Thanks Kathie I will. We are going to Tonle Sap this afternoon and we then only have tomorrow - I think the children are getting a little templesd out and we are meant to go to Banteay Srei tomorrow - shall I skip it or should I convince them its really worth seeing this one more temple? Please advise all you that have gone before!

We have booked to go to Viroths and will take a walk along the river.

I am very keen to find out if there is anywhere in Siem Reap that I can do a cooking course? I am absolutely in love with the food here - went to Cafe Indochine again today and the beef with kompot pepper is one of the best meals I have eaten in my life! The daughter had the chicken version and yesterday I had the fish amok - wow! The mother had the mushroom pasta and it was exceptionally good

any way please let me know about this last temple and a cooking course?

Thanks a lot from Cambodia

Banteay Srei is simply stunning. It is very different in style from the other temples. It's small, so it can get overrun with tourists. Ask your driver to take you there, say, first thing in the morning or whenever he expect there to be the fewest people. It's a fair drive from Siem Reap, so you'll see some interesting countryside. I guess the question is whether your kids are up for a longish drive and another temple.

Ask at your hotel about cooking classes.

Kathy we are now all on for Banteay Srei tomorrow - I think now that we are in to week 3, we are a little tired - even after the down time in Hoi An - its very hot here and I think that does make you feel weary. The husband and i are fine, but the others seem a little tired. We will all go to the temple tomorrow and get back early. the grandmother and children can spend the afternoon at the hotel and the husband and I have found a cooking course - through the hotel - I will feed back. We will do more temples tomorrow and and the children can play by the pool - we shall see what the day brings - we will also visit Artistes d'Angkor tomorrow.

More trip report coming soon. Any comments are appreciated - this may not seem like an epic trip to some but believe me moving 5 people from age 12 - 70 through countries I have no experience of, for 5 weeks, and trying to keep everyone happy is quite a feat. Travelling with very little ones although hard work is easy in that they do what you do but teenagers do need to be listened to and considered.

capetownfolk, in case you don't realize it, your report is so much fun to read and so helpful to those of us planning trips. Sounds like you are having a great time and hats off to you for the inter-generational efforts.
Even with your level of detail I will still have loads of questions when you return since we are following your exact itinerary in JUne -- including the Silk Air flight from Danang to SR. You are the first person I've found who actually has taken this flight -- I was beginning to think it was my imagination.
And ekscrunchy, please post your details as well when you return. Safe travels and happy new year to all!

Erica/Stu, have you heard about Kong Lin?

Bob

[email protected]

Just wanted to drop a line to say thanks for the great report. I am reading along with interest!

I decided on a whim to get some FF tix to Thailand and Cambodia and now am reading the Asia board to try to figure out what I am going to do while there

Cheesehead: What will you be doing there? You'll be having a wonderful time, of course!

Thanks Alison and all for the support. I am actually enjoying writing the trip report more than I thought I would.

Yesterday I was tired and it probably showed in what i wrote. I think the one thing I would advise all visiting Siem Reap is take more down time than you think - its ok not to visit every temple and its ok to just chill at the hotel - still learning this bit. I guess its so far and so expensive for us traveling from S Africa with our weak currency so one thinks one, must get as much in as possible - i am learning though and exhaustion achieves little. I have some down time now so shall put thoughts to paper on the latest part of the report.

good advice

I like your answer Kathie!

I've really been enjoying your post.I'm taking notes for our eventual trip to Vietnam - - thanks for the detail. I'm glad you are enjoying Hotel de la Paix. We thought it was one of the best places we ever stayed. I thought the restaurant was incredible. I have two regrets, both shopping related. First, I didn't buy enough silk scarves in the market across the street (I think I bought 6 or 8). Second, I bought two polychromy plaques at Artisans D'Angkor and they tarnished. I can't find any way to remove the tarnish because they are varnished. Maybe the next fodorite who visits will ask at the shop - they don't answer my emails!
Enjoy the rest of the trip.

Hi all

sorry about your plates DC and I would have asked for you had I known. I didn't buy anythinh at Artistes d'Angkor I found a lot of things expensive and I was "saving" myself for Thailand - where I am now! About to head out and see if the elephants here are like the elephants we have back home - large, grey amd intelligent no doubt. My trip report is long for Cambodia and will get posted shortly

ANyone got anything to advise re Chiang Mai- we are here for 5 days. Restaurants? Sights? Things to buy?
thanks in advance

The one must-see in CM is Doi Suthep.

Here is my report about craft shopping in CM:

Crafts: I opted to visit only fair trade and non-for profit craft places this trip. All of these places are listed in Nancy Chandler. Our stops were Sop Moei Arts, Thai Tribal Crafts, and the Golden Triangle. We also looked for Northern Crafts Center, but it turns out to be an exhibition space, and there was none going on at the time.

Many of you probably know Sop Moei Arts. They have gorgeous things. I was a bit surprised at how limited their selection was. Nonetheless, we found some lovely gifts there.

Thai Tribal Crafts has many items made by a number of the northern hilltribes. The items are inexpensive and charming, and we picked up a lot of small gifts.

The real find of this trip was The Golden Triangle. It was hard to find! Our driver (who could actually read the Nancy Chandler map, and my printing!) was very persistent. We were all triumphant when he found it. But the gate was closed and locked (it was after 5:30). Not to be deterred, he called the phone number and the owner came out and let us in. The Nancy Chandler book says no English is spoken but that is not true. The owner is an Akha woman who was married to a Dutch anthropologist for many years (he is now deceased). Sales of the textiles benefit the Akha women who make the items. She does have old Akha textiles from time to time. We were able to buy several old pieces as well as some new pieces. The items are really unusual. We didn’t see anything like them anywhere else. The owner is a wealth of information about the textiles. We talked for quite a while, and she pointed out that many of the new needlework pieces are done on modern synthetics, as it is less expensive. We bought a number of pieces made from local cottons and dyed with natural dyes. She can tell you which pieces use which techniques and what the various motifs mean. Note that she takes NO CREDIT CARDS. Bring cash!

You might want to read the CM section of my 2006 trip report: Kathie's Chaing Mai, Penang, Bangkok 2006 trip report (or some such title).

advice: head to bkk as soon as you can

Capetownfolk, great report and thanks to all who have made comments. We leave mid Jan for a similar trip and have taken lots of notes.

Thanks, Bob, I didn't say it!

I have to laugh as neither Bob nor I are fond of CM.

Day 17
This morning we had breakfast at the Hotel de la Paix – excellent – especially the eggs Benedict, and the orange juice – oh my!

A few notes on the Hotel de la Paix – the architect apparently has a strong landscape design background and his talent is evident through out the hotel – this was his first hotel. The use of plants different levels, lighting and textures is amazing – I think we photographed every corned of the hotel –so chic and stylish and a must to at least visit if you are ever in Siem Reap. The Art Bar is where you would expect the reception to be and on our last morning the entire floor of this area was filled with about 4 inches of water – when we asked why we were told “just for effect, for a change”. It looked incredible on the black marble tiles – like a mirror reflecting all the beauty of the building around you

We all left to get temple passes – 3 days for $40 each – cash only so make sure you have enough and also make sure you keep the passes – which have your photo on – with you at all times as you do get stopped and asked for the pass along the roads. We went to Angkor Wat first – so amazing and so surprisingly accessible – you can walk just about everywhere, I do wonder how long this will last though. Its really hot here so do bring hats, and sun block and water, and this is supposedly the cool season and we live in Africa! I won’t go on too much about the bas reliefs and the history – I am sure there is lots of such information available elsewhere.

We stopped at about 12 o’clock and went to Café Indochine just near to our hotel. The food is some of the best I have eaten, and we all said this so I do highly recommend it – you turn left out of the front door of the hotel and walk about 5-8 minutes down the road and its on the left. The chicken or beef with kampot pepper is the best and the fish amok was excellent.

In the afternoon Ponheary picked us up at about 2.30pm and we went up in the tethered hot air balloon. Its not an amazing experience but it is worth the money and the one thing it did make us appreciate was the symmetry of the temples and the moat surround. We then went through South Gate to Bayon temple – the pyramid shaped one with the huge smiling faces on the towers. This temple was very beautiful. From here we walked to the monkey temple and the Terrace of Elephants.

This evening we went to a traditional dancing restaurant – Koulen? Recommended by Ponheary. The dancing was lovely and the food was quite good –we liked the extra thin crepes with bean sprouts that were made whilst you wait – all for $12

The husband and I went for a walk around the “Pub Street” area and checked out the bars and art galleries – it was so warm and pleasant to walk around – highly recommended

On a boring note, there is a petrol station to the right of the hotel where you can stock up on shampoo and the like


Day 18

This morning we left with Ponheary for Ta Prohm or Jungle Temple one. This has been my favourite temple – I loved the trees and the atmosphere is unusual in that there are lots of areas where you can wander down a corridor and see no one and feel like you are the only person there and it must have been like this hundreds of years ago – and then you meet a bus full of tourists and its back to reality. There are lots of great photo opportunities you just need to keep moving in the opposite direction to the crowd. It was a bit crowded – compared to say the Minh Mang tomb in Hue but then that is to be expected. It really is like Tomb Raider here! Ponheary was great at explaining the history of the temple and showing us good places to go and take pictures.

We then went to Banteay Kdei this was interesting as there were lots of rooms you step up and down into and a lot less crowded, I really like this temple.

We got back to the hotel early – it was really hot today and chilled for the afternoon until 3.30 – now comes the best bit……..

We drove to the river past lots of palm leaf and straw houses built on stilts. Lots of great photo opportunities – I asked Ponheary if it was ok to photograph people and their houses and she said yes because they believe they are beautiful if you photograph them and ugly if you don’t photograph them – well they must be stunning judging by the amount of photos the husband took – at one point it was “will you please get back in the van before the sun sets and we haven’t even got on the river yet!” Ponheary chose a beautiful long wooden boat for us and we rode down the river to the lake for about 40 minutes. We passed all the houses on stilts and the ones on oil drums and the floating shops and the schools and churches on stilts and we learnt how the houses get towed to other parts of the river in the drier season and then towed back again when the rains have come. It was soooooooo interesting and one of the high lights of this whole trip. The children lay on the bow of the boat and the breeze was wonderful and all was well with the world. I can see how people want to stay here.

We arrived at a sort of floating fish station/ shop/ drinks and tables place and relaxed for about 45 minutes and watched the sun set on the lake – paradise found!

Now here’s an odd bit. When we arrived at the river side and before we got on the boat young girls kept taking our picture with their digital camera which we found strange. When we got back after sunset the same girls were then getting us to buy small plates with Cambodian scenes around the edges and you guessed it- our photos in the middle! You have to admire their entrepreneurialism, thought this is so not my scene. The husband felt we should buy some as they did show initiative- I say its coercion, but oh well, I guess they need the money more than we do.

We were all meant to go to Viroths but the children wanted sandwiches (café at Hotel de la Paix sandwiches half price after 8pm) and TV so we left them safely at the hotel and took a tuk tuk to Viroths – that was fun and we arranged for the same driver to pick us up later and take us back which he did – and we booked him for the next evening. $3 to Viroths and back for all of us. Viroths was very good – a nice setting and good food – very inexpensive and deserving of the good reviews it gets. The wine list is very small – just 4 white wine choices though the cocktail list is extensive. We are still not getting the hang of ordering dishes for the table for us all to share from so we had too much food and the grandma and I chose the same main dish – fish amok and finished neither where we could have ordered something else to share – oh well – got 2 more weeks to get it right!

Tuk tuk home and the end of a wonderful day.

Day 19
This morning – after 2 weeks of traveling, I finally found a solution to the “will you children get down to breakfast now please we are going to be late for our guide AGAIN!” Here’s what you do, or what we now do. The hotel rate includes breakfast and my 16 year old picks at it as does my 12 year old – just too early to eat when you are on holiday, so you have the breakfast delivered to their room – just one breakfast so now you save the $18 (a lot for us Africans) and the novelty of “breakfast in bed” gets them awake and between them they pick at enough food to maybe cover one breakfast – there was still lots left on the tray. To avoid squabbles as to who gets what I said the one child gets first choice of everything today and the other gets first choice tomorrow – happy children, chilled adults! So off to the temples.

We left at 8am and drove to Banteay Srei. Our guide today was “Sepaul”? (Sorry spelling) – an ex student of Ponheary. He was a monk until last month – apparently a lot of Cambodian young men spend some time as a monk – he did one year and he told us it has taught him to be very clam and tolerant of others – we Westerners have much to learn! The drive to the temple took about 45 minutes through the countryside, past buffaloes and oxen, rice and wheat fields – so nice to see the simplicity of life around us. The road was quite pot holed and so the journey was quite bumpy.

Banteay Srei is a very special temple (Kathy you are right) it is much smaller than the others we saw and you can’t walk on it as much as on the others. The colour is very unusual a sort of orangey rose and the bas relief is so finely detailed. It was extremely crowded and we were there early – I think it is less crowded but much hotter in the afternoon, so take your pick. I enjoyed walking around the outside the most with the water lily filled moat between me and the temple – as there were so many people inside I got some great photos with no people in from the outside – good move.

After the temple visit we drove to Artisans d’Angkor which was very interesting – I love the idea that this programme of teaching articstic skills to people in the rural area is helping to keep the villages alive and reducing the number of people coming to the big towns to find work – a problem very evident back in South Africa. The shop here is very well laid out and quite sophisticated. After Vietnam I don’t really see Siem Reap as a shopping place, also am saving some $ for Thailand. The 16 year old bought a “silver” elephant whose body opens up to create a secret compartment – very nice - $15. I bought 2 packs of Cambodian Kampot pepper – been eating that a lot at Café Indochine so I thought I better take some home. The large carved heads were stunning – about $45 - $500 and it would be great to have one shipped home – I will come back one day with just the husband so maybe then…..

We dropped the grandma and children off at the hotel to swim and relax and the husband and I went to Hotel Shinta Mani where we had booked to do a Khmer cooling course. We got there at noon and it was just us and the chef for 2 hours. You get the recipe printed out though the chef did some things differently so take notes, and he cooks a dish and talks you through it – you then eat the food he cooked and then you cook the same thing – wow – no pressure! You definitely get it right when you are so one to one with the chef. We made chicken lemon soup- it was brilliant and I will definitely make it at home – very light yet flavourful – good for our hot climate. A few things we can’t get at home like the lemon pickle and the Tomayam paste, so I shall ask Sepaul if he can take me past the old market later and buy a small jar of each. I have a chef friend who may be able to work out how to recreate it at home for when the jar runs out – otherwise it will be back to Cambodia for some grocery shopping – can you just imagine it… “just popping out for some lemon pickle darling” – then a week later you get back ..hmmm could be fun. Next we made Fish Amok which is the main dish around here – I have had it a few times and its delicious and now I know how to make it – Ha! The dessert was ok, Num Hi – rice flour and coconut balls boiled like gnocchi and with a ginger and sugar and coconut milk soup – don’t think I will make this one again – perhaps if you book this course you can ask for 3 savoury dishes rather than 2 savoury and 1 sweet. At $35 each, plus 10% tax it was really expensive and certainly compared to the $15 dollars we paid at Red Bridge in Hoi An, but I wanted to know about Khmer cooking and I couldn’t find another cooking course n Siem Reap – now I am sure you will all have suggestions for me but its too late, and besides this was a great experience on a more intimate level that Red Bridge – glad we did it.

We chilled out at the hotel and then left again at 3.30 to go to Preah Khan or Sacred Sword temple. I think this temple was the best for me – Sepaul tells me that we each find a temple that feels right for us and this one was definitely mine – it has many rooms and also the trees growing though various sections. Being late in the day there was only the husband and I and maybe 3 other couples and it’s a big temple! Apparently most people visit here in the mornings so my advice to those reading this would be to do as we did and get there about 4hwo. There is a very interesting area that is made up of rounded columns like in the Greek temples that the Cambodian people still are not sure how this form came to be here.

By the way I found out the Tomayam paste here is sold as Tom Yam or Tom Yum paste and was easy to find

This evening we took a couple of tuk tuks to the pub street area and had a meal at the Soup Dragon – it was ok, the view from the third floor terrace was really good – most of the buildings in this area are 2 storey. We also went to the Blue Pumpkin for ice cream – very nice. Back to the hotel to pack for 2 flights tomorrow……..

Just had to chime in again. Your report is wonderful. The attention to detail is super. You transported me back to the temples with the last portion. Keep it coming.

Kathie thanks for the input re craft shopping - I agree with you about chosing who you support- more on this later. We had planned to drive up to Chiang Rai but lots of complaints this side from certain people about too much driving so we cancelled the plans. I will return one day with just the husband or a friend. Again traveling with a diverse age group is not the easiest. This is partly why we chose some down time in Chiang mai as I really don't think some of us would cope with too much time in Bangkok. I guess its like New York - I love it but some people just find it all too much.

Bob this will be an intersting trip to Bangkok as it really will be just a brief taste and again I can come back another time. We shall see. The weather is cool in Chiang Mai - so nice after Siem Reap, but just as many mosquitos! Grr!

i'm loving the whole read....