Day 4: Bangkok/Phnom Penh

This morning we slept in, had one last delicious Peninsula breakfast, and packed up to leave the hotel at noon.

Chao Phraya view from hotel

Peninsula ferry coming to pick us up

Anticipating more terrible traffic, we opted to take the Skytrain to connect to the city’s Airport Express train. The travel gods smiled upon us once again and we dashed onto the train seconds before it left (only two trains per hour). The $3 ride took only 15 minutes and we were checked in for our Air Asia flight to Phnom Penh with an hour to kill. With some baht left to spend, we browsed the restaurants and shops looking for snacks.

Mango with coconut sticky rice

Suvarnabhumi International Airport

Our one-hour flight passed quickly and uneventfully (love Air Asia!) and after a quick stop for visa processing we met our driver who drove us to our hotel in a really cool red vintage Jaguar. 🙂

If you don't have a street named after you in Phnom Penh, you were probably a crappy Communist

The Pavilion is a beautiful little boutique hotel I found thanks to my trip-planning assistant, aka TripAdvisor, and we were welcomed with hot towels, cold drinks, and a complimentary welcome massage. Thanks to the helpful staff, within ten minutes we had bus tickets, spots in a local cooking class, a driver arranged for a half-day trip, and several nearby restaurant recommendations.

The pool at the Pavilion

Dinner was at Frizz, a restaurant specializing in Khmer cuisine, and we opted to try the Khmer BBQ with its ‘volcano pot’, a large charcoal-fired burner on which we grilled fish, chicken, and beef that were mixed with raw egg. Vegetables and fruit cooked alongside, and once done, everything was wrapped in lettuce leaves and dipped in an incredibly potent lime-pepper-fish sauce.

DIY dinner

This little lizard watched us eat our entire meal

Street outside hotel

We’ll miss Bangkok but are looking forward to our week in Cambodia!