The sole purpose of our 5 night trip tp Siem Reap was to visit the Angkor Wat complex. The rest of the time was to just veg out, see some cultural sites and maybe a cooking class. We arranged a cooking class as well as a day excursion to Angkor Wat through our hotel. That was very convenient.
Our hotel put on a great breakfast (included) so that was our first stop each morning. Afterwards we wandered down the block to Starbucks for a very tasty coconut milk latte. This became a daily routine.
Monday morning we walked a short distance to the small but fantastic
Made in Cambodia Market, a place with about a dozen stalls for local artisans to sell their handicrats, spices, artwork, jewelry, clothing etc etc etc. The vendors, many disabled, all spoke excellent english and there is no pressure to buy anything. Well, actually, the pressure is that there are so many beautiful goods it is hard to decide what to purchase and almost impossible to come away with nothing. Excellent place to visit.
We followed that up with our cooking class, poolside, back at the hotel.
Later, after a rest by, and in, the pool, we took a tuk tuk into what can only be described as the entertainment center of Siem Reap,
Pub Street, where they have almost out-vegased Las Vegas when it comes to neon lights. Quite entertaining. We chose the
Khmer Kitchen for dinner and were not disappointed with a nice plate of curry and a plate of stir fried veggies to go with it.
Tuesday we had to skip the Starbucks as this was our early morning tour to Angkor Wat. This is a facinating complex with a lot of restoration going on. Some of the temples have collapsed over time while others have been engulfed by huge tree root systems.
For dinner that night we took a tuk tuk down to Pub Street and checked out a number of places before settling on
The Phlok Restaurant for another tasty curry dinner.
Wednesday morning we visited the
Artisans Angkor workshop. They have two locations. The one we visited in Siem Reap specializes in training rural youth in traditional Khmer crafts. The other, a silk farm outside the city, has been closed to the public since the pandemic and is yet to re-open. We got a nice tour of the facilities and saw numerous artisans practicing their crafts; wood carving, stone carving, weaving and more.
Artisans Angkor has been chosen to help in restoration of some of the structures at Angkor Wat. Seeing these was really neat.
Later that evening we attended a dinner theatre performance at the
Siem Reap Apsara Theatre. The dance performances reminded us a lot of the
kathakali performances we saw in Kerala when we toured India many years ago. The costumes are stunning.
Thursday, our last full day in Siem Reap, started with the usual breakfast and Starbucks. Leaving Starbucks we walked towards the river coming across the
Preah Ang Chek Preah Ang Chorm Shrine within the compound of the
Royal Residence. A fairly large crowd of people was starting to gather around the shrine so we asked about it. The people were gathering to celebrate the full moon and pay respects to Buddha.
Continuing on through the Royal Independence Gardens, we walked along the river stopping at the
Satu Concept store, an organization helping local artisans gain wider exposure for their work. Very nice place, then farther along taking a rest for a wonderful fruit smoothie at Angkor Fruit Shake (almost too many choices)...
... before heading into the old market and along Pub Street. From there we took a tuk tuk back to visit the Made in Cambodia market again after which we had a nice lunch at a restaurant next door.
Back at the hotel for some pool time before taking a tuk tuk back to Pub Street where we had a repeat dinner at the Khmer Kitchen. Later that evening we were treated to a brilliant light show provided by the celebrants of the full moon at the shrine we had walked past earlier.
Friday, after breakfast and one last coconut milk latte we finished packing. Our pre-arranged ride to the airport arrived right on schedule and after a brief wait at the newly opened Siem Reap International Airport we were off on our flight to Da Nang Vietnam. We had a multiple entry visa for Vietnam so no issues when we arrived in Da Nang. A bit of a mixup with our ride to our hotel, in Hoi An, but there was a fellow there to meet us, just no car. A couple from Alaska seemed to have the same issue so we chatted with them while we waited. Eventually two cars showed up and we went our separate ways, which ended up being the same place as we were each in different hotels in the same complex. A bit of a surprise when we went down to the common breakfast area the next day and ran into them again.
Back in Hoi An at the Sincerity Hotel. When we stayed here with the food tour group we quite liked it; nice restful hotel, great breakfast, excellent pool and easy to get into Old Town, so it was easy to decide to stay here again just to veg out for 6 days after Siem Reap.
For dinner that night, we walked a few blocks from our hotel to the
Noodle House by STREETS, a place run by a non-government organization that provides training and employment opportunities for disadvantaged youth. The food was excellent and the young people learning to ply their trade were charming.
Saturday morning we started another daily routine. Breakfast at the hotel, take a GRAB to Starbucks, then stroll into Old Town and enjoy just walking around in the market, along the river and through the busy side streets. Nice.
Sunday we decided to take a short 10 minute boat ride across the Thu Bon river to
Kim Bong Carpentry Village. We had read that there was a ticket office down by the river. Not so much (or at least we couldn't find one). Instead it was a case of wandering along the river listening to all the touts trying to sell various river "cruises". We sort of randomly chose a woman who offered a ride there and back for 300,000 dong (about $15 CDN). She took us across and asked for 200,000 and 100,000 when she takes us back. She gave us a business card and indicated to call her when we were ready. Ok and off we went and off she went. Would we ever see her again?
Anyway, we walked around the small village but only found a few "studio" shops open but the wood carving was pretty spectacular. In one building the post and beam construction was really neat.
After a bit we stopped at a riverside cafe and ordered coconut drinks. The fellow promptly went out back and shook a couple of coconuts out of a tree, lopped the top off them, stuck in straws and handed them to us. Talk about fresh!
A bit more walking and we were back at the pier. We called the designated number. She answered and said she would be there soon. Somewhat skeptical we waited and waited but she did eventually arrive. Nice.
Back in Hoi An we wandered along the river a bit then went to The Morning Glory restaurant (again) for dinner. That is basically how Sunday went and that's it for this week.
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