Travelogue: Travel Tips to Siem Reap, Cambodia (Angkor Wat Temple Complex)

Our trip to Siem Reap is one that I will remember for a long, long time.

I was very impressed with the place, the people and most specially the impressive ruins! 

And surprisingly very affordable for such a touristy place.  

An entire weekend there only cost us $500, inclusive of hotel, dining and food.  

Here are some tips to maximize a short 2-day weekend visit:

• Apply for an e-visa prior to your travel or else, waste 2 hours at the airport to get one. 

•  Book a private tour with Sam Pho.  Our driver is such a nice gentleman and our tour guide was so energetic and enthusiastic.  You can tell they really love their job and so proud to showcase their country!   One day of 14-hour tour in a private car with our own driver only cost us $100!

•  Do wake up at 4:30 to camp early at Angkor Wat to see the sunrise.  It's quite a spectacular site! 

• We were able to visit 4 ruins in a day, thanks to our very well planned tour from Sam Pho.  We were able to cover Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Banyan Temple, Ta Phrom and 3 other little temples in between! 

• While Angkor Wat is the most impressive size-wise, and Ta Phrom is the most famous thanks to Hollywood's Tomb Raider, Angkor Thom is my favorite.   The identical 4-sided head carving in each and every single column of the structure is just impressive.   Knowing this is at least 1000 years old makes it even more impressive!

• We managed to take photos as if there's hardly any crowd there!   Another reason to book with Sam Pho tours, they know the "secret" places to take the best shots!  A bonus for my hubby who is a photo junkie. 

• Watch an Apsara dinner dance show.  It's a great way to end your visit! 

Travelogue: Travel Tips to Ayutthaya, Thailand

Just a quick hour drive up north of Bangkok is the beautiful city of Ayutthaya --
an ancient kingdom built by Rama I U-Thong, the first ruler of Thailand.  

The entire city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and there's at least 58 beautiful attractions to tour! 

There is so much history, ancient relics and beautiful temples to soak in in this beautiful city and it's unfortunate that we only had a day to tour around.  

~~~~~~~

If you find yourself in this lovely city, here's a few tips to enjoy your visit: 

1.  Hire a private van from Bangkok.  It's a bit pricey but it's the fastest and safest.   

     We hired a chauffeured van from this company and was very pleased with their service. 

2.  Visit Wat Phanan Choeng Worawihan to see an impressivly towering 60-feet golden Buddha   

     statue!   Linger long enough to see a robe ceremony -- where faithful Buddhists honor their
     Buddha by offering the statue a vibrant orange new robe.

3.  Arrive early to see Wat Yai Chai Mhang Khon (Monastery of Auspicious Victory) before the 

     morning sun casts directly to the temple.   And if your timing is lucky enough, take this 

     shot (scroll below to see the 2nd photo that we took of a teenage tourist with the lovely brick 

     temple at the backdrop). 

4. Visit Ayutthaya Historical Park to see the ruins of this historic city, the once capital of the country 

    and home of the 1st King from the 13th century.  Find out how this once great   

    kingdom fell to its enemy in a gruesome and gory battle.   I hope not to get nightmares from it.  

5. Always rent an audio wherever it's offered.  For a  mere $3 (฿100), you get a  lesson in history 

    with a very interesting narration.  It's how I found out the interesting story in #5 above.   

    If nothing else, it will surely help bring the relics come back to life in your imagination.  

    Without it, everything will just look like another brick from another century.

6.  Visit Wat Maha That (Monastery of the Great Relic) and look for the sandstone Buddha 

     surrounded by tree roots.   Sure you'll get a wee bit disappointed realizing it's a tad small than 

     what the travel magazines promised and lured you into.   Regardless, it's not something you see 

     everyday and can't buy at the malls! 

7.  Stop for lunch at Coffee Old City.   There's a reason why it's voted #1 on Tripadvisor.   Order 

     their Tom Yum fried rice, Pad Thai to find out for yourself. 

8.  Visit Wat Chaiwatthanaram and find out what gift this once king gave his mom.   Puts our  

     mother's day card and charm bracelet gifts to shame. 

9.  Hire a boat to cruise around Chao Phraya or a bike to tour around the city.  But no matter 

     what you do, I beg not to hire an elephant ride!   Should you consider it for a moment, read this 

     blog and you'll surely change your mind. 

10.   After learning so much history of this great city, (assuming you followed #9 above), you'll 

        slowly start to harbor a little resentment to the people who ruined this city.   Chill!!  It happened

        more than 400 years ago.   Suggest to go back to the place in #7 to have a Thai Iced Tea.

10.  I was told to visit 9 temples in a day for good luck.   I had a all the good intentions but   

       unfortunately, I reached some form of temple fatigue towards the late afternoon after hours 

       in grueling heat.  (It's high 85F that day. I live in Minnesota, 80's is a grueling heatwave for 

       me!). 

So after 7 hours, 5 temples, countless relics and a lesson in Thai history -- all for a mere $30 

(฿900), we called it a day.

It's a shameless plug, I know... but thought you might enjoy my other travelogue posts here too!   

Travelogue: Xperience Days - Afton River Cruise

When I learned about Xperience Days, I got so excited and booked a brunch cruise right away.

Reservation was such a breeze -- I chose my city, chose an activity and chose a price range. 

A cruise along the St. Croix river has always intrigued me and so I zeroed in on that right away.

The day we picked couldn't have been any more perfect. 

We arrived at the Afton Inn 30 minutes before our cruise time and had plenty of
time walking around the marina and enjoying the gorgeous day.  

Aboard the Afton Princess, our two-hour long Xperience starts with a champagne brunch of 

salads, pancakes, sausages, roasted chicken and a variety of dessert.  

Servers constantly go around to attend to each guest and would bring your drink of choice from champagne,
coffee, soda to any specialty mixed drink.

After the meal, guests were invited to go to the upper deck and enjoy the rest of the
cruise soaking in the picturesque view of the beautiful St. Croix river.  

It was indeed very relaxing -- I felt like all my worries melted away that day and
I left the cruise fully recharged and ready to tackle whatever life throws at me! 

Disclosure: The Xperience was gifted to me by the folks at XperienceDays.com.  

I received no compensation writing this post.  

All statements here are my honest and 100% own opinion. 

Travelogue: European Roadtrip Part 7 (Wattens, Austria)

Part 1 - Hamburg, Germany Part 2 - Berlin, Germany Part 3 - Dresden, Germany  Part 4 - Prague, Czech Republic  Part 5 - Salzburg, Austria   From Salzburg, we headed east and had a quick stop at Wattens, Austria to visit the famed  Swarovski Crystal World!   It was bling bling overload for all the senses!         I'll let these pics do all the talking to see why.    

 

Please scroll down to see these very special souvenirs I took home with me! 

 

 Just kidding. I wish though!!! 

See you next week as we head east to Innsbruck, Austria!

     

Travelogue: European Roadtrip Part 6 (The Sound of Music Tour)

Part 1 - Hamburg, Germany Part 2 - Berlin, Germany Part 3 - Dresden, Germany  Part 4 - Prague, Czech Republic  Part 5 - Salzburg, Austria   The highlight of this roadtrip has got to be the Sound of Music day tour we took from Salzburg.  I felt like a kid all over again, listening to the all the familiar tunes from the movie.  Except this time around, I was no longer watching it in front of the TV -- I was right there at the very scene, the very sight and the very place where my all-time favorite movie was taken.      All my childhood memories flooded back to me as I reminisced those happy times with my cousins singing along the songs, those endless summer days running around my mom's garden  and pretending that I am sixteen going on seventeen and needing an older and wiser dashing young lad...    I have found my happy place!     Someday, when I have kids of my own, I hope they appreciate the movie as I did and  visit this place and reminisce happy childhood as I have!  And hope they get to visit it too with a dashing young lad by their side as I have.    Below are snippets of the movie's song lyrics and the spot where the scene was shot.  Enjoy!  
   
♪ ♫  The hills are alive with the sound of music!  With songs they have sung for a thousand years... ♪ ♫
    ♪ ♫ Doe, a deer a female deer Ray, a drop of golden sun... ♪ ♫

  ♪ ♫ Raindrops and roses and blue satin sashes.. When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad... ♪ ♫

    ♪ ♫ How do you solve a problem like Maria... ♪ ♫

  ♪ ♫ I am sixteen going on seventeen...  Totally unprepared am I to face the world of men!  ♪ ♫

 

The wedding church of Maria and Captain von Trapp
    Not related to The Sound of Music but the town of Mondsee, Austria -- specifically at Cafe Braun, has undeniably the BEST apple strudel in the world.  I still dream of it to this day, 5 years after tasting it!

     ♪ ♫Climb every mountain... Ford every stream  Follow every rainbow ♪ ♫ 

    Just have one regret on this tour: we forgot to take a picture of an Edelweiss!  We did get to sing-a-long with it on the bus and I was doing so with all out full emotion. That is until somebody blurted out, "Oh I didn't know Edelweiss is a flower!"  I had to burst into laughter!      See you next week for a quick stop at Wattens, Austria!