Backpacker's route through Cambodia
Day 1 to 3 : Siem reap
From the airport you can catch a very cheap taxi to siem reap city (around 7$). This small city is located about 15 minutes from the airport. Siem reap city might look poor and dirty during the day but at night, it comes to life. You can find almost anything in the city center; clothes, souvenirs, amazing restaurants and cool bars.
To visit the temples you can rent a tuk tuk ride for the day. The price varies from 6$-25$ depending on what temples you want to see. They usually suggest 2 circuits; a small one and a longer one. You can always bargain the prices and split the tuk tuk with up to 6 people max. Please remember that there’s also an entrance fee of 20$ USD per day to the touristic site. If you are low in budget or short in time, you can do all the temples in one day. Beware that siem reap is gigantic so you will need to start your visit around 7 am. It's demanding to do all the temples in one day. The heat and humidity makes the walk harsh and long. At the end you will be exhausted. The other choice is to divide the visit in 2 days. This will cost you more but it will make the trip more comfortable.
If you pay for 2 days in advance they'll give you an extra day but in my opinion it is useless because 2 full days are more than enough to see all the the temples. after 2 days, the temples might seem repetitive. Again it is all about personal choice and how much you like the temples.
If you would like to stay at a great party hostel I recommend Mad Monkey. It is the party hostel of Siem Reap. Once you’re satisfied of your visit in this beautiful city you can book a day bus to Phenom Penh whic is located only 6 hours away.
Day 4: Phenom Penh
Phenom Penh is an undeveloped city with not much going on. It’s crowded, not very clean and does not have very much to see. I would recommend to stay here only to see the killing fields and the S-21 prison. You can easily do them both in one day. If you arrive here by bus in the early afternoon you should have enough time to hire a tuk tuk to take you to both of these touristic attractions. The costs is about 10-15$ per tuk tuk and you can fit 4 to 6 people. The killing fields and the S-21 prison are filled with lots of sad and heartbreaking stories that took place in the 1970's under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge regime. During that time millions of people were murdered resulting in a genocide that the world simply never heard about. It is important to visit this tragic place so the story is not forgotten in order to prevent it from ever repeating itself again. Below are some pictures of the killing fields and what to expect when you go in there. There are bones, clothes and pieces of teeth all over the grounds that have surfaced after the heavy rain.
Day 5 To 7: Koh Rong
Your next destinations should be Koh Rong Islands. In order to get there, you must take the first bus in the morning to Sihanoukville. I would recommend to not stay in Sihanoukville because it is a very small town with not much to do besides getting drunk. Instead, save your precious time for the Islands of Koh Rong. Howver, do use the ATM machines in that town to withdraw enough money to cover your trip in the islands. There are not ATMs on the islands and neither do they take interact or credit cards. It takes about 4-5 hours from Phenom Penh to Sihanoukville and from there you can take the ferry at 2:30 pm to Koh Rong. Koh Rong is a beautiful island with gorgeous beaches and great parties.
