Skip to main content

#10 - Cambodian Surprise

Laos to Cambodia


One of the things you learn quickly as you travel to places you have only heard about all of your whole life, is they are nothing like what you expect. And expectations can start right at the airport. 

Hong Kong airport is modern with the easiest transportation into the city. It is not pristine but it definitely represents the city...a bit dirty but easy to get around. Bangkok airport is super big and crazy busy, again just like the city. In Laos, Luang Prabang’s airport is small, not very modern and has bathrooms that, well, let’s say you would rather not use, but the people are friendly and easily speak English. 

Luang Prabang seemed clean compared to Thailand. It felt like a large Mexican town where you stop noticing the broken pavements and get used to how people live as you peer into open doors walking by homes. But what a walkable city. Our hotel was a kilometer from the Night Market and the town stretched out from there another kilometer or so along the Mekong River to the Peninsula ( not the hotel, literally a peninsula ) and another kilometer around winding along another smaller river.  You pass hotels and cafes, shops for tourists and shops for locals, a couple of galleries and one or two boutiques. As soon as you are tired, you hop into a tuk tuk and ride home. 






We had two days of touring the town, it’s Wats and Museums, and a river trip to the Cave of a Thousand Buddha’s. Our riverside picnic was on an island that had only a monastery, a few mangy dogs, a monkey kept on a chain and a monk or two building a new brick wall. Not very scenic or clean, but again, a real slice of life in Luang Prabang. We finally took a day off of touring yesterday to simply walk around and shop, eat and cafe and even relax at the pool with a book. 

Today we set off for Cambodia, to Siem Reap. What to expect? I am guessing it will be much like Laos; after all, there was nothing here only 20 years ago until tourism boomed. We land a bit late and surprise.....this is a beautiful, stylish modern airport. We should have suspected this, since getting an E-Visa for Cambodia was slick, efficient, and fast from our computer in Santa Fe months ago. The bathrooms were high design and spotless.... cleaner and nicer than any U.S. airport! Our adorable little guide Bun was waiting with a nice Toyota SUV, ice cold water and ice cold towels to refresh us. It seems like Cambodia is the slickest place we have been. 
We arrive at our hotel, Viroths. Now, when our agent put our tour together she had suggested a different hotel, one that was ‘up’ one level, probably four star, not three. But I had read such rave reviews of this place that I switched. And we are not disappointed. 
Viroths
This beautiful mid-century style hotel is sleek, our room giant with a huge terrace, plenty of closet for Steve to finally unpack, a gorgeous pool and spa and even decent bathroom lights with a makeup mirror. Who would have thought that Cambodia would outshine Bangkok or Hong Kong?







Tonight we head to Mie Cafe in a tuk tuk, another one of the 
Secret Restaurants of Asia. 

Looking forward to Khmer food tonight and Angkor Wat tomorrow. Though we declined the sunrise tour starting at 4:45 AM because the weather today and tomorrow is cloudy, I still think we will have a wonderful day with Bun and Sok, our driver. I already know we did not plan enough time here.


Although our Asia trip got off to a rough start with illness and weather, we have improved constantly, and this trip just gets better with every stop we make. So whenever anyone else is ready to tackle SE Asia, we will have the perfect plan for you.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

June 24

From Vivaldi  to  Vincent (Van Gogh) THE VIVALDI PART Rewind  a bit back to Saturday, June 22nd. We had dinner at home and then   at 8:00  took a walk down the Seine to Saint Chapelle. Last time we were there in 2000, it was Christmas week and we froze waiting in line for two hours to see the chapel. This time, we simply stood in line to buy tickets to be treated to a six piece string classical concert in this magnificent setting.  The concert was Vivaldi...not just Vivaldi but theFour Seasons.....not just the Four Seasons but played spectacularly....not just played well but in a stirring setting.  The last time the music and its venue engendered  such magic was in 1977 seeing the Vienna Boys Choir sing in the 12th century Cathedral in Durham, England. The lead violin played with the speed and finesse of the finest rendition of the Flight of the Bumblebee. The light was still subtle through the stained glass though the chapel was dark.  The e...
Post a Comment
Read more

#8 - Two whirlwind days ( and the WTF Answer )

We've literally got about 30 hours to see as much of Sydney as we can before we meet up with our friends on Wednesday at 6PM. And we vow to make the most of it. I've got a list of about six musts that I let Steve vet and although he doesn't tick anything off, I know he's thinking that I am making a killer schedule.  We start off the day with a coffee and the first Opera House tour at 9AM. The structure is surely impressive, the tour not as much, but since there is no Opera or symphony while we are right at the Rocks, the tour is the best we can do to peek inside. The architect was Danish, and the design shows it - from the two-woods paneled concert hall that the Kimmel Center is surely a total knock-off of, to the incredibly comfortable sleek seating that has stood the test of time, like all Danish design.                                             ...
1 comment
Read more

#105 - Aix, Paris’s 21sr Arrondisement

After a good night sleep we awoke to another sunny, blue sky day, which here also means almost no humidity and no frizzy hair (this might qualify for reason #4 to live here). So far we have stayed at hotels where breakfast is not included, which we actually prefer. It leaves more room for lunch and vin.  In Valbonne we had an electric kettle and some Nescafe, still wildly popular in Europe, which could hold me over for an hour or so until we had a proper cafe stop. But here in Aix, a kettle, mugs and nothing else. So we were up and out a bit quicker this morning for our cafes and a shared pan chocolate (a rectangular croissant-like pastry filled with chocolate, but you knew that).      We headed to the main tourist drag, Cours Mirabeau, to La Rotunda fountain, and to the TI to get the requisite walking maps and info. It was still too early for the upscale shops or musee so we did a bit of shopping to find the right adapter to charge our devices, an...
Post a Comment
Read more