20 years on from my final go to to the Kingdom, nothing ready me for the shock of how costly Cambodia has change into
This will likely come as a shock, however till my journey to Cambodia this month, it’d been 20 years since I set foot within the Kingdom.
Why ought to it’s a shock?
Nicely, I dwell simply 60 kms from the Cambodian border and I’ve been dwelling in Vietnam for properly over a decade.
What’s going to come of the place within the subsequent 20 years, sadly, is anyone’s guess
Why did it take me twenty years to return?
Life simply merely bought in the best way, plus there have been different international locations to discover and provinces to go to right here in Vietnam.
Cambodia has been nagging away at me for a while, nonetheless.
I’ve watched its improvement, largely with dismay at what’s change into of locations like Sihanoukville.
I’ve fond recollections of Sihanoukville from 20 years in the past when it was a sleepy seaside city the place the one annoyance was the odd coconut vendor interrupting my snooze on an empty seaside.
On account of the studies I’ve seen about Sihanoukville over the previous few years, I’ve by no means needed to return, for worry it might spoil the particular recollections I’ve of the place.
However, by no means say by no means.
As a result of I’d change into keen to go to Koh Rong, due to all these gushing movies about it on YouTube, I had no selection however to return, albeit to the port to catch the velocity boat to the island.
The port is on the outskirts of town, so I didn’t have to cross by town correct, however from the boat heading to and from the island, I used to be in a position to see sufficient of Sihanoukville to reassure me that there’s nothing left there for me anymore.
It’s a disgrace, however not less than I’ve been in a position to scratch that itch with out having to really enter floor zero, because it had been.
What’s going to come of the place within the subsequent 20 years, sadly, is anyone’s guess.
Within the video beneath, I share my experiences of travelling by air, sea, rail and tuk tuk from Koh Rong to Kampot to Phnom Penh in 2023, and reveal simply how a lot getting round prices the typical traveller.
Get in contact by leaving a remark or asking a query beneath within the remark part and maintain an eye fixed out for extra movies about my journey experiences in Cambodia.
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