I travel a lot, and honestly, most of the time I think I am pretty well behaved.
I explore the cities and towns. I interact with locals. I try the street food. I try to do my best to be a respectful and mature traveller…
…but sometimes it just doesn’t turn out that way!
I arrived into Cambodia with the expectation that I would explore all that Siem Reap had to offer, and that I would explore the temples of Angkor Wat as in depth as I possibly could.
This is not what eventuated.
I spent one day exploring Angkor Wat, one day exploring Siem Reap and four days doing, well, actually, let’s get to that a little later!
Let’s start with that one day exploring Siem Reap.
Firstly, I met up with another couple of solo female travellers (girl power!) and we decided to head out to visit one of the nearby floating villages.
Visiting this village was by no means cheap, we each paid at least $20 USD to spend a couple of hours on a boat (ridiculously exxy for a country where you can get a pint for 50 cents) but despite the price tag, it was definitely an enjoyable way to spend a few hours.
Unlike many other ‘floating villages’ that I have visited, this one seemed decidedly less touristy. I mean, don’t get me wrong, there was still plenty of visible tourism; but there were also many locals just living their lives on this lake, seeming completely oblivious to how foreign this way of living is to other people.
After we had left the village and gotten back onto dry land, we jumped in a tuk tuk and began to make our way back towards the hustle and bustle of Siem Reap.
Along the way, I noticed a huge field of lotus flowers and insisted that we stop so that I could take some pictures of them – and I am so glad that I did!
This field (pond?) of beautiful lotus flowers was such a vibrant and mesmerising shade of green that it instantly brought an enormous cheshire grin to my face!
…and that is the last wholesome thing you will read in this post!
Now, let us get to what I spent four entire days doing – drinking about three times my body weight in beer and buckets!
My plans to explore Siem Reap as much as I could were thwarted by an overwhelming urge to put the traveller to bed (at least for a few days) and let my (usually dormant) party goblin run free!
I had made a bunch of awesome new mates at my hostel, and for whatever reason, spending my nights drinking beers, downing buckets, dancing in shitty bars and making poor life choices was exactly what I felt like doing.
I am not usually much of a partier, but the mood had struck and I couldn’t ignore my desire to just let loose for a while.
Sometimes it feels like ‘professional travellers’ can look down on some of the seedier aspects of backpacking life – deeming nights spent drinking and days spent recovering a waste of precious travel time – but I don’t see it that way.
Sure, maybe I didn’t see all that I had planned to see in Cambodia, but instead, I have extremely fond memories of some ridiculous nights out and some perfectly chilled out days spent nursing hangovers whilst preparing to do it all over again.
At the time, it felt like exactly what I wanted and almost like it was what the traveller in me actually needed.
I spent my days in Siem Reap giving my liver a workout and a half…
…and I loved every freaking minute of it.
As always, thanks for reading and happy solo travelling! xx
THE LOWDOWN
Getting to Siem Reap: Siem Reap is well connected by bus, as well as domestic and international flights
The Siem Reap Hostel: Quite possibly one of the best hostels in SEA, dorm beds start at $8/night
Pub Street: The ultimate paradise for backpackers looking for a party
Camera: Images captured with an Olympus OM-D E-M1 in conjunction with M.Zuiko 12-40mm f2/8 lens
Remember: Don’t think you need to travel in a certain way for it to be ‘proper travelling’ – chilling out and letting loose can definitely be a part of your travel experience!