Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Alibi's trip report: tokyo-kyoto-siem reap-bkk-luang prabang-chiang mai-bkk

Day 11, 12/25, Sunday, Kansai-BKK-Siem Reap

The flight from Kansai to Bangkok was uneventful. What stuck out the most was the number of backpackers and scruffy young Americans/Europeans on board; we had seen very few gringos in Japan, and very few backpackers. It quickly became apparent that Thailand would be very different. I traveled through Guatemala for 8 weeks in 1991,
when I was 24, and I lived in Prague for 2 months in 1993, so it wasn’t as if the backpacker scene was anything new to me, but it was perplexing trying to reconcile that sort of travel mentality with the refined experience I’d just had in Japan. Japan seems so un-backpacker-y.

We landed in Bangkok and thanks to some great advice found on this board, we had checked our bags through all the way to Cambodia, so when we deplaned, we didn’t need to go through customs. We just went to a transfer desk; it was all very easy. We had 2.5 hours before our 6:00 pm flight to Siem Reap.

C and I did experience some cultural shock in the Bangkok Airport, specifically the volume of tanned/scorched Westerners. I have no idea which beach the majority of them went to, but in my mind they quickly became members of the “Samui crowd”. C and I had no Thai beaches on our itinerary, and I must say that looking at all the people didn’t make me regret my decision.

We ducked into the Bangkok Air terminal and checked our e-mail accounts, then enjoyed foot massages in the conveniently located massage parlor. This was very relaxing and made me fantasize about all the massages we would be getting in Bangkok.

The flight to Siem Reap was uneventful, which is a good adjective when paired with the noun “flight”. We got off the plane and walked to the small terminal. Impressions: lots of bugs swirling around in the lights over the doorway; a loud American father spraying bug spray all over himself, waving his arms around, making a big show of it; the long wait to get through the visa line; the hardened faces of the uniformed men who worked behind the counter: I felt like I was entering a third-world military dictatorship in the 1960’s.

It took about an hour to get our visa, despite the fact that we had our photos ready. As soon as we exited the customs/baggage area, we saw a young representative from the FCC, the hotel we would be staying at for the next 4 nights. He was very sweet, with a musical voice. Driving back to the hotel was a little of a poverty-wake-up-call, as we saw the 3 and 4 people to a motorbike, and the chaos of the traffic situation (slightly reminiscent of Honduras, minus the guns and machetes). I hadn’t read up enough on Cambodia before we left; I had been very busy with my work and so basically entered the country with little background knowledge. I knew we (the United States) had secretly bombed them during Vietnam, that the Khmer Rouge had committed massive genocide, that they currently had a politically repressive regime, and that it was a very poor country. I had also read about the landmines the Khmer Rouge had planted, and that
there were a relatively high percentage of people missing limbs. I knew the country had suffered inordinately, but the anguish exceeded my expectations. There was a palpable sense of pain in the air, in the eyes of women on motorbikes clutching their babies.

The FCC was a whole other world, and as decadent and/or shameful as it is to admit, we were happy about that fact. The main building is a gorgeous white colonial with a modernist feel. Kind of reminded us a little stylistically of the Standard Hotel in Los Angeles. I must say we loved the FCC. It was a great hotel. My fear going in was that it would look really good, (the website is fabulous), but that the rooms would be shabby, dirty, and things would be broken. But my fears were unrealized.

Our room at the FCC was top-notch: great bed, plasma TV with lots of European channels (the owner is British), a sleek interior, huge bathroom with incense holders and a candle and a giant tub. If I were to stay there again, I would ask for a room further away from the lobby though, as we were close to some sort of generator device.

After checking in and settling into our home for the next 4 nights, we went up to the restaurant. Luckily they serve food until almost 11 pm. We weren’t sure what the food was going to be like; it would’ve been a drag if we didn’t like what the kitchen was turning out, because then we’d have to leave the property every night for sustenance. Fortunately we enjoyed the cuisine. The dishes were consistently in the good to very good range. The menu has a number of pasta dishes, and a few Cambodian specialties, which is mostly what we stuck with: fish amok, Cambodian fried rice, a variation of a fried spring roll. The fruit shakes were outstanding, some of the best we had on our whole trip.

Day 12, 12/26, Monday

We woke at 7:30 a.m. to give ourselves enough time to get dressed, enjoy the complimentary breakfast, and meet our guide (arranged through the hotel’s front desk). Breakfast at FCC was top-notch: a delicious fruit plate, fresh-squeezed OJ, and fresh croissants. I know Cambodia used to be a French colony, but I was still a little surprised at the high quality of the croissants. The open-air dining area at the FCC is so soothing. Most meals we ate on the balcony, set back but overlooking one of the main roads in Siem Reap: a zillion miles away psychologically from the incessant flow of motorbikes and tuk-tuks, but close enough to see and hear the parade. The restaurant also has a very pleasant main room, with a combination of traditional tables and sofas.

After breakfast, we met our driver and our guide, Chai. This having a personal guide was a little strange for us, as we were suddenly thrust into a semi-intimate relationship with a person we never met before. The guide is much more used to this arrangement since he does it everyday; the driver doesn’t talk much. Since we had 3 days and knew very little about Angkor Wat (I hadn’t been able to score a copy of Dawn Rooney’s Bible before leaving the US), we figured we’d see where the guide took us.

Chai seemed like a nice enough guy, though perhaps slightly robotic. His English was okay, but he didn’t seem to have a genuine passion for the ruins. So he would tell us these long stories that transmitted little emotion. It’s a very tough situation for people in Siem Reap, and I assume that being a tour guide is probably one of the best jobs around, (the economy seems extremely stunted), so anyone with a certain degree of English may gravitate towards such a position.

We started our tour at Angkor Wat. In hindsight, this may have been a mistake, as it may have been better to save Angkor Wat for the end, so we could better appreciate its magnitude. Chai’s reasoning was that in the morning there were less tourists there. The drag about a tour guide is that you must go at their pace, so we spent a long time at the famous murals, listening to Chai try to explain what we were seeing. It was more fun just wandering through the ruins, looking at the exquisite details of the carvings. In hindsight, I kind of wish we had studied up on Hindu mythology before going to Angkor Wat, but the funny thing is I had no idea that Hindu had spread to Cambodia.

We spent the first part of the day at Angkor Wat. C and I climbed up to the top of something. It was a little scary for me as I have a fear of heights, but I was glad to have done it. One of the great things about Angkor Wat is all the climbing around you do, all the exploring. It was probably about 85 degrees in the morning, which is actually rather cool for those parts. I imagine it is very sweaty going there in the summer time, though Chai said the ruins look different in each season as the soil and plants change color. That’s a really cool thing about Angkor Wat: how there is this ongoing relationship between architecture and nature, and it’s in a continuing state of evolution.

It is amazing how comfortable and easy it is to enjoy the ruins at Angkor Wat. You get picked up from your hotel at 8 a.m. in an air-conditioned car. You tour around until 11 a.m. Go back to your hotel for lunch and a swim, and then head back out in the afternoon for more exploring. Chai wanted to reconvene at 2:30 or 3:00. Since we were only go to be in Angkor for 4 days, (only 3 full days of exploring), and I wanted to see as much as possible, I said I wanted to reconvene at 2:00 pm. At first, Chai was resistant to this idea; this is when I realized that my agenda and my tour guide’s agenda might not be the exact same.

We met at 2 and visited Angkor Thom. Highlights included wandering through the Kleangs and the Elephant Terrace and hearing this pretty flute-like music in the distance and wondering about its source. And then walking through a maze-like thin corridor with beautiful stone carvings, and hearing the music get louder and louder and turning a corner and seeing an older man with no legs propped up there in a corner, beneath these lovely carvings, playing his melancholy song. I reached into my wallet and grabbed the biggest bill I could find and tossed it in his cup and stumbled out of there.

Another highlight was sitting with Chai and C on some ruins (around Temple X I think). It was wonderfully absent of any other people. Such lush surroundings. C and I closed our eyes for about 120 seconds and just absorbed the sounds of nature: the birds, the breeze through the thick, green trees. Opening my eyes was mind-boggling, to realize: wow, I am in Southeast Asia, in the midst of one of the wonders of the world.

Another highlight was Bayon. My goodness, all those huge faces carved into stone. So mysterious and evocative. I could’ve stayed there for longer. Unfortunately Chai had to get back to town for a college class that started at 6 pm; he said he had an exam. That was a drag. Maybe we would’ve only stayed there for another 30 minutes, but I would’ve preferred to just hang out there until the sun was completely gone for the day.

C and I went back to the FCC and enjoyed happy hour 2-for-1 smoothies. Super yummy.
Then I swam in the saltwater pool. Yes, the water is a little cold at first, but the body adjusts. The pool is gorgeous, black-tiled, in a lovely setting. After swimming, we had a yummy dinner at the FCC. We got a note from the note desk stating that Chai couldn’t make it the next day, (a blessing in disguise), but that he had arranged another guide for us. We politely declined and requested just only a driver for the next day. I had scored a copy of Dawn Rooney’s book in Angkor Wat and felt informed enough to venture out guide-less.

C and I were so tired from all our exploring in the ruins that we fell fast asleep that night quite easily. It was such a joy to lay my head on the pillow and close my eyes and find a head filled with beautiful natural imagery and magnificent ruins.

Day 13, 12/27, Tuesday

C and I had another delicious breakfast and met our driver. It was another overcast day; this was good in terms of temperature, but not so good for great pictures. The good thing about not having a guide is that you can linger and follow your own pace. The bad thing about not having a guide is that you don’t have someone keeping track of the time, making sure you get from Point A to Point B in time to get to Point C etc. All in all, not having a guide was a good change of pace, though maybe we lingered a little at some of the more minor temples, such as Pre Rup and East Mebon, in the early part of the day.
It was very nice though to have a temple all to ourselves and just wander around, with nowhere to be, no schedule.

Two little girls, maybe 6 and 8, wearing dirty shirts, with muddy calves, approached. They were looking for money. As many as you know, the kids usually panhandle outside the temples. These kids seem to be using the temple as their personal playground, taking a break to seek money from us. We gave them each a dollar and sat with them for a minute. They were so cute. We silently wished for them to have good lives.

We ventured onward. Neak Pean was different and worthwhile, how it was so singular and circular and surrounded by greenish water. Preah Khan was great. The columns from the two-story building were fascinating, somehow reminding me of Greece. And, of course, the intricate bond between nature and stone, and the exquisite carvings. Ta Prohm was wonderful. The roots of trees slithering through carved rock, Literally mind boggling.

At the end of the day, we went to Bahkeng with the hordes. The hike up was fun. We timed it so we could get back down before the post-sunset rush. It was kind of surreal up there—hundreds of Westerners hanging out, waiting for the sun. We took a few pictures and zoomed back down.

We went back to the FCC for smoothies. So delicious. There was a brief power outage, but the very pleasant staff quickly placed candles in the open-air kitchen. We later took a candlelit bath in our huge bathtub. Exquisite.

Day 14, 12/28, Wednesday

For our last day, we had to do some negotiating with the front desk people at the FCC, but eventually it all worked out. We wanted to go Banteay Srei, Kbal Spean, and **** *****. (Note: it may seem corny, but out of respect for the wishes of the person who told me about the third site, I am going to refer to it as **** *****).

At first, the front desk people insisted it was too much to do in one day, but I knew it was possible as I saw it in a brochure. Ultimately they agreed, but with a surcharge. The total price with car, driver, extra gas, and a guide was somewhere around $120 total. I know that’s pricey, but it was oh so worth it. We had breakfast at the FCC, and they were kind enough to pack a lunch for us since we would not be able to come back to the hotel for lunch.

Our guide was awesome. His name was Rhee. He was about 40 and had lived through a lot. You could see the experience in his eyes. He was soft-spoken and wise. Our first stop was Banteay Srei. It is a very pretty little temple. I have heard people describe it as a jewel-box and that seems accurate. It was a little crowded, which was a bit of a drag. The stone carvings are so intricate and precise. I loved the demon chomping into the five-headed naga.

We then drove to Kbal Spean. It was about 30 more minutes away. C and I were really excited about the hike we would do up to the river sculptures. We love nature trails. The 40-minute hike was a highlight. The trees provided a leafy umbrella from the magnifying sun. We especially were impressed with a giant stone, about 20 feet high and 30 feet wide, shaped like a mushroom and how pretty the forest was.

At the top, we found the “river of a thousand lingas” carved into the riverbed rock. It was very cool and subtle. Rhee told a story about how the rationale was that by placing the lingas high up on the river, it would “fertilize” all the water for everyone down below. We loved the application of art directly onto nature, the integration. And to think it has lasted a thousand years. That is really incredible. And the setting is fabulous. We rambled down the trail and drove another hour to **** *****.

C napped on me during the ride. Then we parked and ate our packed lunch at a little, low-key restaurant. The lady who ran the place was mellow about us having our own food and just buying sodas. Then we ventured into the site. Wow. We were completely blown away. It was completely shaded and lush, in the jungle, and dilapidated and un-restored. It was so much fun climbing all over the stones. There was hardly anyone else there. The moss was striking. It felt like we were in The Land of the Lost.

Rhee was the perfect guide. He was physically active, smart, passionate, insightful. And to think he did all the climbing and hiking in standard black shoes. It was great just to sit in the temple and take it all in. A perfect way to end our experience.

We drove back to the FCC, enjoyed a smoothie and a swim. Out of a sense of guilt almost, I suggested that evening we take a tuk-tuk into town and eat at the Khmer Kitchen. The ride was pleasant enough, but the town of Siem Reap is so jarring. It’s loud and dirty, and children approach you in waves, begging for money, and one-legged men hop down the street, also begging. The line between tourist and local is so thickly drawn. And there’s so much poverty that it’s almost overwhelming. I once worked in a homeless shelter in DC, and the poverty and desperation in Cambodia is way worse than anything I have seen in the US.

After sitting at the Khmer Kitchen for a few minutes, it was so noisy, with little kids running around outside and screaming, and the dirty air, we decided to bail and
walk back to the FCC. I felt a little guilty, that I was wimping out on the local culture, but we really liked the FCC and wanted to have one last meal there. We don’t stay in nice hotels that often and we wanted to be in our pampered cocoon. We ate, played a game of pool, had several smoothies, then went to bed.

Day 15 12/29 Thursday Siem Reap-Bangkok

We had one last yummy breakfast at the FCC. I celebrated with a huge coconut drink, where they just put a straw into a coconut. Delicious. We loved the FCC and would definitely stay there again. 4 nights in Siem Reap was a good amount of time, though we could’ve easily spent a week there. We took the shuttle to the airport and boarded our Bangkok Air flight to Bangkok. The flight was on-time and uneventful.