Companions forum

Heya,
I'll be in Cambodia all July and August, might do a tad of travelling depending on my money situation! But aye, if you're in Cambodia then would be good to meet for a drink! (20/F/UK)

I'm from Northern Ireland, currently living in Scotland.
I lived in Cambodia for a year before so mostly I'm going to visit friends etc.! Was volunteering in a village mostly and travelling around the country a bit.
Went to Malaysia, Vietnam and Hong Kong in the same trip, didn't get around to Thailand - Cambodia declared war on Thailand while I was there and nobody knew if the fighting would get bad! But ended up just a few soldiers were shot and nothing much exciting happened

Whereabouts would you be going? All over or sticking to one place? I met a lot of people just visiting Siem Reap but then they missed out Phnom Penh , Sihanoukville and the minority areas. Sihanoukville is alright, the beaches and diving and islands are good, the town is mostly full of drunken Australians, Americans and Brits. Phnom Penh is really busy and not so relaxing but its got some good bars and I'd definitely recommend the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and Choeung Ek killing fields, depressing as they may be! The minority areas are a lot harder to get to, but are worth the extra travelling. Siem Reap is my favourite place. It's a good balance of touristy places and local places, and obviously has the Angkor temples. And cheap alcohol
Thinking of going to BKK in late July for my visa run, but might just have to renew it if I'm running out of funds.

That was a bit of a rant but anyways haha.

Aye that sounds good I was volunteering, I'd spent a year working two jobs to save up to go! But I'm definitely not minted Depending on how long you'll be in each place, you could make a bit of money teaching conversational English? Don't know if that's your thing though! In Siem Reap there are a few bars that hire backpackers for a while but I'm not 100% sure on how to get in touch or anything, one is the Angkor What? bar. There was a guy from England working in there while I was there for a while, and then a woman (Australian I think...) was there when he left! Think that would also depend on how long you'll be there! It might be a case of asking around when you get there.
I think I'll be mostly in Siem Reap, but I'll be in Phnom Penh a couple of times - I have a local friend at the university there. Might travel a bit if I have the money! I'd love to go back to Ratanakiri but it can be difficult without an organised tour group...
I don't have fb sorry! I'm one of those uncool people sticking to skype and the wonderful ole msn if those are any help haha. I'm already addicted to the internet enough

Aye skype is good, calling from SE Asia can be far too expensive for my liking and it costs people in the UK to answer your calls too. I managed to rack up a bill of around £300 in a month without realising, thankfully the parents paid half for me... Then I got a local sim card, was pretty useful! The tourist ones last for 2 weeks I think, if that'd help you.
I'll be staying in a guesthouse I know well in Siem Reap , stayed there for almost 4 months before and it was great. In Phnom Penh and wherever else I go I'll be picking the dirt cheap ones! One of the best places I stayed was $1-a-night-per-person guesthouse, with 3 of us sharing a room. What're your accommodation preferences?

Ratanakiri is in the northeast of Cambodia, the majority of people up that way belong to minority tribes with different languages and traditions. Most don't speak Khmer like the rest of Cambodia. Most people stay in the town and travel out to the villages but in some places you can sleep in hammocks in villages. I did that in one village but can't remember the name of it... I went to a waterfall there before, and rode on an elephant etc. And there's a crater lake which is a good laugh. From what I remember travelled two half days from Siem Reap to get there, went down to Kratie and stayed the night, up to Stung Treng and across to Ban Lung. Think it was maybe 10 hours drive total? Spent the whole journey watching Pirates of the Caribbean on repeat. But it's worth it!