Day 1 :
AirAsia flight departs Kuala Lumpur(KL), slightly delayed, with some turbulence along the way, but arrives on the dot per schedule. Arrival hall chaotic & congested, as passengers are required to fill up & submit health, custom declaration & immigration forms & visa application. Otherwise, smooth & uneventful.
SIM cards can be purchased cheaply from kiosks just after passing custom. Telco Smart has a very good package for US5 with 1.5 gigabytes data & call times, sms.
Many tuk-tuk drivers waiting outside Phnom Penh(PP) airport entrance/exit, willing to take you to your hotel for US5.
A decent room at NaNa hotel near the central market costs US18 per night, & very close to Sorya bus station. There are many travel options to every corner of Cambodia with Sorya transport.
After purchasing a ticket to Banlung, Ratanakiri the next morning, I take a slow & long walk along st 51, an entertainment artery in PP. It is a very dusty street in parts due to road surfacing work. There are many restaurants & food stalls along the road, and quite cheap too.
Post-dinner activities:
A ride on a motorcycle to Hatha Khmer massage costs USD1. About 25 masculine men, shirtless & in jeans quickly gather in the selection room,
for me too choose from. USD10 for 1 hour massage, and any special favour can be negotiated with the masseur. I'm pleased with the services & facilities.
Jack'd & Grindr are very active, with many guys willing to come to your room for a small fee.
Day 2 :
My original intention was to visit Ratanakiri & Mondulkiri, in the northeast, but with only 6 nights for this trip, I had to forego the latter. travelling by bus to Banlung took a good 11 hours, with 3 stops for food & toilet. Departed PP at 7.40 am, ticket costing USD12 bought at the station. Beautiful rice fields along the way. Because of the bad stretches of road in some areas, the bus finally reached Banlung a couple of hours after sunset. Not unlike in Thailand, motorbike & tuk-tuk drivers were eagerly waiting for customers at the station, about 2-3 km from the town centre. A polite driver took me to my hotel of choice for USD1.
I stayed at lakeside Chheng Lok hotel, with huge rooms & high ceilings, but low prices from USD7 fan room to USD 12 air con. the in-house restaurant served tasty food, and drinkers could enjoy cheap alcohol during happy hours. The evening air was quite cool in the low twenties.
Banlung is located about 30km from the Vietnamese border, and most entries in gay sites were Vietnamese.
Day 3 :
I engaged the services of my driver the previous evening for a full-day trip around the province. As it was a Saturday, the primary school teacher moonlight as a tourist guide, & I agreed to his fee of USD20. at first it was quite uncomfortable riding million, but I soon got the hang of it. Saw a couple of waterfalls. I'm not able to upload images :-). help please...
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