On Dec 15th we will be leaving the cold, dark and depressing Frozen North™ and head out to experience the wonders of the world. The road will lead us first to Siem Reap, Cambodia via Manchester and Hong Kong. Sadly we have no time to stop at those locations in order to look around any further than the ever so trilling airport corridors and halls. All in all we will be on the move closer to a day. But that doesn’t matter at all as the Angkor Temple complex beckons! I could move to live under some rock there and live my life as happy as one can be, history – of any country and of any pre-industrial civilization – makes a place worth any trouble it takes to reach it.

We will be spending a few days in Siem Reap, before heading down river to Phnom Penh and from there onwards to Sihanoukville, where the joys of Christmas await us. First few days will go snorkeling and enjoying the nature on the island of Koh Rong, somewhat off the shore of Sihanoukville. After that we’ll return to the mainland to spend a few days in Sihanoukville itself.

The plans after this are somewhat fluid still, ranging from visiting Thailand or Laos to flying to northern Vietnam for a cruise on the New Year on the bay of Ha Long. But we’ll just wing it and see where out feet lead us.

The last part of the trip on my behalf is going to be a couple days spend in Ho Chi Minh City, from where I’ll be flying back home with another friend from our group. All in all I am awaiting HCMC almost as much as Siem Reap, as it has long been a boiling pot of different cultural influences and has been portrayed in so many western movies (mainly Vietnam War Hollywood flicks ofc, which I do not consider portraying the city anywhat truthfully.)

Any tips of what to see and experience in that part of the world are more than welcome, especially as travel guides can only offer so much information and the real jewels can be hard to find.