I get up BEFORE dawn on days when I have to work. Sleeping in is nice while on vacation but we have no problem getting up at an uncivilized hour to experience something not to be missed. We can always take a nap in the middle of the afternoon I-).

hi,
I agree with the budget accomodations. I really couldn't see staying at a place where the cost of one night is equal to the annual income of most Cambodians....

I just stayed at Marina Villa guesthouse on Wat Bo Road. For the two of us it was $15/night w/fan & a/c & bathroom w/hot water.

I heard about it through this board, when someone raved about Ponheary as a guide and her guesthouse. The entire family lives on the first floor of the house, and most are guides. and, they speak flawless English.

Well, I often get up a dawn on vacation. With the time change, I don't have the sense of it beeing "too" early. I got up at dawn when I was in Siem Reap - going to the temples at dawn was great - cooler, fewer people, etc. And My recent trip to Lombok, I got up at dawn most days to walk on the beach.

Since I live in Seattle, you can get up at 7 these days and you're up before dawn.

I make sure too get up before dawn and check out how the place I am visiting wakes up and sets up.. I love ging too markets and seeing them set up shop and smell the fresh breads and foods being cooked.. REAL LIFE. on vacation I rarely sleep I just take quick naps and am off.

This post may be too late, but for others... We visited the temples for 4 days. The last afternoon we chose to take the boat ride on the lake with our tour guide. The boat ride was definitely a highlight of our trip. Not only was it a relaxing way to end our trip - we were on it around 4 - 6 p.m. or so, therefore saw the sunset. But more importantly we got to see a reality that was eye opening. Yes there is extreme poverty in this village and I was amazed at the living conditions, but when I travel I want to see how people live. I do remember seeing happy faces, smiling and laughing faces, even a little 80+ year old lady bathing on the little raft where she lived. She smiled as we rode by. I hope you include this on your itinerary. We also visited the Artisan school. We bought from them, very high prices but we knew basically this was a donation to help these lovely people learning a skill.

Angor Wat next to Disney land is the single most touristy place I've been. The temples are beautiful, but it's simply too overdone. I love Cambodia and don't want to discourage anyone from spending money there, but I would recommend Phnom Penh. Great culture, and teeming with life. But that's just me.

Disneyland? What were you doing there?

Yes, there are many visitors, but if you time your visits well and you go to the minor temples, you can be the only visitor at many temples. I found visiting the temples to be a deeply spiritual journey. An few things there are "touristy" in the sense of having been created for tourists (the elephant rides and the hot-air ballon ride are the only two that come to mind immediately). The temples themselves, of course, were the spiritual center of the Khmer civilization.

Hobbes; can you check the email address of the Siem Reap guide you recommended below. hotmail returned it to me as undeliverable. Or, does anyone have another guide for Angkor to pass along with email? Any feedback on the Shinta Mari as aplace to stay? Looks to be wonderful. thanks

Janak, I am SO sorry - his mail id is [email protected] or [email protected]. He's great and someone else on the forum who used him recently sent me a mail telling me they really enjoyed him. I have posted in detail re Shinta Mani and also a comparison of the Pansea and Shinta Mani - do a search or click on my name and you should ne able to pull them up. In short we LOVEd SHinta Mani!

to Alice13---What do you mean by a ' journey' to Batrey Ai when responding to a question on Tonle Lake? In another posting you also referred to a boat ride across the Lake which is a locals boat ( as opposed to the tourist boat)?Did you engage in this type of experience with your guide or off alone. This is my preference if it's an option.