Sihanoukville to Kampot - Minibus

After a few days of relaxing on Otres Beach, Sihanoukville it was time to move on again with our travels. Our next stop along the coast of Cambodia was Kampot!

We decided to book bus tickets at our final hotel as we weren’t too near to any travel agencies. We were staying at the Heart of Venice which was lovely for a couple days by the pool. We picked the bus leaving at 10.30am for $6 dollars per person.

Not a bad price to pay

The company we had booked with were called Champa Tourist Bus and they offered the standard ‘hotel to hotel service’ which was usually never true! We were the last people to be picked up and had to settle for the front two seats of the minibus. The inside of the minibus wasn’t to the standard of other companies such as Mekong Express however, it wasn’t a problem for such a short journey!

It took around 1 and half hours to reach Kampot with some more top speed driving! Driving in Cambodia seems to be like one big race! We got dropped off in the centre of Kampot near most of the main hostels/hotels, we were staying at Captain Chim’s. Overall a relative quick minibus journey for Asia with no problems.

The road keeps going and going...

4 out of 5

Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville - Minibus

We stayed in Phnom Penh for only a couple of days as a layover on our way to Sihanoukville with the plan of returning at a later date. We stayed at the RS Guesthouse, not far from the river front and within easy walking distance of the main tourist sites such as the Royal Palace.

For our next minibus journey to Sihanoukville, we decided to just take our chances and book with a travel agents along the river front (road - Preah Sisowath Quay). We decided to pay slightly more to use Mekong Express again and picked to depart at 8.30am the following morning. This cost $10 US dollars each which seemed reasonable for a 4 and half hour journey. Of course, you can find much cheaper deals with other companies but we have had fairly pleasant experiences with Mekong Express.

The following day we were picked up from our hotel around 8am and departed for Sihanoukville. We quickly discovered this wasn’t a Mekong Express bus and we had been conned into using another bus company even though Mekong Express was printed on our ticket. Luckily, the journey itself wasn’t too bad as the minibus was air conditioned and comfortable. The journey took just under 5 hours with one stop, before we pulled up into the middle of Sihanoukville.

Quick stop for a drink!

We were opposite a North Face shop with plenty of taxis waiting for us. With us planning on staying in Otres beach, the drivers quoted us $10 for the short taxi journey. This was way too high and we decided that we would walk off to find another one. Thankfully, one of them agreed to a $6 taxi fare in a pickup/tuk tuk that drove us to our booked accommodation in Otres Beach.

Not a bad journey however I’m unsure what the bus company was called. Make sure you have maps downloaded on your phone for when you arrive otherwise you’ll have to use an expensive taxi!

3 out of 5