Blogs from North, Cambodia, Asia - page 2

Up before 6am on Thursday morning as Jeff was taking us to terminal 4 at Heathrow for our first flight of the day with Etihad. A smooth check in of our luggage then through passport control and security to head for breakfast at Costa. The flight was delayed due to an unforeseen maintenance issue but we were confident we would make up time in the air. We had booked the 2 seat row at the back of the A380 cabin which meant a bit more room. The selection of films on planes these days is mind blowing and we discovered we could play each other at Yahtzee 🎲on screen so this became quite competitive 🤣The food received mixed reviews but we didn’t starve and we could order hot drinks anytime including hot chocolate which was 😋 ... read more

The other night at a group dinner, a friend asked about the best place I have ever been. Here is my answer. The tumbled, jungle-clad ruins of Angkor Thom are intensely atmospheric and have long lured travelers. The sprawling complex of temples, gates and monuments, decorated with carvings, was built between the 9th and 14th centuries, when the Khmer civilization was at the height of its power. The largest and most famous temple of them all is the breathtaking Angkor Wat – watching the sunrise as its striking silhouette is mirrored in the still waters of the reflection pool is the ultimate experience. The beautiful Bayon Temple, evocative jungle-strangled Ta Prohm and pink-sandstone Banteay Srei are other must-sees. I have made the trek to Cambodia and Angkor Wat three times. Ta Prohm is my favorite. We ... read more

We arrived in Siem Reap after a thoroughly enjoyable time at Hoi An/Da Nang, Vietnam. Getting here was a bit frustrating, a long flight that took us to Bangkok with long waits at both airports. The best part of the day was arriving late at our hotel, Viroth's Villa in Siem Reap, a 4 star hotel but only $100 CAN a night! It was recommended by home exchange friends (Ed and his lovely wife) that we met online during our previous Asia trip that was cut short by Covid. The breakfasts by the pool was gourmet! You won't regret a stay at this wonderful hotel - the service from all areas was exceptional. We loved getting bug sprayed every time we left the hotel by the front desk staff! What a treat! They arranged all of ... read more

This morning we returned to Angkor Wat because when we were there on Monday we were not able to visit ‘Heaven’, the topmost part of the temple, due to it being a Buddhist holy day. We had Cholna drop us off at the eastern entrance so that we could do the steep climb up to ‘Heaven’ in the cool (?) of the morning and while we were feeling full of energy?? It was also interesting to see the eastern entrance which is also attractive, but not seen nearly as much as the western entrance. We were all suitably dressed for heaven this morning. I missed out on this section of Angkor Wat when we were here in 2010 because my skirt was deemed too short. My skirt was right on knee length, which I thought was ... read more

It rained again during the night. Quite a lot actually! When we went out to meet our driver, Lin, there were huge puddles in the unmade road outside and we had to pick our way to the Mercedes minivan to keep our feet dry. But, before we left our room for our day trip we had made sure that we would have everything we might need in our day packs. Raincoat, tick, water, tick, toilet paper, tick and the Go Girl, tick. What’s that? people might ask. Well, a week or so before heading to Vietnam and Cambodia I was stressing about the whole squat toilet thing and decided that maybe I needed a ladies urination device so that I could pee standing up! Some research ensued and, not only are these a thing, they go ... read more