Our actual Google Maps Timeline route from Koh Rong Samloem to Siem Reap.
Date of the journey:- August 2020
Distance travelled:- 369 miles
While we were on the island of Koh Rong Samloem, Typhoon Sinlaku was battering the coast of Cambodia. Strong winds and heavy seas were making island life confined. With the ferries to and from the island being cancelled for days at a time. We decided that we would leave the island at the first opportunity that we felt safe to do so. Our next destination, Siem Reap for the second time.
Our window of opportunity arrived, still unsure whether the ferries would run, we packed in anticipation. A knock on the door of our accommodation by the resort receptionist meant only one thing. There were ferries.
Still unsure as to which ferries were running and at what time they would arrive at the island. We finalised our packing, had breakfast, and paid our bill. Then just waited for some news.
On our journey to the island, we had purchased return tickets with a company called Island Speed Ferries. Just our luck, they were one of the ferry companies that weren’t running that day. The receptionist advised that this wouldn’t be a problem and that our ticket would be transferred over to Buva Sea Ferries, who were running that day.
Sara Resort transferred us to the ferry pier and our tickets were transferred without question. The Buva Sea Ferry arrived from Sihanoukville, on the mainland, at 1145 hrs. We departed and left for two pickups on the sister island of Koh Rong, arriving at Serendipity Pier in Sihanoukville at 1250 hrs.
Our mode of transport from Sihanoukville to Siem Reap was the night sleeper bus. We had the option of booking this through Sara Resort for 15 USD each or booking it at the pier in Sihanoukville when we arrived for 18 USD each.
We opted for booking at the pier for a few reasons. Firstly, we couldn’t guarantee that the ferry would actually arrive on the island. Secondly, the pier booking included a free transfer to the bus departure point. Lastly, we were able to store our bags for free at the pier booking office, which was where the free transfer pickup point was.
The sleeper bus departure wasn’t until 2000 hrs that evening. We had to be at the pickup point at 1900 hrs. So we had 6 hours to kill in Sihanoukville. This, at present, is not an easy task to complete. Sihanoukville is currently one of the world’s largest construction sites. Multiple highrise buildings and the entire infrastructure are all under construction simultaneously, making it difficult to move around easily.
With our backpacks safely stored, we ventured all of 2 minutes from the pier to Holiday Villa Nataya. A very pleasant hotel with a poolside restaurant serving good food and at a far cheaper price than Yasmine restaurant just before the pier. We spent the time we had to wait eating and researching on the internet using the hotel’s complimentary WiFi.
1845 hrs soon arrived and we packed up, making our way back down to the pick up point. 1915 hrs the transfer van arrived and took us to the Virak Buntham bus halt about 15 minutes away.
Outside the office was just a muddy mess. It had been raining heavily for the previous few days, because of the Typhoon, making it like a quagmire. So much so, passengers had to remove their footwear before boarding the bus. We were given plastic bags to put our muddy flip flops in.
This was only our second sleeper bus experience on our travels. The previous one being a horrendous journey from Mahabaleshwar to Goa in India. The bus was acceptable, the bed was comfortable.
A word of warning
Beds are arranged as doubles, either side of the aisle. Therefore, they are narrow, probably no more than 1200mm wide. This was fine for us as a couple, but if you were a solo traveller, you could have a complete stranger, very up close and personal with you all night.
The bus made an inordinate amount of stops throughout the night, some just to pick up goods that it was transporting to Siem Reap. One of these stops was for well in excess of an hour. We also went via Kampot, which we believe not to be the normal route.
In all, we arrived at the Siem Reap stop at 0920 hrs the following morning as opposed to the advertised 0800 hrs or even 0700 hrs we were told when booking. All in all, the roads weren’t too bad, the air conditioning was brilliant, in fact, a little too good, as it did get chilly during the night. No toilet on the bus, but plenty of stops affording the opportunity, sometimes just in a roadside bush.
A pillow and blanket were provided. The bus stop in Siem Reap is out of town and a hoard of tuk tuk drivers will descend on you as you exit the bus. If you have the internet or can get WiFi, use the Pass App to book a tuk tuk. It will be far cheaper.