Cambodia – Phnom Penh to Siem Reap by bus

Sights on the way to Siem Reap

On my journey from  Phnom Penh to Siem Reap by bus, the traffic eased as we left the city but you are aware that even major roads are not often 3 lane or even two lane highways. Thus the speed of the bus is often dictated by how many slow moving trucks it encounters on the journey.

The bus’s windows were big so there was no problem taking in the countryside as we swept through the landscape.

The whole journey had quite flat land all around and was interspersed with an occasional lake or flooded fields. Not surprising after the heavy rains the area had suffered in the previous week.

Green fields were everywhere and I was surprised at how lush and green the vegetation was – I should not have been as we are in a tropical climate but for some reason I was just not expecting it.

Roads were fairly straight and in better condition than I was expecting so the journey was actually quite smooth. Smooth enough that I actually nodded off a couple of times when the scenery was getting to be just more of the same that I had seen for the last 20km.

The interesting thing for me was that houses were built quite near to the road. They mainly were of a traditional style – wooden, on stilts and with a small farm next to it. There was the occasional more modern cement building, often basic in design and often still a work in progress.

I often saw cattle in the front area of the house near the road – they obviously knew to keep away from it ! But for me the kiddies were playing too dangerously close to the road on parcels of land.

It all gave a very rural and subsistence farming look and it was clear that there were impoverished communities around. There were quite a few posters of a political nature, usually for the same dominant party and pictures of various hopefuls on them.

Trees often seemed to form the barrier between fields or properties and the absence of paddy fields and the dominance of small ground crops that looked like cabbages, carrots and root vegetable was much in evidence. Banana plantations and larger bush crops were not in many places. Both a reversal of what I was expecting.

Plastic pollution is a big problem

The sad thing that did come through very strongly was the abundance of waste strewn by the roadside. Streams seemed clogged with plastic bottles and wrappings and general dumped rubbish. It was dotted heavily around the entrance areas of the front area of homes and along the pathways.

Overflowing trash dumpsters were around everywhere. The plastic was just overwhelming and a clear indication of the non availability of recycling that I am used to and the incessant use of it in communities that presumably have little resource to change it or find alternatives

The attendant on the coach had now come round and handed out a bottle of water to each person and what was a pastry in a sealed plastic wrapper. The journey so far on comfy seats with headrests and a quite modern coach had been a delight.

The time has whizzed by and so I didn’t feel that the journey had taken that long compared to the stop start, constant next event of check in, boarding, deplane etc that taking the plane would have entailed.

I had seen a lot more of the country from the coaches windows and gotten a better insight (albeit only visual) into conditions in the countryside and the geography of the area.

If you have the time and inclination I would thoroughly recommend taking the coach, much cheaper, not the much longer and much better views.

Arrival at Siem Reap

We arrived at what was a small open air dirt ground that had several other coaches parked there. We disembarked and collected our bags that were thoughtfully placed on a concrete area to avoid the ground dirt.

Immediately we were descended on by lots of tuk-tuk and taxi drivers asking where we wanted to go and being quite forceful in almost blocking your pathes to stop you by-passing them.

My problem was that the bus had actually arrived 30 mins ahead of schedule and my arranged pick up by my hotel was nowhere to be seen. I realised that probably the pick up had not checked on progress of the bus and thus knew of its early arrival – if that is even possible.

I waited 5 mins and clearly he was not going to arrive and by now had fended off about 20 offers to take me.

Reluctantly I now approached one of the drivers who seemed less forceful and pushy than the others hoping I would get a better response and deal from him than the others. I told him my hotel (I knew this was going to be a big clue for him as to how much to charge as I was staying at a 5 star hotel).

Amazingly he quoted me a price that was much, much less than my pre-booked hotel taxi would cost me so I took it….. forgot to ask what the travel method was and found out when I got outside that he had one of those remorque style vehicles – a scooter with a big trailer carriage attached !!!

Well, when in Rome (or Siem Reap)…. I got in and my case was placed beside me and we set off whizzing through the streets. At first I was scared as I had never been in one of these carriages since Thailand 20 years ago but as we weaved through the streets I started to enjoy it.

It was different, I was here for the adventure and difference so I should enjoy it I thought … and I did. The cooling breeze was great and I felt closer to the city in this open air vehicle, seeing more too than I would have been enclosed in a car.

He actually drove quite safely and as we neared the end of the trip I was almost thinking of asking him to go around the block again as it was such fun.

I wondered how a 5 star hotel would take to a tuk-tuk style vehicle turning up at its entrance and yes I got a few strange looks but hey-ho I loved the journey. I paid him and gave him a good tip and it was still less than a third of what the taxi would have cost me and so much more fun !

So my recommendation: If you are looking at how to get from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap by bus, it would be to use Giant Ibis coaches and enjoy the scenery on the way!

Oct 2017

Phnom Penh to Siem Reap by bus