We have spent some time in Vietnam and plan to return for another visit in November.

However we have never been to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat next door in Cambodia.

We can get a good airline package through Vietnam Airlines.

Has anyone been there recently and can advise on how long to stay there to appreciate the temples etc. and what else to see nearby? We will not be going to any other part of Cambodia.

Here (jump to the Cambodia section if you want) is a report on my trip there 5+ years ago. Maybe it was fast for the Slow Travel sensibility, but in 48 hours with a driver I saw a lot. In addition to the temples, they push the boat trip on the Tonle Sap lake, with houses on stilts; that was an uneasy trip for me.

LizS who is currently touring the Middle East and Spain visited Angkor Wat last year. She has some great information and photos on her blog about the area. Here is a link to Angkor Wat section of her blog.

Also, if you pop into the Spain forum, you can see what she is currently doing in Spain.

We spent 3 nights and most of 3 days. Took the 8 1/2 hour boat trip to Battambang, which revisits some of the stuff you see on the Tonle Sap Lake boat trip, so you don't need to do both.
For a photo and some travelog see my blog:
(in right column, Recent Entries, gets you to the text.)

http://blogs.bootsnall.com/AuntKim/?p=10

Thanks, will follow up on your links

we recently spent 2 nights / 2 days at the hotel de la paix. It was a fantastic experience and I'd love to go back and stay longer. The area is huge and you could easily spend weeks there and not cover everything. We managed to visit and spend some quality time at all the major temples but I would suggest that 3 days is a good amount if time there. There are only so many times you get up before dawn.

Some specifics on our 2005 trip to Angkor Wat:

We had made advanced reservations at L'Maison d'Angkor, which was a lovely Zen-feeling place with a beautiful pool, black and white room decor, king-size beds, pebble-floored shower, and nice dining areas. But at the time, it was practically deserted (though fully booked the following week - tour groups?) and a little far from the action, plus at close to $80 US per night, a bit more expensive than we needed to pay.

So after one night we moved to a more active, congenial place in town called La Noria for the next three nights. La Noria had an almost Mexican village feel to it, with two-story bungalows clustered in a jungly courtyard surrounding the pool, for $46.60 per night (2005 price). Our 2nd-story room had AC and a balcony with a fan, hot shower and a Cambodian-style bath with large urn and a scoop. The central location and presence of other travellers of our age and travel style made it more comfortable for us than the Maison d'Angkor, though there was nothing wrong with that place other than it just wasn't a good fit for us.

We spent the next 2 days exploring temples with a private "remarque moto" driver named "Sokhoeun Tuk" - a day's touring cost about $11 to $12 at the time, and the driver you hire waits for you while you explore to your heart's content. The third day we hired a car (1990 Toyota Camry) and driver ("Harry") to go to farther-flung temples, and paid around $60 including tip.

We had a lovely time in Siem Reap and Angkor, aside from a 4-hour intestinal siege that overtook me on the drive back and was pretty scary for a while with fever and sweats and intense vomiting but was cleared up by morning in time for us to board the boat to Battambang, a highly scenic float that took us past 8 1/2 hours of local color. (Since this boat trip crosses Tonle Sap Lake to get to the river, we could have skipped the Tonle Sap Lake outing we had done on the second day.)

Hope this helps.

Thanks for additional input. We are planning on 3 days at Siem Reap/Angkor Wat so seems about right.

We will be arriving from another visit to Vietnam and hopefully belly upsets etc are over with by then. Our medical practice provides very good travellers kits so we always have at least one in reserve but it is very difficult to avoid getting some problem.

I also would recommend La Noria. I was there last year this time for about 3 weeks as a medical volunteer and stayed at La Noria for the last couple of nights- wonderful little place other than the terrible coffee and bread. But for good breakfast food in town, there is always the wonderful French cafe called the Blue Pumpkin. Try to do Angkor Wat as early in the day as possible as the heat is brutal. I went with some other volunteers one day and we got to Ta Prom (sp?) about 7AM and did alot of sightseeing before the heat got bad. Keep in mind that the temples are swarming with children looking for handouts or selling items to you for "one dollar". Bring tons of water and always remember to only drink bottled, sealed water there. That should make all the difference in getting any gastro-intestinal infections (that and eating only cooked food). The Soup Dragon across the street from the Blue Pumpkin has wonderful food and donates 10% of their proceeds to the Angkor Hospital for Children.

quote:

Originally posted by Karrie:
Bring tons of water and always remember to only drink bottled, sealed water there. That should make all the difference in getting any gastro-intestinal infections (that and eating only cooked food).

I did everything right to avoid getting sick, but I think perhaps the culprit was a restaurant we ate at the night before: it was a place that was obviously set up to serve large groups of tourists, but was pretty empty that night. Perhaps they served me something that had overstayed its welcome and should have been tossed out.

I hear 'ya Kimby. I thought I was doing everything right during my stay there and ended up getting Montezuma's revenge from cooked pizza in the airport in Tokoyo Japan on my flight home! Who would have thought that cooked pizza would be a problem but it was the only thing I ate during my travels back to the USA other than Power Bars so it had to be that. I brought up the sealed water as many people told me to be careful of bottled water without true seals since some places have been known to refill bottles on their own and not tell you! Luckily I didn't run into that at La Noria.

I did not mean in any way to imply that La Noria had anything to do with my being violently ill for a few hours. I think I picked up the bug at a restaurant the night before.
We loved La Noria. (And it wasn't a bad place to languish in misery for a few hours either!)

Hopefully you got to take advantage of the massages by the blind students while you were there? I can't wait to go back to La Noria and know that its a common place for the Angkor Hospital for Children volunteers to stay. Did you maybe get sick from the local huge restaurant that has the Aspara show each night and offers a buffet? I don't remember the name of the place and I did have a great time but I did wonder about the food quality and there were about a zillion tour groups on the night we went.

I thought my little post may have died by now.

We are about to finalise bookings so I may start another post later in the year in case of any more recent input. So far info very helpfull.

Unfortunately Montezuma is alive and well.

Thanks Monty, I would love an update on the airport situation in Bangkok if you fly that way. I may be returning to Siem Reap next year but I haven't kept up on any news about the airport there which I heard had continuing problems despite its new-ness.

Sorry Karrie, can't help you. We will fly from HCM (Saigon)direct to Siem Reap.

No problem Monty, have a great trip!

Karrie, the good news and the bad news.

Most asian holiday bookings are quoted in US dollars so I was surprised that our planned vist to Vietnam etc has actually got cheaper in Aussie dollars (because our dollar has gone up). The bad news is it may cost you guys more.

However since we were last in Vietnam, about 2 years ago, hotel prices have in many cases gone up by 30-50%. Apparently visitors to Vietnam have gone up by about 20% per year.