The highlight of this segment was certainly our journey across the land border from Thailand to Cambodia. Thanks to our restful stay on the island of Koh Kood which made our long commute day across the border more bearable.
2023.02.20 – Koh Kood – Koh Kood (Thailand)
We had a taste of our accommodation’s pampering when they served us a Thai breakfast on our bungalow balcony. Later morning, we walked over to a mini mart to buy some beer. Jenny discovered and purchased a nice breezy hoodie there. In the mid afternoon, we went snorkeling in the bay in front of the nearby resort. We saw plenty of colorful fishes but very limited coral structures. In the evening, our accommodation arranged for a transport to a popular seafood restaurant some 9 kms away over a steep road side. Jenny finally enjoyed some lobsters for dinner.
2023.02.21 – Koh Kood – Koh Kood (Thailand)
We enjoyed a large western breakfast this morning on our balcony. We continued to relax and enjoy the scenery throughout the morning. Around 11am we went on a paddling outing using our accommodation’s two seat kayak. We visited the nearby bay to the east of our accommodation. After that we went snorkeling in the same area as yesterday. Sadly, we were not well equipped to capture nice photos of the underwater scenery. In the evening, we returned to the nearby resort for our dinner. We were really enjoying the slow pace environment of the island.
2023.02.22 – Koh Kood – Koh Kood (Thailand)
Jenny chose a Thai breakfast while I stuck with a western one. After relaxing the entire morning on our balcony, we went on a paddling outing, for more than one hour, using our accommodation’s two seat kayak. We visited the nearby bay to the west of our accommodation. After returning from our kayaking, we went snorkeling in the bay in front of the nearby resort – the same area as previous 2 days. We enjoyed admiring the colorful fishes one last time on Koh Kood. In the evening, we returned to our neighboring resort for a BBQ seafood feast dinner. Although we had not yet left our bungalow, we already felt that we would be missing it tomorrow.
2023.02.23 – Koh Kood – Battambang (Cambodia)
After an early and final breakfast on our bungalow’s pleasant balcony, we embarked on what we expected to be the most challenging commute of this trip. We had booked no hotel for the night as we were unsure on how far we would reach along our journey. We ultimately wanted to reach Battambang – one of our first stay in Cambodia. We had success in our commute after leaving our bungalow at 9am and checking into a hotel in Battambang at 6:30pm. Our day’s transport details are summarized below.
| Transport Mode | Segment | Duration | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| sõrngtãaou | Koh Kood bungalow to Ferry Pier | 40 mins | (included in ferry cost) |
| ferry | Koh Kood pier to Laem Sok pier | 1.5 hrs | $27.57 |
| sõrngtãaou | Laem Sok pier to Trat bus station | 30 mins | $5.51 |
| Bus | Trat bus station to Chanthaburi bus station | 1.25 hrs | $6.30 |
| private sõrngtãaou | Chanthaburi bus stations to Cambodia border | 1 hr | $35.44 |
| tuk tuk | Cambodia border to Pailin shared taxi stand | 30 mins | $15.75 |
| semi private taxi | Pailin shared taxi stand to Battambang hotel | 2 hrs | $33.51 |
2023.02.24 – Battambang – Battambang (Cambodia)
We enjoyed a relaxing breakfast at our hotel before tackling a few errands. Given the widespread use of the USD dollar in Cambodia, we opted to get more green bills by exchanging some of our CDN dollars. We also needed to buy a new SIM as our Singapore’s SIM roaming fees in Cambodia would be too expensive. We purchased a single SIM of 5Gb for $2 USD. Later, we stopped at an informal office that sold tickets for a boat transport from Battambang to Siem Reap (our next stay in Cambodia). Although, the boat trip was said to go through some picturesque scenery, we rejected the idea after learning the ride would take over 7hr and that the passenger seating appeared very uncomfortable. Back at our hotel room, we did some travel itinerary planning including purchasing airline tickets and applying for our e-visa for Vietnam. In the late afternoon, we had planned to visit one of the tourist attraction involving a bat exodus from a cave. Unfortunately, when we inquired at our hotel’s front desk about securing a tuk-tuk transport for the 12kms to the cave site, they suggested that we were too late to leave and really enjoy the site and bat exodus experience. Instead, we looked into purchasing our bus tickets to Siem Reap. We were confused by the fact that Google maps and travel guide suggested that a bus office was just around the corner from our hotel but we could not find any such business. We learned from the restaurant owner where we had our dinner, that many bus companies that operated in Battambang closed during Covid and never re-opened back. After dinner, we purchased our mini-van transport tickets to Siem Reap based on the restaurant owner’s recommendation of a nearby transport company that was still operating. We finished the evening with some cocktails on our hotel’s rooftop bar. We had a long conversation with a British expat living in Thailand but was visiting the area with his Cambodian girlfriend.
2023.02.25 – Battambang – Battambang (Cambodia)
Our hotel breakfast was served à la carte this morning as we learned they did not have enough rooms occupied to justify setting up a breakfast buffet. We also learned from another guest that we could install a Grab-like app to book rickshaw transport all across Cambodia. Hence late morning, we booked our first rickshaw ride to experience a 20 mins trill on the famous Battambang bamboo train. Our rickshaw driver was happy to wait for us as he could benefit from a return fare to the town center. Back at our hotel, we rested until mid-afternoon. Later we visited a nice cafe for some cappuccinos and cake. In the early evening, we took another rickshaw to attend a circus performed by kids enrolled in a special performing arts school that included developing skills in the likes of the Cirque du Soleil. The 1 hour show was entertaining and provided a glimpse into the promising youth acrobatic skills. Our rickshaw driver once again waited for us for his return fair. A young German traveling girl joined us on the ride back the town center. We had a late dinner at the rooftop bar where we met again our British expat and his Cambodian girlfriend.
2023.02.26 – Battambang – Battambang (Cambodia)
We met our British expat and his girlfriend at our hotel breakfast buffet. They shared their previous day’s experience of their visit to the famous bat cave. After breakfast, we found a barber shop/hair salon nearby. At a cost of $2.50USD, I had one of the most detailed hair cut and styling I had ever had. On our way back to the hotel, we purchased some water and snacks. Later, I took advantage of our rooftop pool for an hour or so. At 3:00pm, we ordered a rickshaw/tuk-tuk to visit the bat cave some 12 kms out of town. We started our visit with a moto-taxis that took us up the hill to visit the notorious Killing cave and the views of some temples with a fairly large monkey population. Back down the hill, we got our rickshaw driver to bring us on the other side of the hill to a location our British expat had recommended as the best spot to see the sunset and the bat exodus from the cave. Unfortunately, we had not planned the timing of our visit very well as we had to wait over 1.5 hr for the sunset and the start of the bat exodus. Jenny was not eager to wait at the remote hillside site for the sunset and preferred to ride back to the main observation area in the comfort of plastic chairs rather than rocks. The tuk-tuk driver kindly drove her back to the other side of the hill while I stayed behind at the remote site. As the sunset got closer, many more tuk-tuk drivers brought their customers up to the remote hillside. Clearly this site was considered by local experts as the best viewing location for both the sunset and the bat exodus. After failing to witness a bat exodus from a cave in Mulu (Malaysia), we could now check mark this experience. After 15-20 mins of viewing the bat exodus (which continued for 30+ mins), our tuk-tuk driver picked up us from different locations and expertly drove us back to our hotel under the cover of darkness. We had dinner, once again, at our hotel rooftop bar.
