Four years in Cambodia. All 25 provinces. Zero press trips. This is the guide I wish existed when I landed.
I was a journalist in Manchester. Did a two-week trip to Southeast Asia, got to Cambodia last, and couldn’t quite bring myself to go home. That was 2021. I still haven’t gone home.
Four years of tuk-tuks, temple dawns, and every border crossing Cambodia has to offer.
I’ve watched the sun come up over Angkor Wat enough times to have opinions about which entrance is worth the early alarm. I know which guesthouses in Kampot have actual hot water. I know the exact moment the Killing Fields stops feeling like a tourist site and starts feeling like something else entirely.
The Cambodia travel blogs I found online were all the same: “Book Angkor Wat at sunrise. Take a cooking class. Visit S21.” Fine. But what about the floating villages that aren’t on the circuit? The guesthouses in Mondulkiri where you can hear gibbons at 5am? Which bus from Phnom Penh to Kampot actually leaves on time?
Nobody was writing the honest version. So I did.
Cambodia Unlock is for independent travellers — people who want to figure it out themselves and have real experiences instead of packaged ones. I write like I’m giving advice to a mate over an Angkor beer.
Real prices in USD (Cambodia runs on dollars) and KHR for markets. Real guesthouse names. Real transport times that account for the fact that “two hours” in Cambodia can mean anything from 90 minutes to four.
I’ve gotten things wrong — prices change, guesthouses close, roads get paved. If you spot something outdated, email me. I’d rather be corrected than send someone to a closed restaurant.
“The 25th province was Stung Treng — up near the Lao border, seven hours on a local bus from Phnom Penh. Hardly anyone goes. The Mekong is wide and slow there, and the dolphins are real. Worth every hour.”
Travel writing has a lot of empty calories. Here’s what I do instead.
Questions, corrections, or want to argue about the correct way to eat amok? I’m always up for it.
✉ james@cambodiaunlock.comSome links on this site earn a small commission if you book through them — at no extra cost to you. I only link to things I’ve personally used or would genuinely recommend. The income keeps this site ad-free and paywall-free. The trade-off: I only recommend things I’d tell a friend about over a Cambodia beer at a Phnom Penh riverside bar.