Siem Reap

I just enjoyed a short escape to Siem Riep to eat different food, meet friends and to relax. It is a much busier place than on my previous visits - lots of new bars and restaurants especially around Pub Street. Luckily my hotel was away from all the action, a short tuk-tuk ride from the Old Market.

We met Lina, our friend: author of Move to Cambodia for a dinner at Mie cafe, one of her favourite restaurants in town. It was a very nice place serving modern Khmer dishes. I'd highly recommend this restaurant. After that we headed to Miss Wong cocktail bar for a  few drinks. I love this bar and remember it from years back. Small, not loud music, nice cocktails and very friendly staff. 

I love the old market very much even though it's very touristy. I went there everyday just for a wander, to smell the incense, flowers, spices and food. The way they display their fresh produce is very photogenic. Local Cambodian vendors show a lot of pride in the way they display their food which is similar to us in Vietnam.

I love having a Cambodian massage even though I'm not sure that's what it's called. I visited Master Feet and spent an hour every day for foot and arm massages, usually after walking around for a few hours. In the evening, we had a great experience with Lina and Steven: food tour in Siem Reap. It was so much fun, this is such a great way to see the city through local expat eyes. We went around Siem Reap by tuk tuk and tried heaps of local food. As you would expect, I ate way too much. We visited quite different markets, crossed lots of busy streets to try Siem Reap's specialties and that's the best way to learn and understand the local culture and their food. After the tour, headed to Picasso bar for a couple of drinks before going back to the hotel. Quite a small bar but with great atmosphere, the Picasso Bar cocktails were nice enough according my limited cocktails experience. We had a few drinks there and met up with some new people before a final cocktail at Miss Wong. It was a great night!!!

I don't usually eat at hotels but the Victoria Hotel breakfast was great and I enjoyed very much. For coffee, we were guided to The Little Red Fox Espresso as it's the best coffee in town. I enjoyed the quiet, good coffee and spend some time catching up on work.  We met Lina again for lunch at Olive, Cuisine De Saison. It was weird to eat French fusion food in Siem Reap but it was delicious, quiet and we spent lots of time chatting about the town, business and food. 

I would come back here again in the near future as I love the heat, the people, market, food and the excellent massage.

Phnom Penh May 2013

Before my first visit to Phnom Penh, most of my friends warned me about the heat but it was not too bad. I like walking around the city and sweating a bit to feel the city and see how local people live and survive in the conditions. It's not that hot compared to Hanoi in the summer time where the heat can be reach up to 40+ degrees.


I especially enjoyed visiting the wet markets in Phnom Penh as I think that's the best way to experience the rhythm of the local people, as well as to see amazing produce and food preparation.The markets in Phnom Penh are well maintained and very clean compared to other Asian wet markets, even Hanoi's. Sitting down and eating in the middle of the market, I can see how people cook my noodles, BBQ or cakes. Veggies and fruits are well arranged too, and so colorful.


I don't enjoy eating in restaurants as much as eating on the street. Of course, there are always streetfood places that don't look that great or clean but I just avoid those places, for example anywhere located next to big rubbish bins or on the side of major roads where you can see all the dust flying into the food. Interestingly, I tend to get food poisoning more at restaurants than at street food stalls. It happened again this time. That's my lesson and my tip is that the best and most authentic food is served and prepared on the streets and in the markets.


I wouldn't mind coming back to Phnom Penh again to try more food and learn more about Cambodia's culture. I had a great time here.

Angkor Wat - Siem Riep 4

We took a day off from sightseeing to relax at the hotel pool and walk around the town, the old market and try some specialties of Siem Riep. Even though the weather was very hot my family loved the friendly atmosphere, nice people and the food from the old market. One of the highlights of the trip for me was that my mother, for the first time ever, at more than 70 years of age, got into a swimming pool to swim and she can swim every well. My nephew, my sister and I told her to walk into the pool to let her feet relax and take some photos with my sister. Then we pulled her into the middle of the pool for a bit of paddling. Truly a great moment to see!

On our last day at Siem Reap, our tuk-tuk driver Pheav took us to visit Banteay Srei Temple which has some of the most beautiful stone carvings in the world. This temple is about a 45 minute jouney by tuk-tuk from Siem Reap but we got a really good look at rural life in Cambodia along the road. My mother loved this temple the most because because of the carving and she was very impressed at the Cambodian government's efforts to maintain it so well. As UNESCO world heritage sites, they are obviously a very important source of revenue for the country.

Our next stop was the Ta Prohm Temple. My sister and my nephew couldn't believe those amazing huge trees growing throughout the temples and how nature and man's structures could become like one. We noticed this time that lots of restoration work was being carried out and that many foreign organisations help out.

Anyway, my family's visit to Siem Reap was great. We all learnt something new, about the different culture, experienced the beauty of the great temples and the charm of the Cambodians. The best thing from the trip was seeing the happiness that my mother showed after so many years of her working and sorting out the difficulties of our lives. Can't wait to make another trip somewhere next year with her.

Thanks to the Central Boutique Angkor staff and especially Mr Pheav for giving my family some great times in Siem Reap!!!!!

Angkor Wat - Siem Riep 3

We left the hotel at 5 am and headed to Angkor Wat. As we approached, the sun was starting to rise up behind the amazing temple. The quiet of the morning and the early fresh cool wind blowing across our faces was a nice way to wake up. And what spectacular scenery. My mum said, "Angkor temple looks so beautiful and well maintained, why don't we have something as beautiful as this in Vietnam???" I told her that we have different things of beauty in Vietnam, from the north to the south, like the Cham towers, Halong Bay, and Phong Nha Cave, which are all world heritage sites, too.

Anyway, we sat outside and watched the sunrise for about an hour, before walking into the temple to start our day. My main duty was explaining the site and taking photos for everyone. Thank god that I like photography and I enjoy doing this kind of work. My sister and my nephew love having thier photo taken and I spent most of the time focusing on them in different corners of the site.

We walked toward the entrance and we saw a group of 30 very loud Chinese people talking to each other. We tried to avoid them but they seemed everywhere. I think this kind of place needs quiet for people to enjoy its peaceful beauty instead of shouting and arguing.

Our great regular guide Pheav next took us to Bayon Temple and he told us about its history when we arrived and offered us water that he had prepared in an ice container. We very much appreciated his attention to this kind of detail. I told my mother this is my favorite temple in Siem Riep and this is the third time I had been here, the first 2 times during my first trip last year. We were all wondering how people in that generation could make these amazingly huge statues and erect them on hilltops. We spent more than an hour wandering around and taking heaps of photos, of course!!! On the way out, we saw quite a few old women sitting inside the entrance chatting in their traditional costumes after finishing their prayers. I wish I could speak Cambodian so that I could have got some special information about the temples in Siem Riep and especially Bayon temple.

Anyway, after a few hours my mother looked a bit tired and we decided to head back to the hotel to have lunch and jump into the hotel pool to cool down. Later in the day, we went to the night market at about 6 for dinner
To be continued...

Angkor Wat - Siem Riep 2

On our first day in Siem Reap, after traveling from Nha Trang, we relaxed for most of the afternoon at the hotel and then walked to the night market for dinner and a bit of shopping. We wondered around the night market for about an hour then we sat down at one of the many food stall around the area. We picked quite a few different dishes including rice, noodles and some stirfried veggies to taste the Cambodian style. As a chef, my sister loved Cambodian cuisine very much. It's a bit similar to Vietnamese dishes but there is something special in their style.

I encouraged my mum to try the fish massage and after a few refusals, she joined with us and she laugh so much. It is not very often that I see my mum so happy since my father and my eldest sister passed away. I realized, sometimes just a very simple thing could make somebody just that happy. I'm glad she tried a new thing like that. Mr Pheav, our great tour guide and tuk tuk driver came and after I took the family home, I headed to pub street to discover the Siem Riep night life. I stopped at a cafe and sat outside drinking a mojito and watched people walking past. I have to admit that there are heaps of prostitutes around, walking up and down trying to find clients.

I felt bored after an hour and took a tuk tuk back to the hotel at 10.30pm. A sunrise tour to Angkor Wat was waiting for me and my family at 5am. I was sure my family would love this amazing view just I did the first time. My mum was still awake when I got back and my nephew was in the pool swimming. I joined him for a few laps then headed to bed. This is such a beautiful hotel, very quiet compared to crazy, noisy Hanoi. I was sure to sleep well before the early start the next day.
To be continued......

Angkor Wat - Siem Riep 1

I promise myself that I would take my mother to one country in South East Asia every year and I have been doing it for the last 3 years. My brothers and sisters also contribute some money for the trip and I'm more than happy to take my mum with me. She has been to Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and this year I took her to Angkor Wat - Cambodia. As with other trips, Minh, my sister joined us along with my nephew, Phong.

We arrived in Saigon from Nha Trang at 5.30 am and we took a taxi directly to Tan Son Nhat International Airport as we were leaving Saigon at 9.45 am and my family were so worried about missing our flight. Anyway, we didn't, and arrived in Siem Reap after about an hour flight. I could see from their eyes that my family were very excited about being there to discover one of the most famous world heritage sites in the world.

We got picked up by the Central Boutique Resort staff. The very warm welcome and big smiles from the staff made all of our tiredness disappear. The hotel is centrally located, about 7 minutes walk to the night market and pub street which is very convenient. I loved the resort's pool and the welcome drink of tea, the sweet staff and the strong free wifi. My nephew and I decided to jump into the pool after checking in to refresh ourselves. So cool!

We had lunch at the hotel and I was very impressed with the presentation of the food. I never saw a sour face from any of the hotel staff either - the whole time we were there. No wonder the hotel is busy most of the time!!! I felt bad that I didn't use their tour services but I had already booked a tour guide whose services I had used last year, Mr Sopheara Pheav. He is one of the best tour guides in town, charges a very reasonable price, speaks good English, and has good knowledge about his great home town.

My family loved travelling around by tuk tuk especially since my mother and my sister get car sickwhen they go by regular car.The tuk tuk also allowed us to have a really good look at the surrounding scenery as we went along. Anyway, Pheav met us on the first afternoon as we planned by email to discuss our tours the next few days. I didn't really want to do a tour everyday because my mother is over 70 now. I wanted to see her enjoy the amazing temples slowly and feel it instead of rushing around like other tourists. Pheav and I negotiated a suitable plan and he recommended that we bought a 3 day pass which cost $40 per person and is valid for a week. We started out journey the next day to see the sunrise and my favorite Bayon temple.
To be continued .....

Miss Wong Bar

In the last trip to Siem Reap, following the hotel staff's recommendation, we went to Miss Wong cocktail bar for a drink after dinner. I was quite impressed about this Chinese - Shanghai old style bar which is inspired by the owner's impression of Miss Wong from China.

It's totally different compared to the rest of the bars in Siem Reap which were all modern and a bit tasteless. Miss Wong is lit with low red lights, chinese style tables and chairs and interesting photos. I do love their menus designed sharplywith Miss Wong photos on the top.

They make very nice cocktails particularly the Mojito and Margarita. I also enjoyed the China white cocktail very much and I think the staff have been trained very well. They speak quite good english and they are very friendly.

Anyway, good to know another place in a small town to hang out next time and have some of the best cocktails in town.
Address : The Lane , Siem Reap behind pub street
Phone : 855/92.428.332

Ta Prohm Temple

So many things have been said about Ta Prohm temple but this is the comment that best sums it up for me:"If Angkor Wat, the Bayon and other temples are testimony to the genius of the ancient Khmers, Ta Prohm reminds us equally of the aweome fecundity and power of the jungle" (Lonely Planet Cambodia)

Siem Reap is the northern city home to the Great Angkor Wat Temple, the most popular destination for tourists in Cambodia. People usually know about Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom which are the well known temples rather than the many smaller gorgeous temples around the area. I was particularly impressed by the temple called Ta Prohm or Tree - Strangled Temple. This temple is 800 years old and has lots of enormous beautiful trees, a great example of nature and manmade structure as one. The tree roots twisting around and on top of these temples look like the tentacles of a giant sleeping octopus. This unique appearance of the temple attracts thousands of tourists every year even though the weather isn't that pleasant throughout the year, averaging 34 degrees. Interesingly, Tom Raider, the 2001 film starring Angelina Jolie helped to spread the world about this amazing feat of architecture.

About a hundred meters walk from the beautiful entrance you can see the first temple with a large front quadrangle surrounded by several tall trees reaching to the sky. Walking through this temple complex is exciting, with trees and roots blending into the temples at every turn. It's like an enormous sculpture. The camera was working overtime!

And I think, in this case, the pictures are better than words...

Golden Banana Hotel

Last month we went to Siem Reap, Cambodia and following a recommendation from a friend, we stayed at the Golden Banana Hotel. I was very impressed with the hotel in general and particularly the service and friendly atmosphere created by their staff.

We are welcomed with a glass of iced lemon juice with mint and a cold towel to cool us down as the weather was 35c+ degrees. What a great way to welcome guests...we realy appreciated that drink at that time! After that, the receptionist explained to us about how the hotel operates, the city and some of the best destinations to go for the next few days, then he sent us to our room.

Most rooms in the hotel are similarly designed with a bed room, bathroom on the ground floor and a living room with an extra bed on the second floor. There's a balcony with a rocking chair, small table, another chair and a view over the swimming pool. I wondered if I needed all of this for my holiday? Was it a bit too much for me? And reconsidering, that's what most people need for their holiday, to relax and release all the stress. I decided it was okay!

Our room was tidied up everyday and new complimentary water placed in the bathroom.

Having a cocktail or a cold beer by the side of the pool was how we spent our afternoons after wondering through temples all morning. The Golden Banana Hotel serves great cocktails even in my limited experience. Their mojito was a hit with me. Besides that, I loved the hotel food with great tastes of Kh'mer and some fusion of Thai, Cambodian.

Golden Banana Boutique Hotel & Resort
email: goldenbanana2@gmail.com
telephone: +855 (0)12654638 / (0)12885366

Angkor Wat

Most people I know who've been to Angkor Wat mentioned the amazing sunrise there so I decided to make the early trip on my first day. We made an arrangement with the tuk tuk guy to pick us up at 5 AM and he showed up on time but we had a problem with the alarm settings. Anyway, after 20 minutes driving including a quick stop at the ticket centre for our passes, we finally arrived at majestic Angkor Wat.

There were lots of people already there taking photos and I also saw quite a few people leaving, meaning they must have been there since 4.30 or 5, which is a bit too early for me. I am a bit lazy when I am on holiday, sleeping and eating alot and visiting the sights a bit in between. I don't like the idea of rushing around to see everything possible and then feeling exhausted at the end of the day. I would like to take it easy, relax and enjoy every moment of the trip.

Anyway, we spent about 20 minutes watching the sunrise and taking lots of shots, before walking inside the beautiful temples of Angkor Wat. As soon as the sun came out, the amazing detail of the scenery appeared. Inside the temple gate, we got our first view of the main temple and the two libraries located in the forground on either side. Upon stepping into the main temple, we saw the long exterior walls covered with 600 metres of detailed bas-reliefs with lots of different stories about Angkor's amazing history. We kept walking around and ended up climbing the steep steps into the main part of the temple, from where we had a beautiful view.The other feature of Angkor Wat is all of the carvings of apsaras, the female spirit of the wind and clouds in Hindu myth. They are everywhere, more than 2000 of them.

It was one of the most memorable mornings of my life.
To be continued

Travel

Most of my friends have been to Cambodia and have been talking about Siem Reap for years. I suppose I've always thought Cambodia is so close and I can make a short trip anytime. I finally got the chance when recently I saw a great promotion from Vietnam Airlines for only $143 for a return direct flight from Hanoi. I can't imagine abetter deal than that.

So last week, after a 2 hour flight from Hanoi, I arrived at Siem Reap at 5.30 pm. The Airport is a small but stylish building and we had no problems getting through immigation and customs. Visas for Vietnamese are not required but for other foreigners they cost US$20 and are available at the embassy in Hanoi or upon arrival. My friend had arranged accommodation and we were greeted at the airport by the smiling tuk-tuk driver from the Golden Banana Boutique Hotel.

After 20 minutes in the tuk tuk, we arrived at the hotel to be served with a glass of iced lemon juice with mint, similar to my favorite cocktail, Mojito. We checked into our 2 storey room, in the corner of the complex which looks over the swimming pool from a small balcony connected to the living room on the second floor, perfect!!! After unpacking, we ordered from the poolside bar before relaxing in and around the pool for an hour or so.

The hotel is only a 5 minute walk to the old market area of Siem Reap where most of the bars, restaurants are located. I have to say, this is one of the best hotels I've ever stayed at with a very friendly, homely atmosphere and helpful staff. It's quiet, tastefully designed and worth coming back to. When I'm in Siem Reap next time, I'll be staying here, that's for sure!