Just got back from spending nearly a month backpacking in Cambodia and Southern Laos. Had a great time... only encountered 2-3 other Americans. I realize we don't travel well to Southeast Asia unless it's to touristy Thailand. That's fine though; I met and traveled with some amazing people from Europe.

Flew into Phnom Penh via Los Angeles to Shanghai (China Eastern). I was unsure of this airline, but was extremely impressed with the cleanliness and service it provided.

View from my first two nights stay in a hostel:

My first full day I walked around the city and visited several hotspots including Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum:

Later I Took a $10 tuk-tuk for 18km outside the city centre to Choeung Ek (killing field):

I Stayed in Phnom Penh one more night and did a few other spots including Central Market.

The following morning I Bussed 5 hours from Phnom Penh to Battambang via VIP minivan ($8) next day for 2 nights.

Once in battambang, I got an awesome tuk-tuk driver who took me 20km outside Battambang to check out Phnom Sampeau, where a beautiful Buddhist temple sits on top of a mountain. Said mountain also is known as the "killing cave" during Khmer Rouge. PLUS, a bat cave that houses over 3 million bats that come out every evening at dusk.

Cave and bats:

I also chilled with monks and monkeys:

The next day I rented a motorbike and visited my first two temples of the trip just outside the city.

Ek Phnom

Phnom Banan

And huge statue next to a school:

Next day I bought a boat ticket through Mekong Express for an 8 hour trip to Siem Reap via Sangker River to Tonle Sap Lake. Saw beautiful floating villages along the way.

Arrived in Siem Reap for 4 nights. View from my hotel:

My first night I took to the town and did Pub Street for cheap beer and music, as well a couple night markets.

My awesome a-ping (tarantula) chef:

I rented a motorbike for 2 days through my hotel to see the temples. Day 1 I biked 25km north to Banteay Srei and another 15km further northeast to Phnom Kulen National Park.

Next day I did other temples including:

Angkor Wat at sunrise

Angkor Thom:

Ta Prohm (my favorite temple):

After the 4th night in Siem Reap, I paid $25 for a VIP minivan to Laos to spend a couple of nights on Don Det and Si Phan Don (the 4,000 islands). Stayed in a bungalow riverside in the village...

Sunrises here were great! Saw a few waterfalls here as well, and basically relaxed for a couple days.

After two nights, I boated back to the mainland and bussed to Pakse where I spent 4 days motorbiking the Bolaven Plateau (which is known for its waterfalls). By the time I was done with this, I was waterfalled out....

View of Pakse from the Golden Buddha:

The first of 3 nights motorbiking the Bolaven Plateau, I visited Mr. Vieng’s Coffee Plantation for some awesome organic coffee, fruits, and ants! Same day I stayed in a lovely family guesthouse in Tad Lo Village...

The next 2 nights were spent motorbiking to cities situated around the Bolaven Plateau... to see even more waterfalls.

After 4 days of motorbiking, I headed back to Pakse for one night and to bus 12 hours back to Phnom Penh. The bus was overbooked, the wifi was broken, and the A/C stopped working an hour into the journey south.

The border crossing, by the way, isn't the best. Tourists have to pay corrupted fees in order to get your passport back from officials in each country. VOA is $35 for US Citizens, but you end up paying over $40 with the fees the officials place to get you passport back.

Stayed one night in Phnom Penh, woke up and enjoyed free breakfast rooftop with a full 360 view of city.

After breakfast I hustled around town to get a ride to Sihanoukville. One of the bus operators I tried booking through, with no luck, knew some friends who could take me, so I paid $25 for a 4 hour private van with locals. While I didn't trust the situation, I was eager to get to the coast; so I had a "yolo" moment.

I spent my last couple days of my trip on Koh Rong Island, off the coast of Sihanoukville. Here, I snorkeled, drank beer, swam with bioluminescent plankton at dark, drank beer, chilled on a beautiful pristine beach, drank beer, watched insane sunsets over the Gulf of Thailand, and smoked some reefer from locals on a 8 hour party boat. Not the wisest move, but I made sure everything was cool.

On my final morning on Koh Rong, I took the speedboat back to Sihanoukville and then bussed 5 hours to the airport, where the shuttle dropped me off on the main street.

I am now suffering from my 2nd day of jet lag.

This post was edited on 2/25/18 at 9:22 pm