Cambodia and the Mekong Delta - Feb 2013

My wife and I, along with my brother just spent ten days in Cambodia and Vietnam. We flew from Manila to Siem Reap, travelling around Cambodia, with the last couple days in Vietnam. Getting out of country was a bit of a pain, my wife had to pay about P1600, travel tax, and I had to pay P2170 for Emigration Clearance Certificate (since I am a 13a permanent resident). On top of that we had each pay P550, international terminal fee.

We had purchased e-visas for Cambodia (wife didn’t need one since the Philippines is an ASEAN country) so no problems on arrival. We had only carry-on baggage so we were through Immigration and Customs and out of the airport within 3 minutes. A tuk-tuk (pedicab) from our hotel was waiting for us. The driver was polite and spoke reasonable English. On the way to the hotel, he asked if he could be our driver for the temples. We agreed on a price and that turned out to be a good thing. He was able to give us good suggestions about our itinerary and find us the kind of restaurants that suited our taste.

Cambodia now receives about 3.5 million tourists per year, most passing through Siem Reap and the Temples at Angkor. There is a wide range of hotels from $7US to $300 per night. We paid $15 per night, with aircon, hot water, cable, fridge, free bottled water, free airport pickup and breakfast included. Siem Reap is a relatively small town, clean, lots of good restaurants and shopping, and only about 20 minutes to Angkor Wat by tuk-tuk. The driving habits are similar to the Philippines but it works for them. Amazingly, all motorcycles and scooters were equipped with real mufflers, mirrors, and helmets! The Cambodian people were among the nicest I have ever met; polite and respectful to the point of making me shy. Even most of the people selling in the tourist markets and around the Temples were polite and not too forceful.

We started off our first day at Angkor Wat, the pride of Cambodia, mostly restored by the French prior to the take-over by the Khmer Rouge in the ‘70’s. The complex is amazing, both in size and architectural detail, but after 2 hours walking around, I pretty well had my fill of temples already. We headed on to Angkor Thom, much bigger in area, with several temples. I let my brother walk through taking pictures, and I stayed with our driver, taking pictures along the route and meeting him at the other end. We went to lunch near a man-made lake, used as a giant swimming pool a thousand years ago, then decided to head out to Kbal Spean since we only had a 1-day Temple pass ($20US). It’s about 45 minutes away; a river noted for the stone carvings in the river bed (they call it the river of 1000 lingas). A three day temple pass is $40US. Getting there was rough, 1.5km up-hill but the hike was more impressive than the carvings. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you are in much better condition than me! We finished off the day with another Temple, Ta Phrom, of Angelina Jolie’s “Tomb Raider” fame. It is, by far, the nicest temple to visit, overgrown by giant trees, growing around and through the temples. There are many other temples in the area, but for me, one day was enough. Maybe if I was an archeologist, architect, or history buff I would have spent a week or more combing through all the temples, learning their stories and studying their history.

On the second day, we decided to take a trip down a river to Lake Tonle Sap to see houses on stilts, floating village, and floating forest. We saw the stilts but would have to return in the rainy season to see anything floating since the water rises about 20 – 30 feet at that time of year. For me, it was $75 wasted ($20 each plus tuk-tuk). If you want to see a real floating village, go to Kampong Chhanang.

Great food in Cambodia; lots of flavor and variety. I like to eat at the local eateries get a real feel of what the locals eat. Shopping was good in Siem Reap, especially for silk scarves, t-shirts, wood carvings, paintings and jewelry. Try to catch some Apsara dancers, if possible and try the local massages. Night life was reasonable but generally catered to a younger crowd. All in all, Siem Reap was very enjoyable.

On to Kampong Cham, along the Mekong River; a 6 hour bus ride from Siem Reap, and about 4 hours north of Phnom Penh. This was our favorite spot; the town was clean, quiet, good cheap hotels (try the old Mekong Hotel), good restaurants and plenty of things to visit. From there we rented 125cc scooters and headed up the Mekong, through rubber plantations and small villages for about 6 hours to the town of Kratie (pronounced Craw-chay). We took a boat out to see the Mekong River dolphins and watch the sunset, driving back to Kampong Cham the next day. We could have taken the bus, but no adventure there!

After a couple days, we headed down to the Capital, Phnom Penh. It is a nice small city, growing fast. The waterfront is its biggest attraction but lots to see and do, and good shopping, especially at the Central Market. While there, we took a trip out to the Killing Fields Monument, a testament to the millions of people killed by the Khmer Rouge. It was a sobering experience, but well worth the visit. Cambodia’s King, who died last October, was buried while we were there, limiting our access to the waterfront area (near the Palace) for 5 days and basically shutting down all entertainment.
During this 5 day holiday, the Vietnam Embassy was closed so we couldn’t get a visa (e-visas are available online, but only for entry at Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi airports). We finally got our visa ($60US) and left for Vietnam on Thursday morning, taking a tour boat along the Mekong to Chau Doc. The boat turned out to be a van to the Vietnam border (not enough tourists to support the boat ride, apparently) then a small boat along one of the tributaries through the Mekong Delta to Chau Doc. Overnight there, with a boat tour to a floating village, fish farm and on to a Cham Muslim village in the morning and bus ride to Ho Chi Minh in the afternoon. For $35, it served our purpose; including pick-up at our hotel in Phnom Penh, border crossing assistance, boat ride, hotel, breakfast, morning tour, and bus to Ho Chi Minh where we grabbed a cab to the airport for our overnight flight to Manila, then on to Dumaguete in the morning.

We only had two days in Vietnam, but unanimously, we did not enjoy ourselves. We found the people extremely rude and aggressive, a complete lack of hygiene, and we did not enjoy any of the food. It was bland and usually disgusting. I know it is a short time to create an opinion of an entire country, but none of us would return to Vietnam, even if the trip was free!

Just a couple notes. I would return to Cambodia in a heartbeat; probably one of the best countries I have visited as a tourist. I would like to visit Kep, Kampot, Sihanoukeville, Kampong Chhanang and Battambang on my next visit, along with a few more days to relax in Kampong Cham. With enough time, I would explore the north-eastern provinces also. The only hard part about Cambodia is the language. Outside of the tourist areas, not many people speak English, and with their own, unique alphabet, it is very difficult to get around since road signs are generally written in Khmer. We had a map with English alphabet and the locals could not understand it.

 

Thanks for the great post, any photo's coming?

 

Great post Steve! Nice to hear you had such a great time in Cambodia....been on our to-do list for quite a while but just haven't made it there yet. Not wrong about Cambodian food. We had a Cambodian restaurant about 200 meters from the house and it was delightful. The food was like Thai without the heartburn...tasty stuff with just the right amount of spices (for us)...Sadly, they couldn't make a go of it - not enough interest out there to try it...so the same Cambodian family has gone generic Asian with a new name and menu....Serving Thai, Chinese, Japanese, and even a bit of Cambodian....Anyway, certainly like Cambodian food.

Funny about Vietnam....most of our friends that have been there love it...but they start out in 'Saigon' (I can't use that other name it gives me the sh!tz) or Hanoi...and then travel to the provinces and then back to the big cities...I've been there....over forty years ago and while I liked the place..stunningly beautiful in many areas.....wasn't keen on the rockets, mortars, and bullets....or the casualties....Haven't been back - but must do someday...I have Vietnamese friends here, a couple ex-ARVN's even...and they keep encouraging us to to give Vietnam a try....Funny many of the ex-bases are now industrial areas....

 

a great post SteveB i wanted to go there this trip but next time i will will 4 sure
cheers

 

Link to pics on the photo board