and it served us well! We particularly liked having a birds-eye view (of nothing much in particular, but still nice) from the rooftop bar.
Battambang rooftop viewz.
Phnom Penh
TeaHouse Asian Urban Hotel
#32, St.242 Phnom Penh Cambodia | Agoda
It’s funny how even the nicest hotels in Cambodia have the really hard beds — the beds in Cambodia took us back to our Vietnam days a couple years prior. Incredibly firm beds aside, this is a nice hotel! We stayed here on both the first night and the last night of our Cambodia trip, and it felt like the lap of luxury after Kampot.
Another peaceful pool at TeaHouse Asian Urban Hotel, Phnom Penh
Kampot
Stay In Kampot
24 Dragon Street, Near The Old Bridge Kampot Cambodia
Honestly, at the time we went, this was one of the worst places we’ve ever stayed — we still joke about it to this day.
We probably got the worst room in the place, which had no windows and a bathroom that permanently smelled like a combo of sewage water and sickeningly sweet air fresheners. We kept the bathroom door closed — effectively creating a humid, smelly sauna — and held our breath as we showered or used the toilet. Nightmare bathroom. And it was all downhill from there.
Roosters crowed loudly outside before the crack of dawn. When we ran out of toilet paper, they didn’t have any more to give us and handed us a tiny pack of napkins (like, thanks?). When they rented us a motorbike, it could barely make it up a hill. They didn’t have A/C (but this was par for the course everywhere in Kampot), and only provided a tiny fan for the sweltering nights. And when they booked us a bus trip back to Phnom Penh, it was with a way shittier bus company than the one we had used to travel there, and there was a mix-up where the company thought we had only booked one ticket, making us wonder if the hotel really had only booked us one even though we paid for two. Everything about this place was comically bad.
To give them the benefit of the doubt, they do have an exceptional rating on Agoda right now, so we might have just gotten them in the low season when they were off their game, and they might have fixed things up since then.
WHERE TO EAT & DRINK IN CAMBODIA
Our favorite food in Cambodia was the Chinese noodles and dumplings we enjoyed in both Battambang and Kampot. We also made it a point to try lots of local Khmer dishes, some of which we liked better than others. Check out our Cambodian culinary adventures broken down by location below.
Siem Reap
Love U Restaurant
Street 27, Wat Bo Village, Sangkat Svay Rok, 17254, Cambodia
We chose this spot for lunch because it was right across the street from our hotel, and decided we should try local Khmer cuisine right off the bat. Ray got amok, Cambodia’s most famous dish. It’s a slightly sweet white fish curry presented in a banana leaf bowl — lemongrassy and slightly creamy in consistency. It wasn’t our favorite to be honest but we were glad we tried it. Sam got Khmer curry which wasn’t too far out of the ordinary for a curry dish with chicken and veggies.
Siem Reap Night Market
On our first evening we hit up Siem Reap’s pub street and night market. If you’ve seen any TV specials featuring the night market, you surely witnessed some bizarre street food. Think crispy tarantulas, fried silk works, and scorpions. You can definitely find these snacks there, but we opted for a safer bet — a Cambodian BBQ joint — instead. Quite randomly, we also ended up at a froyo spot for dessert which was an odd reminder of home…and college days when froyo was actually popular.
Pub Street in Siem Reap, on the way into the Night Market
Chong Phov Khmer Restaurant
Unnamed Road, Krong Siem Reap, Cambodia
I don’t remember where we discovered this spot among our research, but we had uncovered it as one of the best spots for traditional Khmer food in Siem Reap. We looked it up on the map and showed the tuk tuk driver outside our hotel. To our surprise, he started giggling uncontrollably and zooming in and out on the map. It turns out that even though the place was only 2 miles away, it looked like it was in the middle of some vegetable fields so he was super confused. He ended up calling the place, letting them know we were coming, and driving us all the way down bumpy village streets to get there, then waited for us as we finished our meal.
And what a special meal! This restaurant clearly didn’t get much organic foot traffic and likely didn’t get that many guests in general since the owner explained they had recently moved from town to their countryside home. But the restaurant setup within their home was still gorgeous — think al fresco dining by candlelight, surrounded by crickets, frogs, lizards, and the family’s cute cat and dog. We got traditional sour soup (which wasn’t actually super sour), khmer curry, and a delicious banana tapioca dessert.
We chatted with the owner throughout our meal about life in Cambodia and the current political situation, which was super interesting to hear a local’s perspective on.
Sadly, this place looks like it’s now permanently closed but we hope this sweet family is still doing well!
Battambang
White Rose Restaurant
Rd No 2, Krong Battambang, Cambodia | Website
Lured in by the vibrant fruit stand out front, we took a break from the midday heat to grab some smoothies at White Rose. We didn’t try their food but loved selecting from the extensive fresh fruit smoothie menu.
Lan Chov Khorko Miteanh
145, Krong Battambang, Cambodia
A small but mighty restaurant we’ll never forget. Lan Chov topped all the lists we read of the best spots in Battambang, and it lives up to the hype — so good we went back twice. Lan Chov is a tiny hole in the wall run by an old man and woman. They provide an English menu but don’t speak English themselves, and certainly don’t provide the friendliest of service either. But that’s okay. Because it’s all about the noodles and dumplings. We got minced pork noodles, noodle soup with dumplings, and more dumplings on the side. And we still crave those noodles and dumplings to this day!
Minced pork noods
Jasmine Hotel, Skybar & Cafe
#441, Street 121, Toul ta ek village ,toul ta ek commune, City Center, Battambang, Cambodia
The “skybar” at our hotel may only have been about 5 floors high but it was a nice place to grab a beer with a sunset view.
Kinyei Cafe
Rd No 1.5, Krong Battambang, Cambodia | Website
We happened upon this Western-style cafe, and when I saw a breakfast burrito with actual cheese on the menu I just had to get it. Not the best breakfast burrito I’ve ever had by American standards, but a welcome respite in SE Asia, and a very cute little spot.
Phnom Penh
🚫Bad buns 🚫
A word to the wise. If you happen to be on a 7-hour van ride from Battambang to Cambodia, your van will stop at a roadside food court of sorts with local lunch options. If you happen to see a pork bun stand, chances are the pork buns might have been sitting there for hours...days even. Do not buy one. If you do happen to purchase one, and the meat looks a slightly greyish color, do not proceed with eating it.
All of the above are things that I did, and later regretted as I felt nauseous for the next few hours of the van ride and ended up trying to throw up in a hole in the ground toilet.
Just a word to the wise.
Special Pho
Phnom, #11 Preah Ang Makhak Vann St. (178), Penh 12206, Cambodia
This place is now reportedly closed so we’re not being very helpful by listing it, but it was right along the river promenade which we walked after eating some yummy pho. It turns out Phnom Penh has a bunch of pho spots if you’re looking to switch it up from Khmer food. The only downside...this spot put some sort of clove flavor into the broth which was unexpected, and not altogether welcome.
Eleven One Kitchen
St 334, Phnom Penh, Cambodia | Website
We found this place on some list of best Khmer food spots in Phnom Penh and decided to try it for dinner. It was in a popular area surrounded by a lot of bars and restaurants, and it was soooo yummy and fresh! We got a ginger, chicken, and broccoli stir fry and a curry with beef and morning glory (a delicious veggie that we fell in love with in Vietnam).
Big Apple Donuts & Coffee
AH1, Phnom Penh, Cambodia | Website
We walked by Big Apple Donuts & Coffee, and craving a taste of America we stopped in and got, well, donuts and coffee. A lovely little spot!
Kampot
Ecran Noodles
Street 735, Krong Kampot, Cambodia
Our number one rec in Kampot! Hand-pulled noodles and dumplings. Similar to the noods place in Battambang, we had to go twice!
Epic Arts Cafe
ភូមិ សុវណ្ណសាគរ, សង្កាត់ កំពង់កណ្តាល, ក្រុង កំពត, Cambodia | Website
Epic Arts Cafe focuses on the mission of art for healing and creating an inclusive working environment. The majority of employees are deaf, so you fill out a written order form. We had a yummy, healthy, and international lunch there.
Rikitikitavi
Riverside Road Corner of Street 735 and Street 728 Krong Kampot, 07451, Cambodia
Rikitikitavi is a hotel that also has a popular bar. Great spot to grab BoGo margs and mules and watch the sunset over the river.
Rusty Keyhole 2
2000 Monument, Krong Kampot, Cambodia
This was a divey pub we only stopped in because we were early meeting up with a friend. Weird one to include, because we wouldn’t really recommend it, but it does paint a picture. It taught us what a true expat town Kampot is — and not just the young folk in town. This place was filled with British, Australia, and South African old men. We really shook up the demographic of the place, but it gave us yet another interesting insight into the weird world of Kampot.
Monkey Republic
730, Krong Kampot 07401, Cambodia | Website
Monkey Republic is a hostel, cafe, and bar that at the time we visited happened to be owned by a family friend of Ray’s. They specialize in dorm-style rooms so we didn’t stay there (wish we had honestly after our hostel experience described above), but we made sure to stop by and visit for drinks and dinner. You may not expect great food from a party hostel, but Monkey’s menu is actually delicious, filled with British, American and Cambodian classics — and even plenty of vegan and vegetarian options.
Karma Traders
Red Rd, Krong Kampot, Cambodia | Website
Our night at Monkey Republic introduced us to the young expat crew of Kampot — lots of Brits, South Africans and Australians working at various hostels throughout town, some living there for years with no end in sight. The party that night was at Karma Traders, another hostel / restaurant / bar — this one with a rooftop. The heat was sweltering, the rooftop bar was packed, shoe removal was required for entry. Everyone had a bohemian vibe, and everyone knew one another. It seemed more “locals” were in attendance than hostel patrons. We couldn’t believe what a scene there is in such a small, sleepy river town. And the drinks were flowing!
Cafe Espresso Roastery
33, Krong Kampot, Cambodia | Website
Shocked by Kampot again. We entered this trendy cafe and felt like we were in LA in the middle of a small SE Asian town without air conditioning. And the coffee and food were just as top notch as the decor — we got a delicious benedict and chicken & waffles. We got so used to only being able to check in on social media and life back home when we were on WiFi at various cafes, restaurants and bars, and we’ll always remember that the notorious “Laurel vs. Yanny” soundbite came out while we were sitting at Cafe Espresso Roastery sweating our buns off.
Kep
Kep Crab Market
Kep is a seaside town about a half-hour drive from Kampot — but I think it took us 45+ minutes via motorbike because we’re slow (aka motorbikes terrify me and I yell at Ray if he goes fast or does any mildly risky maneuvers) :)
Kep is known for its abundance of crab, and local families flock to the crab market and fire up their grills on weekends to enjoy seafood delicacies. In the dead of the hot season, we were pretty much the only tourists there and drew quite a few curious glances.
We explored the crab market, but TBH we didn’t really know what we were doing so we didn’t get any food. It turns out you can ask for crabs to be pulled directly out of traps in the sea, haggle for them, and ask for them cooked onsite which would have been delicious! Next time!
Sothy’s Pepper Farm
1333, Cambodia | Website
The Kep Province is also known for another culinary delight...pepper. After the seaside crab market, we took our motorbike directly inland down dirt rows and fields on fields of fresh peppercorns. The first place we tried to stop for lunch was closed for the off season, but luckily we stumbled upon Sothy’s. We took a tour of the pepper farm, sat down for a delicious pepper-filled lunch (fish with green peppercorns and veggies and chicken curry), and bought some fresh peppercorns to bring home as souvenirs.
A peppercorn-tastic lunch.
WHAT TO DO IN CAMBODIA
Our Cambodia adventures were filled with both awe-inspiring and depressing historical sites as well as quirky, off-kilter activities. Read the breakdown by city below.
Siem Reap
Siem Reap Night Market
See food section above!
Angkor Wat
The largest religious monument in the world, and a must if you’re visiting Cambodia. Originally built in the 12th century. You have to purchase a one-day ($37), three-day ($62) or seven-day ($72) admission pass to visit Angkor Wat — which is a higher price than we paid for any single thing throughout SE Asia. We did the one-day pass, and although I’m sure you could spend days seeing every nook and cranny of Angkor Wat, we can’t imagine doing more than one day.
We visited on a sweltering day in the height of low season but there were plenty of crowds, so high season must be packed.
Despite the heat and the crowds, Angkor Wat is breathtaking. While it may be crowded in the main areas, it’s so huge that you can easily break away and find magical sections of the complex to explore on your own — a feeling we’ve only ever felt (magnified x100) when we got to explore the ancient city of Bagan in Myanmar.
Entering Angkor Wat
Crazy that you can just walk all around and through these ancient structures.
Angkor Thom and Ta Promh
Along with Angkor Wat, we booked a day tour that also included Angkor Thom and Ta Promh (aka the Tomb Raider temple). Angkor Thom is a smaller complex that’s known for dozens of faces carved into the stone. It’s fun counting how many you can find!
Ta Promh was used as a location in Tomb Raider. It has tons of secret passageways and is built among the trees, giving it its iconic look with roots sprouting out all over the place.
War Museum Cambodia
Krong Siem Reap, Cambodia | Website
On our second full day in Siem Reap after already having visited Angkor Wat and the surrounding religious complexes, we weren’t quite sure what to do. Ray looked up the War Museum and we decided we might as well check it out.
It ended up being really interesting. We were the only tourists there (clearly a less popular attraction in the area), and we enjoyed a private tour through the outdoor museum, viewing old military vehicles, guns, land mines, and exhibits about Cambodia’s “war years” — from the Cambodian civil war that started in 1975 to the Vietnam War right after.
We learned that to this day, there are still millions of unexploded land mines in Cambodia, and there are actually teams of specially trained rats used to sniff them out and clear them. Just check out this BBC Article about a super cute, giant, award-winning land-mine sniffing rat, Magawa. We’re obsessed!
RayRay at the War Museum
Battambang
We went to the smaller town of Battambang on recommendation from a friend, and man, is it a weird place. At least in off-season. We were some of the only tourists around, and all of the “attractions” there are super out of the ordinary. At the end of the day, we’re glad we went! It made for a change-up from the typical temples, religious complexes, and beautiful nature attractions we’re used to seeing on our travels. Here’s a recap of Battambang’s quirky sights and activities.
Phare Ponleu Selpak Circus
Phum Anh'Chanh, Cambodia | Website
So yeah, Battambang has a full on human circus. Students enroll in a 6-year program at this place to become masters of performing arts — dance, acrobatics, contortion, acting, juggling and the like. We went to an evening show there because, what else do you do in Battambang? It turns out that we attended on a night where the less-experienced students were performing so there were a lot of mistakes, which made it all the more hilarious and random.
A night at the circus. These dancers were probably the coolest part.
Bamboo Train
Next in Battambang’s off-kilter adventures is the Bamboo Train, an old railroad track that you can ride on with motorized bamboo platforms. It was...odd. The ride started out at a hut with a bunch of old dudes and bamboo train operators playing cards. We motored pretty slowly down the track, past rice paddies, ponds and kids playing. Consistent with the rest of our trip, it was super hot. Probably one of the most “wtf, why is that a thing?” attractions we visited in all of our travels.
Fun times on the Bamboo Train.
Killing Caves / Bat Caves
Next up was the bat caves, but little did we know this was also a super sad tour of some killing caves where the Khmer Rouge would execute people during the civil war and skulls still lay on the ground. It was also a decently long loop hike around several hillside villages, with little kids trying to act as your guides to the killing caves the whole time. Some beautiful views up there, and some devastating history.
After that trek, we posted up at a bar outside “Bat Central.” Around 6pm, thousands upon thousands of bats fly out of one opening in the limestone hillside in a consistent stream for 45min to an hour! We didn’t stay that whole time, just long enough to finish our beers and appreciate the sheer volume of bats unlike we’d ever imagined before.
View from the Killing Caves hike.
Phnom Penh
Royal Palace
Samdach Sothearos Blvd (3), Phnom Penh, Cambodia
The Royal Palace in Phnom Penh is a complex of buildings that serves as the royal residence of the King of Cambodia. Tourists can visit the Royal Palace, but when we managed to walk by to scope it out, it was just before closing time and we actually weren’t dressed appropriately to enter anyway (shoulders and knees must be covered), so we moved along. From what we’ve read, the grounds are full of regal structures in the traditional Khmer-style, so if you’re into that it could be interesting to see.
The Killing Fields
The main historical site in Phnom Penh is the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek, one of the primary locations where victims of the Khmer Rouge were executed and buried between 1975-1979. Today, the site serves to educate and memorialize. The audio tour is super informative and obviously sad, and some of the monuments to those who died (thousands of brightly colored bracelets hung on fence posts to represent the victims, and even hundreds of skulls stacked within a tower at Choeung Ek) present a striking representation of the extent of violence and terror the Khmer Rouge instituted.
We watched the move First They Killed My Father before coming to Cambodia and recommend it as just one resource for learning more.
S21 / Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
រាជធានី, សង្កាត់បឹងកេងកង៣ ខណ្ឌចំការមន, St 113, Phnom Penh 12304, Cambodia
This site is a former school that was used as Security Prison 21 (S21) by the Khmer Rouge regime — a place to imprison, interrogate, torture, and kill members of the previous regime including soldiers, government officials, teachers, academics, and more.
The museum is really well constructed with an audio tour throughout the cells and courtyard, along with tons of photos and stories from the 20K+ who were imprisoned there. Another important place to visit if you’re in Phnom Penh, but the Killing Fields + this make for an overall very heavy day.
Kampot
Similar to Battambang, Kampot might not be a destination most people visit in Cambodia. If venturing to the south, most tourists quickly continue on to the Cambodian islands. However, we had a limited amount of time and happened to know someone living in Kampot so we opted to check it out instead. We found it’s an odd town filled with expats and not a ton to do besides hang out at hostels, in surprisingly nice restaurants and coffee shops, and in the river.
Mt. Bokor Motorbike Ride
Bokor is a mountain / national park just outside of Kampot, and we decided to rent a motorbike to head up there and check it out. Unfortunately the bike our hostel rented for us couldn’t quite handle the incline and would stall out if we tried to go fast, so we were stuck at slow speeds and stuck behind a truck spewing exhaust in our faces for most of the ride up.
Apparently the winding road up the mountain is normally traffic-free, but it also happened to be a national holiday so tons of local families were piling into vans and heading up the mountain to picnic and hang out.
At the top, you’ll get to enjoy sweeping views of the ocean and surrounding towns, but also some super strange and spooky abandoned structures. Mt. Bokor was home to a luxury resort for French colonial residents in the 1920s, and now the former homes, hotels, and churches are abandoned ghost towns, all combined with traditional Buddhist structures as well.
I think we got Mt. Bokor on an off day and with the wrong bike, but it’s a super interesting bike ride if you find yourself in Kampot.
Bikin’ up Bokor
GreenHouse
St. Toek Chhu, Krong Kampot, Cambodia | Website
GreenHouse is a guesthouse, restaurant, and riverside oasis located off the beaten path — down the river and off some dirt side roads — in Kampot. Faced with extreme heat and not much else to do, we spent the better part of a day there eating, drinking, playing Scrabble (with a French Scrabble board which made things interesting as we don’t speak French), and swimming in the river off of GreenHouse’s private dock.
True to its name it was a beautiful oasis of a spot!
The gorgeous GreenHouse
Kep
Kep Crab Market and Sothy’s Pepper Farm
See food section above!
CAMBODIA TIPS & TRICKS
Cambodia is home to some remarkable history — from ancient times to devastatingly recent wars and destruction. We learned a ton there, and also had some of our most random adventures of all of our travels.
We’d recommend really considering if you want to visit during off-season as we did. There are some benefits (little to no crowds) but some definite cons (extreme heat, hostels that aren’t on their game because it’s not high season, etc).
If we were to go back, we’d probably hit up the islands in the south. They’re a bit of a journey to get to, and at times they’re known for huge parties so if that’s not your thing you’d have to research your timing, but they seem beautiful and more off the beaten path than some of the similar islands in Thailand.
As with anywhere else, you can hire a tuk tuk driver for the full day to pretty much take you anywhere you want to see.
We hope this 10 day Cambodia itinerary was helpful as you plan your own perfect Cambodia trip. Questions? Cambodia experiences of your own? Comment here or on our latest IG post.
Happy travels!
