Discussion
after 2 years holidaying i Thailand I want to explore some of the boardering countries. top of my list is Cambodia, Im just trying to gauge how long I need there. Is the majority of it in Siem Reap or is there anywhere else worth visiting? I have 2 1/2 in total so was planning a week in Siem Reap to have a day or 2 to relax after arriving and plenty of time to explore the temples etc) the other end of the holiday we will have the last night or 2 in Bangkok to do the markets etc before we fly back so its the bit in the middle, do we go somewhere else in Cambodia or go find a beach somewhere and relax?
cheers FG, I had just been looking at the killing fields and looked worth a visit. will have a look at laos! the beach isnt a must as we will be relaxing at the Lebua in Bangkok and we are actually going back in 2016 for my sisters wedding which will be either in Phuket or Phi Phi so will have plenty of time to go diving then.
Done ching mai twice now along with kanchanburi, Bangkok and koh samui. I'd only fancy exploring beaches and the nature reserves now in Thailand but that'd require a good month or so away I reckon. Will look at all those places.I think this will be my only trip to Cambodia so might aswell spend as much time exploring there as possible rather than going elsewhere.
right, Think I am abit further along in my planning, rough idea of Itinerary now:
Land in Siem Reap 15th Jan Stay 9 nights @ V&A Villa or Siddharta Boutique Hotel
fly to Phnom Penh 24th stay 2 nights
bus to Kep stay 5 nights
bus back to KP and fly to BKK stay 2 nights @ Lebua
fly home
given myself longer in SR to spend plenty of time to relax and take in tours and photography etc I wasnt going to bother with PP but after looking at Kep and kampot looks like an ideal area to relax after all the temple madness along with sunsets and jungles to still keep me entertained. what you reckon?
Land in Siem Reap 15th Jan Stay 9 nights @ V&A Villa or Siddharta Boutique Hotel
fly to Phnom Penh 24th stay 2 nights
bus to Kep stay 5 nights
bus back to KP and fly to BKK stay 2 nights @ Lebua
fly home
given myself longer in SR to spend plenty of time to relax and take in tours and photography etc I wasnt going to bother with PP but after looking at Kep and kampot looks like an ideal area to relax after all the temple madness along with sunsets and jungles to still keep me entertained. what you reckon?
Ye I plan to split it between kep and kampot.
v&a villa seems to get very good reviews for being really helpful in organising things and a good price so hoping we will have a good few tours. Also with staying longer in Siem Reap I will be taking in some of the more obscure tours which won't be quite so busy so hopefully should get some fantastic pictures ...... oh and enjoy the time with the girlfriend obviously
v&a villa seems to get very good reviews for being really helpful in organising things and a good price so hoping we will have a good few tours. Also with staying longer in Siem Reap I will be taking in some of the more obscure tours which won't be quite so busy so hopefully should get some fantastic pictures ...... oh and enjoy the time with the girlfriend obviously
Cheers dave will have a look tonight, I did have a quick Google of getting to Laos and it just brought up horror stories of border crossing but didn't realise you could fly up there.
I thought 9 days would be about right to give a couple of days to relax and explore after the flight, and then say around 6 days of temples and various tours to see the touristy stuff aswell as the things that are further afield or not so popular but will make a list of what I deffinately want to do and see just how much h time I need.
Thanks again for the advice.
Jon
I thought 9 days would be about right to give a couple of days to relax and explore after the flight, and then say around 6 days of temples and various tours to see the touristy stuff aswell as the things that are further afield or not so popular but will make a list of what I deffinately want to do and see just how much h time I need.
Thanks again for the advice.
Jon
wasnt planning 6 whole days of temples, but on top of the main temples I had also highlighted a few other bits worth looking at:
Circus
Backstreet academy class (crafting type of thing the mrs would enjoy)
Kbal Spean (waterfalls)
Phnom Kulen National Park
Banteay Srey Butterfly Centre + Landmine museum down road
Baksei Chamkrong temple
Srah Srang - sunrise?
Beng Mealea
Angkor Nature Tour (going into the more wild areas looking for spiders and various wildlife, agin the mrs would love it but could possibly do this kind of thing in Kep/Kampot?
Circus
Backstreet academy class (crafting type of thing the mrs would enjoy)
Kbal Spean (waterfalls)
Phnom Kulen National Park
Banteay Srey Butterfly Centre + Landmine museum down road
Baksei Chamkrong temple
Srah Srang - sunrise?
Beng Mealea
Angkor Nature Tour (going into the more wild areas looking for spiders and various wildlife, agin the mrs would love it but could possibly do this kind of thing in Kep/Kampot?
hahaha have you ever used the flight matrix? I saw some open jaw flights the other day for £290, I actually blagged my flight from heathrow with emirates for £310 each! 
just checked sky scanner and the matrix and seems flights to Laos are few and far between and come in arund 230 quid these days!
just checked sky scanner and the matrix and seems flights to Laos are few and far between and come in arund 230 quid these days!
Edited by Rib on Friday 14th November 17:00
nitrodave said:
Rib said:
hahaha have you ever used the flight matrix? I saw some open jaw flights the other day for £290, I actually blagged my flight from heathrow with emirates for £310 each!
from heathrow to where and what dates... and how many transfers... so for questions, but that is dirt cheap to get to the far east.im actually looking at burma, but got to go in via thailand or vietnam ideally... or most likely going to end up in kerala/goa for a couple of weeks. Ive not been and it's on my list of places to go adventuring with the missus
Dont know about the open jaw flights, just something my mum mentioned, they are going to burma next feb along with Penang which is their 'go to' place for a nice hotel and relaxation.
oh and yes I know thats stupidly cheap, hence why I booked it lol, paid 610 and 500 the last 2 times
Edited by Rib on Friday 14th November 17:10
right thought Id follow this up for anyone using the search functions.
My thoughts on Cambodia
Tourism is crazy in Siem Reap, didnt expect it to be as busy as it was. If I was to go again Id go in the rainy season to avoid having quite so many chinese and koreans..
Temples, after seeing a couple Id had enough, Im glad we had our own tuk tuk to do what we want so we wernt part of a big tour going all day! also the restoration work on the temples seems pretty poor in places, too much 'new' concrete!
The tours we did with Dani Jump at bees unlimited was fantastic, was the highlight of cambodia for me, would recommend him to anyone.
waterfalls and river carvings ok, not sure it was worth the trek up there though when compared to some other asian waterfalls.
didnt enjoy the stay at V & A villa but loved it when we moved to Siddharta, pure luxery for a lot less than alot of the other hotels.
Phnom penh, didnt enjoy it, but the killing fields and museum were a real eye opener and well worth the visit.
Beaches, as people have said, generally pretty crap, certainly not worth the bus ride there. didnt stay on an island as I wanted to as the bus times and boat times dont match up!
not a place I will rush back to overall but glad Ive ticked it off the list
My thoughts on Cambodia
Tourism is crazy in Siem Reap, didnt expect it to be as busy as it was. If I was to go again Id go in the rainy season to avoid having quite so many chinese and koreans..
Temples, after seeing a couple Id had enough, Im glad we had our own tuk tuk to do what we want so we wernt part of a big tour going all day! also the restoration work on the temples seems pretty poor in places, too much 'new' concrete!
The tours we did with Dani Jump at bees unlimited was fantastic, was the highlight of cambodia for me, would recommend him to anyone.
waterfalls and river carvings ok, not sure it was worth the trek up there though when compared to some other asian waterfalls.
didnt enjoy the stay at V & A villa but loved it when we moved to Siddharta, pure luxery for a lot less than alot of the other hotels.
Phnom penh, didnt enjoy it, but the killing fields and museum were a real eye opener and well worth the visit.
Beaches, as people have said, generally pretty crap, certainly not worth the bus ride there. didnt stay on an island as I wanted to as the bus times and boat times dont match up!
not a place I will rush back to overall but glad Ive ticked it off the list
if anyone wants to keep up with my pictures as I update them then give my page a loike, there is already some of the creepy crawlies we saw on the nature tour, including many spiders! again wet season would be so much better for that!
what amazed me is just how quickly they are eating EVERYTHING. a walk though the woods shows huge holes everywhere being dug to ctahc spiders, no birds anywhere as theyre all being eaten etc. if it moves theyll eat it, wont be long though till its all gone which they cant seem to grasp apparantly.
what amazed me is just how quickly they are eating EVERYTHING. a walk though the woods shows huge holes everywhere being dug to ctahc spiders, no birds anywhere as theyre all being eaten etc. if it moves theyll eat it, wont be long though till its all gone which they cant seem to grasp apparantly.
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