Cambodia Thread 2

[yby2476]

kami rin di nag-request ng tour guide...ang ginawa lang namin is may dala kaming lonely planet ng cambodia...:-) tapos, yung mga nakasabay namin na mga tour groups, nakikinig lang kami...buti nga si sis phurple eh may narinig na nage-english, eh kami, kundi japanese, korean or spanish, pero mga cambodians...ka-windang...na-bilib ako dun sa cambodian na magaling mag-spanish, grabe...:-) buti na lang, may alam akong konti sa mga languages na yan...pero mga sira kami, tawa kami ng tawa dun sa korean na interpreter kasi para kaming nanonood ng kdrama...:-)

[mama squeak!]

Ladies, just another reminder to keep to the topic please. Any chatty posts will be automatically deleted. Thanks for your cooperation.

 

[oktoberfest22]

I posted this question in another thread pero mukhang mas apt sya dito:

WOULD you guys recommend a vacay in Siem Reap with kids?

Gusto kasi ng 9-year-old daughter ko na makita ang Angkor [textspeak!] (she chose it over HK Disneyland), kaya lang we also have a two-year-old boy na super likot.

From the comments here kasi, baka di nya kayanin ang tagal ng travel from HCM? Ano pa ba ang pwedeng routes na budget friendly pa rin?

[barefoot_taka]

^we saw children when we were there. pero mga europeans. wala akong asian kids na nakita...ay wait meron pala kaming nakasabay sa bus na toddler na local. behaved naman sya during the trip. lumalakad-lakad pa nga sa bus and would smile at fellow travellers. cute! ..don't know lang kung sanay na yung toddler sa byahe kaya wala syang sumpong all through out.

sis yby2476 kami di lumalabas ng hotel na di bitbit ang lonely planet

[sarsingkit]

I posted this question in another thread pero mukhang mas apt sya dito:

WOULD you guys recommend a vacay in Siem Reap with kids?

Gusto kasi ng 9-year-old daughter ko na makita ang Angkor [textspeak!] (she chose it over HK Disneyland), kaya lang we also have a two-year-old boy na super likot.

From the comments here kasi, baka di nya kayanin ang tagal ng travel from HCM? Ano pa ba ang pwedeng routes na budget friendly pa rin?

hi sis! i suggest you stay at HCM ng overnight para hindi diretso yung byahe nyo. from HCM to PP, it took us around 6hours then PP to SR another 6 pero at least nakatulog kami ng maayos sa PP kasi we stayed overnight. we saw kids din peri american. sa bus, may indian kid. behave naman sya.

[london]

@oktoberfest22

you can fly to KL then from KL may flight available to SR ang Air Asia or you can fly to SG then meron naman dun fight ang Jetstar going to SR.

[yby2476]

@sis octoberfest22-may insights ako sa question mo, but go to the vietnam-cambodia thread...

[phurple0515]

i saw children sa temple pero siyempre, ang question is if kaya ba nila to go up the temples at yong init din. 

[scrapbookjunkie]

oo nga. medyo mainit sa temple. nung pumunta din kami last year, october time, yung mga caucasians ng bagets, paglabas  pawis na pawis, kulang na lang magtanggal na ng damit.

[phurple0515]

ang batang nakita ko lang ata siguro mga highschool students from SG having a tour sa mga temples.  then thre was this one little japanese boy, siguro nasa 10 yrs old, trying to act na tipong kaya niya, hehe.  nagpapasikat pero nong pababa na ng hagdan sa temples, nahihirapan din, kasi di ba halos matatarik lahat ng hagdan kahit na nilagyan pa nila ng hawakan.  pero mas ma-a-appreciate siguro yon ng mga highschool students. 

[oktoberfest22]

Super duper thanks for all your suggestions and insights, sisses!

Based on your recommendations, we might wait na lang one to to years pa till the kids grow a little older. Baka di nila kayanin ang pag-akyat sa temples pag mainit.

At baka nga mag plane transfers na lang kami instead of going there by land. Mainipin ang bunso ko. Pag tinopak yun, nakakahiya sa ibang passengers. Masyado pa kasing maliit.
 
 

[yby2476]

wala yata akong maalala na mga bata as in grade school level na nag-angkor, except yung mga bata na nagtitinda ng mga pamaypay at mga hats sa labas at loob ng angkor complex...

tama nga sila sis oktoberfest, palakihin mo muna ng kaunti yung mga anak mo, para ma-appreciate nila ang cambodian culture...at mahirap din kasi na umakyat ng mga temples kung may mga bata kang dala, matarik ang aakyatin...

[oktoberfest22]

Will do that sis. Salamat sa advice. 

[Frozen Toes]

Suvarnabhumi Airport (Bangkok) to Siem Reap
We arrived in Bangkok via Cebu Pacific just before midnight, checked in at Regent Hotel (10 minutes away from the airport), and woke up early the following day.

Regent Hotel offers free roundtrip transfers so by 7:00 AM, we were back at Suvarnabhumi Airport. The bus left at 7:50 AM giving us a chance to grab a quick breakfast. Bus ticket costs THB 187 per passenger. Travel time is 3.5 hours. Bus sched varies, by the way. It is best to be at the airport before 7AM so you don't miss it. I believe there's only 1 trip on weekdays (7:15AM) and 2 on weekends (7:15AM and 9:15AM). But I'm not so sure because I don't think they follow the sched that they post.

Going back... After getting through immigration at the Aranyaprathet-Poipet border, we met up with our cab driver at the appointed place. I am so glad we had pre-arranged pick up! It cost us USD45, but it made things wayyy easier (and safer) for us. There are a lot of touts in that area, and most of them just want to confuse then scam tourists.

Our guide/driver in Siem Reap arranged this pick up for us. I will include his contact details under the Tours by Sam section of this post.

Angkoriana Hotel
We booked 3 nights in a Twin Room at Angkoriana Hotel via Agoda. It cost us Php 934++ per night inclusive of buffet breakfast for two. Definitely value for money. Our room was just charming. It was spacious enough and had a private balcony with a view of the hotel pool.

The staff always greeted us with a smile, which was nice. And they cleaned up our room and replaced our water bottles and towels daily.

The only negative thing is that they don't have elevators.

Angkoriana Hotel is located on Charles D'Gaulle, the main road that leads to Angkor W.a.t. It is about 10 minutes away from Pub St. via tuktuk.

Tours by Sam
Our guide/driver's name in Siem Reap is Sam. I read outstanding reviews about him on TripAdvisor so I decided to get him. I looked him up on Facebook and sent him a message. He was quick to reply which is another plus. I told him which temples I specifically wanted to see and he customized the itinerary based on my preferences. He answered every single question I had, so I knew what to expect and what to bring. His english is really good since he lived in the States for a while.

He was helpful and made planning for this trip a breeze. He even arranged our pick up from Poipet border to Angkoriana Hotel and our bus tickets from Siem Reap to Saigon. Also, he accompanied us in securing tickets to Smile of Angkor (cultural show + dinner buffet). It was also great that he seemed to never run out of cold water, which he handed to us after every temple we visited. He bought us some traditional Khmer snacks, too!

We used car instead of tuktuk because some of the temples I chose are far from Angkor. On our second day, we went to Beng Mealea and Koh Ker. For lunch, we stopped by the house of Sam's friend near Koh Ker and had lunch with his family. It was such a lovely surprise! We felt so at home. Sam and his friend's family were warm and accommodating.

Anyway, I highly recommend Sam. Here are his contact details for your reference:
Email: samtuktuk@yahoo.com
Facebook: Sam Tuktuk
Mobile: available upon request

The Temples
My Top 3 Favorites: Bayon, Beng Mealea, Banteay Srei

Here's a short version of our itinerary in Siem Reap:
Day 1: Sunrise at Angkor W.a.t., Kbal Spean, Banteay Srei, Pre Rup, Ta Phrom, Bayon, Sunset at Angkor W.a.t.
Entrance Fee: USD 20

Day 2: Beng Mealea and Koh Ker
Entrance Fee: USD 5

Notes:
1. If you're going to hike up Kbal Spean, be prepared to climb rocks with your bare hands.
2. We saw Smile of Angkor, tickets at USD 35 and USD 45 inclusive of dinner buffet. I enjoyed the Apsara dance the most. Roundtrip tuktuk ride USD 6.
3. I ate a lot of Khmer food while in Siem Reap and I noticed that they use a lot of basil in their cooking.
4. The road to Koh Ker is bumpy and dusty. It's about 2 hours away from Angkor. But for me, it's worth the trip because very, very few tourists go there and you get to fully enjoy the temples. There are 30 small & big temples in Koh Ker.
5. Remember to leave a tip to show gratitude.

[thesoloist]

how's the weather on May?

[Mr.Punch]

^Very warm, from what I hear.

I think Frozen Toes would agree with me that Kbal Spean is a bit overrated.  Personally, I expected a bit more from this place.

[Frozen Toes]

^ Or maybe the waters were high when we went there. Thus, we could hardly see what was under it. I think I would've enjoyed it more if I didn't have to go through the 1.5km trek. Haha.

[fruityp0p]

mga sis, doable na ba ito?

Vietnam(2 nights)-Cambodia,PP(1-2 nights) Cambodia,SR(3 nights)-Thailand(3-4 nights)

marami na kaya kaming mga mapupuntahan jan?

ito yung mga plans namin for each place/country:

Vietnam (2 nights)
Ho Chi Minh
1. water puppet festival
2. Cu Chi tunnel
3. City tour
*try din namin isingit si Mui Ne kung pwede

Cambodia
Phnom Penh (1-2 nights)
1. Killing Fields
2. Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
*interesting yung sites and since we are in Cambodia na rin we want to pay our respects. kaya lang I looked up the pictures of the sites kagabi sa tripadvisor naiyak na kaagad ako, parang sobrang depressing at sad nung place, bf wants to go din kasi history buff yun, pagiisipan pa namin if tutuloy namin itong PP.

Cambodia
Siam reap (3 nights)
1. Angkor Waht
2. Angkor Thom
3. Bantay Srei
4. Apsara dance
5. Beng Melea

we plan to stay at Mother Home Inn (Siam Reap) reasonable yung prices and maganda facilities at rooms, may pool pa
problem ko lang, hindi ko alam kung nagooffer ba sila ng package tours

Thailand, BKK (3-4 nights)
(ndi pa buo iti ko for Thailand)
ito na pala IT ko for Thailand (we plan to stay at either Siam or Pratunam area)
1. Half day city tour
2. Siam Niramit
3. Chao Praya Princess cruise
4. Chatuchak market


*budget namin for the whole tour, Vietnam-Cambodia-Thailand P70k, enough na kaya yun for two?

mga sis sobrang dami ko natutunan sa thread na ito and I would love to hear more of your comments/suggestions! thank you!!

[Mr.Punch]

^ On Siem:

Your Siem Reap itinerary can be done in just 2 days instead of 3.  Here's what I suggest:

Day 1 - small circuit - includes both Angkor [textspeak!] and Angkor Thom and other temples, then Apsara buffet at night (Tuktuk is ok)
Day 2 - Beng Mealea in the morning; Banteay Srei in the afternoon. (you need a car for this)

Don't worry about arranged tours.  Halos lahat ng hotel saka guesthouse sa Siem Reap merong in-house tour guides/drivers.

Tip:  highly recommended ang sunrise viewing ng Angkor [textspeak!]

[Frozen Toes]

^^ Your IT looks good to me. Add mo na lang yung Ta Phrom sa list of temples mo under Siem Reap. That's the "Tomb Raider" temple kasi.

I think sakto yung 3 nights. 3 nights din kami sa Siem Reap noon eh. Day 1 kami dumating. Days 2 and 3 yung tour, then Day 4 departed early.