09 décembre 2007
Back home
.
We spend 1 hour packing the whole stuff (even with Rita’s super-fast packing skills). Jeremie has a hair cut (the places to go are all scattered around Phsar Thmei). We could not finish this trip without buying some more CDs and DVDs. By far, the best place in Cambodia to buy the stuff is at Sorya mall, last floor. The DVD boxes are fantastic good value, and way cheaper than in Russian Market.
We check out late from our hotel and pick a taxi to the airport (the trip takes around 20 mns). We take our DragonAir flight to Hong Kong.
Then 2 hours lay over in HK. Then we catch out Cathay Pacific. As for the flight to get to HK, the plane is not that great. Movies work this time, but not the lights!! Impossible to switch them on (very practical to read….) whereas our neighbour can’t switch his off!! (very useful to sleep). Service on the plane is ok, but nothing like the other superstar Asian airlines.
We arrive in Paris, and go through the customs, praying for not being controlled. With our hundreds of pirated cds and dvds, we prefer passing through smoothly...
We leave our luggage at Gare du Nord station and wander around in Paris: walking around in Bastille, then in Baubourg and in the Marais towards Place des Vosges. We finish in Quartier St Germain before heading back to the station to pick our luggage and head to the airport. Once again we’re late: the plane schedule has changed and shall depart half an hour earlier than planned!
The trip is fine, we stop at Addis for a couple of hours and then carry on to Rwanda.
Bad surprise as we arrive: a luggage is missing. That’s the huge one where all our precious dvds are located… It shall take us 1 month to get the bag back.
Strange impression to be back in Congo after this great trip in the middle of Asia. Once thing is for sure, we'll head back to our favourite continent really soon.
07 décembre 2007
It’s shopping again
.
We go to the market (again?!?) Lots of nice garments, gifts for friends, dvds and cds fill out our bags and the tuk-tuk.
Tip of Day
We have lunch at The Shop, #39, street 240. Nice sandwiches, drinks, and bakeries and Patisseria.
Tip for shopping: what is best? Mall? Market? Street 240? RITA WILL TELL YOU ALL LADIES !!!
We have dinner at Nike’s Pizza, supposedly the best in town. Pizzas are nothing exceptional (to say it politely) and very expensive.
05 décembre 2007
Watch out: Shopping begins!!!
.
We spend the morning at the swimming pool, then we head to the Russian Market.
Looks like we’re gonna open a CD and DVD shop, we buy more than a hundred!
We even have to purchase one big bag so that we can transport all those valuable goods!
Then plouf at the pool, it’s hot.
The mall Sorya, just close to Phsar Thmei is not really like a mall but a place to hang out. We get back to the hotel for a 2 hours Thai massage. The worst ever Thai massage for Jeremie. Poorly executed, he left the place full of pain. But Rita greatly enjoyed hers.
Tip of the Day :
Don’t let your wife decide to shop or not!!!!!!! You’ll end up exhausted!!
Don’t do Thai massage at Juliana Hotel!!!
If you buy lots of DVD, you can get them at 1.3 usd/unit. Asking price will start at 2 usd. You’ll need to bargain. You can get CDs at the same price. Starting price usually starts at 2 or 1.5 usd.
03 décembre 2007
Back to Phom Penh
.
We take the bus to Phom Penh. Relaxed, but looking for some action after sleepy Sihanoukville.
.
Tip of the Day
Regular buses from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh. The trip takes 4 hours 30 and costs 12,000r (= 4 usd). Expect the usual half hour stop at mid trip for everyone to fill their stomach.
We change hotel once again and settle at Juliana Hotel, some kind of four star hotel. www.julianacambodia.com.kh, tel: 366070. Nice hotel with a great pool and jacuzi. Rooms are nothing special but the whole place is rather nice. Though it’s not the most customer oriented hotel we’ve seen. Everything goes at a price. An extra bed? A 2 hours late check out? Fine but you shall pay hefty fees. Best to take a deluxe room at 80 usd (but nothing luxurious really) as they have great views over the swimming pool. The normal room have a view over a wall and are pretty depressing…
The best mid range hotel (if swimming pool is a must for you) would be The Pavilion (www.pavilion-cambodia.com), 227, street 19, thepavilion@online.com.kh. Room are greatly decorated and costs 50 usd. Unfortunately for us, the hotel was full.
The real tip of the day is: even in low season, book your hotel at least several days in advance.
We have dinner at Mini Restaurant Ramsey Bopea, at the corner between street 214 and Monivong Bld. We warmly recommend the Beef soup, eaten like a Chinese fondue.
01 décembre 2007
Can't get enough of Rainy Beach
We practically don't move from the hotel... Lots of reading time ahead!
Tip of the Day
Dinner at Nap House. Nice restaurant by Serendipity beach.
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.
