Thailand 2. - 20. Feb 2007
Apr 13th, 2007 | 12:32 AM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 130
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Thailand 2. - 20. Feb 2007
I would like to start by saying that it was a fantastic trip and the Fodors forum gave us a lot of inspiration. Thank you.
We had planned to go to Thailand for over 3 years but as it happened it wasn’t until a few months ago that things fell into place and we finally booked to go. My husband & I – in our 20’s - left for Thailand on 2nd February from Heathrow on Thai Airways. It was worth the wait.
BANGKOK – AMARI ATRIUM HOTEL – FACE
We landed in Bangkok, and we stayed here for the ½ day that we arrived, and the following day, at the Amari Atrium Hotel – we loved it although it was a bit too far out from the action – approx a 10min walk to the metro, or a 50p taxi ride. Tip – always always get a ‘Taxi Meter’ and make sure it’s turned on, and that includes the trip from the airport. Go downstairs in BKK airport, to the taxi rank – ½ or less of the price of the touts upstairs.
BANGKOK – FACE
First night we went to Face restaurant in Sukhumvit (Thank you Kathie for your recommendation!) and it was just absolutely amazing, even if getting there with a taxi driver who spoke no English and read no romanized Thai wasn’t! It is a traditional teak house with lots of nice features; set in a little garden with ponds, walkways and candles everywhere. There are two restaurants, Thai (which we went to twice) and Indian, and a spa on the premises – beautiful, great ambience, recommended restaurant - the atmosphere being so contrastingly relaxing to the Bangkok outside you could forget where you were. Expensive by Thai prices, although not by English ones, at £30+ for a meal for two with drinks. Chicken red curry was our favourite.
BANGKOK
Our first and only full day in BKK we did the usual sights, taking a tuk-tuk – because as a ‘farang’ it’s expected – to the Grand Palace (packed, and the sun was in all the wrong places in the morning), Wat Pho (reclining Buddha), and Wat Arun. All nice enough, but as usual with these things it can be the places without the tourists being bussed-in which are best. We jumped onto the boat-taxi down to Tha Rachawong pier, and walked to and around Chinatown – a place filled with stuff you didn’t know you didn’t want. Hands on your valuables here – with no exaggeration there will be times when you have no choice but to be moved along in a sea of moving people, and woe betide anyone who falls down or wants to change direction; an experience.
For a more relaxed shopping environment without fried fish, we looked through the Silom, Central and Siam Paragon shopping malls – empty and brand new, expensive but you get security checks on entry. Went to the smaller mall down the road – packed and older, no security checks and toilets were 2p but hey you win some you lose some! Picked up some clothes for a few £, and lunch for even less.
BANGKOK – LOY NAVA DINNER CRUISE
We took the 6pm start for the sunset, although the smog in Bangkok is awful. The food was frankly not all that great; if you want to do this choose the Traditional Thai Menu not the seafood one. At £25 per person (with drinks) we wouldn’t do it again, but if you’re stuck for an evening you do get to see the sights up and down the river. We were going to go to Sirocco / State Tower for drinks, but having a 4am wake-up call for our flight to Cambodia we decided against!
To be continued...
Regards,
Katerina
We had planned to go to Thailand for over 3 years but as it happened it wasn’t until a few months ago that things fell into place and we finally booked to go. My husband & I – in our 20’s - left for Thailand on 2nd February from Heathrow on Thai Airways. It was worth the wait.
BANGKOK – AMARI ATRIUM HOTEL – FACE
We landed in Bangkok, and we stayed here for the ½ day that we arrived, and the following day, at the Amari Atrium Hotel – we loved it although it was a bit too far out from the action – approx a 10min walk to the metro, or a 50p taxi ride. Tip – always always get a ‘Taxi Meter’ and make sure it’s turned on, and that includes the trip from the airport. Go downstairs in BKK airport, to the taxi rank – ½ or less of the price of the touts upstairs.
BANGKOK – FACE
First night we went to Face restaurant in Sukhumvit (Thank you Kathie for your recommendation!) and it was just absolutely amazing, even if getting there with a taxi driver who spoke no English and read no romanized Thai wasn’t! It is a traditional teak house with lots of nice features; set in a little garden with ponds, walkways and candles everywhere. There are two restaurants, Thai (which we went to twice) and Indian, and a spa on the premises – beautiful, great ambience, recommended restaurant - the atmosphere being so contrastingly relaxing to the Bangkok outside you could forget where you were. Expensive by Thai prices, although not by English ones, at £30+ for a meal for two with drinks. Chicken red curry was our favourite.
BANGKOK
Our first and only full day in BKK we did the usual sights, taking a tuk-tuk – because as a ‘farang’ it’s expected – to the Grand Palace (packed, and the sun was in all the wrong places in the morning), Wat Pho (reclining Buddha), and Wat Arun. All nice enough, but as usual with these things it can be the places without the tourists being bussed-in which are best. We jumped onto the boat-taxi down to Tha Rachawong pier, and walked to and around Chinatown – a place filled with stuff you didn’t know you didn’t want. Hands on your valuables here – with no exaggeration there will be times when you have no choice but to be moved along in a sea of moving people, and woe betide anyone who falls down or wants to change direction; an experience.
For a more relaxed shopping environment without fried fish, we looked through the Silom, Central and Siam Paragon shopping malls – empty and brand new, expensive but you get security checks on entry. Went to the smaller mall down the road – packed and older, no security checks and toilets were 2p but hey you win some you lose some! Picked up some clothes for a few £, and lunch for even less.
BANGKOK – LOY NAVA DINNER CRUISE
We took the 6pm start for the sunset, although the smog in Bangkok is awful. The food was frankly not all that great; if you want to do this choose the Traditional Thai Menu not the seafood one. At £25 per person (with drinks) we wouldn’t do it again, but if you’re stuck for an evening you do get to see the sights up and down the river. We were going to go to Sirocco / State Tower for drinks, but having a 4am wake-up call for our flight to Cambodia we decided against!
To be continued...
Regards,
Katerina
Apr 13th, 2007 | 12:05 PM
#5
Original Poster
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 130
Likes: 0
Ok here it is; ehmm you might like to get some tea and biccies... ;-)
CAMBODIA/SIEM REAP
I have to say Siem Reap was outstanding, and the 3 days we stayed in the area didn’t do it justice. We’ll certainly explore the rest of Cambodia, and would recommend at least doing Siem Reap/Angkor Wat if you’re visiting Thailand.
Our flight was the early morning Bangkok Airways, can’t believe they even manage to serve you a quick snack with drinks on such a short flight; we experienced great service at all times. As soon as we landed I knew I would love it there, the vast jungle with palm trees (you know the type, tall with a bulky top!), huge rivers interrupting the jungle once in a while… just so peaceful and yet this is a country that’s been suffering for years with wars and torture...
The airport is very nice, looking more like a hotel - surrounded with decorative pools and huge carvings. I thoroughly recommend that you get the e-visa online; it’s easy and hassle-free. We had to endure a 2 hour long wait for the visa on arrival. Not a great start! Each and every visa application had to be looked at and approved by 7 different uniformed officers…!
We booked to stay at the Auberge Mont Royal d'Angkor hotel. The price, US$33/room inc. tax, also included a complimentary airport pick-up. The driver was already waiting for us at the airport. The road from the airport is lined with huge hotels that are either being built or have already been built – the All Inclusive security-gated types, presumably for less adventurous tourists...
We had planned to chill on our 1st day in Cambodia, but despite the less-than-smooth roads in Siem Reap proper, once at the hotel we realised - how can you sit around with the mighty Angkor so near!?! As soon as we unpacked off we went to explore the town a little and get a bite to eat. The first thing to hit you is the fumes and smog – it is bad, my husband says worse than when he was in Kenya/Nairobi. The traffic is non-stop, and the poverty is noticeable. Despite this, we never felt unsafe or unsure, and I was very pleasantly surprised by the town, whose size is slowly increasing - the new developments can be seen all around the outskirts, which is a shame I think. The town itself has a very nice colonial feel, there are plenty of trendy restaurants and bars in the town, which despite the conditions outside wouldn’t shame European cities. During the day the town feels more or less deserted, you can only see the locals or the odd backpacker or traveller; in the evening it gets a lot livelier but still the town isn’t touristy.
Cambodia is very poor country, you can see the people beaten up by the regime and life in general yet they always manage to smile and seemingly see the positive side of life. It would seem we have so much to learn from them – my husband and I agreed it’s a great place to get things in perspective – each night we passed a father sleeping on the street with his 2 children, who were surely barely old enough to walk. Cambodia and her people really touched our hearts – despite the poor conditions, we never felt worried – and this included walking km at 5am and midnight, shopping in the local market, and entrusting our limbs with a tuk-tuk driver! We wished we would have stayed longer, but we both agreed that this is not our last visit.
We wanted to waste no more time in getting to Angkor, although Siem Reap wasn’t short of sights itself – we were passed by a man on a moped with 2 live pigs strapped to the back, squealing! This was shortly after a man drove by on a moped, with a female passenger attached to an IV drip she was holding up! - Cambodian answer to an ambulance?! ;-)
Our hotel was offering $50/day for an a/c car and guide for the temples, but having walked into Siem Reap we stopped at one of the (hundreds?) of unoccupied tuk-tuk drivers. We asked him to give us his best price to take us down to Angkor Wat and to Phnom Bakheng for a sunset; his first quote was for $4 for some 7 hours! Cue a few minutes of us trying to decide if he said $40, $14, or $4! After we asked him the 10th time, his polite smile started to fade - the answer was $4… He obviously expected us to bargain him down (as in normal for everything in Cambodia) but we were so gobsmacked by the price we just agreed, how could we possibly ask him to lower the price?!! We felt bad as it was, he was always on time (ahead of time) – we used him for the rest of the trip. He ran (literally) for pineapple when we needed refreshing – ps, Cambodian pineapple is juicy! We tried to eat it whilst leaning out of the tuk-tuk… He had cold bottled water for us and gave us suggestions/advice as to what places we should go to etc. Although his English was extremely limited, with the help of sign language and a map we always somehow understood each other. We paid him $10/day for the following 2 days, and $15 for the last ½ day – the only time my husband says he has felt generous and cheap at the same time.
My husband says the main thing about Angkor that you can’t appreciate until you go there is the sheer magnitude of the area covered by the temples and ruins. We travelled for up to 45mins (albeit by tuk-tuk) across only the main sites, and most of the people who stay in the gated hotels travel around in air-conditioned buses.
We visited the following temples:
ANGKOR WAT – as mentioned on our first day we visited the main temple. I got goose bumps when we approached it, it is phenomenal! The sheer land it covers, you can almost feel history enveloping you… can’t describe it really, just wish I could have a little peek at what it was like back in its days of glory… We were very lucky as there were not too many people; we arrived around 3pm so I guess the main tourist buses had left by then. We saw a lot of monks during our exploration and we were very surprised to see that they are much ‘acclimatised’ to the outside world e.g. mobile phones, cigarettes – surely this is not permitted in Buddhism? ;-) We stayed here for more than 3 hours to soak up the atmosphere.
We then headed to PHNOM BAKHENG for the sunset. Oh my; so many people!! Very nice sunset but I was disappointed to see that you can only just get a glimpse of Angkor Wat and the sunset is the other direction anyway… although it was a bit misty the views were still amazing and again you realise how vast the area is…
Our second day started rather early, at 4.00am to be precise!! Our tuk-tuk driver was already patiently waiting for us to take us to ANGKOR WAT to watch the sunrise. It was just so beautiful; I had to keep pinching myself that I’m not dreaming this whole experience! ;-) We got there early and got a great seat on one of the pools – Angkor and sunrise behind it in the reflection. I took a note of one of the review I found on Fodors about the sunrise; after all the colours disappear it gets light and most of the people assume that that’s it, but WAIT! After half an hour the huge, red, actual sun will appear and it is very pretty and worth the wait.
Then we headed back to our hotel for breakfast and then straight back out. In hindsight we should have taken a picnic with us to save us the journey… We started off with BANTEAY KDEI where, at 8am, we were literally on our own with no other tourists. This was a pretty bog-standard temple ruin (by the standards here that is!), although it was long, and there were quite a few locals seemingly living in there. Also a ‘policeman’ who asked my husband for money; he just said no and walked off with no further trouble – preferring to give the money to a mother who let him photograph her gorgeous daughter!
From there we walked all the way to TA PROHM temple (the famous one – as a previous Fodors member wrote, Indiana Jones come to life!). This was something else! The only disappointing thing was that it was swamped with lot of tourists, although we decided to be patient and waited 20 minutes at each part we wanted a photo of - you can still have some parts to yourself, although you really have to time the pictures between the whirlwind of bussed tourists. We decided to come back the following day at a different time. From here we walked back to Banteay Kdei where we met with our driver. On the way we saw nothing but local dwellings and nobody but local kids walking back from school, who walked with us for a while and asked endless questions – with an impressive knowledge of English. It was brilliantly peaceful and everyone was surprised that we were walking in the middle of ‘nowhere’ – we also received endless offers to jump on the back of mopeds - but we thoroughly enjoyed it, despite walking about 5km!
Totally exhausted we decided to spend the afternoon by the pool, and as soon as we hit the sun lounger, we were in the land of nod! ;-) Well it was only the 2nd day of the trip, perhaps we should have allowed for jet-lag!
The following day we started early with BAYON – the ‘face’ temple, beautiful and very interesting temple, definitely worth a visit. We continued to ANGKOR THOM COMPLEX and the ELEPHANT TERRACE. Interesting enough, but as the temples started to fill with tourists we wanted to go a bit further out, so our driver took us to PREAH KHAN. This was one of our favourite temples, it is different from the others - apparently it used to have 2 storeys and you can still see the remains of the walls that used to support the structure. It actually reminded us of Roman-type architecture. The corridors of the complex cross, creating a hall in the middle with a ‘fountain’. We noticed a lot of holes in the walls and we were explained that there used to be diamonds in each one, but the Khmer regime stole everything… we were there almost alone apart from few local women selling the most delicious pineapple yum! ;-) It’s well worth walking all the way through Preah Khan, as there are some stunning tree/temple ruins at the far side.
After lunch we of course headed back to do more temples – despite initial worries we weren’t ‘templed out’. We went back to TA PROHM at about 4-5pm and this time the light was just right for some amazing photos, also the touristy buses left so it was a very peaceful and spiritual place to be. We also managed to find loads of areas we had somehow missed the first time through! It really is that big. I was recommended to go to PRE RUP for the sunset; the temple is definitely different, but less interesting. You can see the hills in the background to the north/east but you can’t spot the Angkor Wat from there. Our sunset was rubbish there! However, we were impressed when one of the children selling postcards there asked where we were from – I’m originally from the Czech Republic: to which he replied “capital Prague”! … In general not many people tend to know so I was impressed when a little kid in Cambodia knows his geography! ;-)
I really wanted to visit the Tonle Sap Lake but after long discussions we decided that we would leave it for another visit. Our main reason for coming to Cambodia was Angkor Wat and to see as much of it as we could. This of course is impossible given the timeframe we had but we did our best, we decided to do smaller number of temples but enjoy them for a longer time - it worked great for us as we didn’t feel rushed. I think it would be quite easy to spend 7 days in Siem Reap and still have plenty of activities to do.
Also wanted to visit the Artisans d'Angkor school but again run out of time so the shop at the airport had to do, they’ve got some lovely stuff! We did however visit the local market in the evening and bought few bits and pieces from wooden carvings to table cloths etc we haggled hard and managed to snatch some real bargains! ;-)
As for the eateries; we found a very cosy restaurant, ”Touch”, across the road from ‘Red Piano’ restaurant, very chic, contemporary furnishings, lovely food and cocktails! ;-)
Now what is up with the driving, can you believe that I didn’t even realise that Cambodians drive on the right?! And that’s after coming from Thailand where they drive on the left! That tells you something about the style of their driving, because most of the time you’re sort of in between both sides or just simply trying to stay on the road or fit in! After Siem Reap Bangkok feels like a very calming place in terms of traffic and, if you’ve been to Bangkok you’ll know that’s saying something!! Our record was 3 on a bicycle and 5 on a moped!
A few words on the hotel; Auberge Mont Royal d'Angkor hotel was adequate, no luxury but for $33 a night in peak season I would not expect it anyway. The bathrooms are rather spartan and tiny but very clean. Location is great; there is also a nice pool area. The price includes breakfast, which again is decent. Overall a good choice considering we were hardly in the hotel and mainly spent our time exploring the outdoors.
I was a bit surprised by the weather, it was quite chilly in the morning and evenings (jumpers for the sunrise and rides home), hot during the day but not unbearably hot – we wore trousers. I’d say the best time to go for the temples; on the other hand I would love to see Cambodia in the green season as the jungle did look dry at the time we were there.
Cambodia had a lot to offer us, from the outstanding scenery and sights, to the simple fact no sellers hassled us when walking around the local market. It sounds a cliché, but we truly were generally greeted with smiles throughout Thailand and Cambodia, and we met some lovely people. I am sure that this was not our last visit.
....
ps - there's still more of Thailand to come!
CAMBODIA/SIEM REAP
I have to say Siem Reap was outstanding, and the 3 days we stayed in the area didn’t do it justice. We’ll certainly explore the rest of Cambodia, and would recommend at least doing Siem Reap/Angkor Wat if you’re visiting Thailand.
Our flight was the early morning Bangkok Airways, can’t believe they even manage to serve you a quick snack with drinks on such a short flight; we experienced great service at all times. As soon as we landed I knew I would love it there, the vast jungle with palm trees (you know the type, tall with a bulky top!), huge rivers interrupting the jungle once in a while… just so peaceful and yet this is a country that’s been suffering for years with wars and torture...
The airport is very nice, looking more like a hotel - surrounded with decorative pools and huge carvings. I thoroughly recommend that you get the e-visa online; it’s easy and hassle-free. We had to endure a 2 hour long wait for the visa on arrival. Not a great start! Each and every visa application had to be looked at and approved by 7 different uniformed officers…!
We booked to stay at the Auberge Mont Royal d'Angkor hotel. The price, US$33/room inc. tax, also included a complimentary airport pick-up. The driver was already waiting for us at the airport. The road from the airport is lined with huge hotels that are either being built or have already been built – the All Inclusive security-gated types, presumably for less adventurous tourists...
We had planned to chill on our 1st day in Cambodia, but despite the less-than-smooth roads in Siem Reap proper, once at the hotel we realised - how can you sit around with the mighty Angkor so near!?! As soon as we unpacked off we went to explore the town a little and get a bite to eat. The first thing to hit you is the fumes and smog – it is bad, my husband says worse than when he was in Kenya/Nairobi. The traffic is non-stop, and the poverty is noticeable. Despite this, we never felt unsafe or unsure, and I was very pleasantly surprised by the town, whose size is slowly increasing - the new developments can be seen all around the outskirts, which is a shame I think. The town itself has a very nice colonial feel, there are plenty of trendy restaurants and bars in the town, which despite the conditions outside wouldn’t shame European cities. During the day the town feels more or less deserted, you can only see the locals or the odd backpacker or traveller; in the evening it gets a lot livelier but still the town isn’t touristy.
Cambodia is very poor country, you can see the people beaten up by the regime and life in general yet they always manage to smile and seemingly see the positive side of life. It would seem we have so much to learn from them – my husband and I agreed it’s a great place to get things in perspective – each night we passed a father sleeping on the street with his 2 children, who were surely barely old enough to walk. Cambodia and her people really touched our hearts – despite the poor conditions, we never felt worried – and this included walking km at 5am and midnight, shopping in the local market, and entrusting our limbs with a tuk-tuk driver! We wished we would have stayed longer, but we both agreed that this is not our last visit.
We wanted to waste no more time in getting to Angkor, although Siem Reap wasn’t short of sights itself – we were passed by a man on a moped with 2 live pigs strapped to the back, squealing! This was shortly after a man drove by on a moped, with a female passenger attached to an IV drip she was holding up! - Cambodian answer to an ambulance?! ;-)
Our hotel was offering $50/day for an a/c car and guide for the temples, but having walked into Siem Reap we stopped at one of the (hundreds?) of unoccupied tuk-tuk drivers. We asked him to give us his best price to take us down to Angkor Wat and to Phnom Bakheng for a sunset; his first quote was for $4 for some 7 hours! Cue a few minutes of us trying to decide if he said $40, $14, or $4! After we asked him the 10th time, his polite smile started to fade - the answer was $4… He obviously expected us to bargain him down (as in normal for everything in Cambodia) but we were so gobsmacked by the price we just agreed, how could we possibly ask him to lower the price?!! We felt bad as it was, he was always on time (ahead of time) – we used him for the rest of the trip. He ran (literally) for pineapple when we needed refreshing – ps, Cambodian pineapple is juicy! We tried to eat it whilst leaning out of the tuk-tuk… He had cold bottled water for us and gave us suggestions/advice as to what places we should go to etc. Although his English was extremely limited, with the help of sign language and a map we always somehow understood each other. We paid him $10/day for the following 2 days, and $15 for the last ½ day – the only time my husband says he has felt generous and cheap at the same time.
My husband says the main thing about Angkor that you can’t appreciate until you go there is the sheer magnitude of the area covered by the temples and ruins. We travelled for up to 45mins (albeit by tuk-tuk) across only the main sites, and most of the people who stay in the gated hotels travel around in air-conditioned buses.
We visited the following temples:
ANGKOR WAT – as mentioned on our first day we visited the main temple. I got goose bumps when we approached it, it is phenomenal! The sheer land it covers, you can almost feel history enveloping you… can’t describe it really, just wish I could have a little peek at what it was like back in its days of glory… We were very lucky as there were not too many people; we arrived around 3pm so I guess the main tourist buses had left by then. We saw a lot of monks during our exploration and we were very surprised to see that they are much ‘acclimatised’ to the outside world e.g. mobile phones, cigarettes – surely this is not permitted in Buddhism? ;-) We stayed here for more than 3 hours to soak up the atmosphere.
We then headed to PHNOM BAKHENG for the sunset. Oh my; so many people!! Very nice sunset but I was disappointed to see that you can only just get a glimpse of Angkor Wat and the sunset is the other direction anyway… although it was a bit misty the views were still amazing and again you realise how vast the area is…
Our second day started rather early, at 4.00am to be precise!! Our tuk-tuk driver was already patiently waiting for us to take us to ANGKOR WAT to watch the sunrise. It was just so beautiful; I had to keep pinching myself that I’m not dreaming this whole experience! ;-) We got there early and got a great seat on one of the pools – Angkor and sunrise behind it in the reflection. I took a note of one of the review I found on Fodors about the sunrise; after all the colours disappear it gets light and most of the people assume that that’s it, but WAIT! After half an hour the huge, red, actual sun will appear and it is very pretty and worth the wait.
Then we headed back to our hotel for breakfast and then straight back out. In hindsight we should have taken a picnic with us to save us the journey… We started off with BANTEAY KDEI where, at 8am, we were literally on our own with no other tourists. This was a pretty bog-standard temple ruin (by the standards here that is!), although it was long, and there were quite a few locals seemingly living in there. Also a ‘policeman’ who asked my husband for money; he just said no and walked off with no further trouble – preferring to give the money to a mother who let him photograph her gorgeous daughter!
From there we walked all the way to TA PROHM temple (the famous one – as a previous Fodors member wrote, Indiana Jones come to life!). This was something else! The only disappointing thing was that it was swamped with lot of tourists, although we decided to be patient and waited 20 minutes at each part we wanted a photo of - you can still have some parts to yourself, although you really have to time the pictures between the whirlwind of bussed tourists. We decided to come back the following day at a different time. From here we walked back to Banteay Kdei where we met with our driver. On the way we saw nothing but local dwellings and nobody but local kids walking back from school, who walked with us for a while and asked endless questions – with an impressive knowledge of English. It was brilliantly peaceful and everyone was surprised that we were walking in the middle of ‘nowhere’ – we also received endless offers to jump on the back of mopeds - but we thoroughly enjoyed it, despite walking about 5km!
Totally exhausted we decided to spend the afternoon by the pool, and as soon as we hit the sun lounger, we were in the land of nod! ;-) Well it was only the 2nd day of the trip, perhaps we should have allowed for jet-lag!
The following day we started early with BAYON – the ‘face’ temple, beautiful and very interesting temple, definitely worth a visit. We continued to ANGKOR THOM COMPLEX and the ELEPHANT TERRACE. Interesting enough, but as the temples started to fill with tourists we wanted to go a bit further out, so our driver took us to PREAH KHAN. This was one of our favourite temples, it is different from the others - apparently it used to have 2 storeys and you can still see the remains of the walls that used to support the structure. It actually reminded us of Roman-type architecture. The corridors of the complex cross, creating a hall in the middle with a ‘fountain’. We noticed a lot of holes in the walls and we were explained that there used to be diamonds in each one, but the Khmer regime stole everything… we were there almost alone apart from few local women selling the most delicious pineapple yum! ;-) It’s well worth walking all the way through Preah Khan, as there are some stunning tree/temple ruins at the far side.
After lunch we of course headed back to do more temples – despite initial worries we weren’t ‘templed out’. We went back to TA PROHM at about 4-5pm and this time the light was just right for some amazing photos, also the touristy buses left so it was a very peaceful and spiritual place to be. We also managed to find loads of areas we had somehow missed the first time through! It really is that big. I was recommended to go to PRE RUP for the sunset; the temple is definitely different, but less interesting. You can see the hills in the background to the north/east but you can’t spot the Angkor Wat from there. Our sunset was rubbish there! However, we were impressed when one of the children selling postcards there asked where we were from – I’m originally from the Czech Republic: to which he replied “capital Prague”! … In general not many people tend to know so I was impressed when a little kid in Cambodia knows his geography! ;-)
I really wanted to visit the Tonle Sap Lake but after long discussions we decided that we would leave it for another visit. Our main reason for coming to Cambodia was Angkor Wat and to see as much of it as we could. This of course is impossible given the timeframe we had but we did our best, we decided to do smaller number of temples but enjoy them for a longer time - it worked great for us as we didn’t feel rushed. I think it would be quite easy to spend 7 days in Siem Reap and still have plenty of activities to do.
Also wanted to visit the Artisans d'Angkor school but again run out of time so the shop at the airport had to do, they’ve got some lovely stuff! We did however visit the local market in the evening and bought few bits and pieces from wooden carvings to table cloths etc we haggled hard and managed to snatch some real bargains! ;-)
As for the eateries; we found a very cosy restaurant, ”Touch”, across the road from ‘Red Piano’ restaurant, very chic, contemporary furnishings, lovely food and cocktails! ;-)
Now what is up with the driving, can you believe that I didn’t even realise that Cambodians drive on the right?! And that’s after coming from Thailand where they drive on the left! That tells you something about the style of their driving, because most of the time you’re sort of in between both sides or just simply trying to stay on the road or fit in! After Siem Reap Bangkok feels like a very calming place in terms of traffic and, if you’ve been to Bangkok you’ll know that’s saying something!! Our record was 3 on a bicycle and 5 on a moped!
A few words on the hotel; Auberge Mont Royal d'Angkor hotel was adequate, no luxury but for $33 a night in peak season I would not expect it anyway. The bathrooms are rather spartan and tiny but very clean. Location is great; there is also a nice pool area. The price includes breakfast, which again is decent. Overall a good choice considering we were hardly in the hotel and mainly spent our time exploring the outdoors.
I was a bit surprised by the weather, it was quite chilly in the morning and evenings (jumpers for the sunrise and rides home), hot during the day but not unbearably hot – we wore trousers. I’d say the best time to go for the temples; on the other hand I would love to see Cambodia in the green season as the jungle did look dry at the time we were there.
Cambodia had a lot to offer us, from the outstanding scenery and sights, to the simple fact no sellers hassled us when walking around the local market. It sounds a cliché, but we truly were generally greeted with smiles throughout Thailand and Cambodia, and we met some lovely people. I am sure that this was not our last visit.
....
ps - there's still more of Thailand to come!
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Apr 27th, 2007 | 06:24 AM
#9
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Joined: Sep 2006
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Sorry for not finishing this report sooner, I was away in Italy - Venice ;-)
BANGKOK – HUA LAMPHONG TRAIN STATION – OVERNIGHT TRAIN NORTH
We arrived back in Bangkok midday, and went straight to the station where we left our luggage. We really couldn’t face walking around looking for a decent restaurant, so went to, um, Face, again! We had the place all to ourselves, but a word of warning - the barman doesn’t work till the evening. Thus our waitress seemed to get confused as to the amounts to pour for the drink and the mixer…
add Bangkok heat = merry lunch!
Funnily enough we didn’t feel the need to explore Bangkok more, so took it easy till our 1900-0900 train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. The train was full, a mixture of Thais and backpackers, with an American school trip thrown in for good measure. We went for a “1st class” compartment, which was clean and adequate, and once they turned the seat into bunkbeds with clean sheets etc, a nice way to save on a flight/hotel fee, although there isn’t as much scenery to see as we’d have liked. We’d do it again only if it was convenient – 12 hours was a long time. Oh, and skip the train breakfast, unless your idea of tasty is soggy and lukewarm.
CHIANG MAI AREA – BAAN RAI LANNA RESORT
After our gruelling train journey finally arrived in Chiang Mai, we were picked up from the train station, whizzed through the city and headed to Baan Rai village for 3 nights. The hotel (well hardly – only 6 bungalows to the resort) was called Baan Rai Lanna and it is approximately 1 hour away from Chiang Mai. It is an absolutely delightful hideaway! We had the resort to ourselves for 2 nights and on the last night shared it with only 1 other guest!!! The staff were incredibly helpful, and include an on-site masseuse…
The resort and the area are very relaxing and picturesque. They have mountain bikes available with a map of the local area and villages. We twice went for bike rides, and they turned out to be a highlight of the whole trip – despite being in the middle of nowhere, we felt safe and even explored some poor guy’s banana grove (by accident).
We also organised a tour to the Karen Long Neck tribe –which turned out to be the human zoo as expected - and Lang Dao cave – ok but nothing great. We would have preferred to have staying at the resort to enjoy the birds and mountain scenery from the infinity pool – which by the way, if you go in you are braver than me.
We were a bit worried about the food as you are kind of stranded in the resort but the food was very reasonably priced and extremely tasty. One evening we ordered whiskey with sprite for 200Bht assuming that we would get a shot but oh no they brought us a whole bottle of local whiskey!!! It took us a little while to get through it so every evening we strolled down to the restaurant with a bottle of whiskey - not the most romantic look I agree! ;-)
PHUKET – KATA
After 3 very relaxing nights in the north we flew to Phuket, and having missed the last boat to Phi Phi had to book a hotel in Kata. I specifically chose this area after endless reading on TA/Fodors - most of the people say Kata beach is the most relaxed place. I beg to differ! We felt we were on the Spanish Costa – all leather tans and gold chains. The place was absolutely full of tourists, and generally the type who make you ashamed. Suffice to say as were we using the net in our hotel reception a number of overweight Westerners came in to book a room by the hour with their newly found Thai girlfriends. We knew that we will see this occasionally but quite frankly it was shocking to see to what extent this has come to - I don’t even want to start imagining what Patong must look like! Each to their own, but there was nothing to suggest this was Thailand – and even the local Thais here didn’t have their famous friendliness, especially compared to up North. Discussing this with a few travellers we met, we came to the same opinion it was probably a reflection of who they had to deal with. It’s hard to judge Phuket on such a short trip – the scenery to the North was brilliant and the area seemed better, but the whole feel of Kata was everything but relaxing and a far cry from the Thai experience we went for.
KOH PHI PHI DON
After Phuket we spent another 3 nights on Phi Phi Island in Phi Phi Villa resort (basic, overpriced, “room cleaning on request”) and we were equally disappointed. The scenery is breathtaking but the whole place is so busy and loud, although to be fair we did arrive at the height of the day-tripper invasion. Everyday we made our way as far as possible from our hotel, which was located at the end of the Ton Sai Bay build-up. We found a secluded little cove, about 30mins walk through jungle, where we relaxed and were finally able to enjoy Phi Phi Island. Perhaps this sounds negative, but when your expectation is for perfection I guess you’re bound to be a little disappointed. The scenery of the Island is however amazing, and in hindsight we should have stayed further away from the crowds. The upside was the pancake lady outside Phi Phi Villa resort – £0.30 for her pancakes for breakfast was the best option by a long shot. And see if you can spot her kid – she’s the cute one!
MAYA BAY – (KOH PHI PHI LEY)
We hired a private long tail boat to take us to Maya Bay - and were very happy to find out that we were the first ones to arrive! Mind you we did leave at 07:00 – but to be on ‘The Beach’ by ourselves was spectacular, and a real treat on Valentine’s Day! We enjoyed a whole hour of quietness and bliss; we left as soon as the first tourist boats started to arrive; I am very impressed that the place is still so beautiful and untouched after the never-ending raids of tourists, even if there is a snack-shop there.
KRABI AREA – AO NANG – THE CLIFF RESORT
We finished off in the Krabi area for 4 nights, staying at The Cliff resort, which was surprisingly on a main road, although this wasn’t an issue. This is a beautiful, intimate resort, although initially we were a bit apprehensive here as the rooms are not all that private, although you get used to it.
Ao Nang and the Krabi area had, by far, the most impressive and stunning scenery, palm trees and limestone cliffs/rock-formations. Ao Nang, although still a bit commercialised, was much better alternative to Phuket. And I bet if we ventured down to Ko Lanta we would have found the Thailand that we experienced in the north. We did a few trips to Railey Beach, Phrang Nhang Cave beach and Koh Poda Island – long tail boats (fixed prices) run fairly frequently to most places. We also went on a tour that comprised an elephant track through jungle and rivers, and a hike up to Tiger Temple. To be precise you have to climb exactly 1250 steps - we made it, an achievement you can only really appreciate if you’ve tried it yourself! The views are, as expected, amazing from the top and it gives you a real sense of achievement ;-) … can you believe that my husband & I were the only people from the tour who climbed up there? Everyone else simply could not be bothered… ! Well, they just had to wait at the bottom for the hour it took us – which we’re told is a respectable time!
THAILAND AND CAMBODIA
To sum up we had a fantastic time in Thailand & Cambodia. It always seems like a cliché, but the people we met were just amazing and so friendly; we have a lot to learn from them. Whether it was the school kids laughing and chasing us as we rode by, or the old shopkeeper who then offered us a bed in his house because we looked too tired to make it to our village before sunset, it was a rare experience to feel genuine warmth from strangers.
Although some places didn’t live up to our expectations, there were some places that totally surprised us; it is all an experience and I think that’s what travelling is about.
ps we loved the food!
BANGKOK – HUA LAMPHONG TRAIN STATION – OVERNIGHT TRAIN NORTH
We arrived back in Bangkok midday, and went straight to the station where we left our luggage. We really couldn’t face walking around looking for a decent restaurant, so went to, um, Face, again! We had the place all to ourselves, but a word of warning - the barman doesn’t work till the evening. Thus our waitress seemed to get confused as to the amounts to pour for the drink and the mixer…
add Bangkok heat = merry lunch! Funnily enough we didn’t feel the need to explore Bangkok more, so took it easy till our 1900-0900 train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. The train was full, a mixture of Thais and backpackers, with an American school trip thrown in for good measure. We went for a “1st class” compartment, which was clean and adequate, and once they turned the seat into bunkbeds with clean sheets etc, a nice way to save on a flight/hotel fee, although there isn’t as much scenery to see as we’d have liked. We’d do it again only if it was convenient – 12 hours was a long time. Oh, and skip the train breakfast, unless your idea of tasty is soggy and lukewarm.
CHIANG MAI AREA – BAAN RAI LANNA RESORT
After our gruelling train journey finally arrived in Chiang Mai, we were picked up from the train station, whizzed through the city and headed to Baan Rai village for 3 nights. The hotel (well hardly – only 6 bungalows to the resort) was called Baan Rai Lanna and it is approximately 1 hour away from Chiang Mai. It is an absolutely delightful hideaway! We had the resort to ourselves for 2 nights and on the last night shared it with only 1 other guest!!! The staff were incredibly helpful, and include an on-site masseuse…
The resort and the area are very relaxing and picturesque. They have mountain bikes available with a map of the local area and villages. We twice went for bike rides, and they turned out to be a highlight of the whole trip – despite being in the middle of nowhere, we felt safe and even explored some poor guy’s banana grove (by accident).
We also organised a tour to the Karen Long Neck tribe –which turned out to be the human zoo as expected - and Lang Dao cave – ok but nothing great. We would have preferred to have staying at the resort to enjoy the birds and mountain scenery from the infinity pool – which by the way, if you go in you are braver than me.
We were a bit worried about the food as you are kind of stranded in the resort but the food was very reasonably priced and extremely tasty. One evening we ordered whiskey with sprite for 200Bht assuming that we would get a shot but oh no they brought us a whole bottle of local whiskey!!! It took us a little while to get through it so every evening we strolled down to the restaurant with a bottle of whiskey - not the most romantic look I agree! ;-)
PHUKET – KATA
After 3 very relaxing nights in the north we flew to Phuket, and having missed the last boat to Phi Phi had to book a hotel in Kata. I specifically chose this area after endless reading on TA/Fodors - most of the people say Kata beach is the most relaxed place. I beg to differ! We felt we were on the Spanish Costa – all leather tans and gold chains. The place was absolutely full of tourists, and generally the type who make you ashamed. Suffice to say as were we using the net in our hotel reception a number of overweight Westerners came in to book a room by the hour with their newly found Thai girlfriends. We knew that we will see this occasionally but quite frankly it was shocking to see to what extent this has come to - I don’t even want to start imagining what Patong must look like! Each to their own, but there was nothing to suggest this was Thailand – and even the local Thais here didn’t have their famous friendliness, especially compared to up North. Discussing this with a few travellers we met, we came to the same opinion it was probably a reflection of who they had to deal with. It’s hard to judge Phuket on such a short trip – the scenery to the North was brilliant and the area seemed better, but the whole feel of Kata was everything but relaxing and a far cry from the Thai experience we went for.
KOH PHI PHI DON
After Phuket we spent another 3 nights on Phi Phi Island in Phi Phi Villa resort (basic, overpriced, “room cleaning on request”) and we were equally disappointed. The scenery is breathtaking but the whole place is so busy and loud, although to be fair we did arrive at the height of the day-tripper invasion. Everyday we made our way as far as possible from our hotel, which was located at the end of the Ton Sai Bay build-up. We found a secluded little cove, about 30mins walk through jungle, where we relaxed and were finally able to enjoy Phi Phi Island. Perhaps this sounds negative, but when your expectation is for perfection I guess you’re bound to be a little disappointed. The scenery of the Island is however amazing, and in hindsight we should have stayed further away from the crowds. The upside was the pancake lady outside Phi Phi Villa resort – £0.30 for her pancakes for breakfast was the best option by a long shot. And see if you can spot her kid – she’s the cute one!
MAYA BAY – (KOH PHI PHI LEY)
We hired a private long tail boat to take us to Maya Bay - and were very happy to find out that we were the first ones to arrive! Mind you we did leave at 07:00 – but to be on ‘The Beach’ by ourselves was spectacular, and a real treat on Valentine’s Day! We enjoyed a whole hour of quietness and bliss; we left as soon as the first tourist boats started to arrive; I am very impressed that the place is still so beautiful and untouched after the never-ending raids of tourists, even if there is a snack-shop there.
KRABI AREA – AO NANG – THE CLIFF RESORT
We finished off in the Krabi area for 4 nights, staying at The Cliff resort, which was surprisingly on a main road, although this wasn’t an issue. This is a beautiful, intimate resort, although initially we were a bit apprehensive here as the rooms are not all that private, although you get used to it.
Ao Nang and the Krabi area had, by far, the most impressive and stunning scenery, palm trees and limestone cliffs/rock-formations. Ao Nang, although still a bit commercialised, was much better alternative to Phuket. And I bet if we ventured down to Ko Lanta we would have found the Thailand that we experienced in the north. We did a few trips to Railey Beach, Phrang Nhang Cave beach and Koh Poda Island – long tail boats (fixed prices) run fairly frequently to most places. We also went on a tour that comprised an elephant track through jungle and rivers, and a hike up to Tiger Temple. To be precise you have to climb exactly 1250 steps - we made it, an achievement you can only really appreciate if you’ve tried it yourself! The views are, as expected, amazing from the top and it gives you a real sense of achievement ;-) … can you believe that my husband & I were the only people from the tour who climbed up there? Everyone else simply could not be bothered… ! Well, they just had to wait at the bottom for the hour it took us – which we’re told is a respectable time!
THAILAND AND CAMBODIA
To sum up we had a fantastic time in Thailand & Cambodia. It always seems like a cliché, but the people we met were just amazing and so friendly; we have a lot to learn from them. Whether it was the school kids laughing and chasing us as we rode by, or the old shopkeeper who then offered us a bed in his house because we looked too tired to make it to our village before sunset, it was a rare experience to feel genuine warmth from strangers.
Although some places didn’t live up to our expectations, there were some places that totally surprised us; it is all an experience and I think that’s what travelling is about.
ps we loved the food!
Apr 27th, 2007 | 06:14 PM
#12
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 11,334
Likes: 0
Thanks for the report! I was also in Bangkok in February...
I'm sorry you did not enjoy Kata Beach. Kata and Kata Noi are my favorite places on Phuket. But we have stayed at the very farthest southern end of Kata, maybe there was less tourist activity there?? We thought it was peaceful anyway.
I'm sorry you did not enjoy Kata Beach. Kata and Kata Noi are my favorite places on Phuket. But we have stayed at the very farthest southern end of Kata, maybe there was less tourist activity there?? We thought it was peaceful anyway.
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