Bruce and Marija go to Southeast Asia
 

This was, I believe, the fifth time we planned a winter trip to Southeast Asia, if you don't count the elaborate preparations for the sailing of the mythical Love Boat. Previous trips vaporized but this one actually came to pass. Our itinerary was:

Bangkok (1 night at the Novotel Suvarnabhumi)
Siem Reap (4 nights at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor/Raffles)
Luang Prabang (3 nights at Maison Souvannaphoum Hotel)
Hanoi (4 nights at the Metropole)
Hue (2 nights at La Residence)
Hoi An (2 nights at Life Heritage Resort)
Saigon/HCMC (3 nights at the Majestic)
Bangkok (5 nights at the Peninsula)

<b>Arrangements: </b>:

We bought <b>Bangkok Airlines Discovery Passes</b> to fly between Bangkok and Siem Reap (Bangkok Air), Siem Reap and Luang Prabang (Lao Airlines) and Luang Prabang and Hanoi (Lao Airlines). The cost of the pass was about $500 per person (15,270 THB). Getting the pass was incredibly easy. I emailed [email protected], outlined the flights we wanted and then once they responded (within a day), I sent the credit card info. No phone calls, no hassle. Vietnam Air is not part of the Bangkok Airlines pass so we couldn't use it for Vietnam. We returned from HCMC to Bangkok's Don Mueang Airport with Air Asia which we booked on our own. The Air Asia tickets were about $100 pp. including taxes and other fees.

The Vietnam segment of our trip was booked through <b>Tonkin Travel</b>. Tonkin booked hotels, air, pickups and transfers, a driver and guide for Hue and an all day trip to the Mekong Delta from HCMC. They were easy to work with and the only problem we encountered was that the pickup to the airport in Hanoi was late, probably because traffic around the Metropole was worse than usual due to the visit of the Argentinean president. I'm sure we could have gotten back and forth from the airports on our own cheaper but it was worth it to us not to have to negotiate with taxis at each airport. Tonkin accepts credit cards with a 3% penalty which we preferred to carrying a large amount of cash.

Hi Marija - glad you actually made it, and looking forward to more.

Welcome home! I'm eager to hear all about your trip.

looking forward to the report...good start

Waiting patiently for more...

Welcome home!

Looking forward with anticipation to hearing how it all went, make sure you add all the details ! Glad you got home safe.

<b>At the Novotel Suvarnabhumi</b>

It was close to one in the morning when we finally reached Bangkok. Wasn't much of a surprise that both of our United flights were delayed for several hours due to "technical problems." In Narita we sat on the ground for close to two hours while an electrical problem which wiped out part of the lights was solved. The fix broke the seatbelt and lavatory occupied lights, or they were already broken, but I guess they aren't essential.

Before leaving I made sure I knew how to get to the Novotel Suvarnabhumi from the airport--take the shuttle bus from Door 4. My mistake was trying to confirm my information with an official looking person at baggage control who directed us to an escalator and told us to go down. And down we went following the signs for Airport Hotel. Unfortunately, the signs lead you to the tunnel for the hotel, not to the shuttle bus which takes off from Level 2. It's not simple to talk your way back up to Level 2 from the bowels of the airport, especially when the escalators up are guarded by fierce men who pretend to not speak Lithuanian or English. Once we found Door Number 4 on Level 2 we saw the big sign identifying it as the launching point for the Novotel shuttle. <b>Do NOT follow the signs for Airport Hotel if you want to take the shuttle to the Airport Hotel.</b>

I made it a point to enter our Accor Hotel loyalty number (or some such) when making the hotel reservations in the hope that it might lead to an upgrade. It did. Too bad we only had 6 hours or so in our very comfortable upgraded room. The Novotel has a very sensible policy of renting you the room for 24 hours from the time of check in, regardless of when that is. The upgrade brought its own set of problems. The room I reserved included internet and breakfast, two perks which didn't transfer to the upgraded room. I didn't understand why I could get WiFi in the room until I was told that it was not included with the room. By that point we had already eaten an unexpectedly fine breakfast and were about to head to the airport for our flight to Siem Reap so I abandoned the WiFi issue.

Several days later when checking our credit card charges to see if we were sharing our credit with anyone, I noticed a $68 charge from the Novotel. We had a prepaid rate for the hotel so I wasn't expecting additional charges. I figured I would deal with it once we got home. Soon we received an e-mail from the hotel asking us to complete a survey. I usually ignore these intrusions but thought this might be a quick way to find out about the errant charge. In reply I received some gibberish about out how we were charged what we should pay. This annoyed me so I found the hotel manager's email and repeated my complaint. In a couple of days I received an email (copied to a bunch of people at the Novotel) informing me that the charge I saw never existed. Mysteriously, without a trace, the charge was gone from the credit card. Is that called saving face?!

Warm greetings Marija, and many thanks for your delightful writing. Warms my heart on this warm, early Singapore morning. One more day of CNY holiday for yours truly and others before flying ex-SIN later on for work.

Your description of initial arrival at BKK makes me smile; welcome to the Land of Smiles, indeed. Somehow, someway, reminds me of early Bangkok business trips, arriving late via UA at Don Mueang and on more than a few occasions, walking over and checking in at that fine Amari Airport hotel. (Almost always the 'executive' fifth floor and the rather adjacent 'After Flight Centre' massage centre with the sweetest manager and masseuses; sweet dreams.)

Keep up the brilliant writing Marija; it's right up there with the unmatched and missed dogster, along with the lovely crosscheck (and others). Hope your stay at 'our' cherished Peninsula, Bangkok proved satisfactory -- perhaps even our special suite. And, as always, would be honoured to offer completely unbiased counsel concerning ('our') sensational Singapore Airlines for your future flying endeavours.

All the best to you Marija, and all -- and warm Gong Xi Fa Cai greetings. The past several days in our fine home of Singapore have been most festive, and graced by the presence of cherished family, from rather near and rather far (Scotland; those winter escapees).

macintosh (robert)


... Singapore Girl, You're a Great Way to Fly ...

<<It's not simple to talk your way back up to Level 2 from the bowels of the airport, especially when the escalators up are guarded by fierce men who pretend to not speak Lithuanian or English.>>

Just about everyone we met in Bangkok pretended not to speak Lithuanian!

Looking forward to reading this -- expect it will help us decided between India or SE Asia.

<b>Siem Reap</b>

Our flight to Siem Reap on Bangkok Airways was problem free. The only glitch was that I didn't know that departure cards, which had to be completed in order to leave Bangkok, had been put in our passports when we went through passport control at entry. Fortunately there was no line at passport control leaving Bangkok so it wasn't a problem to go to one of the little tables and fill out the departure forms.

The problem was in Siem Reap. Thinking I could save time and not have to fight forms on planes, I had downloaded both the Cambodian and Laotian entry visas forms and filled them out, including attaching photos, at home. When the VOA forms were passed out on the plane I compared them to mine and the information and layout were identical. The only difference was that the size of the sheet of paper. I thought I was good to go but that turned out to be an overly optimistic evaluation of the situation. We were first in the VOA line and when I presented the forms the agent wordlessly threw them back at me. I got the hint and went to a table and filled out the same info in the same format on a smaller sheet of paper. Lesson learned. <b>Don't bother downloading visa forms. If you do, make sure they are identical in every respect, including size, to those given to you on the plane.</b>

There must have been at least ten agents, all sitting in a row, processing the VOAs. That's not ten agents each processing different forms. No. For some mysterious reason, each passport and VOA form was tenderly passed from agent to agent, none of whom actually did anything, except for the last one who called out the name and returned the well caressed passports. (The first money handling agent theatrically rejected any currency which was not in perfect health.) I definitely got the idea that we had worn out our welcome before leaving the airport, though it was a nice touch that at customs we were told to keep the custom forms which no one had even glanced at.

Based on previous trip reports, it looked like Hotel de La Paix was a great place to stay. My attempts at reserving it were thwarted since the hotel closed down at the beginning of July 2012 and would only be reopening in early 2013 as the Park Hyatt Siem Reap. After much hand wringing (googling, really), we decided to stay at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor, aka Raffles. I did agonize over whether the hotel would be overrun by precious American tourists. Fortunately I stumbled upon dogster's contribution to a Raffle's discussion in which he admitted to staying there and even just possibly liking it. That was enough.

We really enjoyed our four night stay at Raffles. The hotel and rooms were tasteful and comfortable; the staff was solicitous without being obsequious; the breakfasts were the best of the entire trip, (though the lunches were pricy, unimaginative and underflavored). And to our relief it was not inhabited by obnoxious arrogant tourists. We were all there to see the wonders of Angkor, a rather dusty and tiring mission, which didn't seem to attract aging starlets and their entourages. The hotel is well located, a ten minute or so tuk tuk ride ($2) from Pub Street.

"the staff was solicitous without being obsequious" - You have a way with words, Marija. Too bad you missed the Hotel DLP/Park Hyatt but Raffles sounds nice...

We did the Visa online for Cambodia through their government website including attaching a scanned photo,printed them out, cut the actual Visas out of the paper and then stappled them into our passports.It was fine.It took 24 hours for them to email our Visas to us.
I am confused why they refused yours.

HT--they refused ours because I had a visa application, not a visa. I debated applying for an actual visa through the government website but I was concerned about credit card security. I read that the site has been repeatedly hacked and I didn't want to deal with that.

Loving this. Sounds as if VOA situation in fact might have improved since we were there. I remember spending the entire BKK-SR flight filling out TWELVE landing documents (3 for each of us) as the rest of the family feigned sleep.

My best advice if you want to get through immigration quickly at REP?

1) Bring a visa photo and a clean $20 bill with you.
2) Fly Bangkok Airways and sit in one of the very last seats.
3) The FAs will give you the entry forms. Fill them out on the plane. It is less than an hour flight, so don't put it away for "later."
4) When everyone else is exiting forward, the attendants will open the back exit. Go down the steps and walk briskly to the entry hall.
5) Look for the row of agents on the left and hand your papers, etc to the first guy. You will likely be first in line.
6) Go to the end of the row of men and wait till they call your name.

I am always one of the first to finish, even ahead of the "pre-arranged visa" people.
NOTE**I do not run on the tarmac, nor do I push anyone to the side in crossing!

Hi, Marija--
I've loved your reports across so many of the boards over the years, and, of course, this one is also great--and looking forward to the rest of it. A question, though. Your name has always intrigued me. Is it you who is Lithuanian? If so, is Marija the equivilent of Maria? Pronounced the same?

Thanks for reading and for the comments (Yes, Bo, I am the Lithuanian with the silent J embedded in the simple Maria. Try explaining that to your teachers!)


<B>Visiting the temples</b>

Swayed by all of the positive reviews here for Ponheary Ly, we engaged her as our guide for four days of temple visiting. (Unless you've done lots of homework, you won't regret hiring a guide.) On the remote chance that anyone reading this is unaware of the Ponheary Ly foundation and its mission, here's the link:

www.theplf.org

Although it was difficult to abandon the vision of us as intrepid 30 year olds who would delight in bouncing around in tuk tuks inhaling dust, we bowed to reality and also hired an airconditioned car and driver. Depressing, but an excellent decision. It's hot and dusty out there and the temples are scattered over a large area. If you're an "experienced " traveler, don't underestimate the benefits of a cool car, refeshing drinks, and saved steps.

As you would expect, Ponheary knows lots about the temples and will tell you all the details you may want to know. She'll also position you and your camera for the best shots. What's unique about spending time with her is the opportunity to catch a glimpse of life in Cambodia for the Cambodians both now and during the Khmer Rouge years. We talked about the girls in the local high school who didn't get enough to eat and her plans to take them all to dinner at a nice restaurant so they would aspire to a better life for themselves, about the school children who pass out from hunger in the classroom, the orphaned college student without rent money....

Based on how many temples organized tour groups claim to cover in a day, we were definitely underachievers. The first afternoon after arrival we headed for Angkor Wat, stopping to buy three-day passes ($40 cash). The days don't have to be sequential but they must be within a week of purchase. The pass is punched each day you enter. No need to bring photos since digital photos are taken at the time of purchase and included on the pass. If you enter after 5 PM the day doesn't count and the pass isn't punched.

We generally started touring at 8:00 AM, took a midday break and then resumed after lunch at 3:00. An earlier start time would have been better but we did enjoy having a leisurely breakfast before setting out. Unlike an African safari where you miss out on animal viewing if you don't spring out of bed before dawn, a later start for temple visiting just means that you'll be warmer and have more company. Unfortunately some of your companions will be climbing in forbidden areas, smoking despite the signs, dislodging stones for souvenirs, stepping not only on your toes but also in front of your camera. But then if you're planning to see 20 temples in a day you can't dawdle.

We visited the star attractions: Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm, Angkor Thom and the Bayon, as well as the nearby Banteay Kdei and Preah Khan, and the more distant Banteay Srei, including a stop at the Knar school that the Ponheary Ly Foundation supports. The many smaller temples we saw, including those of the Roluos group, were as fascinating as the big ones, (thanks to Ponheary) and much less crowded. There was agressive tree extraction taking place at Ta Prohm, in hopes of stopping all those mighty roots from dismantling the massive temples of Angkor. Though the goal is noble, it was alarming to see.

We learned to recognize nagas (seven-headed snakes that turn up everywhere as rails on balconies and bridges) and garudas (heavily muscled bird-men, eternal enemies of the nagas, typically enlisted for holding up the sky), even when their heads were missing. Photographing the site-information signage upon entering a site helped us identify the copious images that burdened our cameras' memory card.

We certainly didn't get "templed out" and were glad we spent four nights in Siem Reap. I think we would have been unhappy with a shorter stay.

How lucky you were to have Ponheary as your guide - one of the most memorable people we've met in our travels. She picked us up at the airport and had tea with her, but were guided by one of her minions (who was fine). I wish she could have taken us to the temples, but she was otherwise engaged on our dates. Did you get to visit one of the schools?

Yes, crosscheck, we stopped at the Knar school. Ponheary wanted to meet with the principal so we just poked around. We made a donation to the foundation before arriving, instead of trying to arrange something at a school.

<b> Eating in Siem Reap </b>

We are devoted eaters and stick to local dishes, though on this trip our definition of "local" was somewhat broader than usual. In particular, French in Vietnam was deemed acceptable. I diligently studied Lori's (offwego's) list of places to eat in Siem Reap and was relieved to read that:

"<i>You can eat anything at these places without gastrointestinal consequences. Eat the meat, eat the vegetables even if they are raw, try the frogs, have a shake, chomp the ice, it’s all good. Most of the food in Siem Reap is pretty safe these days; the days of amoebic dysentery for lunch are almost behind us. Your own dirty hands are probably your biggest threat." </i>

Did I believe her? Well, kindda. I'm willing to take my chances with fake saffron, broken taxi meters, and rigged ATMs but the laid back attitude doesn't extend to food. In more exotic places we don't eat street food (except for food blessed by street food tour mavens) and we prefer eating at establishments that have documented survivors, instead of making our own discoveries which may be memorable for the wrong reasons. Complicating all of this is our aversion to bland touristy hotel food.

Breakfast was included in our room rate at Raffles so no worries there. These were the best breakfasts of our trips, eaten outdoors overlooking the lovely grounds. We particularly enjoyed a mysterious green juice blend that the staff concocted on request. The first morning they asked if we'd like some and subsequent mornings we were clever enough to ask for it. The only drawback to breakfast was the smell of insect repellant and sunscreen which hovered over us. Perhaps we applied it too diligently and liberally every morning? I think we protected everyone within a mile radius of us. Although Siem Reap isn't malarial, I had become dengue-phobic from too much reading about health hazards of SE Asia.

The first two afternoons we ate lunch at the hotel since we didn't want to waste time taking tuk tuks into the city. (Raffles is about a 10 minute ride from Pub Street.) The lunches were dismal enough to dissuade us from trying the "fancy" Cambodian restaurant at the hotel. The third afternoon we walked over to the Victoria Angkor which is on the same square as Raffles. The lunch menu was much more appealing and extensive than that at Raffles. We ordered an excellent pomelo salad and red snapper with noodles in a claypot. Too bad we gave Raffles two chances before we walked.

We had the same paranoia about dengue on our trip last year. And wouldn't u know on the first day in SR, I showered and of course got all the deet off. Forgot to reapply walked outside and got bit by a damn mosquito! Obviously I did survive, but that made me evermore diligent.

I became addicted to pomelo on our trip to SEAsia.
enjoying your TR.

I'm enjoying your report. So glad you loved Angkor!

Marija,

I am greatly enjoying your excellent TR! I see that you really enjoyed SE Asia! So did we! I think that we did a similar itinerary to yours in January. Thanx for the detailed report!

My doctor, who is from Sri Lanka, put the fear of dengue fever in me. He rolled his eyes and said, "Oooo. If you get that you're gonna be a real sickie. A REAL sickie". Problem is, I didn't know exactly how to stay out of harm's way; there are no anti-dengue fever drugs evidently. Bugs like my blood and seem to bypass others in order to feast on me no matter what the precautions. I came back from Cambodia with some nasty bites. When they first appeared, they itched and burned and wept so much that I had to ask our tour guide to direct me to someone or someplace for help. He took me down a little alley to what looked like a roadside stand. Turned out it was a pharmacy, and the lady behind the counter seemed to know what she was doing. Perhaps she had been a pharmacist who had survived the Pol Pot days. She recognized the kind of bites and gave me a topical med along with something to take internally. Both for something like $5. According to the info on their packaging, one came from India and the other from Korea, I think. I used the topical but was afraid to take the pills. I'm prone to allergies and was concerned about a possible reaction. When I got home I went to my own doctor who said that both, including the pills, were right on.

I'm really enjoying this report. Can't wait for more.

Marina, I think you gave me some good advice about truffle hunting in Piedmont last fall. And this is something completely different, but like others I am keen for the next installment as we are currently in Thailand en route to Viet Nam and Laos. I know I will learn a lot, both practical and philosophical!

I know that should be Marija. Autocorrect doesn't believe me.

We had a dengue scare when we returned - Mr. Crosscheck had a very high fever with no other symptoms. Turns out it was a virus or flu he probably picked up on the plane. Our doctor was very reassuring but we were pretty freaked out for a day or so. Might be why I'm avoiding finishing the trip report....Sorry to highjack your excellent report, Carry on!

Hi, Marija,
I'm now enjoying your TR as I've been bit by the Asia bug and dreams of SE Asia are now filling my head! Wonderful report, great writing!

Maybe next year... We'll see what juggling can be done, but I've now added SE Asia to the top of the bucket list!

Marija, I'm diligently reading every single word. We had a false start on our own SE Asia trip this winter and are hoping it happens next year. Looking forward to reading more of your lovely report.

Again, thanks for reading. Glad we didn't get those nasty bites or the fever.

<b>Dining in Siem Reap</b>

Based on many excellent reviews, we knew that we wanted to eat dinner at <b>Cuisine Wat Damnak</b>, www.cuisinewatdamnak.com, but not on the first night in Siem Reap, since we weren't sure how alert or hungry we would be. We wanted to be in top eating form for this meal. (We applied the opposite logic in structuring our itinerary. Siem Reap was our most important destination so we headed there first. I had dwelled on possible misfortunes and wanted to make sure we got to Angkor before we were run over by motorcycles in Hanoi, bitten by rabid dogs in Luang Prabang, or held captive by shop owners in Bangkok.)

Lori's list recommends <b>The Khmer Kitchen</b> for its "extensive and authentic Khmer menu" so we hailed a tuk tuk ($2 ) and set off in search. www.khmerkitchens.com
Since we hadn't made reservations, we had to wait a bit for an open table, always a good sign. Our dinner of spring rolls, fish amok, pork curry and beer was an excellent and filling meal for $15.

Leaving the restaurant, I saw a brightly lit sign pointing to Pub Street, a road I have strolled with dogster:
http://thedogster3.wordpress.com/siem-reap-1
but Bruce was anxious to return to the hotel so we'd be rested for temple viewing in the morning. It was just as well since Pub Street could remain a bit longer the way I imagined it.

<b>Apsara performance</b>

Apsaras, in Hindu and Buddhist mythology are female spirits of the clouds and waters. Their graceful images, carved into stone, decorate many of the temples of Angkor. Traditional Cambodian ballet/dance is sometimes called Apsara dance since the dancers mimic the hand gestures of the Apsaras. This is not a dynamic style of dance like you see in Indian dance performances. Don't expect flames on top of dancers' heads! Many restaurants in Siem Reap feature Apsara performances in the evening.

Since it was convenient and we knew the food would be "safe", our second night at Siem Reap we went to dinner and a performance at the Apsara Terrace at Raffles. This was the only day we could go since it takes place only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. This was probably the most expensive option around at $45 per person for the show and "pan-Asian barbeque cuisine." Wine is ridiculously priced at $16 per glass. The food was very good. There were 15 or so food stations on the periphery of the outdoor room. Each station cooks your food to order. There were soups with a large selection of ingredients, Indian food, Khmer food from the Khmer Kitchen, BBQ, vegetable curries, sweets and much more. You can spice up the food as much or little as you want. The lines at the stations moved pretty quickly but you did have to wait for your food to be prepared. Food service started at 7:00 and the performance at 7:45. If you're going make sure to be there promptly at 7:00 so you get a chance to eat before the performance since it's disruptive and awkward to have to go in search of food in the dark during the dancing.

The Apsara dances and martial arts were interesting but we did find ourselves drifting off. If we hadn't invested heavily in the evening we might have snuck out before the show ended. I think we would have been just as happy seeing one of the lesser shows in Siem Reap and then going for dinner somewhere. But we know nothing about the intricacies of Apsara dancing and it may be that we saw an exceptionally fine show that was worth every penny we paid.

<b> First Visit to Cuisine Wat Damnak</b>

With the Apsara performance out of the way, the next evening we were free to set out for dinner at the much lauded Cuisine Wat Damnak. Since its location is a bit remote, we made sure the doorman gave detailed instructions to our tuk tuk driver. It was a beautiful evening and the ride along the river was most pleasant. And then, right in front of Swensen's ice cream shop, all of the lights went out. Our driver continued down the now even more chaotic than usual darkened streets to Cuisine Wat Damnak where we found the owners standing on the street: "Sorry. No power. No dinner." Ever alert, I immediately asked whether they could move our reservations to the following evening. They assured us that would be fine and asked for our phone number so they could notify us if there was a problem the next evening. Now what?!

We debated returning to the hotel, but weren't excited by the dining possibilities there. Our driver offered to take us to a "really good place" but we knew the possible perils of such recommendations. Complicating our decision was the fact that we didn't know if power was out everywhere. We finally asked our driver to take us to Pub Street on the chance that it had power. And indeed Pub Street was all lit up and packed. But where should we eat? I had Lori's recommendations downloaded on my iPhone but it was too dark to read the list. I tried to find the Khmer Kitchen again. No luck. We haphazardly wandered the streets looking for names that I might recognize from the "approved" list. I insisted on "safe" food. Bruce insisted on food.

Before we went our separate ways, we came upon <b>Soup Dragon</b>, an approved restaurant. It wasn't Cuisine Wat Damnak but we enjoyed our spring rolls, pork with ginger and chili, Vietnamese pancake and beer, again all for $15. We made an anemic attempt to explore Pub Street and the Night Market but we weren't up to the mission, though we did encounter the Linga Bar, another dogster haunt. I wonder if any other group misses dogster as much as we do? You can't plan a trip to South East Asia using fodors without repeatedly encountering dogster's footprints.

This is making me very hungry. I also like the suspense...Will the new Cuisine Wat Damnak res indeed be honored?

<I wonder if any other group misses dogster as much as we do?>

He was legendary in the international theatre world, but that pales to the force he was here on Fodors.

I agree, crosscheck!

Loving your report, Marija.

<b>Cuisine Wat Damnak (again) </b>

The next night we again set off for Cuisine Wat Damnak with our tuk tuk driver from the previous night. (Before he left us on Pub Street we agreed to his request that he would come to our hotel at the same time the next night.) Lights were on everywhere, no calls from the restaurant, everything looked good. It was only when the driver turned off the main road to the side street that all was dark. I hoped that the residents were just conserving power. It was only when we saw the owners again standing in front of their restaurant that grim reality set in. The owners were surprised to see us since they had called the hotel to warn us that they had no power, a message we never received. During our discussion they mentioned that the previous night power eventually returned and they did open. We knew instantly what we had to do--hunker down and wait for the power to come on again. This was our last chance since we were leaving in the morning.

Fortunately the owners invited us into the dark restaurant, lit some candles and even took drink orders. Ever the optimists we asked to see the food menu as well. We were determined to wait as long as it took for power to come back or until we were asked to leave. Luck was with us and within the hour power was restored.

The restaurant serves two menus, a five course menu for $19 and a six course menu for $26. Excellent cocktails are $4 and there's also a selection of reasonably priced wines.
From their website:

<i>"Cuisine Wat Damnak was founded on the simple concept of using only local fresh seasonal produce with which to create exquisite Cambodian food. Our dégustation menus change on a weekly basis to maximise the use of seasonal fruits, vegetables and fish, some of which are only available for a three week period every year. Some items are difficult if not impossible to source through our local market channels, but we go the extra mile and hunt them out so we can incorporate them into our menus and make them as exciting as possible."</i>

We wanted to sample all of the available dishes so we ordered both menus, and a bottle of Viognier. The dishes were excellent and an incredible value for the price. I took a menu to remind me of what we actually ate. Unfortunately, the last evening in Bangkok, the takes- up- no-space menu was tossed during a frantic attempt to stuff a large wooden Buddha head into the luggage.

<b>Angkor National Museum </b>

The last morning in Siem Reap, before flying to Luang Prabang, we headed out to the Angkor museum which is a short walk from Raffles:

http://www.angkornationalmuseum.com/about_anm/1.

Admission is rather pricey at $12. Photography is not allowed in the exhibit halls. We didn't expect much but Bruce is in the museum business so he's always checking out the competition. We were amazed to find such a modern, well designed and curated museum in Siem Reap. It must have been built by the government since we couldn't find any indication of funding sources. Definitely worth visiting this impressive museum of Khmer culture and artifacts. May it continue to find funding and flourish.

Loving this. Such a relief that you got into CWD. SR has evolved: No prix fixes or fine dining when we were there in '06. I don't believe the museum existed either - will have to return.

<b>Luang Prabang</b>

The flight from Siem Reap to Luang Prabang, with a short stop in Pakse, left early. I was a bit concerned about Laos Airways and regretted that I hadn't booked a flight on Bangkok Airways, a more "reputable" carrier. It was a needless worry, since Lao Airways had new planes and was definitely not a second class airlines. They were so careful that the snack boxes had stick on labels correcting "Your's safe with Lao Air" to "You are safe with Lao Air." Yes, we peeled off the labels to see what atrocity was being hidden!

On arrival in Laos we were first in the visa on arrival line. I filled out the forms distributed on the plane, although I had almost identical completed forms that I downloaded from the Laotian embassy website. I wasn't going to risk being sent to the end of the line again. The procedure could qualify as a comedy routine. Two guys on stage. One collects all 40 or so passports and applications and stacks them in a pile while other guy eats his noodles. First guy then leaves, presumably to eat his noodles elsewhere. Second guy finishes noodles and then takes a leisurely postprandial stroll back and forth along the counter. Satisfied that digestion is successfully underway, to our relief he flips the tower of passports, so the first is no longer last. He takes the documents back to his office, snoozes a bit, and then finally stamps them all and returns to collect money. Slightly less than an hour and we're on our way.

We arranged a pick up for $12 by our hotel the <b>Maison Souvannaphoum</b>, the return by regular taxi was $5 or so. I thought it quite unhospitable to ask us to fill out credit card and passport forms by hand in the dark in a moving car on the way to the hotel. The hotel was OK, but certainly not noteworthy, especially for the price. Our room was adequate but the welcoming envelope on the bed had a card addressed to someone else. The bed had a heartfelt message constructed of leaves and blossoms. Too bad no one came to remove the arrangement. We had to pick up all the petals if we didn't want them joining us in bed. We did enjoy the breakfasts, especially the traditional coconut pancakes, which were seriously delicious. The hotel staff was pleasant but the manager Sergei who is consistently praised in reviews never made an appearance during our three days. There was no one to offer suggestions for activities or restaurants during our stay.

The hotel is located about a 10 minute walk from the night market, at the edge of the old city. There's little of interest around the hotel. Most of the restaurants are a 20 minute or so walk away. If I had to do it over again I would stay in a more centrally located hotel. There were plenty of tuk tuks around at $4 a ride, but the roofs of the tuk tuks were very low (and hard on the head) making for less than a comfortable ride. Interesting how the construction of the tuk tuks differs from place to place.

No surprise that after checking in we immediately turned our attention to dinner reservations. Our first choice, L' Eléphant, was not available but we were able to get a reservation at <b>3 Nagas</b>:
www.3-nagas.com
We stopped at an ATM on the way to the restaurant and were confused by the currency--there were no recognizable numbers on the bills. Turns out that one side of the bill is only in Lao, the other side features Arabic numerals --quite a relief not to have to master Laotian numbers!

The nightmarket is on the road between the hotel and the restaurant, so we walked through it. Bruce found the going slow since he was taller than the canopies that covered the market. I found the market large but disappointing with everybody selling the same massproduced stuff. It's certainly possible that a more skilled shopper (that includes just about everyone) might have unearthered treasures where I saw only junk.

Dinner at 3 Nagas was great. We ordered seaweed chips, Lao sausage and river fish, Lao beer and a decadent chocolate dessert recommended by a neighboring table. The evening was lovely and we enjoyed sitting outside protected by our trusty insect repellant since Luang Prabang is a low malarial risk area.

We returned to the hotel with a tuk tuk driver who, as is usually the case, claimed no money to make change. (We needed the equivalent of $4 back, the fare for a single ride. Hard to believe we were his only customers of the day.) Of course, it was our own fault for not inspecting more carefully the stack of Laotian bills we were now carrying. Fortunately the hotel gave us smaller bills. I wonder if drivers just don't know enough arithmetic to conduct such delicate transactions.

That's so funny about your arrival in Lao. We were also first in line with forms in hand, We zipped right thru, guess we were lucky.

Wonderful, have been waiting almost patiently for you to get to Luang Prabang.

<<Yes, we peeled off the labels to see what atrocity was being hidden!>>

"Your's in store for a long wait at customs"