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Not Luxe ☼ Travel
  • ABOUT NICK & RAYCHEL
  • WHY “NOT LUXE”
  • Cambodia
  • Australia
  • Travel
  • Teaching ESL
  • Move Abroad
  • Travel Insurance

day trip

    A view from the inside of Phnom Chisor temple in Cambodia

    Day Trip to Phnom Chisor: How to Get to Phnom Chisor from Phnom Penh

    by Nick & Raychel February 5, 2019

    Day trip to Phnom Chisor (Chisor Mountain) from Phnom Penh

    Phnom Chisor is a 133m tall hill in Takeo Province. On top of the hill, you will find an ancient temple built in the 11th century, part of the Angkor Wat family. During our year in Cambodia, we visited Phnom Chisor many times. Every single time, we were blown away by the beauty of the ancient temple, captivated by the views at the top of the hill, and our tummies were sore from all the belly-laughing we did during the tuk-tuk rides.

    If you’ve never been to Siem Reap, this may be your first time seeing such an ancient temple in Cambodia. If you have been to Siem Reap, you will be pleasantly surprised by how few visitors there are here.

    Since Phnom Chisor is not the *most* popular tourist destination, there is little signage or explanation. Unlike Angkor Wat, you won’t have the option for an audio or even guided tour. However, with a little Google search and a lot of letting your imagination run free, this sight can be truly extraordinary.


    Getting there

    So – how do you get to Phnom Chisor? Phnom Chisor is about 55km away from Phnom Penh. With all things considered, it takes about 2 hours to get to the mountain from the city.

    You can rent a motorbike and drive to the ancient hilltop temple. We only recommend this if you’re an experienced motorbike driver, as you’ll be joining in with the crazy and fast highway traffic from Phnom Penh. If you do choose to rent a moto, make sure it’s in great shape – as the side path to the mountain is a long, bumpy dirt road.

    You could also hire a private taxi.

    We, however, recommend hiring a tuk tuk for the adventure. We loved the breezy adventure every time, and connecting with the locals down the bumpy road felt much more intimate this way.

    Normally, we’d offer a tuk tuk driver $40 for the entire day.


    The trip up to the temple

    It’s best to do this trip in the morning since you will need to climb about 390 stairs to get to the top of the hill, and as you know, Cambodia can get very hot. While you are walking up the stairs, you will meet locals selling water, coconuts, and snacks.

    Once you reach the top of the stairs, you will see more vendors. At this point, someone will have approached you to pay for the “entry ticket”. While we are not sure where this money goes, it is only $2 and we are hoping it goes to the protection and maintenance of the pagoda. To be fair, we were always charged the same amount and given the same ticket every time we visited Chisor.


    The temple & the view

    The temple was built in the 11th century and is covered with beautiful sculptures to date. You can walk through the different galleries and even enter the place of worship.

    The temple was destroyed by bombs during the Vietnam/American war in 1970 and rebuilt in 1979.

    From the top of the mountain, you will get a spectacular view of rice paddies covering Takeo province.

    There are drinks, snacks, and clothing for sale outside of the temple.

    You can walk around the top of the mountain or find a hammock to relax on for a while.


    Rules for visiting Phnom Chisor

    Because Phnom Chisor isn’t as busy as a popular destination like Angkor Wat, there are no rules or anyone to regulate them, even if they were existent. To respect the ancient temples, we recommend reading the following:

     

    • Dress appropriately. Women’s shoulders and knees should be covered.
    • If you want to take a picture of/with a monk – just ask. Many monks in Cambodia actually use Facebook & Instagram and may want the photo for themselves! If they don’t want their photo taken, they’ll have the chance to tell you that.
    • Do not smoke on the temple grounds
    • Don’t litter. Unfortunately, like the majority of the Cambodia, the grounds near Phnom Chisor can tend to fill up with litter. Do not contribute to the problem.
    • Be quiet and respectful. This is still a sacred place.


    Tonle Bati

    You can also combine this trip with a trip to Tonle Bati if you want to see more and fill the entire day.

     

     

     

     

    See some other fun things to do during your trip to Cambodia over on our Youtube channel below:

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Nick & Raychel
Nick & Raychel

In 2018, we sold everything we owned and moved to Cambodia to teach English.

Let’s make this clear: this journey didn’t start with money. This journey started with a desire to see the world and to do something different for a change.

We’re not going to fool you with photos of floating breakfasts and private jets. We know what it’s like to be on a budget. Although we like to take pretty pictures, we aren’t going to wake up at an ungodly hour to give you unachievable travel jealousy. We aren’t going to censor ourselves or lie to you.

What we are going to do is stay in cheap hostels, find ways to make money, give the advice that we would want to hear, and share our experiences with you honestly.

Are you in?

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ABOUT NICK & RAYCHEL

About Us Hi! We’re Nick & Raychel, the Canadian travel couple behind the brand ‘Not Luxe’. Far before we were married (and on a mission to see the world), we were working…

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  • Every choice comes with sacrifice. We chose to use our money that we work for to travel, and we continue to make that choice every day.

But making that choice means we haven’t been able to do other things that another 30 year old couple would maybe do. We sold our car, all of our things, we don’t have a stable place to live, we haven’t started a family, we don’t own a home.

We work overtime to afford our travels, and we have very little money for anything else. 

And of course, we must acknowledge that we have huge amounts of privilege to even be able to make that choice. Our strong passports allow us to see much of the world, we were born into a country where our currency is valued worldwide, and we always have a friend or family member’s couch to crash on if we need it.

So this post is not meant to complain, rather show: everything comes with a sacrifice - and if you’re considering giving up your stable life for full-time travel, there may be some things you have to leave behind.

➟ follow @nickandraychel // full-time van life & budget travel 

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  • We’ve lived on 3 continents by travelling slow and working when we end up 🫶🏼

& somehow our travels brought us back to our home city for the summer this year for the first time in 6 YEARS! Damn.

But we’ve said it once and we’ll say it a trillion times, we will do almost a n y t h I n g in the name of travel.

Any questions?

➟ follow @nickandraychel // full-time van life & budget travel 

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  • If you want to live in a van in 2023/2024, here is our roadmap for getting started with van life. 

⇾ Embrace minimalism and downsize your possessions

⇾ Research different van options that fit your lifestyle and budget

⇾ Set a realistic budget for your van purchase or build

⇾ Plan your layout and storage needs

⇾ Learn about solar power and sustainability

⇾ Source materials and supplies for your build - you can learn on YouTube

⇾ Talk to insurance companies and classify your van as a motorhome

⇾ Download iOverlander and create a budget for your travels

⇾ Connect with the van life community and attend meetups

⇾ Hit the road and embrace the freedom of van life 

➟ follow @nickandraychel // full-time van life & budget travel 

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  • How much I spend in a day living *basically* rent-free in Vancouver 

As many of you know, we live in a van, but we also do housesitting with @trustedhousesitters 

Transit with a compass card is $2.50 which I use frequently - especially to visit my parents who also live in Vancouver 

This day we checked out To Live For Bakery @tolivefor.bakery which I highly, highly recommend to anyone who is cruising through the city and ends up on Nanaimo 

Also popped by @welksonmain for some N/A drinks from  @sobercarpenter & @getgruvi 

And our Trusted Housesitters membership is $11/mo totalling $0.38 for rent per day

& the one day total was $18.23 

Any questions?

➟ follow @nickandraychel // full-time van life & budget travel 

Tags: #notluxe  #vanlifeculture  #traveldiaries #travelgram #livetoexplore #vanlifeculture #budgettravel #worktotravel #traveljobs #travelblogger #vandwelling #discovercanada #vancitylife #bcadventure #canadiancreator #vancouverfoodie #veganfoodie #outdoorsycreator #minimalism #housesitting
  • Things we would have never done if we had listened to ✨ fear ✨(and these are just a few)

• quit our jobs to teach English in Asia
• sold everything we owned (twice) 
• moved to a country we’d never been to before (twice)
• converted an old ambulance into a tiny home with no experience
• drove from Canada to Mexico in our van 
• met up with people from the internet and became best friends 

But mostly, taken a chance on ourselves.

We do our best to not let fear or the opinions of others lead the way. 

Do you have any to add?

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  • Is van life really cheaper than renting? Van life costs vs. monthly expenses living in an apartment.

Not to mention the average price in Vancouver now is $2,700 - so not sure where we’d find that $1,300 rental anymore.

Any questions about van life?

➟ follow @nickandraychel // full-time van life & budget travel 

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