Just got back from an excellent week in Siem Reap, and I wanted to share some information in case anyone is thinking about going.
I did the tickets myself on Vietnam Airlines’ web site. Business class was NT$23K. Coach is about NT$15K. Couldn’t find any better fare with an agent, but it was Lunar New Year, after all. Flights were fine. I plan to fly them again, mainly because they are SkyTeam members and I can get Delta miles.
The hotel I stayed at is called The Golden Banana Boutique Hotel & Resort. It’s a small, intimate, quiet place located in a residential area, but only a 5-minute walk to the Old Market and Pub Street. The place is really nice, reasonably priced and has the warmest, friendliest staff I’ve ever met. It was my second stay there, and can’t wait for the next time!
Since I saw many/most of the temples on the first trip, we went a little off-the-beaten-path this time. The first day we went to one of the floating villages on the lake. Very interesting to see. The second day, we went to some mountain about 1.5 hours away by motorcycle. We went swimming in the waterfalls, had some local BBQ, went to a temple with a big Buddha carved in a rock and the River of 1000 Lingas. Unlike at the Old Market or Angkor Wat, we maybe saw only 2 other white people the whole day. The third day, our tuk tuk driver took us to his home village, about an hour away. It was really cool to meet his friends and family and see how they lived. They were also in the process of laying the foundation for a new home, all without any modern tools of any kind. Had some home-made hooch and a home-cooked meal. I spent the last 3 days at the hotel, getting massages, laying around the pool, chatting with the staff.
Feel free to message me if you want any information on the hotel, driver/guide or sights.
Hey Criag, I was wondering if Siem Reap and Angkor Wat were ideal places to visit for a couple who are probably not staying out east for more than a year.
I’m a pretty big history buff and salivate at the idea of traveling and exploring around those ruins, but with everything else there is too see in SE Asia I really want to make sure its worth the time and money.
Just want to hear your opinion on this if ya have the time.
Thanks in advance! 
I think it’s absolutely worth a look-see, and with a private guide. Skip the tour buses. The new museum is absolutely worth it. Also, some people who were staying in our hotel said they went to a temple that was just recently made accessible by a new road that just opened. They thought it was awesome.
Photos of both trips are HERE, and I wrote a little about the most recent trip on Google+.
I am assuming not, but many of the temples still being restored? when we went in summer many were in various stages of restoration (many of the main tourist ones anyway).
Are you able to put up any pics of the floating market? we missed that one to try and get up through laos in time, but i really did want to see there!!!
[quote=“Pingdong”]I am assuming not, but many of the temples still being restored? when we went in summer many were in various stages of restoration (many of the main tourist ones anyway).
Are you able to put up any pics of the floating market? we missed that one to try and get up through Laos in time, but i really did want to see there!!![/quote]
I saw most of the temples when I was there in Sep 2010, so didn’t go this time. My friend did and said they were packed with tourists, being high season and Chinese New Year and all. When I was there, there was some restoration going on, but not so much as to lessen the experience. This time, my friend said it was hard to enjoy them because of the crowds. Summer is low season, so perhaps that’s when they do most of the work, perhaps.
There are several floating villages, and yeah, we went to one of them: Kompong Pluk. Awesome.