Trip Report: Family4Travels to Thailand and Cambodia: monks, massages and mahouts; tigers, temples and Tonging!!
Apr 7th, 2008, 11:46 AM
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Trip Report: Family4Travels to Thailand and Cambodia: monks, massages and mahouts; tigers, temples and Tonging!!
We just returned home yesterday morning (so no penalties should accrue!!) We spent 4 nights in Bangkok, 4 nights at the Anantara Golden Triangle, 4 nights in Siem Reap and 2 nights back in Bangkok before flying home. We had an incredible trip doing, seeing and experiencing incredible things.
For those of you who are Thailand/Cambodia regulars we did not venture too off the beaten path as we followed many of the suggestions given here on fodors, so you may not find too many new experiences here. However, for those just beginning to plan their first trip, especially with kids/teens, I trust you will find this helpful as I did other’s trip reports when planning for this trip. I do also plan on weighing in on some of the more “controversial subjects” that seem to find their way to the Asia board – so stay tuned!!
BACKGROUND
A little background for those who don’t know us. DH and I are in our “early” mid-forties, DD is 15 and a sophomore in highschool, and DS is 12 and in 6th grade in middle school. We spent many spring breaks in Arizona, Disney World and mostly Hawaii then in 1995 when kids were 12 and 9 I planned our first trip (including first trip for DH and I) to Europe. We spent 2 weeks in Italy (Rome, Venice and Florence). Before we left my goal was to visit Rome, Paris, London, New York and Washington DC before DD graduated in 2010. I figured 5 years was enough time to see all that. Well, little did I know that I would be hit bad by the travel bug and become a complete fodorite junkie!! The tell tale signs were buying a Paris guidebook in the airport before our flight home from Italy and then starting my trip report upon our return before barely unpacking!! Well, since then we have completed our goal of visiting those 5 cities and added a return trip to Italy, Barcelona, Morocco and now Thailand and Cambodia and we still have two more years before she graduates!!! After our trip to Morocco last March we decided we were up for still more adventure and zeroed in on Thailand and Cambodia.
THREE THINGS I WAS MOST WORRIED ABOUT
1. The heat
2. The mosquitoes
3. The smoke from burning at that time of year
First, the heat. We knew we were going at the hottest time of the year (April being the hottest month). Yes, it was VERY hot, probably affected DH the most and DS liked to use it as an excuse when he got bored of say, temples. So, no doubt it was hot, sometimes VERY hot, but it didn’t ruin the trip, and I am really glad we did it!!
Second the mosquitoes. Just frankly, weren’t that big of a problem. DH and I didn’t get any bites. Kids each got maybe 6-8, but they just weren’t that big of a problem, atleast where we were and when.
Third, the smoke. When I started planning the trip, last year several people who had gone at this time of year last year said there was awful smoke from the burning of the fields in N. Thailand, Burma and Laos. DH, DS and I are all asthmatics so I was particularly concerned about this. Stocked up on prednisone, albuterol and meds for our travel nebulizer machine. We did have some smoke when we were up in the Golden Triangle which definitely did obscure the views a bit, but thank god no asthma flare ups!!
PRETRIP PLANNING
I did the majority of my trip planning right here on fodors. The folks here are a wealth of information (and nice to boot!!) In all honesty this has been the easiest trip to plan as all recommendations were laid out for me. I did read through Lonely Planet’s Cambodia Guide as well as a Bangkok Top 25. DD and I also read First They Killed My Father an autobiography of a woman who was about 6 when the Khmer Rouge came to power. DH and I had already seen the “Killing Fields”, but I had our daughter watch it as well. Was a bit concerned to have our son watch it as I suspected it may have made him nervous about going to Cambodia, even though we knew it was safe. In addition, I read about 1/3 of The King Never Smiles (a biography of the current King) before I left it somewhere accidentally and was unable to finish it, A Record of Cambodia – a firsthand account of a visitor to Angkor Wat in the 13 th century, and John Burdett’s Bangkok 8, which I personally didn’t care for but if you are interested in knowing about the seedier side of BKK go for it!
Regarding travel meds/immunizations, we tend to be very cautious. I had actually had us each take a 2-3 day dose of malarone back in July before I purchased the plane tickets just to make sure no one was going to have a strong reaction. We took malarone on the trip with no side effects – yea!! We were up to date on all our immunizations, including typhoid from our trip to Morocco last March. DH and I decided to also do HEP B. Since we have been doing so much traveling and one never knows when one might end up in the hospital we thought it was a prudent idea – and seemed like a really smart idea after spending so much time on the roads of Thailand!!!
CLOTHES
What to wear, what to wear and how about those shoes for the mahout training???? How to stay cool and still look good? Really hard to do when your profusely sweating and your hair is frizzed up, but I used a combo of wicking fabric shirts and cotton shirts. I found cotton skirts and dresses to be the way to go to stay dry and also had two pairs of long (below the knee shorts) which were also great. If you wear a skirt with a little cap sleeve top you will have no problem getting into Grand Palace, etc. and you will be cool. So, weighing in here on Controversy #1 What type of shoes to wear for mahout training? (okay I started this one by asking a question on the thread) – anyway, atleast at the Anantara there is no shoe requirement. You can go barefoot as many of the mahouts do, although I wouldn’t recommend it as the elephant’s skin is very rough. I would eliminate flipflops as they will fall off your feet. DH wore Keens and kids and I wore crocs which all turned out to be great choices, as they are easy to clean - which the kind man at Anantara did for us – don’t you love it??!!
Okay, next up the actual trip report, but for now time to get back to the laundry and bills.
For those of you who are Thailand/Cambodia regulars we did not venture too off the beaten path as we followed many of the suggestions given here on fodors, so you may not find too many new experiences here. However, for those just beginning to plan their first trip, especially with kids/teens, I trust you will find this helpful as I did other’s trip reports when planning for this trip. I do also plan on weighing in on some of the more “controversial subjects” that seem to find their way to the Asia board – so stay tuned!!
BACKGROUND
A little background for those who don’t know us. DH and I are in our “early” mid-forties, DD is 15 and a sophomore in highschool, and DS is 12 and in 6th grade in middle school. We spent many spring breaks in Arizona, Disney World and mostly Hawaii then in 1995 when kids were 12 and 9 I planned our first trip (including first trip for DH and I) to Europe. We spent 2 weeks in Italy (Rome, Venice and Florence). Before we left my goal was to visit Rome, Paris, London, New York and Washington DC before DD graduated in 2010. I figured 5 years was enough time to see all that. Well, little did I know that I would be hit bad by the travel bug and become a complete fodorite junkie!! The tell tale signs were buying a Paris guidebook in the airport before our flight home from Italy and then starting my trip report upon our return before barely unpacking!! Well, since then we have completed our goal of visiting those 5 cities and added a return trip to Italy, Barcelona, Morocco and now Thailand and Cambodia and we still have two more years before she graduates!!! After our trip to Morocco last March we decided we were up for still more adventure and zeroed in on Thailand and Cambodia.
THREE THINGS I WAS MOST WORRIED ABOUT
1. The heat
2. The mosquitoes
3. The smoke from burning at that time of year
First, the heat. We knew we were going at the hottest time of the year (April being the hottest month). Yes, it was VERY hot, probably affected DH the most and DS liked to use it as an excuse when he got bored of say, temples. So, no doubt it was hot, sometimes VERY hot, but it didn’t ruin the trip, and I am really glad we did it!!
Second the mosquitoes. Just frankly, weren’t that big of a problem. DH and I didn’t get any bites. Kids each got maybe 6-8, but they just weren’t that big of a problem, atleast where we were and when.
Third, the smoke. When I started planning the trip, last year several people who had gone at this time of year last year said there was awful smoke from the burning of the fields in N. Thailand, Burma and Laos. DH, DS and I are all asthmatics so I was particularly concerned about this. Stocked up on prednisone, albuterol and meds for our travel nebulizer machine. We did have some smoke when we were up in the Golden Triangle which definitely did obscure the views a bit, but thank god no asthma flare ups!!
PRETRIP PLANNING
I did the majority of my trip planning right here on fodors. The folks here are a wealth of information (and nice to boot!!) In all honesty this has been the easiest trip to plan as all recommendations were laid out for me. I did read through Lonely Planet’s Cambodia Guide as well as a Bangkok Top 25. DD and I also read First They Killed My Father an autobiography of a woman who was about 6 when the Khmer Rouge came to power. DH and I had already seen the “Killing Fields”, but I had our daughter watch it as well. Was a bit concerned to have our son watch it as I suspected it may have made him nervous about going to Cambodia, even though we knew it was safe. In addition, I read about 1/3 of The King Never Smiles (a biography of the current King) before I left it somewhere accidentally and was unable to finish it, A Record of Cambodia – a firsthand account of a visitor to Angkor Wat in the 13 th century, and John Burdett’s Bangkok 8, which I personally didn’t care for but if you are interested in knowing about the seedier side of BKK go for it!
Regarding travel meds/immunizations, we tend to be very cautious. I had actually had us each take a 2-3 day dose of malarone back in July before I purchased the plane tickets just to make sure no one was going to have a strong reaction. We took malarone on the trip with no side effects – yea!! We were up to date on all our immunizations, including typhoid from our trip to Morocco last March. DH and I decided to also do HEP B. Since we have been doing so much traveling and one never knows when one might end up in the hospital we thought it was a prudent idea – and seemed like a really smart idea after spending so much time on the roads of Thailand!!!
CLOTHES
What to wear, what to wear and how about those shoes for the mahout training???? How to stay cool and still look good? Really hard to do when your profusely sweating and your hair is frizzed up, but I used a combo of wicking fabric shirts and cotton shirts. I found cotton skirts and dresses to be the way to go to stay dry and also had two pairs of long (below the knee shorts) which were also great. If you wear a skirt with a little cap sleeve top you will have no problem getting into Grand Palace, etc. and you will be cool. So, weighing in here on Controversy #1 What type of shoes to wear for mahout training? (okay I started this one by asking a question on the thread) – anyway, atleast at the Anantara there is no shoe requirement. You can go barefoot as many of the mahouts do, although I wouldn’t recommend it as the elephant’s skin is very rough. I would eliminate flipflops as they will fall off your feet. DH wore Keens and kids and I wore crocs which all turned out to be great choices, as they are easy to clean - which the kind man at Anantara did for us – don’t you love it??!!
Okay, next up the actual trip report, but for now time to get back to the laundry and bills.
Apr 7th, 2008, 12:05 PM
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Great start! I'm so glad you had a wonderful time. As many times as I've ben to Thailand, there is nothing like reading the report of a first-timer to bring back what it felt like to go to Thailand that first time!
Apr 7th, 2008, 12:35 PM
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Super start. The travel bug has bit you bad. It's really great to see your pre-trip planning. It's fun to see how others approach things. I'm afraid you're correct, the report is very timely and no penalty applies.
Apr 7th, 2008, 08:22 PM
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Thanks everyone for all the encouragement!
One more thing about clothing - I wasn’t expecting people to be as dressy as they were for the hotel restaurants (atleast in BKK). I was thinking more Hawaii like, but people were definitely dressier. Thank goodness we were never refused service anywhere (LOL!!) and even ate at Lord Jim’s one night, but I wished I had brought a nicer pair of sandals and a pair of khaki pants for my son as the only ones he had were his zip off pants.
THE HOTELS
The Peninsula (Bangkok) - This is one of the highest rated hotels in the world and we could see why. We had two lovely rooms that had a little foyer and front door that we could close so we could keep the doors open to our rooms but still have privacy from the rest of the hotel. The rooms are large with nice closet space and I loved the luggage bench they had across from the closet to keep your suitcases on. Both or our rooms had beautiful views of the river.
Controversy #2 – Should you book a deluxe room (on the lower floors) or Grand Deluxe Room ( on the higher floors)? I had originally booked Grand Deluxe rooms as that seemed to be the consensus on fodors, then someone mentioned that they liked being on the lower floors so they could see the river traffic. Well, that instantly reminded me of our canal view room in Venice and I immediately changed our reservation to Deluxe rooms (which are also cheaper!). Our first stay we were on the 9th floor and upon our return to BKK we were on the 8th floor – both were great, and we loved to see the river traffic.
The breakfast buffet was incredible with wonderful American as well as Thai dishes. Fabulous pastries, delicious fruit. I loved the mini-french toast and small chocolate croissants. Just enough for my taste, but if you want more you can get it. The only thing that was missing was oatmeal, which I love, but we never found it served anywhere on our trip.
The service here was just incredible. From housekeeping, to room service, to concierge, to food staff everyone was so nice, helpful and genuine. We broke down and used the laundry service a few times, and they even sewed on a button on a pair of pants without us mentioning it (the button was in the pocket). The night before we had to leave the zipper of DS’s zip off pants broke. We called them at 9:30pm. We told them we were leaving about 9am the next morning, they fixed them in about a half an hour.
Controversy #3 – Is the Peninsula on the “wrong” side of the river? We would answer a resounding “NO”. We loved being on that side of the river, and really enjoyed our short boat rides across. After the hustle bustle of Bangkok, just stepping on to the Peninsula boat made you immediately relax.
Anantara Golden Triangle (Chiang Rai)- We had originally thought we would spend time at the beach but chose to skip it and do Siem Reap instead. So my hope was that the Anantara would allow us to have some nice relaxation time – it did not disappoint. For me, our whole time at the Anantara was my favorite part of the trip. While the rooms and service were not quite up to par with the Peninsula, they really weren’t far behind. This is a beautiful resort with great restaurants, beautiful pool area, nice rooms and another fabulous staff.
We stayed in one of the suites which allowed the 4 of us to be in one room. They had a large sort of daybed type thing that they converted into a bed and then we also had a twin rollaway in the room. There was still plenty of room. There is a nice walk in closet with a lot of space that allowed us to keep our suitcase outside of the main room. My only complaint was, that the shower was more open so privacy was more of an issue, but not too difficult.
I just enjoyed the extra property at the Anantara that you can’t get in a city hotel, and appreciated the relaxing peaceful atmosphere. The staff was really wonderful. We really appreciated when the guy offered to clean our shoes after our mahout training. DH said his Keens hadn’t looked that color since the day he bought them.
Hotel de la Paix (Siem Reap) - It was really great, but our least favorite hotel of the 3 we stayed in (but the others were fabulous so hard to compete). The service was great but not quite up to par of the other two; I think that maybe just Siem Reap in general. Nice breakfast buffet but hot items needed to be ordered off the menu (though incl.). Just takes a bit more time then getting everything off the buffet so need to plan time accordingly in the morning.
The rooms were very nice but we did find the beds very hard (even I noticed it as soon as I layed down, and I usually don't notice those types of things, though my hubby does). Some of the nicest hallways I've seen. A computer on every floor which we often found available. Here we had two rooms which had a similar set up to the Peninsula where we were able to keep our room doors open to each other, but there was another door to close off to the hallway.
It is in an excellent location right in the heart of town just a few blocks walk to Pub St. and Old Market. For the record, despite the traffic noise in the town, we never noticed it anywhere in the hotel.
We did encounter some mosquitoes in the room.
The architecture is very cool and hip, done quite nicely although I didn't really get the large art gallery in the middle of the lobby. The pool is nice with some of the most relaxing pool chairs as they are nicely padded and quite wide. They also have some bed type things but they are covered and kind of dark. My one complaint was just that this was definitely more of a city hotel when it came to the pool area, not a lot of room and no view to look out on.
For the record, when we travel to Europe we usually do not stay in 5* hotels/resorts like we did here, but prefer to stay in smaller boutique hotels or b&b's and really enjoyed our stays in the riads in Morocco. However, for this trip, due to the heat and so much touring that we had planned we decided to splurge a bit on the hotels so we knew we would be coming back to some place where we could relax and be a bit pampered. These all did the job famously and we couldn't have been happier with our decisions!!
One more thing about clothing - I wasn’t expecting people to be as dressy as they were for the hotel restaurants (atleast in BKK). I was thinking more Hawaii like, but people were definitely dressier. Thank goodness we were never refused service anywhere (LOL!!) and even ate at Lord Jim’s one night, but I wished I had brought a nicer pair of sandals and a pair of khaki pants for my son as the only ones he had were his zip off pants.
THE HOTELS
The Peninsula (Bangkok) - This is one of the highest rated hotels in the world and we could see why. We had two lovely rooms that had a little foyer and front door that we could close so we could keep the doors open to our rooms but still have privacy from the rest of the hotel. The rooms are large with nice closet space and I loved the luggage bench they had across from the closet to keep your suitcases on. Both or our rooms had beautiful views of the river.
Controversy #2 – Should you book a deluxe room (on the lower floors) or Grand Deluxe Room ( on the higher floors)? I had originally booked Grand Deluxe rooms as that seemed to be the consensus on fodors, then someone mentioned that they liked being on the lower floors so they could see the river traffic. Well, that instantly reminded me of our canal view room in Venice and I immediately changed our reservation to Deluxe rooms (which are also cheaper!). Our first stay we were on the 9th floor and upon our return to BKK we were on the 8th floor – both were great, and we loved to see the river traffic.
The breakfast buffet was incredible with wonderful American as well as Thai dishes. Fabulous pastries, delicious fruit. I loved the mini-french toast and small chocolate croissants. Just enough for my taste, but if you want more you can get it. The only thing that was missing was oatmeal, which I love, but we never found it served anywhere on our trip.
The service here was just incredible. From housekeeping, to room service, to concierge, to food staff everyone was so nice, helpful and genuine. We broke down and used the laundry service a few times, and they even sewed on a button on a pair of pants without us mentioning it (the button was in the pocket). The night before we had to leave the zipper of DS’s zip off pants broke. We called them at 9:30pm. We told them we were leaving about 9am the next morning, they fixed them in about a half an hour.
Controversy #3 – Is the Peninsula on the “wrong” side of the river? We would answer a resounding “NO”. We loved being on that side of the river, and really enjoyed our short boat rides across. After the hustle bustle of Bangkok, just stepping on to the Peninsula boat made you immediately relax.
Anantara Golden Triangle (Chiang Rai)- We had originally thought we would spend time at the beach but chose to skip it and do Siem Reap instead. So my hope was that the Anantara would allow us to have some nice relaxation time – it did not disappoint. For me, our whole time at the Anantara was my favorite part of the trip. While the rooms and service were not quite up to par with the Peninsula, they really weren’t far behind. This is a beautiful resort with great restaurants, beautiful pool area, nice rooms and another fabulous staff.
We stayed in one of the suites which allowed the 4 of us to be in one room. They had a large sort of daybed type thing that they converted into a bed and then we also had a twin rollaway in the room. There was still plenty of room. There is a nice walk in closet with a lot of space that allowed us to keep our suitcase outside of the main room. My only complaint was, that the shower was more open so privacy was more of an issue, but not too difficult.
I just enjoyed the extra property at the Anantara that you can’t get in a city hotel, and appreciated the relaxing peaceful atmosphere. The staff was really wonderful. We really appreciated when the guy offered to clean our shoes after our mahout training. DH said his Keens hadn’t looked that color since the day he bought them.
Hotel de la Paix (Siem Reap) - It was really great, but our least favorite hotel of the 3 we stayed in (but the others were fabulous so hard to compete). The service was great but not quite up to par of the other two; I think that maybe just Siem Reap in general. Nice breakfast buffet but hot items needed to be ordered off the menu (though incl.). Just takes a bit more time then getting everything off the buffet so need to plan time accordingly in the morning.
The rooms were very nice but we did find the beds very hard (even I noticed it as soon as I layed down, and I usually don't notice those types of things, though my hubby does). Some of the nicest hallways I've seen. A computer on every floor which we often found available. Here we had two rooms which had a similar set up to the Peninsula where we were able to keep our room doors open to each other, but there was another door to close off to the hallway.
It is in an excellent location right in the heart of town just a few blocks walk to Pub St. and Old Market. For the record, despite the traffic noise in the town, we never noticed it anywhere in the hotel.
We did encounter some mosquitoes in the room.
The architecture is very cool and hip, done quite nicely although I didn't really get the large art gallery in the middle of the lobby. The pool is nice with some of the most relaxing pool chairs as they are nicely padded and quite wide. They also have some bed type things but they are covered and kind of dark. My one complaint was just that this was definitely more of a city hotel when it came to the pool area, not a lot of room and no view to look out on.
For the record, when we travel to Europe we usually do not stay in 5* hotels/resorts like we did here, but prefer to stay in smaller boutique hotels or b&b's and really enjoyed our stays in the riads in Morocco. However, for this trip, due to the heat and so much touring that we had planned we decided to splurge a bit on the hotels so we knew we would be coming back to some place where we could relax and be a bit pampered. These all did the job famously and we couldn't have been happier with our decisions!!
Apr 8th, 2008, 03:22 PM
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Thanks for the great report. We're traveling to Thailand (BKK and Chiang Mai), Siem Reap and Hanoi in August with our two kids (ages 13 and 16), so your experiences are very interesting. How long were you in SR and what kind of touring did you do? We had considered the Hotel de la Paix, but have focused in on the Raffles and a small property called the Heritage Suites. Did you have occasion to visit either of those properties? Thanks.
Apr 8th, 2008, 03:46 PM
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What a great report so far. Bringing back so many memories of my first trip to Bangkok and Cambodia just a few months ago. I'm surprised to hear the heat is so much worse than it was in February. Can't wait for the rest!!
Apr 8th, 2008, 08:51 PM
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laartista - glad you found it!
rhkmk - stay tuned...more controversies to come
mandelieu - I will give more details about our time in SR in the trip report, but to give you some basics to answer your question - We were there for 4 nights and 4 full days. The last day our flight left at 7:30pm. We hired Ponheary to be our guide. We went to the temples (Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom/Bayon, Ta Prohm and Banteay Srei). We also took a boat ride on Tonle Sap Lake, visited Artisans D'Angkor and visited a school where we played with the kids and served lunch. In addition we spent some time shopping in the Old Market.
There are obviously a lot more temples then what we saw, but we felt that was the right amount for us. Particularly our 12 yo son - he was definitely done with the temples!! We actually did all that in 3 days, which included resting a bit in the afternoons - well hubby rested a bit more than the kids and I, as we did the shopping. We actually tried to change our flight out the 4th day to be a bit earlier in the day the 7:30pm but they were all booked. We ended up using that day to really rest and take things slow.
I did not have a chance to see the other properties you mentioned, however the one thing I regret about Hotel de la Paix was that it was more of a city hotel, and I think I would have preferred something that felt a bit more resorty simply because there was a lot of time to rest and I would have appreciated a hotel with more grounds and larger pool area. We did go to a restaurant a Victoria Angkor Resort one night, and I really liked the feel of that place and the pool area. However, the rest of the fam said they preferred HDLP!
rhkmk - stay tuned...more controversies to come
mandelieu - I will give more details about our time in SR in the trip report, but to give you some basics to answer your question - We were there for 4 nights and 4 full days. The last day our flight left at 7:30pm. We hired Ponheary to be our guide. We went to the temples (Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom/Bayon, Ta Prohm and Banteay Srei). We also took a boat ride on Tonle Sap Lake, visited Artisans D'Angkor and visited a school where we played with the kids and served lunch. In addition we spent some time shopping in the Old Market.
There are obviously a lot more temples then what we saw, but we felt that was the right amount for us. Particularly our 12 yo son - he was definitely done with the temples!! We actually did all that in 3 days, which included resting a bit in the afternoons - well hubby rested a bit more than the kids and I, as we did the shopping. We actually tried to change our flight out the 4th day to be a bit earlier in the day the 7:30pm but they were all booked. We ended up using that day to really rest and take things slow.
I did not have a chance to see the other properties you mentioned, however the one thing I regret about Hotel de la Paix was that it was more of a city hotel, and I think I would have preferred something that felt a bit more resorty simply because there was a lot of time to rest and I would have appreciated a hotel with more grounds and larger pool area. We did go to a restaurant a Victoria Angkor Resort one night, and I really liked the feel of that place and the pool area. However, the rest of the fam said they preferred HDLP!
