The Traveling Travel Agent

When you are traveling around Asia and fancy a break to really relax, holidays in Cambodia can be just what you are looking for. A lot of people see Cambodia purely as a stop off point on their travels, stopping just to see the famous temples at Angkor. And while anyone traveling to Cambodia should not miss the fantastic opportunity to explore some of the most breathtaking ruins in the world, there is more to the country than that.

Cambodia is not as easy to navigate as its neighboring countries of Thailand and Vietnam. Its neighbors have better roads and infrastructure and on the face of it have recovered better from wars fought there. Cambodia is still struggling after the murderous regime of Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge destroyed thousands and thousands of lives. There is some talk too, that perhaps the roads are kept in the awful state they’re in so that the airlines will benefit from flying tourists into the country. Hopefully these roads will get better in the future. Flights into the country are dominated by a single airline so prices are set quite high. If you’re traveling on the ground already, you might not fancy the option of flying, but if this is your holiday, it’s worth it.

When you put yourself in the mindset of holidaying rather than traveling you’ll be able to kick free of that ‘must see everything all at once’ mentality. Holidays are for relaxing, not worrying about where you have to be at what time to see what thing. So after that all important Angkor visit, check out some of the unspoiled beaches. That’s right, beaches – in Cambodia. Screw Ko Panang, Sihanoukville is where it’s at. Also, there are the beaches of Kep and Koh Kong. May to November is rainy season, so it’s best to come here during the rest of the year.

Sihanoukville is Cambodia’s newest city, and the port was built in the ’50s. It is here that the country’s famous Angkor beer is brewed. It’s south of the capital, Phnom Penh and there are eight beaches to choose from. The most popular are Independence, Ochheuteal, Sokha, and Victory. As you can probably guess, Independence and Victory were named following the break away from French rule in the ’60s. On the beaches, you will find grass umbrellas and huts serving drinks – as you would expect if you were going on a tropical island break.

Victory beach is popular with backpackers, so if you’re looking to hang out with people on their travels, that’s the one to go for. On Occheuteal Beach and Serendipity Beach you will find quite a few huts serving food as well as drink. Here you can hang out holiday style.

And if you’re really going all out, you can check into Sokha Beach Resort, which owns Sokha Beach. The Sokha Beach Resort is the first luxury 5* hotel in the area. It is wonderful to see a place that is recovering from memories of the wars of the past.

John Hutchinson has enjoyed traveling since he was a young boy when his parents first took him to visit family overseas. Since leaving home, John has tracked down family all over the world and regularly jets off to faraway lands to see distant relatives.