Feb. 3/13 – Both Deon and I loved our 10 days in Cambodia, a country with 14.3 million people in a 181,000 square km space. The highlight for both of us is the visit to the “Killing Fields.”
I love the night markets, the food, the massages and the inexpensive shopping here. I met 2 great people while I was in Phnom Penh. The first one was Stewart, from Scotland, who stayed in the same hostel that we stayed in. I have a feeling we will cross path again in the near future. Also I am especially happy to have met Thy, a very kind and helpful Cambodian man who manages the IT department for a large NGO. Not only did he help me deal with my stress over my laptop issue but he also took me to check out the casino and local karaoke bars during my last night in Phnom Penh. I was very impressed with both of these places because they are so much nicer and bigger than I had imagined. I also met Thy’s dad, sister-in-law and some of his friends. They all seem so nice. Thy does make me feel that Cambodians are all so nice. I actually will consider coming back here again to visit these new friends of mine.
Travelling in this country is very inexpensive therefore it helped bring down our average from the expensive Singapore trip. For example, it cost $4/hr for massage in an air-conditioned room with wifi, $1/meal in local restaurants, $0.50 for a large glass of draft beer, $2 for T-shirts, dresses, sunglasses and $6/person per night in hostel dorms. That’s why staying in a private room for $10 per person per night is already great.
For those who may want to stay and live here for a while, it’s worth being informed that a full time maid’s salary is $80 USD a month, a full time driver gets $200 and hostel staff’s salary ranges from $100 to $500 USD a month.
I learned from talking to hostel owners that apparently the industries call us “Flash Backpackers” which refers to luxury backpacking, meaning those that either has the money to spend or is willing to spend money on things like private rooms, better food and nicer wine instead of beer. Haha. Both Deon and I actually quite enjoy life as flash backpackers since we enjoy meeting other backpackers very much. After Singapore and Malaysia, then being back to hostel living in Cambodia really reconfirms our opinion that the culture of a hostel is similar to that of the luxury room in a hotel. Also, I find that people who prefer the hostels are more friendly and more sociable. They smile even at strangers and they don’t rush back to their rooms. This is the whole “culture” of hostels.
We are off to Bali, Indonesia to surf and to be beach bums in a 5-star resort now…. Oh how can we afford that in our budget? Easy. My brother owns a Time Share there and he offered us to stay there for FREE so we should live a pretty good life for a week with the budget we have since we don’t need to cover accommodation. LOL
Originally posted on Amy’s travel blog: TravelwithAmy.ca