We only had a short time to recover from the Hong Kong and Japan trips before our Chinese New Year holiday tour we booked quite a while back to Siem Reap Cambodia.
We did have a chance to see our friend Missie, who I mentioned back in my December 1 blog and she wished us well on our trip. We hope to see her and husband Dom before we head back to the US.
We were really looking forward to this trip because Tom Blythe had told me that the Sojourn Villas In Siem Reap Cambodia and the surrounding attractions like the Angkor Wat Temples, the fishing villages and the Angkor Wat Golf Resort were some of his favorite places in this part of
the world. After our trip I agree with him!
At the Singapore airport on the way to the plane we saw this intriguing advertisement for Breitlung Indonesia that we may have to check out for future travel.
Friday February 1, 2019 – Off to Cambodia
Our trip started with a nice Jetstar flight that was a bit higher priced than usual because it was just before Chinese New Year on February 5 and 6 and the Singapore Changi Airport had their decorations up.
On arrival in Cambodia we had a very long walk to get into the airport and it took us about an hour to go through immigration and pay $30 USD each for a Visa. Unfortunately we did not bring any US dollars with us so we paid in Cambodia Riel and I didn’t really look at the conversion rate as I had just exchanged dollars for Cambodian Riel the night before. Anyway we waited in line and when I checked the conversion we were given, the $60 dollars had turned into $100. Later we found that most places preferred USD anyway especially for tips so we learned a lesson to check in advance on fees and to maybe carry some USD anyway, especially 1 dollar bills for tips or small purchases.
Our driver Pin met us after we left the baggage claim and was very nice and told us a little bit about his country as we drove to Sojourn Villas about 10 km from the airport. We will keep his number in mind if we return! It is +855 12 681 169 or within the country 012681169. Pin dropped us off at the beautiful Sojourn Villas as we made our way through many bumpy and dusty roads and Pin said he would be back to get us in the morning.
We were given a friendly greeting with a cold towel and welcome drink and were told about dinner and spa arrangements, etc. It was not a super fancy place but was very friendly and spacious. And yes, we took Tom Blythe’s advice and requested Temple Villa Number 8 with both indoor and private outdoor showers. We relaxed and had a nice dinner.
Saturday February 2, 2019 – Fishing Village
On Saturday morning we met the driver Pin again along with a guide Maray Seng who spoke excellent English and was very experienced, perhaps in his mid to late forties
Maray was provided by the Sojourn to take us to a big lake and fishing village. It was about an hour there through several villages on the way.
Fortunately for most of the way we drove on a recently paved road apparently paid for by some wealthy Japanese. Maray talked a lot about the history of Cambodia including some mention of the dark days of the Khmer Rouge regime led by Pol Pot in the 1970’s when it is estimated that nearly 1.5 to 3 million people or up to 25 percent of the Cambodian population.
We also commented on the number of motorbikes and wondered how they survived with all the other traffic including big trucks. Our guide said it wasn’t easy and told his his own story of riding a motorbike and being hit head on after a car passed five other vehicles and plowed into him. He broke his back and spent six months in a hospital in Thailand because Cambodia didn’t have the specialists needed to treat him. While he still hobbled a bit it appeared as though he made a pretty good recovery as he spent most of the trip guiding me up and down temple steps and keeping me in balance as best he could. When we finally got to the lake and fishing villages we were astounded by how people lived in the houses with poles often 20 or more meters off the ground. Maray explained that we were currently in the “dry season” but that during the rainy season the water from the river would often be 20-30 meters deeper and people had to plan their lives to live in both seasons. As we navigated the rivers and headed toward a huge lake we were also amazed at all the fish traps that were up on the water to have fish swim and we were also surprised to see low boats in the water with perhaps 12 people and many large bags in the boat. We asked what they were and were told that these people collected clams for a living and would leave in the morning and return late afternoon with the huge bags of clams that they would sell directly to restaurants or markets. And if no one bought them from those places they would then sell the clams as fertilizer to farmers.
Clam boat with clams packed in big bags for sale.
As we continued toward a big lake we noticed how dirty the water was although we did see a few swimmers.
Once we got to the lake we turned around and went by a couple of fishing villages that we were told were run like real cities with schools, a Mayor and other normal government functions. A couple of the floating schools had been donated by corporations.
The pictures are great but don’t really do justice to the fascination and awe in which we saw how these Cambodians lived and yet seemed to be happy and very active. It certainly would be interesting to return in the wet season to see the river so high. We also could feel the 94 degree sun bearing down on people. Susan and I agreed that we shouldn’t complain as much about little things or annoyances with all of our gadgets and things as it could certainly be much worse. Susan noted very little furniture in the houses and we were told that most did not have plumbing. We were pretty tired as we made the long dusty ride back at sunset to the Soujourn Villas which felt like a plush oasis amongst the shacks and poverty we observed. We would both highly recommend people get to Siem Reap for the incredible experience and time for reflection, which was just beginning as we swam a bit, had another good dinner with great service and prepare for our 5 am pickup in the morning to tour the famous Angkor Wat and other temples in the morning to see the sun rise!
Sunday February 3, 2019
As promised, we were met at the Sojourn Villas at 5 am by Maray and the driver Pin and the Sojourn had prepared boxed breakfast food for us. We made our way about 20 minutes through town to the Angkor Wat temple ticket center. Even at this hour, traffic was starting to build for the sunrise viewing of the temples but we made our way after a good bit of walking to a good viewing sight just before sunrise. Here is a short overview of the temples we were to explore most of the day. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat
And then just as Maray predicted at about 6:30 AM the bright orange sun rose over the ancient temples. The place was crowded down near the water where you could get some nice reflections of the temples in the water but fortunately we found a very tall guy who took some good photos for us. I believe that the last two photos in this section below may be two out our favorites for the whole trip! But of course we still have at least 6-8 more places so I will withhold judgment.
We the spent the next 4-5 hours actually climbing through the temples with Mayray towing me along and making sure I kept my balance as he explained the history of the various temples. The last couple in this set show me with and without the Longue Vue hat. (Apparently my proposal to have members send in photos from various parts of the world for the club newsletter was rejected as I never heard back from them.)
Following Anghor Wat we made our way to The Ta Prohm temples where we heard that the 2001 film Lara Croft Tomb Raider starring Angelina Jolie, Daniel Craig and John Voight was filmed. (For those of you knowing Susan’s taste for violence or creepiness this would not have been on her list, but she does like mysteries so maybe we will check it out and see if we remember any of the background.)
Our final set of temples for the day was at the famous city of Angkor Thom with its Bayon temples featuring four smiling faces in different directions supposedly standing for the values of simplicity, compassion, equanimity and wisdom.
By the time we finished the last set, we were kind of “templed out” as Missie’s tour guide husband Dom told us we would be. So after this “once in a lifetime” day (unless we take our son Mark there when he visits April 13-20) we retreated to the tranquility of the Sojourn Villas in Siem Reap and relaxed by the pool and had another excellent dinner. How do you like the lion fountain? I need to consider adding one to the Hollingsworth Pool and Resort prior to the next John Puckett one man band appearance some time this summer! And Ray Parpan, the Walmart tropical shirt continues to make its appearances.
Monday February 4, 2019
While Susan enjoyed the pool and a spa treatment, I took Tom Blythe’s advice and had Pin drive me ten minutes to the Angkor Wat Golf Resort where he had played a few years ago. It was a very nice course but about 94 degrees Fahrenheit as you can imagine from the sweat on the bright green Sewickley Heights shirt that my friends Gregg Schmidt and his wife Sharon Ammons had given me a couple years ago from Sewickley Heights in Pittsburgh.
It was my first golf since October and with a sprained ankle. I played pretty poorly except good drives and almost made a 10 foot birdie (and did get first par of Year) on Number 6.
I almost made it without a major International incident until number 6 when my shorts fell down and then after making it 9 holes I grabbed the rake on the back of the golf cart and fell over – no injuries but the female caddie and the starter took some strength to pull me up. Not sure if losing too much weight or bad fitting belt or pants but would bet on belt so family – Father’s Day Idea – new belt size 46 or adjustable as I should be skinnier by then ha.
Anyway, the course and the umbrella for the head and the knowledgable female caddies made for a memorable round!
Following the golf, Pin picked me up and I bought a couple of small elephant and Buddha souvenirs for the family and returned to the Sojourn Villas for a final swim and dinner. The Villas are run by an Australian couple and all the staff including the spa staff were hand picked and trained over the last 8 years so I highly second Tom Blythe’s recommendation. Here is the website if you somehow get the opportunity to go to Siem Reap, Cambodia! http://www.sojournsiemreap.com/
Next: Back to Singapore for Chinese New Year! (Blog completed 3 April 2019 in the Helsinki Airport in route back to Pittsburgh with final touches applied April 7, 2019 in Minneapolis at the Final Four NCAA Basketball tournament. I promise next one won’t take me so long! Jim Hollingsworth).
Singapore Travel Blog 