Siem Reap to Singapore

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With a final temple tally of 22, this morning it was time to leave Siem Reap. Steve’s guide book had a list of 12 ‘must see’ temples and we ticked off all of those. I had a list that someone had put on the internet of their ’33 Best Temples and Ruins in Siem Ream’. It was never my aim to tick off all 33 sites on that list, it was more of a rough guide just to know what temples were where … to keep them in mind if we had the time and the inclination or if we happened to be nearby. Still, we ticked 19 off that list and then there were three temples recommended to us by Cholna that weren’t on either of our lists. So many temples! And still we haven’t done them all.

Thank goodness our stomachs were so much better on this visit than they were when we visited in 2010. Twelve years ago we flew in from Phnom Penh already crook in the guts. As with this trip, we had booked a week so that we could visit temples in a leisurely fashion, but we couldn’t even get out of our hotel room until Day 4 because we didn’t dare venture too far from the facilities!!

We bid farewell to the Baby Elephant Hotel and its lovely staff who have looked after us so well. We have also enjoyed the company of the hotel dog, Happy, and hotel cat, Xanadu. There was another cat, Didi, but he was only glimpsed a couple of times and was nowhere near as friendly as Xanadu who joined us by the pool most afternoons. The owner also had two other dogs that only visited the hotel when he came by the hotel. Wesley, who was not friendly at all and Lenny the Pomeranian, say no more!

The staff organised for us to travel to the airport by tuk tuk. On the short journey last Saturday this seemed to work just fine. This morning, however, the suitcases did not seem to be as secure so we spent the whole journey holding the top suitcase (mine) balanced precariously atop Bernie’s suitcase due to having visions of my suitcase sliding out onto the road … especially on a couple of the corners we had to negotiate!

Phew, we arrived at the airport with our suitcases intact. We didn’t have to pay our tuk tuk driver since the hotel had booked him and added the fare to our bill. We checked out bags in without any trouble and then retired to the gate lounge to wait for our flight. The only bottled water available at the airport was Dasani which was the brand that I drank before I took ill in Ho Chi Minh City. I know that it probably had nothing to do with the brand and maybe not even with the individual bottle that I consumed BUT I just could not bring myself to drink it!

Singapore Airlines were super efficient and had us loaded and on our way right on time this morning for our short flight from Siem Reap to Singapore. Soon after take off we were flying over the massive Tonle Sap. With it being the end of wet season I could see huge areas of agricultural land north of the lake being revealed by the receding waters. The lake is more like an inland sea it is so vast at the moment.

Eventually we reached the southern edge of Tonle Sap and soon after we were flying over Malaysia. The sky was clear for most of the trip with good views of the islands in the South China Sea. We passed through some small, fluffy clouds that looked a bit like a herd of sheep floating in the sky. These clouds were accompanied by some mild turbulence right during meal service so I think some passengers missed out on their hot drinks.

After just over two hours in the air we were touching down at Changi Airport in Singapore. We made our way from the gate and passed a sign that said we should scan the QR code to complete our passenger arrival details online. OMG, that took an age. I think it would have been quicker and easier to do it the old fashioned way with an old-fashioned arrivals card and a pen? Fortunately with our e-passports we made it through immigration much more quickly.

By the time we arrived at the baggage carousel our bags had been taken off and were waiting for us beside the carousel. Cathy was texting our airport pickup provider and he expressed surprise that we had cleared immigration so quickly and apologized that he was still 20 minutes away from the airport. He suggested we use the time to go to the toilet and then sit and wait inside Door 6.

Well, our transfer to the Carlton Hotel was in stark contrast to this morning’s airport transfer. This morning holding onto our luggage for dear life in a tuk tuk, this afternoon in a luxury vehicle with room for four people and their luggage.

Arriving at the Carlton Hotel there was no queue to check in so we were quickly processed and off to the 26^th floor to change into our togs to checkout the pool. We have been spoilt for the last week having the pool at the Baby Elephant almost to ourselves. The depth of their pool was also perfect being able to relax in water under 1.6 metres deep throughout the entire pool. It was a bit of a shock having to share the pool and surrounds here at the Carlton! And depth was a bit of an issue with only around one third of the pool less than 1.6 metres deep and the rest over two metres. OK for swimming, but a bit deep for blobbing around in the water.

We headed out for an early dinner because our in-flight lunch seemed a long time ago. We headed over to Raffles City shopping centre where we eventually decided to eat at Broxeit, a German restaurant. The schnitzels on the menu looked HUGE so I suggested that Bernie and I share one. Hmmn, looked huge, was huge, but hammered out paper thin so not actually as substantial as it looked! Bernie and I finished our veal schnitzel and potato salad and then helped Cathy with her chicken schnitzel and fries.

After dinner we strolled around Chijmes. The buildings date to the 19^th-century and originally made up the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus. The area has now been redeveloped to house restaurants, bars and event space. It was certainly very pretty at night time.



Steps for the day: 7,748 (4.87km)

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