Day 1 -- We wake up early and pack up at Baan Boo Loo. We are picked up for the airport in the VIP tuk tuk and are enjoying the cool early morning breeze as much as the prospect of moving on. At Orn’s suggestion we leave sufficient time in our travel to accommodate the congestion to the airport and the mandatory 2 hour check-in for international flights (not a real thing). Luckily there’s not much traffic so we arrive at the airport at 7:45 for our 10:10am flight to BKK then to Cambodia. We are alerted to an international lounge with wi-fi which helps pass the time much more quickly. We leave on time for Bangkok and the play in the BKK airport for another 2 hours. Megan falls in love with the free mini-tuna sandwiches in yet another lounge and actually run into the Swiss traveler from our jungle trek. He tells us how he rode on a bus for 10 hours to get from CNX to BKK, which of course is nothing compared to his 36 hour bus ride in Latin America. Unluckily for him, Orn must have given him travel guidance, because his bus arrived 2 hours early which left him with a total of 8 hours in the airport. Hmm glad to not be backpacking and thankful for our own travel planning.
As we fly in, we can see that Cambodia will be closer to what we were looking for in Chiang Mai. There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of development or people, there are palm trees visible from the air with red dirt roads contrasting with against the green.
The airport is more of a very long shed with airplanes parked in the backyard. We line up for our visas which carry a $1 photo fee (that’s how they get you) then head out to find our driver who promptly hands us an Angkor beer and puts us in the A/Ced to perfection turn of the century Camry. Our driver (we missed his name the first time around and unfortunately never corrected this oversight so, like a bunch of assholes, had to dance around not knowing his name for the rest of the trip). The driver provides us a nice overview on Cambodia as he takes us on the 20 minute scenic route to the resort. The scenic route avoids the main road through the city so all we see are open fields, palm trees, red dirt roads, and young boys guiding oxen along the side of the road. Amazing! We recall that the hotel is near a village and wonder what this will look like. As we turn on to smaller and smaller roads we end up on what the driver calls a “bouncy road” which is a heavily travelled and weather red dirt road lined by 1-2 concrete or wooden homes, more livestock, many bicycles and mopeds, mom and pop shops, and hanging laundry. As the bouncy streets become smaller, the recent memory of the initial disappointment is no doubt the cause of gloomy cloud making its way across Megan’s face.
After a final right turn into Soujorn Villas, a boutique resort, Megan regains color. We’re greeted by a beautiful villa framed by tropical plants and fountains throughout where Ms. Navy (Nah-vey) welcomes us with garlands and cool towels.
Night 1 -- We are checked into out room which is made up with a flower petal heart and champagne in honor of the honeymoon. We unpack quickly and can't wait to cool off in the pools we can't figure out the AC. So crank up the ceiling fan which makes quick work of the flower petals, but the heart was lovely while it lasted.
We go down to the pool to cool off and explore the rest of the grounds. The pool is a lima bean shaped with a tiki pool bar. 6-8 red roof villas surround the pool with immaculate landscaping throughout. We make quick friends with 2 Australian couples on holiday who have had a substantial head start at the pool bar. We try our best to play catch up by taking advantage to the happy hour that runs until dark.
After the pool, we get cleaned up and eat at the hotel restaurant. It's small with only 6 tables, but it located in the main villa open sides to allow the evening breeze to flow through. By this time, the staff has lit up the grounds with strategically place candles and torches. We have a romantic dinner and Megan raves about the mushroom fettuccini. Ben enjoys the Cambodian national dish of chicken amok which is a yellow curry that comes off a bit bland after such rich, spicy curries in Thailand. We turn in early for the can’t-miss sunrise over Angkor Wat.
Day 2 -- 4:45am wakeup call! We roll out of bed disoriented, excited, and maybe a bit worse for wear after the pool bar. We meet our driver to take us to the temples before sunrise and head into the town to take out cash (dollars preferred – bonus) and buy our temple tickets. First up is Angkor Wat, we are told there are beautiful pictures at sunrise. We think we might be the only ones to have gotten this tip, but when we enter we see a few hundred people crowded near the left side of the main steps. Milling about are local giving out "tips" as well as encouraging you to stop by their tent later for coffee and breakfast. They are generally helpful and friendly since they rely on you choosing Nelly’s #8 restaurant vs. Annie’s #5 restaurant later in the day. We can’t help but notice though how they seem to point most people toward “the best viewing location” that happens to be quite close to their restaurants. There are also some aggressive hawkers selling scarves and a herd of them is aggressively pursuing the poor Korean tourist who was foolish enough to feign interest in one of the seller’s goods.
We figure out that it’s a lot less crowded and a bit more scenic if we cross to the other side of the main promenade to get some pictures at sunrise and make our way through the incredible stone Buddhist temple built in the 12th century. We notice that everyone is not dressed in "temple appropriate" conservative gear. Ben has worn a tee shirt and his flows Thailand pants, Megan is in a tee shirt and a floor length grey skirt that she will fantasize about destroying for the remainder of the day as it perfectly traps in the heat. However, it's all worth it when we get to the highest steps that allow us to look out from right below the 5 uppermost mounds. Others get turned away for not having shoulders or knees covered. The view from the top is magical. Trees that have been growing for centuries cover the space in a blanket of multicolored green. From here we wander around the grounds and make our way back towards the parking lot and our driver. We walk out past the breakfast tents and shops. Our earlier "tip givers" Ana and Nelly are upset that they remember us and that we don't stop to eat. We do stop in to see some of the pictures and painting and make our first purchase of the trip which is a navy and gold rubbing of Ansara. Once we think we have made it past all of the selling, three small children approach us with baskets of magnets and postcards. It's hard to say no even the first time but they follow us and keep asking for 100-200 meters. Showing off their minimal English skills and begging. Megan is teary by the time we make it back to the main stairs and disappointed that we can't adopt one girl on the spot. We have some breakfast on the grounds and then head on to Ankor Thom. There are multiple temples in this area with the main ones being Bayon (Temple of Faces) and Baphun. We can immediately feels the difference in temperature from a few hours earlier, it is bright and sunny and likely in the mid 90's. We go through the temples trying to keep to the shade as much as possible while slyly picking up facts from other peoples tour guides. An hour or so later after avoiding a hill of fire ants we meet our driver once again. Last stop for the day, Ta Prou, from Tomb
raider, the temple left in ruins with tree roots overtaking the grounds. The temperature continues to rise but we enjoy this last temple together buying paintings and water colors from two local artists. The children merchants catch us again on the wait out and follow us until we are seated in the car and pulling away. We get lunch in town with our driver and head back to the hotel to cool off. We take some time at the pool and make our first trip to the spa for head massages and a pedi for Megan. We begin looking up activities once finished and decide on the Cambodian Circus.
Night 2 -- We grab an early dinner at the hotel and tuk tuk into the city. The 10-15 member of this circus group have graduated from a school that is part of a NGO called Phare. There are now schools that provides academic support and music, art, theater, and circus training to 1,400 Cambodian children and teens each day. The idea for the school began with 8 teens in a Khmer Rouge refugee camp that required art therapy to deal with their personal trauma. We have found this time period 1975 on to be very interesting and are trying to gain as much information as we can. We get home around 9 and fast asleep.
Day 3 -- Total relaxation day! Sleep in, hotel breakfast and lunch, pool day, and afternoon facials and massages. Megan is in heaven.
Night 3 -- We decide to go into the city for our last night in Cambodia with our trusty tuk tuk driver, the same one as the Circus night who looks like he should be in a Wes Anderson movie with his extra 15 lbs and big white helmet. We have no trouble finding our BBQ restaurant whose address is simply down the alley. But this is not our standard BBQ, we get 7 meats to grill on our personal table grill lubricated with pork fat: squid, kangaroo, and ostrich to name a few. After dinner we wander down this open street filled with restaurants and bars that are mostly open air, we land in a small air conditioned bar opened by Austrailian ex-pats. We make easy conversation with other travelers who seem to be less backpack-y. We take a break to find the infamous "fish spa", we head down the block and minutes later Ben is dunking his feet into a fish tank filled with at least 100 small black fish. For 3 dollars we get the fish experience and two beers from a cooler. Ben giggles like an adorable little girl and we talk politics with a Romania traveler. Megan finds a 13 year old girl helping her grandmother run the fish spa who is practicing a booklet of English phrases. The one that still sticks out is "Can you get me a knife." We wander through the streets a little more, have a baby thrown towards us in a money scam, and discover a "hip" dance club called Ankgor What? We headed back to the tuk tuk knowing tomorrow is a travel day, the fellow drivers clear their beer cans out of our seating area with many apologies and we wonder if we should be worried. A quick ride home and it's light out, Hong Kong tomorrow!