There are many ways to travel around Cambodia. Obviously, the quickest way is to fly, but so much of the daily life of a country is missed from the air. An extensive bus network of modern coaches, minivans, ride share taxis, cars and motorcycles for hire are all available in Cambodia to transport you to your destination.

We are in Phnom Penh heading for Siem Reap in northwestern Cambodia. While there are several reliable booking agencies online, I book our bus tickets directly with Giant Ibis Transport and because of the early booking, manage to get front seats for the 310km six-hour journey along National Highway 6 to Siem Reap.

The Giant Ibis coach line is named after Cambodia’s national bird which has been classed as a critically endangered species due to hunting, human interference, deforestation, and the loss of its habitats. Giant Ibis Transport, in their bid to support the rehabilitation of this endangered bird, invest a percentage of their profits into the ongoing conservation efforts in communities to establish educational programmes and nest protection schemes to protect the birds.

This Giant Ibis coach is spotlessly clean, comfortable, air conditioned and leaves the depot right on time. There are few travellers on this coach as we make our way through the early morning traffic and head onto the highway.

One of the things travel does is challenge your expectations and your assumptions of what you think aspects of the trip will be like, and that is exactly what happened with this bus trip. I thought we would be travelling past pockets of small villages and endless rice fields stretching across the plains.

At times we did see rice fields and some vacant land but mostly it was a never-ending stream of small houses, little villages and local traders with their food carts stretching along the edge of the highway for most of the journey. It was an endless display of daily life on National Highway 6 all the way to Siem Reap.

The highway was clogged with scooters, tuk-tuks, cars, trucks and large buses with drivers overtaking recklessly, sometimes driving three abreast. Many drivers straddle the white line in the middle of the road as they keep their options open for which lane they will use. At times the odd cow wanders onto the road.

And all the while the Giant Ibis bus thunders along the highway with the driver constantly tooting his horn and flashing his lights to let people know he is coming through and to get out of the way.

At this point, I think having the front seat on the bus is a definite disadvantage as I hover between interest in the unfolding scene of daily life chaos along the highway to absolute dread for what often looks like the possibility of a major crash. And yet, somehow the locals all seem to know how to survive the rules of the highway, even when it looks like there are no rules at all.

On time, we arrive in Siem Reap. We are met at the Giant Ibis bus station and transported to the Dream Mango Villa, where Harry the larger-than-life owner, and his dog, Mango, are waiting for us. His welcome is warm and genuine as he hands us two beers and tells us that happy hour has begun and we are just in time. Harry, a Swiss national, has many return guests and we could see why.

He loves people, loves to chat, and hear about their lives and discuss ideas and opinions. In the Swiss way, Harry makes sure the pool is constantly pristine, the gardens are beautifully maintained and the rooms spotlessly clean. He would accept nothing less than the Swiss level of cleanliness and he trains his young Cambodian staff to the high standards he expects.

Siem Reap and the surrounding areas come with an expansive and absorbing, ancient Khmer history; none more so than the Angkor Archeological Park. We are here to see the sunrise over spectacular Angkor Wat and to trace the Khmer Empire through the impressive ruins of this park along with the artifacts of the National Museum.

We love Siem Reap. Apart from the ancient history and the magnificence of the old temples the old city has such a welcoming feel, especially at night when the place comes alive. Fairy lights wind round the trees along the riverbank and the bridges across the river are lit with multi-coloured lights which dance and shine in a reflected glow from the river.

The night markets are abuzz every night and bring with them an air of colour and festivity as we wander the lanes and sample the food. We explore the countryside, attend a concert, eat in the local cafes, and spend time talking to Harry about life in Cambodia.

When we say goodbye to Harry, we promise we will return to Siem Reap as our minivan arrives to take us to Battambang, Cambodia’s second largest city. We are in an 18-seater minivan, packed in like sardines in a can, with people’s luggage taking up every spare inch of floor space.

Once again, we are three abreast at times as we trundle down the highway and while the road is busy it is not as chaotic as our trip from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. Unfortunately, the minivan’s motor has passed its use by date leaving it without the power to get up enough speed to overtake anything, so we are left in the wake of the constantly passing traffic.

Four hours later, in the late afternoon, we arrive at the bus station in Battambang. Immediately we are surrounded by tuk-tuk drivers, tapping and banging on the windows of the bus, calling out "Madame, Madame" holding up signs of the hotels they work for, hoping for a fare. There is such a sense of desperation from many of these young men; it is confronting and difficult as there will be only one driver we can help.

And so, welcome to Battambang! Founded in the 11th Century and a major producer of rice, the town itself, is situated on the banks of the Sangkae River. During our time here, we hire a driver for a cultural tour of the city. The Khmer architecture is interspersed with the French influence through building styles, some wide boulevards and open space gardens. The colonial era architecture along with interesting historic pagodas makes for a cultural contrast in the flavour of the city.  

It’s hard to miss the prominent statue of Ta Dumbong with his magic stick, situated on the main roundabout. Legend has it that this ‘cow herd’ boy used his magic stick, which is a prominent feature of this legend, to dethrone the king and become king himself. It is a place of worship for locals who regularly come to pray and bring offerings to place around the base of the statue as they still see him as their redeemer.

We lunch in The Lonely Tree Café, a light-filled café that offers an impressive choice of Asian and western food. This café supports humanitarian programmes and employs and trains local underprivileged young people who take orders and wait on tables with grace and humility. It is a delight to witness their commitment and respectfulness to those who enter the café. A small gift shop has a colourful array of Khmer handicrafts especially created by people who have become physically disabled through land mines or contracting polio.

Early in our wanderings we come to see that Battambang is slower, quieter, and less touristy than Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. Even with its Khmer history and good Khmer cuisine we cut short our time in Battambang after a sleepless night from the sound of chanting and drumming from a wedding celebration much to the consternation of the hotel manager. We negotiate an exit fee for our early departure, and he is happy with the outcome.

We book our trip back to Phnom Penh with the Mekong Express coach service, assuming, wrongly, that a coach would be taking us back to the city. Somehow, the information was lost in translation and what arrived to collect us was a minivan. There are some things you realise become more difficult as an older traveller, and one of those is travelling in the back of a minivan more geared for younger travellers.

It might have been okay had we not been relegated to the back of the van - four of us crammed on the back seat, flying off the seat when we hit major road bumps. My partner sat with his arms crossed over his chest, one hand holding each shoulder, because he said he had nowhere to put his arms. It's a tough gig when you have to sit like that for five hours of a 290km journey.

I kept the lid on a constantly rising panic attack that threatened to explode as I felt so claustrophobic. There was no room to move, no way out other than the door at the front of the bus as the aisle was taken up with folding seats. I have no idea of the scenery we passed through, so focused was I on getting to Phnom Penh and off the van.

Halfway through the journey the driver stopped at a ramshackle rundown café and shouted, "Toilet!" as he got off to have a meal. The rest of us were left standing on the side of the road in the dust and heat as he had his afternoon snack. It was not a café any of us would have eaten in and the toilet was unusable.

Half an hour later we are all back on the bus and on a highway that becomes increasingly congested with traffic the closer we come to Phnom Penh. And there has never been a more welcoming sight than the lights of Phnom Penh; it was such a relief to arrive at the bus station.

Surprisingly, with the hectic and chaotic traffic on the highways, we did not see one road accident. Nevertheless, lessons have been learnt. Wherever we go, whenever we are booking and checking tickets, we remind ourselves of the trip from Battambang to Phnom Penh because the last thing we need is to make the same mistake twice and have a repeat experience of that challenging van trip!

Header image: © Galyna Andrushko