Trip Report 1 - BKK and Siem Reap
Mar 8th, 2006, 07:14 AM
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Trip Report 1 - BKK and Siem Reap
Hello Fodorites!
Just back from our trip to Cambodia and Thailands, and since I was helped so much by the postings on this board, I figured I'd return the favor!! I'm going to break these reports into a few postings, to avoid ridiculous length, but here's a quick overall summary of where we were and accomodations:
Day 1: Arrival in BKK, Asia Airport Hotel
Day 2-4: Siem Reap, Golden Temple Villa
Day 4-8: Phujet, Manathai Hotel (Surin)
Day 8-9: Chaing Mai, Baan Orapin
Day 10-11: Chaing Mai, Lanna Mantra
Day 12-14: Mae Hong Son Loop
Day 14-17: Bangkok, Bhiman Inn
Trip Report 1: BKK to Siem Reap
We used frequent flier miles
Just back from our trip to Cambodia and Thailands, and since I was helped so much by the postings on this board, I figured I'd return the favor!! I'm going to break these reports into a few postings, to avoid ridiculous length, but here's a quick overall summary of where we were and accomodations:
Day 1: Arrival in BKK, Asia Airport Hotel
Day 2-4: Siem Reap, Golden Temple Villa
Day 4-8: Phujet, Manathai Hotel (Surin)
Day 8-9: Chaing Mai, Baan Orapin
Day 10-11: Chaing Mai, Lanna Mantra
Day 12-14: Mae Hong Son Loop
Day 14-17: Bangkok, Bhiman Inn
Trip Report 1: BKK to Siem Reap
We used frequent flier miles
Mar 8th, 2006, 07:35 AM
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Whoops, hit the wrong button!! Which also did not give me time to catch "Phujet" instead of Phuket. Forgive me - still jetlagged!!
As I was saying...
Trip Report 1: BKK to Siem Reap
We used frequent flier miles to take ANA from Washington, DC to BKK, arriving at around midnight. We'd prebooked, using AsiaTravel.com, at the Asia Airport hotel for around USD $40, and the shuttle was there to pick us up. Pretty basic room, sort of like the Motel 6 of Bangkok, but it was clean and had a bed and a shower, which was all we really cared about. The staff chuckled a little when, at around 1 AM, we requested the 5:30 AM shuttle back to the airport....
Day 2-3: Bleary eyed, we got up for our 7:30 AM flight to SR using Bangkok Air's Discovery Pass. Bangkok Air was great - impressive service, definitely earns its moniker as Asia's boutique airline. Saron Soeun (www.sarontours.com) was our guide - picked us up at the airport, and arranged for a car and driver for us - charge of USD$20 per day each for Saron and the driver, plus and extra $10 charge for the driver to visit the more distant Banteay Srei. Saron was excellent, very knowledgeable and friendly.
For those who wonder how much time to spend visiting the temples at Angkor Wat, we found two full days was plenty of time, given that we had an air conditioned car. If you were depending on tuk-tuk or bicycles, I would allow for more time, in part because the heat is quite brutal (and we weren't even there at the hottest time!) Three days might have been nicer, since it would have allowed us to spend more time taking a break in the afternoon. But unless you're really into the history of the Khmer period, or want to spend time doing other activities in the region, I think 2 days works very well - I've done lots of reading both before and after, and don't really feel like we missed out on anything.
The Golden Temple Villa was $10 / night for an air conditioned room - very basic, a lot like a dorm room with a little asian decor. Bathroom left something to be desired, I wouldn't have been happy staying for more than 2 night. Attached restaurant served decent breakfasts. Good location, right by the old market, easy walking distance to restaurants and bars. We didn't take much advantage of the SR nightlife, since we were still exhausted from the trip and temple exploring. Only place that we ate I would recommend highly would be the Khmer Kitchen - also ate at the Dead Fish Tower, and Soup Dragon, and found them to be so-so. Our only other activity in SR was shopping in the market - had fun bargaining for silk scarves and pillowcases.
Day 3: Took an early morning flight to Phuket via BKK. For those interested in the Bangkok Air Discovery Pass, this only counts (oddly enough) as one leg, despite switching planes in BKK. Arrived in PHK around 12:30 PM.
More to come...
As I was saying...
Trip Report 1: BKK to Siem Reap
We used frequent flier miles to take ANA from Washington, DC to BKK, arriving at around midnight. We'd prebooked, using AsiaTravel.com, at the Asia Airport hotel for around USD $40, and the shuttle was there to pick us up. Pretty basic room, sort of like the Motel 6 of Bangkok, but it was clean and had a bed and a shower, which was all we really cared about. The staff chuckled a little when, at around 1 AM, we requested the 5:30 AM shuttle back to the airport....
Day 2-3: Bleary eyed, we got up for our 7:30 AM flight to SR using Bangkok Air's Discovery Pass. Bangkok Air was great - impressive service, definitely earns its moniker as Asia's boutique airline. Saron Soeun (www.sarontours.com) was our guide - picked us up at the airport, and arranged for a car and driver for us - charge of USD$20 per day each for Saron and the driver, plus and extra $10 charge for the driver to visit the more distant Banteay Srei. Saron was excellent, very knowledgeable and friendly.
For those who wonder how much time to spend visiting the temples at Angkor Wat, we found two full days was plenty of time, given that we had an air conditioned car. If you were depending on tuk-tuk or bicycles, I would allow for more time, in part because the heat is quite brutal (and we weren't even there at the hottest time!) Three days might have been nicer, since it would have allowed us to spend more time taking a break in the afternoon. But unless you're really into the history of the Khmer period, or want to spend time doing other activities in the region, I think 2 days works very well - I've done lots of reading both before and after, and don't really feel like we missed out on anything.
The Golden Temple Villa was $10 / night for an air conditioned room - very basic, a lot like a dorm room with a little asian decor. Bathroom left something to be desired, I wouldn't have been happy staying for more than 2 night. Attached restaurant served decent breakfasts. Good location, right by the old market, easy walking distance to restaurants and bars. We didn't take much advantage of the SR nightlife, since we were still exhausted from the trip and temple exploring. Only place that we ate I would recommend highly would be the Khmer Kitchen - also ate at the Dead Fish Tower, and Soup Dragon, and found them to be so-so. Our only other activity in SR was shopping in the market - had fun bargaining for silk scarves and pillowcases.
Day 3: Took an early morning flight to Phuket via BKK. For those interested in the Bangkok Air Discovery Pass, this only counts (oddly enough) as one leg, despite switching planes in BKK. Arrived in PHK around 12:30 PM.
More to come...
Mar 8th, 2006, 09:15 AM
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That's interesting about the trip from SR to Phuket only counting as one leg. I had asked about that on here and everyone told me it would be two, even if we took that same morning flight. Oh well, live and learn, we ended up not needing the pass anyway.
Mar 8th, 2006, 10:58 AM
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Thanks Jed - good point! I was splitting it up in part for my own convenience, so I can post bits when I have time, but also because I find reading through long trip reports (even the wonderful ones found here!) to be a little tedious at times.
But your point is well taken, so I will make sure to post links to the previous posts in the final one. Cheers, Carrie
But your point is well taken, so I will make sure to post links to the previous posts in the final one. Cheers, Carrie
