Author Topic: Cambodia?!? Yes, of course!  (Read 4899 times)

Offline Divora M

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Cambodia?!? Yes, of course!
« on: July 22, 2024, 10:52:07 PM »
Every time someone would find out that we are going to Cambodia I got the same incredulous response “Why?!?” To be quite honest it started to make me second guess my decision to go there. I tried to ignore all the comments and rely on my research and just hoping it would be a great trip.

My family, myself and our 14 pieces of luggage get to the ORD airport for the start of our trip, our flights were as follows ORD-LHR-SIN-SIA. Our first leg was with United and when I went to check-in the agent told me we need to present our E-visa’s, I had not gotten the e-visas bc I was told you can do it upon arrival at SIA. The agent was adamant that we could not get our boarding passes until we had the e-visa so I tried doing it on the spot but the system said it cannot be done within 3 business days of arrival.

It was a very stressful time but I was half thinking maybe it’s for the best? We waited online for 45 min to speak with a supervisor, I showed her the Cambodian website stating that visas can be obtained at the airport and does not need to be done prior. Finally someone was able to override the system and we went running to catch our first flight. Huge travel hack for us was to fit the car seat on top of the carryon handle.


We landed in LHR and had a 5 hour stopover which did not give us enough time to leave the airport but I was told about a Harry Potter store and kosher food in terminal 5 and my kids were excited to see it. We took the bus shuttle which takes around 20 min of driving time and when we arrived and tried to enter with our boarding passes we were denied because our next flight was departing from terminal 2 :-( .

It was all for the best because when we returned to our terminal and I went to get our Singapore Airlines boarding passes for our next flight they agent asked for the e-visa in order to print them…I explained again how it wasn’t necessary to have it prior but he needed to call his supervisor which took a very long time and the supervisor said we needed to show proof of our hotel stay (staying by the Chabad would not suffice) and I needed to show them my bank account so they can see that I have “sufficient funds” during my stay in Cambodia (the agent was not told what amount would be sufficient). This whole process took over two hours but finally we got our boarding passes and went to the gate.

LHR has a great children’s play area and it happened to be right next to our gate so we hung out there until our flight was boarding. Singapore airlines was truly amazing with their customer service, as they saw me approaching with kids, stroller and car seat in tow they came up to me and had a staff members take all our stuff and we boarded the plane to situate ourselves before the boarding process even began for the flight. We were the first ones on the plane and my DD2 napped during the whole process. We had the bulkhead row so there was plenty of room to stretch our legs and keep all of our stuff during the flight.








The flight attendants were so attentive to every need and concern, it was completely eye opening what exceptional service can be like. As opposed to our United flight to London when I turned off DD2 screen so hopefully she would fall asleep, she started talking loudly and calling for ppl. A flight attendant came up to me and said the crew is trying to sleep and she is keeping them up so can I please quiet her.

We arrived in SIN and had to quickly move to make our next connection to our final destination of SIA. We arrived in SIA and came to a basically empty airport, we went to get our visa’s which there was nobody else in line for ($30/person) and out of passport control within 10 minutes. All of our luggage was waiting for us when we got to baggage claim. I had hired a driver for the next two weeks who was waiting for us as we came out. The ride from SIA to the city is around an hour and we stayed at Courtyard Marriott Siem Reap for one night.

The hotel was very nice, with a great pool for the kids and wonderful play room as well. My kids were collapsing one by one from exhaustion but I wanted to try to stay awake as much as possible until close to evening time. After swimming at the pool we were invited to go to Rubio’s place for dinner in memory of his father’s yartzheit. Rubio is an Israeli whose number I got from the Chabad, he arranges drivers as well as tours around Siem Reap (he got the driver for us).

We took our first tuk tuk for $3 and headed off to his place. Rubio also has a hostel and small farm which he said the kids would enjoy. We declined eating the food but enjoyed the company of around 30 other Israeli backpackers and a few locals as well.


Thursday morning everyone was up by 3am so by 6 am I sent the kids to the kids club even though it officially opens at 10am. The staff opened the room for them without a problem. By 8am we left Siem Reap and drove to Battambang which is 3 hours away. We went on their original and still current form of transportation called the bamboo train, it’s made out of bamboo and u have only one track for trains going both ways. So when two trains are coming towards each other one stops and lifts the bamboo train off the tracks and lets the other one pass.

The scenery is beautiful with the greenest grass you’ve ever seen and the skinniest cows. It is scary though bc ur on this rickety train made out of bamboo sticks with nothing holding you on and it’s going  pretty fast. We got to their little town and kids were trying to sell us stuff so DD15 bought some bracelets for $1 and DS8 just gave a girl a $1 bc he felt bad for her. The babies there run around naked. A girl came up to me and started playing with my hair. We also handed out chocolate to them which I think they enjoyed.

Then we drove to another part of town and had lunch and bought lychee from a roadside cart which was delicious. Then we drove to the capital, Phnom Penh, where the Chabad is located, it took 3 hours. We had a warm welcome and ordered everything from the menu; fried fish, schnitzel, hamburgers, chicken stir fry, spaghetti bolognese, meatballs, French fries and fried rice. The bill for all that was $32. We our staying on the 4th floor of their building which has 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. The kids hung a welcome sign on our door 🥰.

The Chabad of Cambodia is run by Bentche and Mashie Butman, Mashie is originally from Chicago and we had been classmates since kindergarten, it was so nice to be able to see what amazing work they have accomplished in the past 15 years in Cambodia.













Friday we were on a mission to get some custom suits made. We got an address for a tailor from Rabbi Butman who he has used in the past. It was quite complicated trying to figure out which tailor was the right one since they are all in shops right next to each other with no addresses or names that I could read. Finally we found him and my DH and DS13 got fitted for their suits which would be ready in one week with no additional fittings needed (so he said).

After the tailor we walked to an outdoor market which we walked through the mazes of stalls that sold everything you can imagine. I don’t think they see American tourists very often so the locals were very intrigued by us. Cambodians are very touchy feely people so they will just reach out to touch you as you walk by, this is something we needed to get used to. We took a tuk tuk back to Chabad and the girls and I went to get our nails done for shabbos for a whopping $5 for a manicure and pedicure.










Shabbos was beautiful with delicious food and great company. There were around two tables of locals and another two or three tables with Israeli backpackers. My kids were thrilled to have friends to play with all shabbos long and I think the feeling was mutual.

Sunday morning we packed and our driver picked us up at 8am, we drove 3 hours to Sihanoukville where we bought tickets to a speedboat that would take us to Koh Rong Island. There’s a few places you can buy tickets and the first place was asking $25/person but they would drop us off far from our hotel and we would need to take a taxi from the dock. The next place charged $36/person but it would take us directly to our hotel. I decided to go with the later but asked for a discount for kids. He said fine, I won’t charge you for the younger three kids which ended up being $20/person then.

We had around 1 1/2 hours until our boat left and we spied a 7-11 across the street so we went to see if they had slurpees. Lo and behold they do! A medium slurpee costs .75 cents here! It was boiling outside so the slurpee really hit the spot. While we were sitting outside I was taking pics and a few older locals were sitting nearby and laughing at what we were doing. Then they asked me if we are from Mumbai 😂 that was def the first time I was ever asked that.

We also spotted this Israeli guy that came to the meal at Siem Reap on Wednesday when we first arrived, then he showed up at Chabad on Friday and today he was buying tickets to the same island as us! He met this Israeli girl at Chabad on shabbos and now they are traveling together. Finally we boarded the boat and it was a really fun fast speedboat ride. The ride was 25 min and we arrived at the dock. Lots of workers were there each from different hotels waiting for their guests.

Our hotel had like 6 workers come to pick us up from the boat and carried all our luggage. This island is literally paradise, It’s unbelievable. We checked in to Anaya resort and they upgraded us to the deluxe villas that sit directly in front of the beach. The rooms are really nice and they have outdoor bathroom and shower which is so cool!

Everyone got changed into bathing suits and we hit the beach. There is nobody else around besides for staff, we had the beach to ourselves which was amazing. They had paddle boards you can use so the kids loved doing that. The water is so clear you just look into the water and can see fish swimming around. Kids and DH went snorkeling as well. Then we moved to the infinity pool which was empty as well. DD2 had lots of fun playing with all the sand toys they gave us. Once it became very dark we went to our villas to shower and have noodle soups for dinner (a huge treat for my kids).
















Monday morning kids got up bright and early and by 6am they headed to the beach to daven shachris. Overnight the tide became so low that there was no water until the end of the dock! It was such a crazy sight to wake up to. The hotel gives complementary breakfast starting at 7:30am so we headed over to the dining room to see what we could eat. We took all different types of fruit and they made us smoothies out of mango, pineapple and banana which was so refreshing and delicious. We also got iced coffees that were so good the kids each finished one themselves!

I realized that if they let us in the kitchen we could make eggs since I brought a frying pan so that is what we did. DH became the chef and kids were the waiters. Everyone got 3 scrambled eggs which were great! After breakfast we hired a boat to take us snorkeling and fishing around the island. My kids are pros now at snorkeling but it was DD2 first time 😜 we saw tons of coral reef and a few times I stepped on these crazy pointy black reefs.

After snorkeling we went to a good fishing area and everyone got a line with bait. Every time a fish was caught D2 got so excited to see the fish and imitate its mouth movements. After We caught a nice amount of kosher fish we were dropped off at our hotel. The hotel took the fish from us and prepared it to be cooked. We went to the pool and then the beach.

It’s amazing how well all 4 kids can do stand up paddle boarding. DS8, baby and I walked over to the sister hotel, Temu, which is two minutes away and they swam in their pool for a change of scenery. DH and I went to the kitchen to cook the fish. I double wrapped potatoes, a head of garlic and put it in the oven. I also made rice in their rice maker. We had a feast! The owner of the hotel is Jewish and lives in France for half the year. He found out from Rabbi Butman we are staying at the hotel now so he told his staff to give us free drinks. DH got the local Cambodian beer and he said it was fantastic!













Tuesday started off bright and early again, everyone was up dressed and davened by 7am. We headed to dining room for breakfast and the staff already knew the drill. DH cooked around 2 dozen eggs for all of us and it was great. The pool is directly across from where we were eating so DS8 went back and forth between pool and food. Then the kids headed to the beach for paddle boarding while I went back to the villas to pack up.

The speedboat was coming at 10am to get us. The hotel staff stationed themselves outside the villas eager to help carry the bags. I went to pay our bill and found out our dinner last night was actually $12 and not $13. We boarded the boat and DD2 promptly fell asleep on my lap which made it a bit difficult to hold the tichel from flying off.

We got to the port and our driver was waiting to pick us up and take us to the Chabad which was a 3 hour drive. As soon as we got to the Chabad house DS8 went directly to Butman’s apt and started a game of monopoly with her boys. I packed up a few things that we will need for the next couple days and we went down to the restaurant to get lunch/dinner.

We got hamburgers, schnitzel sandwiches, meatballs and spaghetti, French fries and fried rice. The hamburger was bigger than my 2 year olds face and it was $3!!! Every last piece of food was eaten. Our driver picked us up at 4:30pm and we set off on our journey. We are driving to the jungle for our tour that begins Wednesday at 8:30am. It is a 7 hour drive so we took breaks to sleep throughout the night. The roads are pitch black and bumpy plus it is raining on and off. 😬













Wednesday- we arrived at the meeting spot for the tour to begin at 5:30am, we were on the road for 13 hours! Our driver got tired at some point and pulled over to sleep for 3 hours. Everyone slept in the car for pretty much the entire night except for me of course 🥱.

When we got to the hotel that was the meeting point nobody was around, some children were being a bit too loud and by accident woke up the staff that were apparently sleeping downstairs. The view from the deck outside was breathtaking, completely different scenery from the island we came from a day before. It was overlooking mountains, valleys and jungle DH and DS13 davened shachris  there and then we all ate breakfast.

Finally by 7:30am all the staff (which is basically one family) were up and cooking and cleaning. They had two little kids that DD2 was playing with. Our driver decided he was going to sleep at that hotel for the night and it’s a whopping $7/night. He also got a bowl of ramen for breakfast that looked so amazing. It would’ve costed $25 in a kosher restaurant and here it was $3 (our driver said that’s very expensive and he could’ve gotten it for $1.50 in town).

I was thinking nobody else would be on our tour since we were the only ones there but by 8:30am 5 other people had joined. They were from Australia, Cambodia, France and Montreal. Before we left the  tour guide gave an opt out option for people to not do the hike on Thursday and just leave Wednesday night instead but nobody took him up on it. We all got in the pickup truck and DH and the other guests were in the back and the kids and I were in the car. This ride should’ve prepared me for what was to come…it was like an ATV ride on dirt paths going up and down completely vertical roads except this was muddy and cliffs with hundred foot drops next to it. The pink jeep tours we did in Sedona was a big joke compared to this. It was terrifying but BH we made it in one piece.

We got to our lodging where we put our backpacks down and were given alittle history about the elephant sanctuary. Then we set off for our hike to meet the elephants! The elephants are free to roam the jungle so they never know if the group will be able to find them. We hiked for like 15 min and then the guide stopped us and started calling out for Sophia the elephant. He called her for a few minutes and we were going to give up and then out of bushes and trees she comes! It was the craziest experience seeing an elephant coming up right behind you! We all had gotten bananas to feed her with so whoever was bravest went first). DD2 was excited to see the elephants until she saw them 😂.

After hearing about Sophia’s story and how she was abused (her owner was using her to pull trees and when she wasn’t moving fast enough he put a hook in her ear and used it to pull her with so now she had a massive hole in her ear 😔) and then saved by this sanctuary we went on to two more spots and saw 4 elephants in total. By the end of the meet and greets we were all best buddies with elephants and not afraid to be near them and feed them. We then hiked back to the lodging and had lunch. They bought all new dishes, pots and utensils for us and DH went into the kitchen with them and cooked rice and made fish soup, I was shocked how good it was. We also had sliced fruit.

They don’t have tables and chairs, they just put a mat on the floor and that’s the table and u sit on the floor next to it. After lunch it was rest time where you go into hammocks to relax, the kids loved that and so did I! Once everyone was rested we changed into our bathing suits and headed to the waterfalls, we got to the first waterfall and no elephants were there and then like 30 seconds later all of a sudden one elephant emerged from the jungle and went into the water and started spraying himself. That was very cool to see. Then we continued on to the next waterfall and everyone went in the water and swam around even though the current was pretty strong.

We were there for like 20 minutes and guess who shows up? Two more elephants that want to join our fun! They came in the water and everyone was splashing them, feeding them bananas and petting them. It was really an incredible experience for all!Eventually the elephants left down the river since they didn’t seem to have any issue with the water current 😝 we all hiked back, took cold showers and changed our clothes. DD2 had fallen asleep in the baby carrier after the waterfall so I put her directly in the hammock she would be sleeping in that night thinking she would take a short nap or wake up immediately.

Then DH started cooking dinner, we were going to have bamboo soup! Basically they cut down a bamboo stick (the really big kind) and use it as a pot over a fire pit. DS8 had the job to keep turning the bamboo shoot around to heat all sides equally while DH cut up all the ingredients that go inside the shoot. It was garlic, eggplant, coriander, lemongrass, some kind of leafy green and a huge giant mushroom that they found growing on the ground 😱. Once the veg were all cut up DS8 had to stuff them inside the bamboo. While all this cooking was happening I took out the Romanian hot dogs I brought with us and the kids roasted them over the fire pit, I gave one to the Cambodian little boy whose parents work at the sanctuary and he was very happy.

Dinner was ready and they brought out the bamboo shoots and poured it into our bowls, it was so cool but looked gross. When in Rome….i tried it and it was delicious!! We also had more rice and another fish soup as well. Nobody went to bed hungry!

Once it started getting dark outside we headed to bed, the only bathroom with a lightbulb was across the road from where we were sleeping. They have a hut with two rows of hammocks, our family got one row and the other ppl stayed on the other side. There is a mosquito net that zips over the hammock and they gave out blankets if we were cold. At this point DD2 had still not woken up from when she fell asleep at 5pm so I was just hoping that she would make it through the night. I found the hammocks extremely comfortable and slept more than I usually do! They were donated by the US Army.



















Thursday- we all slept really well in the hammocks but we were too scared to get out when it was still dark outside so we waited for sunrise to go to the bathroom. My DH needed to wake up at 6am to start cooking breakfast and lunch since we were taking it with us. DD2 had slept for 13 hours! She was a happy camper now 😍 our new trekking guide who came last night and replaced the elephant guide was very surprised to see DD2 in the morning bc she was sleeping in the hammock since he got there on Wednesday evening.

We had pancakes and bananas for breakfast that DH did an excellent job on. Once everyone finished davening and eating we packed up our backpacks because we weren’t coming back to the lodge. We were going on a 5 mile hike through the jungle, they said this was the easy hike geared for families as opposed to the full day hike of 10 miles that the other 3 ppl on our tour were going to continue on after we left. We all put on lots of bug spray, sunscreen and had big bottles of water. No biggie, right? We have done lots of hikes before and it was fine.

I forgot to mention that on Wednesday when we walked to see the elephants DD15 had fallen and hurt her ankle as well as cut her knee which the guide applied some mashed up leaves to use as an antiseptic, but she said she was OK to do the hike. There was no path as we walked so at times the guide would take out his knife and cut through the bamboo so we could pass through. DD2 started out very happy in the carrier but then she became more uncomfortable and started to complain. Likely I had cookies and marshmallows in my bag since we were supposed to make s’mores but were too tired the night before. That helped her somewhat. She would fall asleep a few times.

The ground was slippery with mud as we walked up the mountain. So now imagine, no path, slippery mud, going up a mountain that at points was completely vertical, cliffs on one side and kids needing to do this with backpacks on our backs. We were walking in a line since there obviously was no room for two ppl to walk next to each other so if one person slips they will take everyone behind them down. Everyone was falling at different times, DH once slipped with baby on his back and that was scary but it was going up. We got around 2 hours in and now we needed to do another completely vertical hike up the mud, BH we got to the top and we sat down on tree trunks.

I was sitting next to DH and he said he feels dizzy but he’s ok. So I said ok, just drink water. Then he started not being coherent and getting a dazed look on his face. I started yelling for help to the others. I was scared he was going to fall forward with baby on his back. As he was fainting I was holding him up and unbuckling the baby off of him. The other adults in our group ran to help me. We laid him down and they held his feet up. A minute or two later he came too and asked why he was laying down? He had no memory of what happened. It was so scary! We gave him marshmallows to help with his sugar level and water. He slowly got better and tried sitting up but didn’t feel great so laid down again. After a while of eating more and drinking he regained his color and strength. Our guide took the baby and put her on his shoulders and we continued on our way 😓.

After 3 1/2 hours we finally made it to our first stop, it was a beautiful waterfall that was also behind a cave. We walked inside the cave with flashlights and were greeted by hundred of bats flying around! It was insane! The type of bats we saw are called fruit bats I believe. I got a crazy picture of DS8 with a bat staring at him in the background. After our short break we continued on going behind the waterfall and onto the next one.

It was another 45 min hike through farming land and jungle. The views were really gorgeous and no picture I took does it justice. FINALLY we made it to our final stop which was a small waterfall and river and we also were having lunch there. Kids were excited to finally be able to jump in the water and it was nice to clean off the mud that we were covered in.

As soon as DS8  went in his shoe fell in the water and was taken away by the rapids. DH tried going down to find it but couldn’t. Our guide said he will look for it. He went through the jungle and came back like 20 min later holding the shoe! He must have run miles and I have no idea how he would even find it then! DD2 was very happy to be in the water skinny dipping, a nice break for her from all the sweatiness she had to endure. DD11 and DS13 enjoyed jumping off the side of the waterfall in the rapids as well.

Then we sat down at picnic tables for lunch and had rice (of course) with fish and vegetables. Then our ride came to pick us up in the pickup truck where the kids were excited to be able to sit in the pickup bed. It took a 30 min drive to get to the hotel where we had started. DS8 IDF hat flew off in the wind so he was very sad about that.

Our driver was waiting for us and after everyone changed their clothes we were off to the Chabad house which is around 7 hour drive. At one point I had fallen asleep and then when I woke up I see that we are going on a ferry boat! I was so confused and scared that our driver was not taking us to the Chabad house! He clarified this was shorter to take the ferry across the river than to drive on the road. Well once I realized that we were going to the right place we all jumped out of the car and enjoyed the boat ride and view of the city at night all lit up. It was pretty cool! We got to the Chabad at 10pm and everyone showered and went to bed 😴













Friday we started our day by walking to the royal palace, we past a park on the way and saw these men playing what looked like volleyball from a far but when we got closer it actually was a different game that they only use their feet and heads to volley the ball over the net, it was fun to watch. We continued on to the royal palace. We hired an English speaking guide and as we were checking in some visitor thought we were very interesting looking. She was so intrigued by us that she grabbed DD15 arm and put it next to her arm while pointing to her friend excitedly 😂😂😂 I was just imagining this happening in USA.

Another women was very excited about DD2 and kept following us around, taking her picture and even gave her a yogurt which I promptly gave back. We saw the palace from the outside but couldn’t go in bc the king was meeting with the president of Vietnam at that time so no visitors were allowed 😢 we continued on to the rest of the grounds. He showed us the silver pagoda which is their temple and we said we can’t go inside. But even with that we still were able to see different structures, paintings and watch them play their music. 

We went back to Chabad and had breakfast at their Restaurant which was shakshuka and omelettes. Then I did some loads of laundry which was very helpful. After finishing hanging the laundry to dry on the roof we went to the tailor to pick up the suits. We were pretty nervous if it would fit but BH it was perfect. DH asked for an extra button by the waistband and double lining the pants which they did on the spot.

We then went in search of a male massage therapist, after trying many places we finally found one. DH said it was the best massage he ever had, the place we went to was high end so it was $15 as opposed places that charge $5 down the street. We walked down and saw the whole street was blocked and army guards were everyone. We found out that the president of Vietnam was leaving soon, we sat down on a bench and waited to see him off.

Friday night there were around 20 traveling guests including two businessman who make bags for stores like Marshall’s and is moving their factory from China to Cambodia. The food was really good again but different items then last shabbos. For dessert they had a fruit platter and on it was jackfruit which I’ve never tried before, it’s delicious!

Shabbos day everyone went to shul. Lunch was good and we got to try the cholent. After lunch everyone was just shmoozing for hours at the tables while the kids were running around and playing. DH and I decided to take a walk around 4:30pm and it was beautiful Weather. After watching sunset from the roof we went to have shalosh seudos.

After shabbos some of the kids, my DH and myself went to the night market. We stopped at a stand that sells sugar cane and makes it into a drink for us, it was very refreshing in the heat and super cool to see. The night market was fun checking out different vendors. We saw a stand that has many different types of insects that were grilled. After kids got what they wanted from the market we took a Tuk Tuk back to Chabad.
















Sunday we left at 8am with all our luggage to Siem Reap which is 5 1/2 hours away. We stopped at a gas station that had a kids bathroom that DD2 loved. We also stopped at a 1,000+ year old bridge and met a monk who loves taking selfies, who knew they existed? We continued on and got to our hotel at 2pm. After we put the luggage away we had tuna on rice cakes and then the kids went swimming. They swam for a few hours until we went back to our room and showered.

We had noodle soups for dinner in the lobby and then we got a tuk tuk and went to see the Phare circus. It was a great show and everyone enjoyed. Our driver said we are the first tourists he had that have not gone to see the ancient temples of Angkor, we had asked a posek and were told that we cannot go.







Monday- we needed to leave to the airport by 7:40am so we quickly packed up, davened and went to the lobby. I brought oatmeal packets from home so I went to the restaurant and they gave me hot cups with lids for the oatmeal with hot water. Our flight to Singapore was fine and our kosher meal of chicken stir fry with rice was actually good!

Our flight was 20 min delayed so instead of landing at 2pm it was 2:20pm, the issue with that is we had a tour of the city scheduled for 2:30pm and I wasn’t sure where I was even supposed to go for it. Three oldest kids and myself ran off the plane and after asking a few ppl we were told where to go, we ran for like 14 min until we got there a couple of minutes late. Thankfully it was not a problem and we were checked in for the tour. DH stayed in airport with two younger kids and our luggage.

Our tour guide took us through customs and then we got on a charter bus. We heard all about the history of Singapore and why they have such strict rules. Then we stopped at different landmarks and he explained what they were. We then continued on to a famous Garden on the Bay and had time to walk through and enjoy it. When we got back on the bus a woman on our tour was very traumatized by something she saw and she needed to speak with the tour guide privately the whole way back to the airport about it. I was sitting nearby so I could hear bits and pieces. We think she saw police brutality on kids…

while we were on the tour for a few hours DH had taken DS8 and DD2 to two different play grounds in the terminal and a butterfly garden. The airport is insane and has anything you can imagine (except for kosher food). The bus dropped us off at the Jewel it’s called, it’s essentially a mall within the airport but before security so open to the public. It is famous for its massive waterfall inside. We walked around a bit and DD11 was super excited when she went to the bathroom and they had a whole bidet system including heated seat.

They have a coffee bean but I couldn’t tell if it’s kosher or not, I know in the city it is kosher though. Then we went to sit by the waterfall and wait for DH and kids to come meet us. At 8pm they have a light and water show and DH showed up at 7:58pm 😮‍💨. After the show we went to our terminal which has a 4 story slide 🫨 u need to get a pass to go on it but someone passing us handed us their passes. Everyone went down the slide except for DD2 who’s too short, it was cool.
















We flew back to ORD via Frankfurt and JFK on Singapore Airlines.

Tips: 1. make sure to bring tons of $1 bills
2. Make sure the cash you bring from USA is in perfect condition or they will not accept it.
If you made it through to the end of this TR I thank you! (A lot of the pictures I tried adding did not work.)
« Last Edit: July 23, 2024, 01:51:54 AM by Dan »

Offline ckmk47

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Re: Cambodia?!? Yes, of course!
« Reply #1 on: July 23, 2024, 12:31:47 AM »
WOW!!
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Offline Dan

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Re: Cambodia?!? Yes, of course!
« Reply #2 on: July 23, 2024, 01:43:51 AM »
WOWOWOW!!!!!!!

Honestly, I'm in awe. I can't even begin to imagine doing this kind of trip with multiple kids. Kudos to you guys for being that adventurous!

And try to post some more pics please!
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Offline Dan

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Re: Cambodia?!? Yes, of course!
« Reply #3 on: July 23, 2024, 01:44:19 AM »
I'm going to add some paragraph breaks to make the TR more readable.
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Offline Dan

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Re: Cambodia?!? Yes, of course!
« Reply #4 on: July 23, 2024, 01:52:42 AM »
I'm going to add some paragraph breaks to make the TR more readable.
Done.

Not sure why some of the img links don't work, but try using the "Add image to post" instead of "Insert Image" for those photos and see if that works.
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline Luvtotravel

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Re: Cambodia?!? Yes, of course!
« Reply #5 on: July 23, 2024, 02:17:20 AM »
unreal! and your kids must be real troopers! did you tally up the amount of traveling you did by plane, boat, jeep... that number must be mind boggling!
Don't wait for the perfect moment; take the moment and make it perfect.

Offline tavster

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Re: Cambodia?!? Yes, of course!
« Reply #6 on: July 23, 2024, 05:55:27 AM »
Great TR - thanks for taking the time.

My kids would go nuts sitting for that many hours in taxis/buses/tuk tuk  ;D

Offline Divora M

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Re: Cambodia?!? Yes, of course!
« Reply #7 on: July 23, 2024, 07:21:37 AM »
Here are some pictures of the Courtyard Siem Reap













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Re: Cambodia?!? Yes, of course!
« Reply #8 on: July 23, 2024, 07:31:53 AM »

Bamboo train in Battambang. This train goes up to 40 mph with nothing to hold onto.









Offline Divora M

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Re: Cambodia?!? Yes, of course!
« Reply #9 on: July 23, 2024, 07:43:03 AM »
More pics from Koh Rong. Have you ever had a resort to yourself? It was because it’s officially low season now even though we had no rain during the days we were there.












Offline Divora M

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Re: Cambodia?!? Yes, of course!
« Reply #10 on: July 23, 2024, 07:56:42 AM »
More pictures from the elephant sanctuary and jungle hike.

























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Re: Cambodia?!? Yes, of course!
« Reply #11 on: July 23, 2024, 08:07:25 AM »
Royal Palace and walking through Phnom Penh.























Offline Divora M

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Re: Cambodia?!? Yes, of course!
« Reply #12 on: July 23, 2024, 08:14:01 AM »
Gas station bathroom with a kids mini toilet and sink

 

Siem Reap Circus Phare









Offline Divora M

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Re: Cambodia?!? Yes, of course!
« Reply #13 on: July 23, 2024, 08:21:25 AM »
Singapore





















Frankfurt airport and last leg of our trip





Offline Divora M

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Re: Cambodia?!? Yes, of course!
« Reply #14 on: July 23, 2024, 08:35:58 AM »
unreal! and your kids must be real troopers! did you tally up the amount of traveling you did by plane, boat, jeep... that number must be mind boggling!

This will be fun…
flying time- 44 hours
driving time- 39 hours
Boating time- 3 hours
Tuk Tuk and train -2 hours

My kids were amazing on all the flights, I packed each person’s backpack with a large ziplock bag containing all the snacks and food they would have for the flights and they could decide when or if they wanted it. I also brought lots of other snacks, protein bars and nuts for the long car ride. I am very pleased to say we finished every last item I brought with us and it lasted in front until we got back. In terms of my 2 year old, we brought her large comfy car seat from home instead of a travel sized one and she sat in the car seat during all the flights without coming out. She slept a lot of the time and then watched on her personal screen if she got fussy.

Offline whacked1

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Re: Cambodia?!? Yes, of course!
« Reply #15 on: July 23, 2024, 09:29:27 AM »
Amazing!!!! Great trip!!! Thanks for taking the time to write this up! Your kids are living their best lives!

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Re: Cambodia?!? Yes, of course!
« Reply #16 on: July 24, 2024, 10:22:50 AM »
@Dan can you add my TR to the Cambodia TR link? Thanks!

Offline Dan

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Re: Cambodia?!? Yes, of course!
« Reply #17 on: July 24, 2024, 11:54:58 AM »
@Dan can you add my TR to the Cambodia TR link? Thanks!
Done
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline momo

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Re: Cambodia?!? Yes, of course!
« Reply #18 on: July 24, 2024, 03:29:56 PM »
Awesome TR. Thank you for taking the time.

Online Cat18

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Re: Cambodia?!? Yes, of course!
« Reply #19 on: July 24, 2024, 03:54:44 PM »
Amazing trip and TR. I am getting tired just reading this.

Can’t imagine how long a trip like this with kids took to plan.

Can you break down the big ticket items in terms of cost/miles used?
« Last Edit: July 24, 2024, 04:36:36 PM by Cat18 »