Siem Reap Travel Blogs | Travelogues | Travel Journals

What a scary morning it was, well for me at least! Our bathroom, which I must mention again is shared with the other guests, the guesthouse's staff and some tuktuk drivers who pass by, is located a few meters outside our room and the water really really stinks I never thought that showering would be so much torture. Much worse, as I made my way back to our room  I was freaked out by this scary man staring at me. And there's no doubt he was staring at me (wasn't even blinking......

  What does the Funky Munky Bar and Diner in Siem Reap, Cambodia, and JC's Bar in Gladstone, Michigan, have in common? Well, me. JC's is my home bar in Gladstone and I sometimes sleep behind the place in my VW camper. After three or four beers it is risky to drive, especially after midnight. Most traffic on the roads after that hour is coming from taverns and the unusually large number of police in the small town know it. With my place five miles out in the country, it is wise on the la...

For the first time in three days, the students in the restaurant got our breakfast order right, and the food was actually hot. And now that they have figured things out, we are leaving. I will definitely return to Cambodia to explore it further. Siem Reap was just a teeny tiny taste. (Steve says, "Yeah! You can come back with Lisa!" :^)  Guess he has had a big enough taste.

                    Just a few thoughts about Cambodia and a few photos from our last day her.           Cambodia is a country full of contrasts.  On one side the areas with hotels, restaurants and shops for the tourists and on the other side real life for the citizens of Seam Reap.       The past.     Cambodia is a country trying to rise from the shadow of the cru...

It's 5AM and still pitch black when I walk across the bridge into Ankor's Wat's gates, the stars reflecting in the waterway below me. The outlines of the temple spires rise ominously over me as I step into the structure's shelter. Out of the darkness, a great Buddha statue appears, swathed in bright orange cloth. I make my way down to the edge of a long square pool that leads all the way to the main temple, and sit down. Slowly, tourists straggle in and fill out the area. Locals are selling ...

I woke up early again - it'll be nice to get home and have a real night's sleep in my bed.  Can't believe my trip is coming to an end soon, but then I do miss home. For breakfast, I had room service - hotcakes with grilled palm bananas - again, ok, but not great.  I had no plans other than a spa day (hot stone massage, facial and mani/pedi at Visaya Spa located at the FCC) so I lounged around waiting for my appointments to start.  There are many spas around town for a lot chea...

Today I would see the temples I had come so far to see. I rented a tuk tuk for $15 for the entire day to drive me around. His name was ToeLa. First I said take me to Angkor Wat temple. If I was going to be templed out again, I'd like it not to be there. For there were so many others to see all day. Along the way I was fortunate to see monkeys on the side of the road I could feed bananas to. Naturally there were kids there selling the bananas. Can't say I've done that before. I have to admit I...

After our long day at Ankor, we went back to our hotel for much needed showers. The issues from earlier in the day were mostly resolved. Most of what was missing had been found in the laundry boy's stuff! After getting ready, ten of us headed down to "Pub Street" where there are many restaurants and of course, bars.Our guide was pointing out all the different restaurants on the street, but I was determined to try Cambodian BBQ. I wasn't sure what exactly it was, but I knew you could ge...

After my sis spent half day and last night with toilet ..she is get ready to explore Angkor wat  today!! Today i plan to have a big circle tour..Big circle tour means: Ta Phom, Ban Teay Kdei, Sasong, Ta Som, Pare Rup, Pra Khan, Angkor Thom and see sunset at !! Uff...how's crazy trip!!  Eventhough my sis said she is ready and get well for today..but let's see her face!! Believe!!?? haha..she is so strong than u think ..i ma sure.. hoho ...Here we go.....

Today was earmarked for taking it easy after having got up in the middle of the night to go and see the sunrise. We rolled out of bed just in time to be able to call our food breakfast and not lunch and were served the worst coffee we've ever drunk by our guesthouse. A stroll into town and a bit of internet use later we managed to squeeze a proper lunch in at our favourite local place but were let down by our menu choices a bit. We still love you Khmer Kitchen. We headed back to our hotel for...

We booked a cozy place called "Casa Angkor Hotel".  The staff is very nice and friendly, although in the beginning they couldn't figure out how to split 5 people in 3 rooms.The tour guide picked us up around 4:30pm.  His name is Mr. Vichet, and if anyone is coming to Siem Reap, let me recommend him as your tour guide.  He is very easy to work with, flexible with your needs, and of course knowledgable.  And not just knowledgable when it comes to talking about the temples hi...

Two days after my misadventure, we were ready all set and ready to leave for Bangkok. We bought a ticket that would take us to Bangkok, for just 11USD. There was a liny leaflet pasted on the entrance of the guesthouse that said we could get a coach to pick us up from the hostel doorstep and bring us to the border and from there, to Bangkok as well... all for 11USD. Sounds like a pretty good deal, ay?At 7am, we waited for the coach outside the guesthouse... and after 10 minutes, our coach fina...

After 5 hours, we arrived in Siem Reap and got a tuktuk to Prince Mekong guesthouse for 2 usd. :D It wasn't that far from the station but it wasn't near either. :P We chose that guesthouse because they offer free laundry, free bikes and it has good reviews. :) True enough to their word, they have all the amenities except for the bikes - apparently, the bikes were all for repair? hehe. Not a minute after we sat down waiting for our keys to be given, Wayne already got two mugs of beer to drink....

Siem Reap was mainly to go and see the temples. The city itself isn't that interesting. The Foreign Correspondents Club wasn't as good as the one in Phnom Penh.Bayon was my favourite area in Angkor Thom complex. Then Angkor Wat - I was expecting to be WOWed by Angkor Wat, but I wasn't. It was still impressive, but not amazing. The Ta Prohm temple was good - though it rained, even though it's supposed to be the dry season in Cambodia.Further Cambodia pictures are here: http://flickr.com/photos...

After our mammoth sleeping session, I get up pretty early, have breakfast at the hostel, then book our next place for tomorrow, the Monkey Republic, which was recommended to us, by some American dude at Poipet> at $6 a night, on the beach, we think it's a steal, and it has good security (Sihanoukville has a problem with theft) so that's all good.Our tuk-tuk driver meets us at 11, and takes us to a floating village. We pay $20, and get a private tour of the village, which is entirely self-s...