A Photo Essay

Cambodia, Slower Than Planned

Phnom Penh, two days at Angkor with Kim, and nine days of coconuts in Siem Reap.

Story by Simon · February to March 2026

From the 4000 Islands a minibus took me across the border and on to Phnom Penh. I had planned about a week for Cambodia. It turned into two, and not for the reasons I would have picked.

Chapter I

Phnom Penh

The Throne Hall of the Royal Palace, on my first morning in the city.

A school class crossing the courtyard of the Silver Pagoda, in no particular order and in high spirits.

Inside the palace walls: the Reamker murals around the Silver Pagoda, and quiet gardens between the halls.

On the second day I went to Tuol Sleng, the high school the Khmer Rouge turned into Security Prison 21. There is nothing from that afternoon I would want to show here. I sat in the courtyard for a long time afterwards and did not take out my camera once.

That evening on Sisowath Quay, where the Tonle Sap meets the Mekong.

Phsar Thmei, the Central Market, and the grill stalls around the corner.

Chapter II

The Road to Siem Reap

“Phnom Penh to Siem Reap by bus. It took the whole day, and the road never seemed to end.”

Rice fields, power lines, kids on bikes. I watched it go by for hours.

Siem Reap turned out to be beautiful: the river through the middle of town, colourful little streets, and every evening a sunset like this one.

Pub Street on the first night. I went to bed early, Angkor starts at five.

Chapter III

Two Days with Kim

In front of the hotel I met Kim. He drove a tuk tuk and had barely had a fare in days, so we made a deal: two whole days, all of Angkor, his route. He knew every temple, and exactly when the crowds would leave it.

Five in the morning, walking in with everyone else to watch Angkor Wat come out of the dark.

“Out to the temples on the old road, under the trees. Kim drove it like his own driveway.”

The Bayon, from across the grass and then up close: face after face in stone, every one of them almost smiling.

A gallery at Angkor Wat, one long carved wall, and for a minute nobody in it.

Two days, one tuk tuk, and more temples than I can name.

Chapter IV

Nine Days at the Elephant

The morning after Angkor I woke up with a fever, and my stomach had given up too. The heat, weeks of buses and the long days in Laos had caught up with me. I ended up staying nine days at the Elephant hotel, mostly in bed, and the staff looked after me the whole time.

My room at the Elephant. I got to know that ceiling very well.

Coconuts, and now and then a bowl of soup. For days that was all I could stomach.

“Once I could stand again, I spent the afternoons by the pool and slowly got my strength back. There are worse places to get better.”

On my last day in Siem Reap I ran into Kim again. He had been sure I left town long ago.

I had planned a week for Cambodia. Siem Reap alone took almost two.

Chapter V

The Long Way Back

When I was well enough, I took the bus to Bangkok. Twelve hours in the end, a long stretch of it waiting at the Cambodian border, and a long time with nothing to eat. We rolled into Bangkok at ten at night, and I still had to find a hotel.

Somewhere after the border. Still on the bus, still hungry.

Back to Bangkok

Two weeks instead of one, and what I remember best is what I never planned: Kim, the temples, and the people at the Elephant who looked after me.