29 novembre 2007
Chill out continues
A huge breakfast awaits us before heading to the swimming pool. We then chill out by the magnificent stretch of beach and go kayaking to a nearby fishing village probably dislocated from Sokha Beach when the resort was built.
Dinner was an interesting experience in the Snake House. This (Russian!) restaurant’s owner has a non-negligeable and scary collection of snakes from around the world; all are carefully displayed in glass columns around the dining hall with their scientific names and all. The table lit up, and a nice big sized snake was looking at us from under the glass and between the dishes. We stroll around to explore the collection: vipers, cobras and huge pythons abound, laying harmless in their glass houses. In another showroom, incredibly beautiful parrots and other birds are sadly peeking at you from their cages.
Tip of the Day
Dinner at Snake House. Great setting. Food is good and fast.
A motorbike ride from Weather Station Hill to Seredenpity Beach is 1-1,5 usd.
Motorbikes and Tuk tuk in Sihanoukville are a major rip off. Way more expensive than Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, with no reason except that only tourists are around and thus should be ripped off. Tuk tuk drivers team up to ask for ridiculous prices (4 to 5 usd for a short ride) and because some tourists seem to accept this, they aren’t willing to negotiate. Motorbikes are the way to go then. A short ride should be 2000 riels. A long one between 1 to 1,5 usd. Add 2000 riels more for night rides or if it’s raining heavily.
27 novembre 2007
A rainy chill out
.
First thing to do: change hotel. We go for the top end option since theft is a common issue in Sihanoukville and hotels offer basic, backpacker oriented accommodation. We also need to be able to leave our laptop and camera equipment in the room without further concerns and enjoy the beach.
If the hotel didn’t have all the facilities attached we could have spent the whole day in the room as the weather brought heavy rains. Thankfully with the fitness centre, the spa and the huge common space, we have something to do. We have lunch in town and wait for one hour to get a not so tasty meal! It rains again heavily but we decide to walk in the market: it’s not tourist oriented and could be interesting to visit if you have well trained, foul-smell tolerant nostrils. Or you could just skip the food section and its surroundings.
It continues raining non-stop for the whole day.
We go out at the only nightclub in town (hey it’s Saturday night!!) the city is quite dead apart from that.
We go out at the Blue Storm. Plays lots of Asian tunes. If you drink beer, you are okay. Otherwise, I am afraid the choice of alcohol is pretty limited.
Tip of the Day
Sihanoukville is a disappointment when it comes to accommodation. Of course the main attraction here is the beach but accommodation on the beach are either very basic (even the so called ‘mid range’) or top end. There aren’t bungalows on the beach, and those who claim they do actually have basic bungalows overlooking the sea but no sand beach then.
Since we want to enjoy our stay here, we opt for the top end option and stay at Sokha Beach Resort. www.sokhahotels.com). A room is at 100 usd, breakfast included, which is not that much for a 5 stars hotel. A suite costs 123 usd. The hotel is not sound proof and during week-end, lots of Cambodians are around and it can be pretty noisy.
We have lunch in town at Marlin Grill’s restaurant. The longest wait ever in a restaurant in Cambodia. Almost an hour to get the simplest of meal (that was not good).
We have dinner at 7 Club again.
25 novembre 2007
On the road again
.
We wanted to take our time in Siem Reap and we’ve almost spent a whole week seeing temples and surroundings at a slow pace. We check out and spend the whole day on the road: from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, we stopped a bit to change the content of our luggage as we had left a bag in Phom Penh and then take a taxi to Sihanoukville. On the way we phone some hotels and decide to check in at Malibu bungalows, that proved a poor choice (see below). It was already getting dark and after a nice dinner on the sandy Serendipity beach, we decided to call it a day.
Tip of the Day
Because we’ve stayed a bit longer, we got a discount from the hotel at Siem Reap. (80 usd per night instead of 90) Definitely very customer oriented. Staff is very smiley and always willing to help.
We hire a taxi to bring us to Phnom Penh. It costs 50 usd. It took 4 hours and half to reach the capital from Siem Reap. The road is in good condition. We then charter another taxi to take us to Sihanoukville. It costs 30 usd and takes 3 hours. The road is also in good condition.
We stayed at Malibu Bungalows (House of Malibu is closed). It got very good reviews on various guidebooks (LP included). It certainly is the worst mid range hotel we’ve been to in Asia so far. At 30 usd the bungalow, you have no air condition, no hot water, but rat shit on your bed for free. On top of that the owner is not very nice and kept calling everyone with an annoying and hypocrite ‘Daaaarliiiing’. After one terrible night, we ran away.
We have dinner at 7 Club, on Serendipity beach, which is great at night. Needless to say, seafood is the speciality here.
23 novembre 2007
Monks at Angkor
21 novembre 2007
Last temples
.
We go for our third and last visit to Angkor Wat and spend the whole morning there enjoying the bas reliefs all around the site. It’s funny to notice that the majority of tourists are in a hurry to get inside and climb the strenuous stairs of the three main towers that in fact do not constitute a lot of interest. We start exploring the incredible scenes carefully sculpted with lots of hidden meanings on the outer walls. This is probably one of the most famous monuments in Asia, and is renowned worldwide as being the biggest religious structure ever. Deservedly, lots of tourists come here from around the world, most of them of the very noisy Asian type. However, it is still possible to be alone in a 50 meter radius if you move slightly from the tourist path. When you find a quiet spot, take your time to taste some of the splendour and grandeur of the place and allow it to fill you. Your imagination also plays a huge part in picturing every corner with its now lost colours, glitters and the occasional stolen or displaced gold statutes.
Jeremie takes his time to take a big handful of shots. We then wander around in town for some quality silk shopping and a well deserved ice-cream. We finish off the afternoon chilling by the pool.
Tip of the Day
- We have lunch at Khmer Kitchen Restaurant. Great food, very cheap. Genuine Khmer restaurant. The best food in Siem Reap we had. Recommended.
- We have dinner at The Soup Dragon. Food is nothing special. Nice views from the terrace.
- Shopping: we quickly give up as Siem Reap boasts tourist prices, everything here is way more expensive than Phnom Penh especially dvds.
19 novembre 2007
Children of Kompong Phluk
12 novembre 2007
Kompong Phluk’s skyscrapers
.
Somehow templed out, we decide to visit a floating village away from Siem Reap. We choose Kompong Phluk as it’s the least touristy and still unspoilt. We catch a tuk-tuk from Siem Reap and have a nice ride by the countryside until the road gets too bumpy and impracticable. In a few minutes, our driver detaches his tuk-tuk and we continue by moto. It rained intensively last night and we’re mud skating for 30 minutes for the remaining 3 km.
.
.
From there we take a motorboat, hassle free and no hard bargaining. The guy takes us through a village of incredible skyscrapers – stilt house style with many levels. They all had some kind of domestic animal on the ground floor, hanging there just on top of the water; hammocs to relax and enjoy the rare refreshing breeze; and finally the house sometimes more than 10 meters above the water. The reason for this architecture is the constantly changing water level especially with the inconsistent seasons.
We stroll down amid nice fishermen and wetlands before stopping in the village for a walk and a closer look. People live in very basic houses and the stilt houses look far from solid. On the way back we have a sneak peek at small crocodiles in the a little wooden enclave on the riverbead.
Afterwards we stop at Bakong temple as it was on the way back. We don’t find it very interesting and come back to the hotel. It takes us 40 mns to get there by tuk tuk. We then visit BakongTemple. 1 star. Not much interest.
Tips of the Day
- A trip to Kompong Phluk can be arranged through travel agencies in Siem Reap. This will turn out pretty expensive (around 70 usd per person). Going independently will prove nicer (you’re not in a group) and way cheaper. We rent a tuk tuk for the day (10 usd) and head to the small village of Roluos. The tuk tuk is unlikely to reach the port (road is very muddy) and you’ll need to go by motorbike. Boat drivers know you can’t reach by tuk tuk are waiting for you, asking for ridiculous prices to bring you to their boat. Starting at 5 usd return, we end up paying nothing since we shall use the motorbike driver’s boat. Starting price is 20 usd per person, but chartering the whole boat is 25/30 usd for 2 hours.
- We have dinner at Red Piano. Great setting, and the terrace on the first floor has nice views of the streets. Food is ok.
- Oops, forgot to say that a tuk tuk ride in town (or from the city to Angkor entrance is 1 usd, whatever the number of people in the tuk tuk, and whatever the tuk tuk driver says.
- The market in Siem Reap is very touristy and prices higher than Phnom Penh’s.
.
11 novembre 2007
More tips
- Try out the fantastic traditional khmer massage at B&7, Massage and Spa. Right at the middle of bar street, just close to D’s bookshop. A Traditional Khmer massage is a bit similar to a Thai’s. It was one of our best massage so far, and definitely the best we’ve had in Cambodia.
- Tratorria Pissa Italiana, on the bar street. Pizzas are tasteless. Not recommended.
- Blue Pumpkin. Great setting (lounge style), nice drinks and ice cream, great food, and cheap.
