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Published: January 16th 2007
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We woke up to a fog filled morning, already docked starboard side in Singapore’s container port. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at Tapas, picked up our passports being distributed on the upper grand lobby level (no line at all), and collected our hand luggage from the stateroom. We said good bye to our wonderful cabin steward team and had a chance to see the beautiful 2 room owner’s suite located on Deck 6 in the ship’s bow. Fantastic layout with 2 rooms, large bath, table with 4 chairs, couch, wet bar, king draped bed and large flat screen plasma TV with surround sound. The only problem with room location, is that use of the verandah is impossible on sea days due to head winds.
We had independent disembarkation and were allowed to leave the ship at our requested time of 08:30 am. We had to wait a few minutes for half of our luggage to show up and then they loaded our bags on trucks and us in buses to transport us about 15 minutes to the passenger cruise ship terminal. The terminal was a beautiful new facility, attached to a shopping mall. The entire disembarkation process took less than 30 minutes. The ship’s organized transfers to the airport and hotels seemed to be just as efficient.
I phoned our local taxi company to let them know we were early and they picked us up within 10 minutes. It was a very comfortable mini van. We made a quick stop at Pan Pacific for an effortless check-in of our larger bags, to wait for our arrival on our return trip to Singapore in 3 days. We continued on to Changi International Airport Terminal 2. We had to pick up our Silk Air Paper Tickets purchased on the net and check-in at another counter without any lines. It seems strange that they have not yet switched to e-tickets since they are the regional carrier for Singapore Airlines.
A quick, efficient pass through immigration led us into a well equipped terminal, less than 3 months old. It contained all kinds of designer and duty free shops and fast food restaurants. We enjoyed cold buckets of Tiger Beer at Harry’s Bar and free internet stations during our 4 hour wait for our flight.
After a long walk to the end of the terminal, we boarded our plane and took off early for a very nice flight to Siem Reap, complete with beverage and hot meal service for a 2 hour 10 minute flight.
We arrived at a brand new international terminal. It is possible to obtain a visa upon entry with a passport size photo, but we used E-Visa application on-line, which was easy and allowed us to pass through immigration, baggage and customs in less than 15 minutes. All signage is well posted in English and Khmer.
Upon exit from customs, we easily found our driver pre-arranged through Angkor Hotel. He escorted us to a vintage Merceds with a large trunk that smelled of mold. He spoke little English, but we enjoyed our 15 minute ride from the airport, that quickly gave way from fields with chicken and cattle to new hotel and restaurant construction, scooter and tuk tuk traffic. We only saw about 4 other cars on the road.
We witnessed a motorcade for the Governor of Bangkok, attending a conference at one of the Siem Reap Hotels, the rush hour traffic of construction workers leaving work sites on tuk-tuks and parents picking up students from school on motorbikes. While the roads were busy, they were quiet. Not a lot of horn blowing like we witnessed in India, but still reckless in nature.
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We arrived at the hotel, greeted by bellhops with a bow and clasped hands to take our luggage and front desk staff who checked us in while we sat on couches drinking a refreshing complimentary glass of orange juice. We were put in Room 202 overlooking a rear courtyard and 205 overlooking the main street. We also walked past a ballet dance rehearsal in the main lobby upper level. They were from the Phillipines and were performing at the Asia Exposition Conference in town.
Rooms are a nice size with queen bed or twin bedding, 17” color satellite TV, A/C units, large closet with electronic safe and private bath. Some rooms are non-smoking. The rooms were furnished with indoor/outdoor type carpeting, worn and dated bathrooms, reasonably priced mini bar, bathrobes and old flip flops, The beds had hard mattresses, but beautifully carved Khmer style headboards with locking compartments for storing items.
After freshening up, we met Bonseuth, the hotel manager I made the Siem Reap arrangements with. He ordered us up 2 tuk-tuks for 2 persons each at $1.00 per person, to take us to the old market area and pub street - a row of bars and restaurants. The tuk tuk ride there was a trip ! We hung on to the “oh no” handles made of what looked like oxygen tubing, and laughed as we weaved in and out of traffic with our driver laughing too.
We arrived safely and made our first stop the Red Piano, made famous by Angelina Jolie and her film crew when they filmed Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in Siem Reap in 2000. We enjoyed the 75 cent local Angkor lager bottles of beer. We walked down the street past numerous bars and restaurants checking out their menu offerings and beer for 50 cents and 2 for 1 cocktails.
We stopped at the Soup Dragon bar which makes a famous sizzling soup. You can add items such as beef, chicken, fish, egg and noodles and then serve it family style. We elected to skip the soup for now and sample the different types of Southeast Asian beer they offered. We had Bayon from Cambodia (really light), 333 from Laos (medium bodied lager), Black Panther from Viet Nam (very bitter stout with bad aftertaste) and ABC Stout from Singapore (not much better). They ranged in price from 50 cents to $1.00 per beer.
From there we ventured down the block and across the street to Angkor Restaurant with an upstairs bar, to overlook the street’s activity below. We sat in high backed wicker chairs with cushions and had superb service, since we were the only diners at the time. We thought about what it must have been like here during the good times and bad over the last 40 years.
We ate Khmer Spring Rolls, Khmer Chicken with Curry and Rice, Beef and Peppers, sweet and sour chicken, beer and soda for less than $7.00 USD per person.
After dinner, we walked back up the street to meet our tuk-tuk drivers for our pre-arranged return time at 9:30 pm. We hit the brightly lit hotel bar for another Angkor Beer (expensive at $2.00 a piece) before turning in at 11:00 pm for an 8:00 am start tomorrow with our guide.
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