SE Asia...It's so Hot!
Apr 13th, 2010, 06:42 AM
#23
Gpanda,
It's so good to hear from you. Good luck with your radiation treatments. You might cause the Fodor's asia forum to crash with all the well wishers.
Rhkkmk, unfortunately, it has improved...have had to have ice cream daily to get thru this heat! I still enjoyed the food...just couldn't eat too much of it.
It's so good to hear from you. Good luck with your radiation treatments. You might cause the Fodor's asia forum to crash with all the well wishers.
Rhkkmk, unfortunately, it has improved...have had to have ice cream daily to get thru this heat! I still enjoyed the food...just couldn't eat too much of it.
Apr 16th, 2010, 04:47 AM
#24
We were originally scheduled to go to Luang Prabang, Laos following Bankgok, but about a month ago, I read about the smoky conditons there due to slash & burn farming, so as an asthmatic, decided to take preemptive measures and go to a Thai Beach instead. Decided on Koh Lanta, staying at the Layana resort, reached by flying into Krabi, direct on Thai Airways, then taking a 50 min minivan ride to a pier and a 20 min. speedboat ride to the resort. Pricey transfer, but I didn't have the time to investigate other options.
Met by the mgr, Michael, as we took off our shoes and walked thru talcum powder soft sand and given a glass of hibiscus juice in welcome. The resort consists of a semi circle of villas, 4 to a unit, up & down, with a large expanse of grass in the middle. The reception, spa and library is at the furthest central point. We were immediately taken to our second floor room, as requested, but were about half way back from the beach. This being Easter week, and I had just booked several weeks earlier, it was understandable. The lovely open-air dining room, with ceiling fans, and a stone terrace with more tables fronted the beach, as did the bar area, and a very long, beautiful infinity pool. Perfect for unwinding. Something was wrong with me that day and I basically slept the whole route...in the cab, on the plane, in the van, on the boat and then collapsed for a few hours in the room. Forced myself to awake for happy hour.
The literature I read online that listed activities made it sound like these were offered daily. However, they were offered generally on one day of the week, and you had to sign up for them on a board. I noticed in the room that the excursion to Phi Phi island was the next day, and called to sign up. However, the excursion in two days to four islands for snorkeling was already filled up....and the sundowner cruise the next night was booked too. So, I advise you if you go to find out exactly what excursions are being offered when and book online to avoid disappointment.
Each night, the restaurant offered some special...the first night was giant Tiger Prawns, and I ordered just one. The waitress was sure I'd be hungry, but alas, my appetite was still not back to usual and one was fine.
The room was lovely and large...more casual chic than luxurious, which was fine with us. The balcony was very private, and offered a view of the trees, but most times was too hot to sit out on.
Our day's exursion began at 8am, about 40 min to Phi Phi Leh, where we beat the crowds and snorkeled in a beautiful bay. Then, they dropped us off for awhile at Maya Beach, where the movie of the same name was filmed. The boat hordes started arriving and we left for another swim/snorkel.
As the hot weather followed us here...in the upper 90's and humid, the sea temperature was warm and wonderful.
We got taken to the main dock/town in Phi Phi Don...quite a busy place and wandered around the market stalls but it all looked like junk. Following that, we walked to the end of the beach where the Layana had set up our picnic lunch in the shade on wooden tables & chairs...quite lovely. It was fun chatting with the 12 others on our boat and we got back to the resort at 2pm. Lisa was our resort's rep with us and she did a great job.
That night, the restaurant featured street food stations. We got on the waiting list for the 4 island excursion, but decided against booking with an outside boat which would be more crowded.
So, basically for the next two days I laid out for 15 min...then had to jump in the pool...or switched to the beach, which was very long for walking. We also took the hobie cat our for sailing when the wind picked up in the afternoon...and saw some huge jellyfish. And one morning, we took the kayak out when the sea was like glass. The included breakfast buffets were delicious...and the belgian waffles made to order...or egg dishes.
We both had massages in their very lovely spa...and when we couldn't get on the boat cruise, I had a facial....Took the sundowner cruise the last night, and the owner, Bob, was onboard...quite a delightful man. The cruise really wasn't to see the sunset, but rather went over the north and east side of the island to view the mangroves and see some monkeys. The boat dropped us off in Selantra...the 'town' and I thought we might do a little night market shopping, but was advised by others that there was nothing good to buy.
The restaurant that night featured New Zealand lamb shank...odd choice but delicious.
We were there for 4 nights, and I thought that was the perfect amount of time.
The transfer back to the airport was seamless, and they helped us with checkin.
I have to hand it to Bangkok Airways...they had changed our flights, which was Krabi to Koh Samui then to Bangkok then to Siem Reap, Cambodia.....and now there was only a half hr connection to get to an international flight...impossible.
So, when I alerted them to our problem...they put two fish stickers on us...which alerted personnel to our need for special handling...and allowed us to clear immigration in Koh Samui...and put us on a faster plane to Bangkok...so now we had an hr. and 15 min. to get our flight. No problem. I've never seen such personalized service from an American carrier.
On to Siem Reap, Cambodia!
Met by the mgr, Michael, as we took off our shoes and walked thru talcum powder soft sand and given a glass of hibiscus juice in welcome. The resort consists of a semi circle of villas, 4 to a unit, up & down, with a large expanse of grass in the middle. The reception, spa and library is at the furthest central point. We were immediately taken to our second floor room, as requested, but were about half way back from the beach. This being Easter week, and I had just booked several weeks earlier, it was understandable. The lovely open-air dining room, with ceiling fans, and a stone terrace with more tables fronted the beach, as did the bar area, and a very long, beautiful infinity pool. Perfect for unwinding. Something was wrong with me that day and I basically slept the whole route...in the cab, on the plane, in the van, on the boat and then collapsed for a few hours in the room. Forced myself to awake for happy hour.
The literature I read online that listed activities made it sound like these were offered daily. However, they were offered generally on one day of the week, and you had to sign up for them on a board. I noticed in the room that the excursion to Phi Phi island was the next day, and called to sign up. However, the excursion in two days to four islands for snorkeling was already filled up....and the sundowner cruise the next night was booked too. So, I advise you if you go to find out exactly what excursions are being offered when and book online to avoid disappointment.
Each night, the restaurant offered some special...the first night was giant Tiger Prawns, and I ordered just one. The waitress was sure I'd be hungry, but alas, my appetite was still not back to usual and one was fine.
The room was lovely and large...more casual chic than luxurious, which was fine with us. The balcony was very private, and offered a view of the trees, but most times was too hot to sit out on.
Our day's exursion began at 8am, about 40 min to Phi Phi Leh, where we beat the crowds and snorkeled in a beautiful bay. Then, they dropped us off for awhile at Maya Beach, where the movie of the same name was filmed. The boat hordes started arriving and we left for another swim/snorkel.
As the hot weather followed us here...in the upper 90's and humid, the sea temperature was warm and wonderful.
We got taken to the main dock/town in Phi Phi Don...quite a busy place and wandered around the market stalls but it all looked like junk. Following that, we walked to the end of the beach where the Layana had set up our picnic lunch in the shade on wooden tables & chairs...quite lovely. It was fun chatting with the 12 others on our boat and we got back to the resort at 2pm. Lisa was our resort's rep with us and she did a great job.
That night, the restaurant featured street food stations. We got on the waiting list for the 4 island excursion, but decided against booking with an outside boat which would be more crowded.
So, basically for the next two days I laid out for 15 min...then had to jump in the pool...or switched to the beach, which was very long for walking. We also took the hobie cat our for sailing when the wind picked up in the afternoon...and saw some huge jellyfish. And one morning, we took the kayak out when the sea was like glass. The included breakfast buffets were delicious...and the belgian waffles made to order...or egg dishes.
We both had massages in their very lovely spa...and when we couldn't get on the boat cruise, I had a facial....Took the sundowner cruise the last night, and the owner, Bob, was onboard...quite a delightful man. The cruise really wasn't to see the sunset, but rather went over the north and east side of the island to view the mangroves and see some monkeys. The boat dropped us off in Selantra...the 'town' and I thought we might do a little night market shopping, but was advised by others that there was nothing good to buy.
The restaurant that night featured New Zealand lamb shank...odd choice but delicious.
We were there for 4 nights, and I thought that was the perfect amount of time.
The transfer back to the airport was seamless, and they helped us with checkin.
I have to hand it to Bangkok Airways...they had changed our flights, which was Krabi to Koh Samui then to Bangkok then to Siem Reap, Cambodia.....and now there was only a half hr connection to get to an international flight...impossible.
So, when I alerted them to our problem...they put two fish stickers on us...which alerted personnel to our need for special handling...and allowed us to clear immigration in Koh Samui...and put us on a faster plane to Bangkok...so now we had an hr. and 15 min. to get our flight. No problem. I've never seen such personalized service from an American carrier.
On to Siem Reap, Cambodia!
Apr 18th, 2010, 12:59 AM
#32
Siem Reap...4nts at Residence d'Angkor
First, a caveat to the following report.My remarks need to be filtered by remembering that with the intense heat...over 100 degrees each day, we were extremely uncomfortable.
We had booked a Cultural Discovery pkg with our hotel, which included airport transfers, a day's admission, guide and driver to the temples, breakfast daily, one picnic lunch and one 3 course dinner.
Made it thru immigration easily with our pre-purchased visas, and arrived at the hotel about 9pm. I had previously set up with the hotel to allow Ponheary to be our guide, for the included tour, but the reception desk indicated he knew nothing about this and we had to use someone who worked for the company. After he escorted us to our room, I showed him the emails and he finally said he'd check on it. We got to use her.
The 50 room hotel along the river street was very charming...all dark wood, soaring lobby area, Khmer art, statuary and bas reliefs...a long tiled swimming pool and other water features in the heavily landscaped property, which extends for a full block. Our room was large and casually elegant, with a long balcony overlooking the pool that was obscured by thick foliage...had asked for and requested an upper level room, which turned out to be the 3rd floor. The bathroom was large and featured a huge, shallow bowl shaped green smooth stone bath tub, with a shower, that would fit 3 people. Contemporary bright graphic pillows lined the daybed. It was always too hot for the balcony. The property conveyed a sense of old, mysterious Cambodia...very nicely done. I just saw the Hotel de Paix from the street, but it was in the middle of the town and looked too modern. Visited Raffles Grand Resort and it was too formal, stuffy. This was just right.
Good breakfast buffet the next am...but the coffee wasn't very good. We met Ponheary and the hotel driver at 7:30am to begin our exploring. First, had to go buy a 3 day pass for $40, altho we only needed 2 days...same price.
Then, I was a little surprised we started at Angkor Wat, after reading other guided trip descriptions which differed. All in all, I was underwhelmed with Angkor Wat. My husband and I aren't history or archeology buffs, so we felt that there was too much detail given about the bas reliefs which lined the incredibly long wall...too many stories about Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva...and other parts of the Ramayana story, which we already had heard pieces of in Thailand.
I wish we had read a synopsis of this very long fable and of the religion first, so that we'd have a better perspective of the big picture. I felt like we got many facts...which king built what and when....and then pieces of the stories as we came to them. I don't think other guides did any differently, but this brings up whether you like having a guide or not. We were with Ponheary for two days, and maybe one day would have been better and then off by yourself with a driver for the other.
Of course, part of this is my fault for not doing enough reading about the cultural aspects ahead of time. It took all my time to plan and book the flights, hotels, guides and some activities and dinners for four countries that I neglected getting to the cultural parts. Maybe I'm expecting too much from a guide, but I feel we didn't get a good understanding of what life was like then...merely facts and pointing out that so and so is riding an elephant or whatever. Again, maybe our brains were fried from the heat and things weren't getting through.
I was impressed with the incredible amount of intricate carvings that were literally everywhere. After visiting Macchu Picchu last year, the decorative aspects of the Temples were remarkable.
We ascended to the top level of Angkor Wat, after standing in line behind many Korean tour groups in the hot sun for awhile, as the officials handed out 100 numbers at a time to ascend the recently built wooden steps with rope railings, which made the ascent easier if less aesthetic. From there, we saw hot and hazy views across the complex.
So after about only 2 hrs at Angkor Wat, we were ready to call it quits for the morning. Stopped for a delicious icecream at the Blue Pumpkin outpost across from the temple in the Artisans d'Angkor shop.
Back in the deliciously cool room, we collapsed in sleep for awhile and then walked 2 blocks to lunch at Bopha, a lovely garden terrace place, insufficiently cooled by a fan, where we were the only guests. Enjoyed Fish amok, a stirfried chicken dish, and Tiger beer..not as good as Singha but close.
After changing to a new set of clothes, we set off again at 3:30pm the afternoon's temples. First stop, Bantay Kdei, small temple but I liked having the place more to ourselves. Then, we went to Ta Prohm, the site of The Tomb Raider, which we enjoyed for it's more jungly feeling. The huge banyan trees and strangler figs taking over the temple was very interesting. At every temple stop we were besieged by little kids in the parking lot selling stuff. Ponheary really discourage this because she rightly feels that kids should be rewarded by attending school...not selling trinkets...and her work with her foundation to encourage education is truly remarkable.
At about 5:30, we were beat again. There was no sunset to view anyway...hazy all day...and we didn't want to climb up Pre-Rup, which was on her itinerary...so called it a day.
That night, we at our dinner at La Residence outside on the terrace so we could watch the scheduled Apsara and folkloric dancers perform. Great performances by beautiful people. The Apsara is so lyrical, languid and graceful. The food for dinner was excellent...for a slight upcharge we could order anything off the ala carte menu.
Second day of Temple touring again at 7:30am with Ponheary and this time, her driver. We drove about an hour through pretty countryside to Bantay Srei...already the tour groups were there, so this very pretty little temple was crowded, to my thinking. However, Ponheary thought that attendance in general was down, due to the problems in Thailand. She was clearly a red shirt sympathizer.
AFterwards, we stopped at East Melbon, primarily to see the elephant statues, and then returned to the hotel.
This time we swam in the lovely pool, and ate our picnic lunch (way too much food!) in the air-conditioned little pool bar area of the hotel.
At 3:30pm, we were off to Angkor Thom, the city complex, which is reached by going across a very long stone bridge, over a very wide moat, flanked by a row of demon statues on one side and warriors on the other..to represent the Churning of the Sea of Milk...which we saw a lot of references to...guess this symbolized creation...or immortality...I'm getting confused.
Then, we drove through to it's temple complex, The Bayon. I think I liked this the best, with all of it's temples adorned by huge faces in each direction. Cool! We climbed around up there for awhile for up close views, then went to see the Terrace of the Elephants and the Leper King, the latter was just OK. By this time, the sun was starting to set and reflected in the moat's waters...very pretty. And it was a wrap. We'd seen enough of the temples.
That night we took a delightful remork ride (motorcycle rickshaw) to the other side of town for dinner at Abacus. Excellent meal...but atmosphere is stark. Had an excellent goat cheese salad, perfectly grilled Australian filet with truffle sauce and a flavorful John Dory sauteed filet.
Taking a break to submit this.
First, a caveat to the following report.My remarks need to be filtered by remembering that with the intense heat...over 100 degrees each day, we were extremely uncomfortable.
We had booked a Cultural Discovery pkg with our hotel, which included airport transfers, a day's admission, guide and driver to the temples, breakfast daily, one picnic lunch and one 3 course dinner.
Made it thru immigration easily with our pre-purchased visas, and arrived at the hotel about 9pm. I had previously set up with the hotel to allow Ponheary to be our guide, for the included tour, but the reception desk indicated he knew nothing about this and we had to use someone who worked for the company. After he escorted us to our room, I showed him the emails and he finally said he'd check on it. We got to use her.
The 50 room hotel along the river street was very charming...all dark wood, soaring lobby area, Khmer art, statuary and bas reliefs...a long tiled swimming pool and other water features in the heavily landscaped property, which extends for a full block. Our room was large and casually elegant, with a long balcony overlooking the pool that was obscured by thick foliage...had asked for and requested an upper level room, which turned out to be the 3rd floor. The bathroom was large and featured a huge, shallow bowl shaped green smooth stone bath tub, with a shower, that would fit 3 people. Contemporary bright graphic pillows lined the daybed. It was always too hot for the balcony. The property conveyed a sense of old, mysterious Cambodia...very nicely done. I just saw the Hotel de Paix from the street, but it was in the middle of the town and looked too modern. Visited Raffles Grand Resort and it was too formal, stuffy. This was just right.
Good breakfast buffet the next am...but the coffee wasn't very good. We met Ponheary and the hotel driver at 7:30am to begin our exploring. First, had to go buy a 3 day pass for $40, altho we only needed 2 days...same price.
Then, I was a little surprised we started at Angkor Wat, after reading other guided trip descriptions which differed. All in all, I was underwhelmed with Angkor Wat. My husband and I aren't history or archeology buffs, so we felt that there was too much detail given about the bas reliefs which lined the incredibly long wall...too many stories about Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva...and other parts of the Ramayana story, which we already had heard pieces of in Thailand.
I wish we had read a synopsis of this very long fable and of the religion first, so that we'd have a better perspective of the big picture. I felt like we got many facts...which king built what and when....and then pieces of the stories as we came to them. I don't think other guides did any differently, but this brings up whether you like having a guide or not. We were with Ponheary for two days, and maybe one day would have been better and then off by yourself with a driver for the other.
Of course, part of this is my fault for not doing enough reading about the cultural aspects ahead of time. It took all my time to plan and book the flights, hotels, guides and some activities and dinners for four countries that I neglected getting to the cultural parts. Maybe I'm expecting too much from a guide, but I feel we didn't get a good understanding of what life was like then...merely facts and pointing out that so and so is riding an elephant or whatever. Again, maybe our brains were fried from the heat and things weren't getting through.
I was impressed with the incredible amount of intricate carvings that were literally everywhere. After visiting Macchu Picchu last year, the decorative aspects of the Temples were remarkable.
We ascended to the top level of Angkor Wat, after standing in line behind many Korean tour groups in the hot sun for awhile, as the officials handed out 100 numbers at a time to ascend the recently built wooden steps with rope railings, which made the ascent easier if less aesthetic. From there, we saw hot and hazy views across the complex.
So after about only 2 hrs at Angkor Wat, we were ready to call it quits for the morning. Stopped for a delicious icecream at the Blue Pumpkin outpost across from the temple in the Artisans d'Angkor shop.
Back in the deliciously cool room, we collapsed in sleep for awhile and then walked 2 blocks to lunch at Bopha, a lovely garden terrace place, insufficiently cooled by a fan, where we were the only guests. Enjoyed Fish amok, a stirfried chicken dish, and Tiger beer..not as good as Singha but close.
After changing to a new set of clothes, we set off again at 3:30pm the afternoon's temples. First stop, Bantay Kdei, small temple but I liked having the place more to ourselves. Then, we went to Ta Prohm, the site of The Tomb Raider, which we enjoyed for it's more jungly feeling. The huge banyan trees and strangler figs taking over the temple was very interesting. At every temple stop we were besieged by little kids in the parking lot selling stuff. Ponheary really discourage this because she rightly feels that kids should be rewarded by attending school...not selling trinkets...and her work with her foundation to encourage education is truly remarkable.
At about 5:30, we were beat again. There was no sunset to view anyway...hazy all day...and we didn't want to climb up Pre-Rup, which was on her itinerary...so called it a day.
That night, we at our dinner at La Residence outside on the terrace so we could watch the scheduled Apsara and folkloric dancers perform. Great performances by beautiful people. The Apsara is so lyrical, languid and graceful. The food for dinner was excellent...for a slight upcharge we could order anything off the ala carte menu.
Second day of Temple touring again at 7:30am with Ponheary and this time, her driver. We drove about an hour through pretty countryside to Bantay Srei...already the tour groups were there, so this very pretty little temple was crowded, to my thinking. However, Ponheary thought that attendance in general was down, due to the problems in Thailand. She was clearly a red shirt sympathizer.
AFterwards, we stopped at East Melbon, primarily to see the elephant statues, and then returned to the hotel.
This time we swam in the lovely pool, and ate our picnic lunch (way too much food!) in the air-conditioned little pool bar area of the hotel.
At 3:30pm, we were off to Angkor Thom, the city complex, which is reached by going across a very long stone bridge, over a very wide moat, flanked by a row of demon statues on one side and warriors on the other..to represent the Churning of the Sea of Milk...which we saw a lot of references to...guess this symbolized creation...or immortality...I'm getting confused.
Then, we drove through to it's temple complex, The Bayon. I think I liked this the best, with all of it's temples adorned by huge faces in each direction. Cool! We climbed around up there for awhile for up close views, then went to see the Terrace of the Elephants and the Leper King, the latter was just OK. By this time, the sun was starting to set and reflected in the moat's waters...very pretty. And it was a wrap. We'd seen enough of the temples.
That night we took a delightful remork ride (motorcycle rickshaw) to the other side of town for dinner at Abacus. Excellent meal...but atmosphere is stark. Had an excellent goat cheese salad, perfectly grilled Australian filet with truffle sauce and a flavorful John Dory sauteed filet.
Taking a break to submit this.
Apr 18th, 2010, 01:12 AM
#33
Finally, a day to ourselves! We'd decided to skip the Tonle Sap excursion because the water is so low and I really didn't want to go just to observe how poor the people are. So, we set out to see Siem Reap and shop a bit. Walked over to the Old Market area and around all the covered stalls, but didn't see anything we liked. Stopped across the street at Sentiers d' Angkor and bought a few small things...then cooled down next door at another Blue Pumpkin, best ice cream! Then found Wanderlust, where I bought and changed into a cool dress to get out of my wet clothes. From there, we were wilted and took a remork ride (another word for tuk tuk) to lunch at the Butterfly Garden restaurant, located in, yes you guessed it, and again an insufficient fan..and again we were the only people there. Food was just OK. Had to chill out back at the hotel again...and about 4pm looked at a few more shops and had a drink at the Elephant Bar at the Raffles hotels, which was not what I was expecting. It was downstairs, not that tropical and only one other guest couple.
From there, we went to dinner at Selantra, recommended by Ponheary and others on this site. While it was only 2 blocks from our hotel, my husband has succumbed to the lure of the remork and refuses to walk in this heat. Again, we were the only people there...uncomfortable with the waiter hovering about...and the food was terrible. Very disappointing. Maybe their chef had left for their big New Year's celebration early. So, we took another remork to Miss Wong's to try for a Shanghai atmosphere for a cocktail...and it was OK but only another couple there as well...where is everybody?
The next day, our flight to Hanoi didn't leave until 6pm...so we had most of the day. Toured the National Museum, pretty interesting, and then had a great lunch at Sugar Palm...an atmospheric second floor wooden balcony place surrounded by trees...again the only people there.
Our hotel was kind enough to grant us a 2pm checkout...so spent 2 hours on their free computer writing an earlier trip report. We're ready to leave this hot,dusty town!!!
From there, we went to dinner at Selantra, recommended by Ponheary and others on this site. While it was only 2 blocks from our hotel, my husband has succumbed to the lure of the remork and refuses to walk in this heat. Again, we were the only people there...uncomfortable with the waiter hovering about...and the food was terrible. Very disappointing. Maybe their chef had left for their big New Year's celebration early. So, we took another remork to Miss Wong's to try for a Shanghai atmosphere for a cocktail...and it was OK but only another couple there as well...where is everybody?
The next day, our flight to Hanoi didn't leave until 6pm...so we had most of the day. Toured the National Museum, pretty interesting, and then had a great lunch at Sugar Palm...an atmospheric second floor wooden balcony place surrounded by trees...again the only people there.
Our hotel was kind enough to grant us a 2pm checkout...so spent 2 hours on their free computer writing an earlier trip report. We're ready to leave this hot,dusty town!!!
Apr 18th, 2010, 08:06 AM
#36
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 33,288
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Siem Reap is incredibly hot. It was incredibly hot even in November when we were there. And I think you are right, if you haven't prepared for Angkor it can all be so overwhelming, you can't absorb anything. If you are interested, you might buy Sawn Rooney's book when you get home to understand more about what you saw.
The temples at Angkor are especially interesting because of the combination of Hindu and Buddhist temples (some were built as one, some the other, some were built as one and changed to the other). But if you know nothing about the temples or the two religions, I expect it's really confusing.
One of the big deals about the bas relief of the Churning of the Sea of Milk is that it is the only representation of this scene outside of India.
I'm sorry Angkor wasn't a better experience for you.
The temples at Angkor are especially interesting because of the combination of Hindu and Buddhist temples (some were built as one, some the other, some were built as one and changed to the other). But if you know nothing about the temples or the two religions, I expect it's really confusing.
One of the big deals about the bas relief of the Churning of the Sea of Milk is that it is the only representation of this scene outside of India.
I'm sorry Angkor wasn't a better experience for you.
Apr 19th, 2010, 03:58 AM
#37
I actually bought Dawn Rooney's book before we went, and as I said, I just didn't have time to read it. And, because it's so fat, I didn't bring it along...as it is I had stacks of pages from various guidebooks that I'd torn out and brought. But, I'll get home and see what things meant after the fact.
rhkkmk, I'm definitely glad I went...I just realized while touring the Citadel here at Hue, and really enjoying the experience (of course, it's comfortably hot here instead of insanely hot) that we really aren't tour guide people...if I have a tour guide, I end up paying more attention to that person instead of absorbing the experience and seeing things for myself.
What was so helpful here at the Citadel, was watching an excellent movie that digitally recreated what the Citadel was like before it was destroyed...and recreations of emperors and typical life here and ceremonies...so when we toured, we had a better understanding of its significance.
But, I'm still glad we visited. And, I don't mean to disparage Ponheary either...it's difficult to compress that much history in a short time to someone who doesn't have a lot of prior knowledge of the subject.
rhkkmk, I'm definitely glad I went...I just realized while touring the Citadel here at Hue, and really enjoying the experience (of course, it's comfortably hot here instead of insanely hot) that we really aren't tour guide people...if I have a tour guide, I end up paying more attention to that person instead of absorbing the experience and seeing things for myself.
What was so helpful here at the Citadel, was watching an excellent movie that digitally recreated what the Citadel was like before it was destroyed...and recreations of emperors and typical life here and ceremonies...so when we toured, we had a better understanding of its significance.
But, I'm still glad we visited. And, I don't mean to disparage Ponheary either...it's difficult to compress that much history in a short time to someone who doesn't have a lot of prior knowledge of the subject.
Apr 19th, 2010, 05:32 AM
#39
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 2,767
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
If the movie was not part of the museum, what was the name so I can go see it?
It was a shame that you did not fully enjoy the experience of Angkor Wat. I had the same feeling as you...would rather have spent less time with the guide and just enjoyed wandering the sites on our own.
Can't wait to hear about Vietnam.
It was a shame that you did not fully enjoy the experience of Angkor Wat. I had the same feeling as you...would rather have spent less time with the guide and just enjoyed wandering the sites on our own.
Can't wait to hear about Vietnam.
