Are you traveling to Cambodia on your own and still don't have a defined itinerary?
How many days to spend in this country if you are traveling through Southeast Asia?
If your plan is to go on a trip to Cambodia for 3 days to visit only the temples of Angkor, the organization of the itinerary is simple, and this post is not going to be of much help.
But if you have 10 days or 15 days to travel around the country, surely you are wondering what you should know at that time.
In that case, rejoice! because this post can be very useful.
We are going to tell you what you can see in Cambodia in a week or two so that you can analyze what it is you would like to visit on your own.
itinerary travel to Cambodia - Angkor
We spent three weeks traveling through Cambodia. It was 20 days where we moved very calmly, without haste. Cambodia became one of the countries we most enjoy traveling through in Southeast Asia.
You can visit the main parts of the country in less time, but here we are going to tell you what we visit and what you could skip (or spend fewer days on it), so that you can design the itinerary to your liking. We will also tell you where to sleep in each city (where we stay with the advantages and disadvantages of each place) so that you can plan your trip to Cambodia.
In our case, Cambodia was part of a longer haul of a trip through Southeast Asia. We entered Cambodia by land from Laos, after resting for a few days in the area of the 4000 islands. And we also left the country by land, heading to Vietnam (you can read our itinerary of almost a month through Vietnam here).
What is the best time to travel to Cambodia?
The weather always raises doubts.
We traveled to Cambodia in June and July. It was very hot, but we know that the tropical climate is like that. The times it rained it was only for a while in the afternoon, intensely, and it stopped. The rain never stopped us from doing any activity or visit.
In theory the months of December and January are the coolest (although the "cool" of Southeast Asia is not the cool we all imagine), but that is precisely why it is high season. The rainiest months are between July and September, although you have to be more careful with mosquitoes than with water.
Do you know exactly where Cambodia is? Cambodia is in Southeast Asia, between Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.
In the following map of Cambodia you can see its location well and also get an idea of what our tour of the country was like.
What to see in Cambodia: our detailed itinerary
Kratie, a midway stop
Coming from Laos, the quiet town of Kratie was our first stop on Cambodian soil.
It rises on the banks of the Mekong, and many stop here for a couple of days to try to spot the endangered Irrawaddy freshwater dolphins. It was not our case, since we had seen them in southern Laos, so in Kratie we only dedicated ourselves to rest, stroll through the market and walk along the river.
The markets sometimes made us want to become vegetarians ...
Kratie is a good option to make a stop on the way if you are going to (or coming from) Laos, so that the journey is not so long. From Kratie our next destination was Siem Reap, you can see bus prices here.
Where to sleep in Kratie
In Kratie we stayed a couple of nights at the very comfortable Oudom hotel, which is in the center of Kratie, on the coastal walk. We sleep in a double room with private bathroom, you can check the current rates here. This hotel only has private rooms, but if you are looking for hostels with shared dormitories very close there is the Le Tonlé guesthouse, which looked very good and is very cheap.
Budget is not a problem? then chusmeen this hotel and tell me! (Just as a clarification: the hotel is reached by boat, because it is on a small island in front of Kratie, but that is also the grace of the place, right?).
The base for visiting the famous Angkor temples is the city of Siem Reap, which is 6 km away. It is a quiet city, full of hotels, guesthouses, restaurants and agencies that sell tours.
While it is the most touristic city in Cambodia due to its proximity to the temples, it is still quite relaxed and manageable. There is a small river with several bridges, a large market, some pagodas, and it is very good to spend a few days.
At night the liveliest area is Pub Street, full of bars and restaurants. It will be the closest thing to the Khao San Road in Bangkok that you will find in Cambodia. Read drunk foreigners, beer at ridiculous prices, music that mixes between different venues, lights and prostitution. Everything has to be said.
0 Comments