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

taxi

    A couple walks down the beach in beautiful Koh Rong, Cambodia

    One Week in Cambodia | 7 Day Itinerary

    by Nick & Raychel March 7, 2019

    We’ve lived in Cambodia for a year and are so lucky to have had so many friends and family visit us during our time here. With that said, we’ve been personal tour guides more than a few times now.

    The biggest thing we should mention right off the bat here is that this itinerary does not include Siem Reap. This is for two reasons:

    1. Many people fly into Phnom Penh
    2. We believe Siem Reap is a whole different trip, and you will likely need more than one week to see it.

    That said, we have added 5 days onto the end of this article to represent your time in SR. If you’re planning on going, find our Siem Reap guide here.

    So here it is, our suggested one week travel itinerary starting in Phnom Penh.


    Day 1: Phnom Penh

    You’ve just arrived in the capital city and there is so much that you could do.

    Here are a few suggestions:

    (Daytime)

    • Visit the Royal Palace
    • Take a walk along the riverside
    • Visit Wat Phnom
    • Get some goodies at the local markets – Central Market, Russian Market (see our guide to the markets here)

    (Nighttime)

    • Visit the night market
    • Grab a beer near the riverside / independence monument
    • Take a walk to Wat Botum and watch the locals dance after sunset
    • Go see a traditional dancing show at the museum


    Day 2: Koh Rong

    How to get there: You can take a bus or private taxi to Sihanoukville. A private taxi is $55 for the entire car, so if you have a group of 4 people you will pay only $13.75 each for a much more comfortable ride. If you are looking for a taxi, join the Facebook group Taxi Share Cambodia.

    For the sake of this itinerary, we took an overnight taxi on Day 1 so we could arrive in Sihanoukville by the morning.

    We then took the first ferry sailing to Koh Rong and spent the entire day at the beach.


    Day 3: Koh Rong

    Wake up in your beachy bungalow and prepare for the day.

    Here are a list of things you can do in Koh Rong:

    • Explore the different beaches. Do not stay at one beach! There are so many beautiful beaches to see such as: Long Beach, Palm Beach, Lonely Beach, White Beach, Lazy Beach…. the list goes on…

      Note: You can hire water taxis to get between beaches for $5
      Tip: Walk the trail from Koh Toch to Long Beach –  the trek is amazing


    • Snorkeling or diving
    • Ziplining at High Point Adventure Park
    • Go on a boat trip to Koh Rong Samloem
    • Get a tattoo at one of the great tattoo shops
    • Have a cocktail and relax on the beach in a swing or hammock

    We went snorkeling with the luminescent plankton at night – although we don’t necessarily recommend it. Although it was sort of cool, the waters in Koh Rong are sadly very polluted the further out you get into the ocean, and swimming with rubbish in the dark isn’t all that appealing.


    Don’t leave home without travel insurance. Trust us, we never do. You can get a quote with World Nomads right here.


    Day 4: Kampot

    How to get there: Catch a ferry back to Sihanoukville. From there, take a bus or hire a private taxi for $45 if you have enough people to fill the car.

    Kampot is not only our favourite place in Cambodia, but one of our favourite places in the entire world. This sleepy french-colonial town is the ultimate place to relax. At the same time, there are so many things to see. The laid-back lifestyle in this river town is unbeatable. We don’t suggest missing out on this place!

    Since you’ll be arriving in the afternoon, you will have half a day to explore the old town, get some delicious food and hit the night market once it gets dark.

    If you get there early enough, you can do one or two of the things we suggest to do on Day 5.

    We checked in to our bungalow and hung out by the river.


    Day 5: Kampot

    Our favourite thing about Kampot is that there’s so much to do, but it’s so relaxed that you won’t necessarily feel pressured to do all of it.

    Here are some of the things you can do in Kampot:

    • Visit the pepper plantations and/or salt fields
    • Take a tour up Bokor Mountain to see the buddha statue, abandoned casino, and remarkable views
    • Rent a kayak and go for a ride along the river
    • Take the day trip to Rabbit Island
    • Hop in a taxi or tuk tuk and go to Kep to see the beaches
    • Try the highly regarded Kampot river crab with fresh pepper
    • Up for some adventure? Visit Arcadia and go down the steep water slide

    Taxi back to PP: We wanted two more days back in Phnom Penh so we left this evening around 8pm. You could skip the next day and stay an extra day in Kampot, but there is still more to see back around PP. A private taxi is $45.00 from Kampot to PP.


    Day 6: Phnom Penh / Takeo Province

    Start the day off in Phnom Penh. Get some breakfast then prepare for your half-day trip to Phnom Chisor.

    How to get to Phnom Chisor: You could rent a motorbike and drive there yourself, but the dirt road close to Phnom Chisor is long and bumpy. If you do this, make sure your motorbike is in great shape. Only take this route if you are experienced on a motorbike. Regardless, we recommend just renting a tuk tuk. That way, you can snack and hang out along the way, and you won’t miss any of the views of local Cambodian living.

    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.

    Read our full blog on Phnom Chisor here.

    After you’re done taking in the beauty and history of Phnom Chisor, head back to Phnom Penh for an ice cold beer near the riverside.


    Day 7: Phnom Penh

    It’s your last day in Phnom Penh and this is when we recommend visiting Tuol Sleng and the Killing Fields.

    Visiting the Killing Fields/Tuol Sleng is very heavy and very emotional. You will learn so much about the horrifying events that took place during the Khmer Rouge. This is such an important part of your visit to Cambodia.

    We specifically put this on the last day of the itinerary as we took a few days to recover from visiting these very somber places. We were so emotionally affected that, personally, we wouldn’t be able to jump up in the morning and go ziplining two days after experiencing this.

    That said, some people may disagree with us. Some people may say that you should visit the Killing Fields/Tuol Sleng on your first day so that you have a full grasp on what happened in Cambodia before travelling to the different provinces.

    Whatever you decide will be the right choice for you.


    We absolutely love Cambodia and we are so excited for you to visit the Kingdom of Wonder. As always, if you have any questions – please feel free to contact us.

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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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  • This summer has been filled with a lot of hard work so we can continue the adventure.

Working odd jobs and picking up work that we aren’t necessarily *passionate* about (sorry to break it to you, Santa, I didn’t love being a Christmas elf at the mall during the holidays) isn’t always easy.

Working hours at the office, doing data entry, reception, and cleaning out the fridge every Friday isn’t exactly my idea of fun. Nick doesn’t love driving a truck for 11 hours a day, or getting home at 1am. 

But we are committed to the cycle, we are passionate about alternative living, and we want to see the world.

We don’t work hard so that we can have a margarita at the beach (although that’s fun too), we work hard so that we can experience different cultures, try different cuisines, learn about different climates, connect, and grow as people.

Travel to us is more than bright blue waters and aesthetic IG photos, it’s about the experience, and we can’t wait to see more.

__

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

Tags: #notluxe  #camperlife #camperlifestyle #vanlifeproject #vanlifeculture #tinyhome #tinyliving #vanlifediaries #travelgram #livetoexplore #vanlifeculture #budgettravel #worktotravel #traveljobs #travelblogger #vanlifestyle #vanliving #livingoutdoors #campinglife  #vanlifevirals #vanlifeideas #vandwelling

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  • Yeah, the first ever “odd job” I took in order to afford travel was as a Christmas Elf at the mall.

I worked this job on top of my regular 9-5 so that I could afford to pay off my existing credit card debt and move to Cambodia. It was my first step away from the ‘big girl jobs’ I was used to working, but I had a dream to live abroad and a bank account that didn’t match, so I had to do something about it.

The next few jobs I’ve done either part or full time over the years.

💻 REV: I’ve worked as a transcriber on Rev for a few years now. The pay isn’t great, but I’m a super fast typist (80 wpm who!?) so I figured it could be a way to pass the time & earn extra income.

🐶 Rover: This summer, we’ve ventured into caring for dogs on Rover. While we can’t do this in our van, we are currently staying with my brother and between all of us, there’s always a dog here. If I had learned about Rover prior to moving out of our apartment, I would have definitely offered my services years ago.

👩‍🏫 Teaching English online: Many people know that we taught English overseas - but only long-time followers of the YouTube channel would know that teaching ESL was my job beyond that. Unfortunately there were major pay cuts within the company that I worked for (PalFish) so I quit, but I still teach on Cambly and Outschool (more on that in part 2).

We don’t have a lot of money but we have expensive dreams, so we’ll do anything to make it work. What odd jobs have you done to earn some extra cash?

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

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  • Anyone who knows our story knows that we have been working throughout our entire travels. Seasonal / temporary work has afforded us a lifestyle filled with travel and adventure. ✈️

We have explored temp agencies, Craigslist ads, used websites like Airtasker (Australia) and Kijiji to find our temporary/seasonal jobs. But in the US specifically, there are some websites designed specifically for this type of work. 🌲

Here are 3 websites designed for seasonal work (mostly U.S. based):
1. Vagajobs: a resource for seasonal & year-round work with a heavy focus on travel/adventure jobs. Some jobs posted on Vagajobs include staff housing.
2. CoolWorks: job opportunities in great places - from national parks to ski resorts, summer camps, to national parks. Some jobs posted on CoolWorks include staff housing.
3. Occupation Wild: job board for the outdoor / adventure and travel industry. Hiring all sorts of positions at ranches, camps, resorts, conservation areas and national parks. 

Outside of the U.S.? Same (kinda). Our main go-to in Canada is Indeed (search by job type & select contract / seasonal)

Do you have any seasonal job boards to add to the list?
Drop ‘em here. ⬇️

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

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  • If you’re in Ontario, you don’t want to miss this next year ✨ 

This was our first time visit the Hamilton night market and it was so worth the visit. Come along with us! @hhnightmarket 

Have you tried stinky tofu? ⬇️ 

—

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  • Shoutout to anyone who does these tiny (or big) builds on your own 🤦🏼‍♀️

We all have different strengths, right?… 

What’s your most dreaded part of DIY? ⬇️ 
_

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  • Saying goodbye is the hardest part about travelling.

We have said dozens and dozens of goodbyes throughout our 20s. We have met countless new faces, made a ton of connections, and have shed a lot of goodbye tears.

Even a visit ‘home’ comes with the looming feeling of saying goodbye again.

We wish we could take everyone we love and put them in our pocket.
But we know that everybody has a different dream, a different life. 

When we take our next flight or fill up the gas tank to our next stop on the road, they go off on to see the world for themselves, to raise their families, to chase their career goals, love lives, or whatever else.

And we are so stoked to be able to stay in touch online.
But it’s definitely the hardest part of living nomadically.

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

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