Bangkok to Siem Reap
Yesterday when the hotel receptionist advised us we should take the 5 am shuttle he noted that our reservation included breakfast which would not be available at that time. Instead he said they would bring a boxed breakfast to our room by 9 pm.
Majella and Ben were in bed and asleep before 8 pm last night but I sat up reading until 9 pm waiting for breakfast. When it had not arrived by then I went to bed too. About 30 minutes later the room phone rang. It was reception saying they would bring up breakfast. I got out of bed and a few minutes later breakfast arrived. I put it in the refrigerator and went back to bed.
I had set my Fitbit to wake me at 4:15 am. When the vibration woke me I was a little surprised to see it was 4:13 am. I remembered later that the Fitbit alarm is set to monitor sleep and select an appropriate point in the sleep cycle close to the set time.
I got up and dressed. Majella was soon moving and Ben woke when my phone alarm went at 4:30 am. We were all ready quickly and had time to eat our breakfast before heading out for the shuttle. Breakfast was ham, egg, and salad sandwiches with a bottle of orange juice. Not what might have been served at the hotel but enough to get us started for the day.
At that hour traffic was light and once we had joined the other passengers already on the shuttle we were quickly at the airport. I had checked in online but we had to drop bags so we checked in at a kiosk and then dropped our bags. The process was simple but a little different from Qantas so we had to read and learn.
Suvarnabhumi airport is large so we had some walking to security and then to passport check. Both went smoothly and we were soon walking past the high end boutiques toward our gate. We had coffees (hot chocolate for Ben) at a cafe before going down to wait at the gate.
As we waited we worked on morning puzzles. About an hour before scheduled departure the crew walked by. When we were called to board we walked downstairs to a bus that took us to our plane out on the tarmac. There were many empty seats and the number of passengers was barely more than the crew but perhaps the return flight would be more heavily booked.
Our Bangkok Airways flight was operated by Amelia and accents suggested the multiracial crew included a few Francophones. We were not long aloft when they served breakfast of fried rice with chicken, yoghurt, and fresh fruit – pineapple, rockmelon, and papaya. By the time we had eaten we had commenced descent. There was just time to spend 289 baht (about $15) for some miracle face cream Majella had spotted in the onboard duty free catalogue. We hope it is not so effective that she will no longer match her passport photo.
We landed at Siem Reap a few minutes ahead of schedule. The airport was new and large. Signage suggested it was built with Chinese investment, presumably part of the belt and road initiative. After a long walk we queued for immigration – other flights had arrived with more passengers. Our eVisas and eArrival documents were in order so the process was quick once we reached the head of the queue. We picked up our bags and walked out through the unattended customs area. Our driver was waiting with a sign bearing our name and we were soon seated comfortably in a Hyundai van for the 45 km ride into Siem Reap. His English was very limited but he offered occasional comments as we passed things of note.
The first half of the ride was straight down new highway evidently built as part of the airport project. The road was raised on an embankment above the surrounding farmland that was flat and host to a mix of cassava, rice, tree crops including cashew nuts, and areas grazed by cattle. We saw occasional farmhouses and a few workers. Eventually we reached the highway that runs between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. That road passed between houses on both sides and many of those had stalls selling a variety of foodstuffs and other goods. Traffic increased and seemed to be about 50% motorcycles which travelled more slowly than cars and were sometimes challenging for our driver to pass.
It was around 10:30 am when we arrived at the Damrei Angkor Hotel. We were able to check in but our room would not be ready for 15 minutes or so.
Majella wasted no time waiting but talked to the receptionist about what we could do. She booked cooking lessons for tomorrow afternoon and an immediate tuk tuk ride to APOPO, an NGO that trains rats to detect land mines and other unexploded ordnance.
We left our bags to be delivered to our room and rode in the tuk tuk to APOPO on the outskirts of town. Our driver offered to wait, or at least be back when we had finished in an hour or so. We had a few minutes to wait for the 11 am tour and spent that time reading some of the information about the project and browsing the goods for sale. Our tour guide explained the problem and how the rats were trained before moving on to an area where two other staff members demonstrated the process of having a rat scan an area and detect objects containing enough TNT to emit a detectable odour. We passed on the opportunity to hold a rat, and bought a couple of t-shirts before going outside where we found our tuk tuk driver waiting to take us back to the hotel.
Once we had checked the room and sorted our gear we walked out onto the street in search of lunch. We found that nearby at Brother Bong Cafe, about 50 metres up the street. It seemed to cater mostly to tourists and was well patronised. For US$20 we had fried pork and rice for Majella and me, chicken parmigiana for Ben, smoothies for Ben and Majella, and coffee for me.
Over lunch we discussed what we might do next. Majella was interested in a silk worm farm but a search revealed it was 15 km out of town. She also wanted to visit Pub Street where a friend had advised to her say hello to a man, T, at Cheers Bar.
After lunch we walked further along the street to the river and then in the shade of the trees there to a bridge where we crossed and walked on past a temple complex. Soon enough we were at Pub Street where various venues were busily preparing for New Years Eve. Cheers was toward the end of the strip and Majella quickly established that the man standing out front where he had just arrived by motorcycle was T. We chatted with T for a bit and Majella accepted his invitation to return in the evening for the festivities.
By then the temperature had risen to the low 30s so we kept to the shade as much as possible while we walked back to the hotel. Just out of Pub Street we found a multitude of small stalls selling a wide variety of items and we spent some time exploring those. Majella was looking for some cooler trousers but failed to find what she wanted and bought a loose shirt.
Back at the hotel we found the pool and were soon relaxing in the cool water. Once we had cooled sufficiently we went back to our room to rest before venturing out for the evening.
By 4 pm we had rested enough and went out for a walk around the local streets. Majella had wanted to take a tuk tuk to an area we had seen on the way to APOPO where people appeared to be setting up for music. We were not sure where it was and I thought it unlikely there would be any music until later when she was planning to be back at Pub Street. There was little to interest us around our local streets so we walked around a block and returned to the hotel.
In addition to the silkworm place Majella had been interested in visiting Artisans Angkor which sold traditional crafts. She managed to locate it on a map and since it was close to Pub Street we decided to take a tuk tuk there and then stroll to Pub Street.
Hotel reception arranged a tuk tuk for us. By that time, around 5 pm, traffic was busy and some streets were already closed for the evening festivities. Our driver had to be creative with changes of direction to make progress but got us to Artisans Angkor around 5:20 pm. We had time to enjoy the very fine craft work and Majella made a small purchase.
We left there and strolled to a small market area. Majella bought a pair of light weight pants and Ben bought a couple of gifts.
On our short walk from there to Pub Street we passed some massage places. Majella had been reluctant to walk earlier because she had sore feet. A 10 minute foot massage helped and we walked on to and through Pub Street. We rounded the block with a diversion through a fruit and vegetable market and then walked to Cheers.
T greeted us and led us up to the roof top bar where he put us in balcony seats with a view over and up the street. Alex took our orders for drinks and food and we sat to enjoy the action below. Majella ordered Tom Yam and when told it was spicy asked for a mild version. Ben and I had chicken curry. Ours were tasty but not very spicy. Majella’s was spicier than she had hoped but she thought it might push her dementia back by a decade or so. She had her Siem Reap Sling cocktail to ease the pain while Ben and I had coke and local beer respectively.
Majella said she could make it all the way to midnight but as 8 pm approached I was thinking about the industrial deafness that could result from 4 more hours of very loud thumping ‘music’. We decided to go with our usual Sydney celebrations. At 8 pm Ben helped Majella find the Sydney fireworks on YouTube and we watched those before saying farewell to T and Alex and walking toward our hotel.
Along the way we passed some stalls we had seen this afternoon and Ben made another purchase. We crossed the river, found a tuk tuk, and rode to the hotel.
If one or more of us should be awake at midnight we might see some fireworks from our balcony. Tomorrow is the one day this week that we don’t have an early start so we might be late risers.
