can't help Shirley but I bet it will be fabulous! Would love to go there as well! Are you going there from Bangkok?

Yes, Fiona we are flying Bangkok airways. By the way , I am enjoying your Bali report , sounds great, shirleyV

Can't help either shirley as it will be our first visit to Cambodia so really looking forward to it.Flying with bangkok airways also and then on to Vietnam and Penang.

I visited Cambodia a couple of years ago after touring Vietnam. I caught a boat down the Mekong River from Vietnam to Phnom Penh then a plane to Siem Reap where I had three nights at the Angkor Century Hotel which was excellent (though most of the hotels looked impressive). The first day was an extensive tour of the temples the second day I spent the morning on the lake then another temple tour then a short visit to a village where a massacre had taken place and I saw the skulls and other bones that were kept in a glass case. It was as you can guess very moving.
The two full days were very intensive and hot and it was great to jump in the pool at the end of the day. The only free time was on the third morning
as my flight(with Bangkok Airways, which was an excellent flight) to Saigon was in the afternoon. You can see everything in two to three days.
I was there in October and there had been a fair amount of rain just before I arrived which didn't help with the humidity. The Cambodian people were lovely, in both appearance and friendliness and I would certainly recommend a visit. The country is extremely poor and be prepared to see lots of people with all sorts of injuries especially loss of limbs from land mines.

We have booked three nights in Cambodia and works out that we will have 3 full days there as we fly out of bangkok very early morning so I am hoping that will be enough time to see most things.We go to Vietnam late afternoon so will be able to rest in the morning before more trekking in Vietnam.We are going April this time because as you say it is very humid and still rainy in October did'nt spoil any trips in the day but we did'nt see alot at night because of the rain so fingers crossed for April.

Thanks Judith for your reply, sounds a really interesting country.
Sheppo where are you staying in Cambodia???
shirleyV

The Angkor Diamond is the one we decided on looked at loads read good and bad reports on most so in the end just thought pick one and book it.

This is great - we will have two reporting back on Cambodia! When are you planning on going Shirley? ( thanks for the compliment by the way!)

Both hotels mentioned above are out on the main road away from Siem Reap centre. A good hotel is the Bopha Angkor which is very central for restaurants and markets just a stroll across the river. It has a beautiful new pool area which is great after touring the temples.

Hi Chris, thanks for the info, Cambodia sound amazing.
Fiona, we will be visiting Siem Reap in august 2006 - know it's rainy season but I have visited Bangkok, Chiang Mai etc at the same time of year and some drizzle doesn't spoil the sightseeing, we visited Mae Hong Sorn last august and it rained alot - somehow it added to the tropical atmosphere, I know you have visited KS in particular Bophut a few times , we are probably doing 1 night Bangkok, 3 nts Luang Prabang, 4nts Siem Reap then 5 or 6nts Bophut, can I ask how did you book your Bangkok - KS flights?
Was it internet on Bangkok air website?
thanks shirleyV

shirley
I booked through bangkok airways
http://www.bangkokair.com/en/
If we ever get to Siem Reap it will probably be at the same time of year. Only problem is that flights from BKK are so expensive- from what I've seen anyway!

Try Bangkokair.com/airpass, they have a deal whereby you get 3 flights for the price of two (forgotten the price). So then you can fly Bangkok/Siem Reap/PhnomPenh/Bangkok. Also try:
nokair.com
olavi.com
airasia.com

Can thoroughly recommend a visit to Kampong Pleuk, a watervillage off the beaten track, there is another one where lots of tourists go and that's a waste of time. Combine this with Tonle Sap. Easily arranged from Siem Reap.

Good shopping in the markets in both Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, especially central market in the latter, absolutely huge.

Flying Bangkok/Siem Reap/Vietnam/Bangkok £235 booked with Opodo all the tickets arrived 3 days after booking and not going until April.

Well that's not a bad price. We are £90 to go from Saigon to BKK(also next April) and I know Siem Reap from BKK is expensive as I think it is a bit like Koh Samui- one airline does it and can charge what they like. Is it bangkok airways as well by the way?

Bangkok airways to Siem Reap and Vietnam airlines to Ho Chi and back to Bangkok. Had trouble booking on line for Siem Reap to Ho Chi that was why I went through Opodo but did not think it was a bad price, it's about 60 pounds from Bangkok to Siem Reap.

£235 sounds pretty steep to me. But maybe problem with Bangkokair currently. Always book when in SEA - much better deals.

We were there start of Jan this year...had a fantastic time. Amazing place, genuinely unlike anywhere in the developed world (inc. Thailand etc.)

Paid ~ £160 each for returns Bangkok to Siem Reap, with Bangkok Airways.

We stayed in the Pavillion (sp.?) Indochine...little guesthouse in the style of old French colonial "maison", run by a Frenchman (ex journo covered the "troubles" and stayed there) about half-way between Siem-Reap and Angkor Wat. Owner is lovely guy and really passionate about the country, rooms are very simple but we were out all the time so it didn't matter. And it's cheap...we paid I think US$20 per night each B&B (although breakfast was rather simple, and we didn't bother eating dinner there).

It's not the best hotel, but they organised a car and driver for us (private cars rather rare...and taxis are usually tuk-tuks), and also a guide to the temples (who was really good and helped us avoid the tour buses even in high season!!!) - $20/day for car/driver, and another $20/day for the guide. Combine this with the location and if you can get up early you'll beat the rest of the tourists!

As for S-R and the people - S-R is slowly turning very touristy, unfortunately, and they are increasingly catering for asian tourists (karaoke bars and "massage" parlours!!!).
But I for one fell in love with the country and the people - contrary to places like Bangkok, these people have no guile or "side" to them - the most genuinely happy, helpful, and welcoming I've met anywhere, despite the poverty! Want to go back in a few years to see the temples in the rainy season, and particularly some more of the country, but I'm afraid S-R especially will have become a bit Phuket-like.

My only caution would be food - I usually have a strong constitution but I got hit by some bad food poisoning on my last day...so be careful where you eat...although the Amok ("soup-in-a-coconut", like runny Thai green curry without as much spice) was very good everywhere.

Other advice:-
- need passport photos for the entry visa, and $ cash.
- wear modest clothing - polite not to show knees (or shoulders for women), but the backpackers tend to ignore this unfortunately.
- take DEET mossie repellent (neat for cuffs and hems, dilute for skin)
- can easily spend days around the temples, but after a while they can get same-y unless you're an avid fan of that sort of thing...Becs had had enough after 2 days, and after the third I was about done with temples.
- young kids everywhere hawking wares...can get harrowing dealing with them all the time, but just be straight and honest and try and spread your cash around...and to be honest some have really good senses of humour and impressive english!!!

Sorry for long post, but feel free to PM me if I can help any further!

M.

PS - if you're going in rainy season there's one small temple which is 5 "ponds" in a cruciform pattern that was dry when we went, but should be a really beautiful "mirror" when you're there. And I expect Ta Prohm will be very verdant and picturesque.

PPS - Lonely planet guide very good.

I really enjoyed the info about SR - definately will be going next year - as you said it could become too touristy very soon.
As a matter of interest how many nights do you think are ideal - I was thinking of 4 nights, thanks again martinw
from shirleyV

If you're just doing the temples I'd say you can have seen most of the ones "close" to S-R in 2 days - 2.5 or 3 days tops to see everything around there.

There are more which are a fair drive away (Banteay Srei is a short-ish drive and included in the 2 days...very detailed carvings), and of course you have Tonle Sap, the floating village, and a couple of other things.

We had just shy of 3 days there and saw almost everything local but missed out on the floating village - I'd say 4 will give you everything you want, 3 would be just enough, depending on how many temples you wanted to cut-out.

http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/martin_a_willis/my_photos

contains Cambodia, Thailand, and other stuff too...should give you an idea. Bear in mind that the Cambodia photos were January, so dry season.