Mbah & Atok go to… Cambodia - Day 1 Part I

Day 1 - Part I: Kuala Selangor - Phnom Penh 

Saturday 11 November 2023

This is a series of Mbah’s and Atok’s travelogs to Cambodia on 11-18 November 2023 originally published in Mbah’s Facebook (some original formatting have been modified to suit this blog page presentation). You can read the rest of her postings (and the originals in Facebook) here: 



The day started really early, 2 30 am. Getting ready for Alhamdulillah another escapade. Packing was done a day before but the preparation of what to bring was done roughly a week. Normally we put in whatever that we think we need to bring in a basket and on packing day, we choose only the necessary. We travel light. No more than 7 kilo each. The most important - medications. At this juncture of life, we need to be more mindful of our health. 

3 00 am tayar golek. Afiq was the designated driver but the norm is that AK would drive to KLIA2 and Afiq will then drive home on his own. The kids are more attuned to our travel nowadays. We reached KLIA2 just in time for checking in. This time Afiq just dropped us at the departure drop off area. We thought that not many eateries would be opened but alas, it is the opposite. Sorry Afiq. Maybe next time ya. 

The necessary first. AK tried to use the sim card that he bought online in Malaysia for RM20. "Let's give it a try," he said. Not successful. There goes. At least we know better now. Off to buy the local sim card. We bought from the company that claimed to have the biggest coverage locally. Let's come back to this at the end of the trip ya. 

Then, to the atm. Maybank. We knew that we can withdraw money without any charge. Eagerly we tried. We were hoping that it was to be Cambodian riel but alas, it was USD. Another lesson learnt. Off we went in search of Riel at the currency exchange. For many a place, USD is accepted but having Riel is helpful for local markets. 

We took a tuk tuk from the airport to Victory Motorcycle. The ride was for half an hour, costing us 19K Riel (RM21). The currency exchange is roughly RM1 to Riel 1K. 

We booked the bike online from the company based on reviews of the company. When we reached there, the motorbike was not ready yet. They were still servicing it to make sure that all things are OK. In the meantime, they let us use another bike so we could go in search of lunch. 

Google at work. Dulang - Halal Malaysia cuisine was the destination. Worth the USD 4.50 nasi pattaya, USD 4.00 Phat Thai, USD 2.00 teh tarik. The total came to USD11. 55 (RM53. 44). Rather pricey to us, comparatively speaking.

To be continued for we are off to dinner. Maghrib is early here. 




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Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia

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