I’ve been back in China for a while now and I still miss the sound of music playing in the background, a little bell ringing for an order that is ready, water splashing from the swimming pool and the joy and excitement in stories told by each backpacker to another.
Well, here is my story of being in Cambodia.
At the second day of being in this magical place, I got into the routine of waking up at noon, taking a shower, walking down the steps and ordering the best ( and yes, I mean the best ) banana smoothie made in this huge jug and a different breakfast each morning. I would decide what adventure to take on, what museum to see or just enjoy the sunny day next to the pool with either more banana smoothies or a cocktail. Time does not exist when you are on vacation, so feel free to drink that cocktail at 10:00 AM!
This does sound like an amazing vacation, so here’s the twist!
Two weeks before the date of leaving for Cambodia I asked my girlfriend to come with me, 7 days of no work and exploring! How exciting! Plus it would be the first trip I would take on with my partner! Yes, if you are wondering I’ve never been on a couples trip to another country! So I’m bursting with excitement!
Unfortunately, she could not join the entire trip, only the last 2 days. Meaning we would fly back to China together. This already made everything great! I get to spend two days with my favorite person in such a cultural place!
-FYI
This is still the good part!
Days have passed and only two days till I leave!
I get this text message from a friend saying she will join me in Cambodia the first week and leave the Sunday night my girlfriend arrives! Wow, could things get any better?
The two days passed slowly but it finally came! Our flight left at 18:00 PM so we left our places around 15:00 PM and arrived at the airport at 16:00 PM all excited and ready to take on this journey!
Standing in a line for nearly 30 minutes,finally we made it to the front! Super excited!
The excitement stopped there.
We got told my friend cannot go to Cambodia for certain reasons that made us both go into fighting mode and my passport number was incorrect. Struggling for an hour to solve all this, I got on the airplane alone and she went to my girlfriend’s house for wine and cheese.
At this point, I didn’t know if I should be happy or upset.
First, I’m going to Cambodia, Woooo! Without my friend, Ahhhh! No work for one week, just exploring and sipping drinks, Woooo! She gets to spend a relaxing night with my girlfriend that I already miss, Ahhhh!
Just a little bit of what is going on in my head at that moment.
I video called my girlfriend before boarding, told her the entire story while drinking my fruit shake and slowing eating a croissant.
Trying to lift my spirit up she made a silly joke saying she can’t come, I did not take it as a joke so I will end this part of the story right here.
Two and a half hours later I got to sit in a “tuk-tuk” ( this is hard to explain, maybe just search it if you do not know what it is ) on my way to our accommodation. I got a few tips from friends saying the amount I should pay from the airport to accommodation, that made me feel cool and calm.
Finally, I got to the hotel, paid double the amount I was supposed to, not so cool and calm anymore.
Booked in, left my bags in the room, ordered a beer and smoked a cigarette after this long day!
Like I said the second day I already got used to waking up like this!
Everything turned out just fine and well being an amazing first few days on my own!
Met new friends, got to go to this amazing Sky Bar called “Eclipse” with a view over the city and a tour walking around the markets, Royal Palace, Independent Monument and exploring new places to show my other half when she arrives!
Time flew by and Sunday finally arrived! I enjoyed my day by spending time next to the pool, having the best banana smoothies ever and ending with a few beers talking to new friends I met!
Still four more hours, then I get to pick up my girl from the airport, so we killed the time by sharing backpacking stories and the life here in China since they never been. I did tell them the LGBT+ community is great since the one girl said she’s bi-sexual.
Let’s skip the rest and get to the part of actually having my girlfriend with me now! Picked her up and all settled in at our accommodation.
We stayed up a little longer planning to go to the Sky Bar, that ended up to be closed when we arrived. Although we did get to play with puppies on our way there so it pretty much made my night!
The first night, BEST SEX EVER AFTER BEING APART FOR 5 DAYS! I know, it is not even that long!
The two days went by extremely fast! Woke up on Monday with breakfast in bed and after we explored the Genocide Prison, that was quite a sad experience and ended the night with dinner and a few drinks or maybe a lot…
Tuesday waking up with someone being a bit hangover, getting a nice breakfast downstairs and yes with my banana smoothie we planned our little adventure for the day!
We ended up going to the Killing fields to create the full picture of what happened 30 years ago in such an amazing place and after cheering yourself up by going to the Central Market so that my girlfriend could buy every dress she sees. I had fun carrying all the bags!
We planned to go out for dinner, but yet again the rain decided to keep us inside! We had a nice dinner at the hotel with one of our friends ( the bi-sexual one ) and went to bed early since our flight back was at 7:00 AM.
Again, being all excited since it is our first flight together! We ended up sleeping anyway but it was still a great flight being able to hold her hand most of the time and making silly jokes!
Sadly we left one day before a big LGBT event, but I’m sure I’ll attend it someday in the future!
Hands down an amazing trip! Maybe not from the start but I had time to be by myself and enjoy the small things in life, being able to walk barefoot, meet locals and just see the smiles on the people’s faces.
It is sad that something so tragic happened to them but I’m so happy to see that they stood up from it all and are growing more and more each day!
They have taught me to be grateful for so much more and I do thank the place and the people for that!
I’m sure you are already planning your trip to Cambodia, if you are, make sure to learn about their culture, their ways, and the history because it is truly amazing!
