Results

Finally, some general facts and our result

We felt very safe in Thailand and Cambodia, which we didn't expect beforehand. Apart from the tuk-tuk drivers and markets, we never felt like someone was trying to rip us off, let alone steal from us. Even begging was not as bad as in other countries or big cities.

For example, at the elephant trekking, it said that you have to pay 40 baht to park there. So I went to the woman, wanted to give her the money, but she told me that the sign doesn't apply to guests. She could have just said nothing and taken the money. We encountered such situations from time to time.

The Thai people are very fond of cats and dogs. Especially on the islands, the animals looked well cared for, even though they were on the streets, and almost all of them wore flea collars. In Cambodia, almost everyone also had a dog in front of their house, but they didn't look as well cared for, which could also be due to the fact that it is generally extremely dusty here.

The traffic is absolutely crazy! But we were also told that in Thailand, people get their driver's license on a traffic training ground and don't really get to know real traffic with driving schools. You can tell. Sometimes, even small children ride scooters (about 8 years old), of course without a helmet and often three or four on one scooter. In Cambodia, however, we saw a driving school on the street once. Nevertheless, they don't really drive differently there. When crossing the street, we realized that you just have to start walking, otherwise you'll be standing there forever. They will brake for you 😅 We rented a scooter everywhere, except in Phuket, Bangkok, and Siem Reap, and were quite satisfied with it. The scooter in Kampot was the only one that was really disastrous. You absolutely have to test the brakes beforehand! In Koh Kong, we discussed for so long that we finally got to take the landlord's private scooter. Anything else would have been more than dangerous. In principle, it was possible to ride a scooter and I would also recommend it. However, I don't dare to do it myself 😅 I'm glad that Katha drove us around so well ❤️

Apart from Bangkok, the streets in Thailand were very clean. But Bangkok was absolutely a stark contrast to the islands where we were - of course, it's a big city. We talked to many other travelers very often. Some love Bangkok, others hate it. Fortunately, we didn't let anyone talk us out of going there. We were both very fascinated by the city and are glad to have experienced this contrast. We also had many wow moments there. But two full days were enough for us, as we prefer it to be quieter and prefer to be more in nature. And even in Bangkok, we spent almost a whole day outside the city.

In Cambodia, it was much dirtier. It was sometimes really shocking how much rubbish was lying around everywhere. This again shows how extreme the difference between the two countries is, which is not really surprising due to Cambodia's history. A host also said that the rubbish is not a problem in Cambodia, but THE problem.

I love pad Thai, but I ate it too often and should have tried something else. But at least we almost exclusively ate warm Asian dishes and didn't let ourselves be tempted by the many pizza, burger, and pasta offerings (except once in Koh Kong). There are fast food chains everywhere here too. But that didn't interest us much (except at the airport because of the prices). Whenever possible, we ate fruits somewhere every day. They taste much better here, and I probably won't feel like having mango, pineapple, etc. in Germany anymore because it just doesn't taste the same 🤷🏼‍♀️ With the pineapple here, you can eat the entire core inside, and it's just as juicy and soft as the outer part 🥲

Originally, we wanted to go to Koh Samui, Koh Rong, and Koh Chang. We decided against Koh Samui relatively soon because although many people always want to go there, no one who has been there really told us anything that we couldn't get elsewhere as well. There was a long back and forth about whether we wanted to go to one of the two islands or rather go to Kampot. In the end, after weighing the options several times, we decided on Kampot and also for a beach in the north near Koh Kong. So we were close to the border, didn't have to go far to Trat, and still had very wonderful and relaxing last days.

In Cambodia, we noticed that we were stared at much more frequently and intensively. Sometimes people smiled at us or waved, but sometimes the looks were rather unpleasant. In general, we found Thailand to be friendlier and more open.

In Cambodia, it was noticeable that it is still a developing country and the situation is completely different from Thailand. Here, many people don't speak English at all, and you have to somehow communicate with hand and foot.

We thought that Cambodia would be cheaper than Thailand, but we find that Cambodia was even more expensive by far. Whether it's transportation, clothing, food, massage,...

If you are someone who needs warm water, you should avoid countries like these or book hotels where there is hot water. But I wouldn't rely on it. Overall, I think I took a warm shower only 2 or 3 times. It bothered me less in the heat, but there are people who need it, so I wanted to mention it.

A proper comparison between the two countries is not possible and shouldn't be made. They are simply two different worlds. We liked it in both places and are super happy with our tour. We didn't miss anything. It would probably have been too much for others in less than 4 weeks, but for us, it was simply the absolutely perfect vacation. For me, it was the most exciting and action-packed (almost) 4 weeks of my life! 😍

With that, I have now reached the end of my blog and want to thank all the diligent readers and supporters 😂😂

A huge thanks goes out to the best travel companion of all time, of course! It was just as uncomplicated as it could have been. Thank you dear Katha for being there and especially for being the best scooter driver in the world ❤️