LAUREN
& CECILIA BRAINARD
IN
THAILAND & CAMBODIA
Despite the bird flu, Lauren
and I took a 6-day tour to Thailand, visiting Bangkok, Pattaya,
and Ayutthaya (ancient capital of Thailand). Afterwards we visited
Siem Reap in Cambodia. We were on our own in Siem Reap, which
was more enjoyable (to us, anyway).
The 6-day tour to Thailand
was more of a 4-day tour because of time change and travel time.
We booked our tickets with Jane Stark at Travel International
Group Inc. (tel: 310-327-5143). Jane did a good job but the guide
in Bangkok had limited English skills and there was some "cutting"
of the tour - e.g. there were some restaurants we were supposed
to have gone to, and we ended up in less-expensive places.
Bangkok is a sprawling, busy
city, a lot like Manila except that the signs are not in English,
but in Thai; and it's a tad cleaner. The Grand Palace and Temples
are whimsical, and our side trip to the ancient capital of Ayutthaya
was a nice prelude to the Angkor temples. I could have skipped
the seaside resort of Pattaya although Lauren enjoyed our day
in Coral Island where he jet skiied.
The trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia
was wonderful! Siem Reap, which is a few kilometers away from
the famous 10th-15th century "wats," or temples still
has a sleepy colonial feeling. I suspect locals are shell-shocked
at the number of tourists pouring into their city (second largest
in Cambodia, after Phon Penh;it's not a large city at all). Exchange
is in dollars, and there's a double-tiered society, with the locals
trying to eke out a living on $3-5 dollars a day, and the tourists
paying from $30-300 per night in hotels. (We stayed in Hotel City
River - breakfast, nice, close to old town.)
Some tips:
don't be timid about bargaining; offer half the asking price.
When you get into Siem Reap, if you like your taxi driver, go
ahead and hire him to take you to the temples; it costs $20-25
per day to hire your own driver. It costs $1 to hire the local
tricycles or touk-touks. As mentioned there's a wide range of
places in Siem Reap, from the inexpensive to the extravagant -
so do a little research on hotels and restaurants beforehand.
There are a number of hotels listed in the internet, but some
of them are far from the city. It's really so much nicer to be
able to walk to the Old Market with the colonial buildings, market
etc. for dinner and shopping.
Overall, it's cheaper to shop
in Siem Reap than Bangkok, and Siem Reap has pretty much the same
items available. City Money Souvenir Shop has real rubies and
sapphires but you need to be fearless in bargaining as their asking
price is high.
The temples in Angkor are
breathtaking! I fell in love with the entrance to Angkor Thom
with the gods on the one side and the demons on the other. Bayon
with the stone faces on the towers are fabulously surreal. Ta
Phram with the trees growing out and over ancient buildings is
the most magical place I've ever seen!
Cecilia
Brainard
March 2004 |
Lauren
& Cecilia in the Grand Palace & Temple, Bangkok, Thailand.
The Grand Palace & Temple were build in the late 18th century,
after the Burmese sacked Ayutthaya and the Thais withdrew south.
|
