Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam
Arrival in Saigon January 19, 2008. The dry season. Also the coolest temperatures of the year. (Not!!!!!) If you can handle Florida or Texas summers the climate will be a walk in the park. If you are coming from a cold climate with thickened blood you may have to acclimate. Saigon is an exciting city. Very busy! 10 million people, 5 million motorbikes. The most important criteria in finding a place to sleep is noise. Look for a place off the street. No windows in the room would also be a plus as long as you have air conditioning.
The New Hotel, 14 Ho Huan Nghiep Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Telephone: (84-8) 8231343. Email: newhotel@vnn.vn Center room with no windows $35, front or rear rooms with window and balcony $40 - $45. Brand new hotel, marble tile floors, ice cold A/C, satellite TV, ionic breeze, brand new beds. Located next to Renaissance Riverside Hotel in the same neighborhood as the Continental, Caravelle, Majestic and the Rex Hotels. Free wifi in the hotel if you have a laptop.
Food: If you are challenged to find a place to eat try the Givral on the corner facing the Continental Hotel. You are sure to get a good meal at a reasonable price. You can venture out from there.
Entertainment: The rooftop lounge of the Caravelle Hotel offers spectacular views for a cocktail. Second to the Caravelle is the Rex Hotel roof made famous as the hang out of choice for news reporters during the War. Both rooftops offer great views and live musical entertainment.
Tours: Sinh Cafe Tours and Kim Cafe Travel are located next door to each other. Just ask the taxi driver to take you there. Both have buses departing daily for tours. You must reserve at least a day in advance. Cu Chi Tunnels half day tour is a must. We did a full day Mekong Delta tour (too long and too many factory tours, not enough time on the river). If you are moving on to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the two day Mekong Tour that ends in Phnom Penh looks interesting.
Our intention was to fly to Da Lat and Nha Trang but due to Lunar New Year approaching all flights were booked. Too bad. Our friends went and said Da Lat was beautiful. Nha Trang sounds like a great beach resort.
We flew from Saigon to Da Nang to get to Hoi An. $65 on Vietnam Airlines. 1 hour flight time. Booked ahead of time at our hotel in Hoi An so they had a driver meet us at the airport with our name on a hand held sign. 30 minute drive past all the new luxury beach resorts being built from China Beach in Da Nang all the way to Hoi An.
If you email ahead to your desired hotels in Vietnam or Cambodia they will respond quickly with confirmation and will meet you at the airport or bus terminal. Prepayment or deposit was not required except for Saigon.
Hoi An, Vietnam
Climate: Very nice in January. Not as hot as Saigon. Showers can occur even in the dry season and can last a couple of days. Take advantage of the sun for your "My Son" and beach tours as soon as possible.
An Huy Hotel, 30 Phan Boi Chau Street, Hoi An. Telephone: (84.510) 862116. Email: anhuyhotel@vnn.vn Website: www.anhuyhotel.com This hotel was great! I would not stay anywhere else. Located on the quiet side of town. Don't reserve a room on the first floor. Hoi An floods during the rainy season and most buildings have water in their first floor. Mold. Our second floor room was great. $30 per night. Breakfast was excellent and included. Free Internet with two computers in the lobby and a wifi router. The staff is fantastic and can provide you with travel assistance such as flights, buses and hotel reservations to your next destination. You will not be charged any premiums or fees for this service. Local tours can be booked with the hotel. We did the My Son tour with a bus to My Son temples and a boat ride back to Hoi An. $12 for two people. We also booked our bus to Hue, our next destination, $10 for two people.
Food: 96 Cafe on the riverfront. Doesn't look like much but has the best food in town. Also has a cooking class that you can take. Vietnamese cooking lessons and you get to eat the food. Green Moss Restaurant located on the street behind the An Huy Hotel was also delicious and rated as a favorite in Lonely Planet guide book. The Cargo Bar located next to the Japanese Bridge is a coffee shop with the best pastries in town. Great place to relax with a cup of joe.
Tours: Renting bicycles and riding out to the beach is a must. The entire town is a World Heritage Site. You can buy tickets to tour many of the local museums and historical sites. Buy your tickets and walk around to the sites while shopping along the way. The local market on the river is bustling and a must see. The "My Son" tour takes you by bus to a valley of temples. A few temples remain after the U.S. bombed many during the War. Thousands of Viet Cong hid out in the valley thinking that the U.S. would not bomb this sacred site. They were wrong. The Ho Chi Minh trail passes through this valley. Hoi An requires at least 3 days/4 nights to enjoy.
Hue City, Vietnam
The bus from Hoi An to Hue seemed to be the simplest way to travel. It was very comfortable. Similar to most coach buses in most countries. Reclining seats and air conditioning. The fare for the 4 hour ride was $5. The ride winds through coastal mountains with spectacular views of the South China Sea. Sit on the right side of the bus if traveling north for the best views. The people at the An Huy Hotel can reserve your place in Hue if you wish. That way you will be met at the bus stop by your hotel staff who will take you and your luggage to the hotel. Be forewarned. The transportation will most likely be motorbikes unless you specifically request a taxi. They will have a motorbike for each person in your party. It works! They will put your luggage in the space between the driver and the handlebars and you on the back. We had a little rain and it was cold. A jacket would have come in handy.
Hotel Bao Minh. 66/8 Le Loi Street, Hue City. Telephone: (84.54) 829953. Email: baominh2673@dng.vnn.vn This is the guest house where we stayed. It is on a street that I might call an alley. There are 3 other guesthouses next to it. It was very clean and simple. Twin beds, full bath with tub, satellite TV and air conditioning. The room was $10 per night. Breakfast will set you back $1 per person, per day. It was adequate. Like most simple breakfasts in Vietnam you get a couple of eggs, bread and a cup of coffee. On the same street (alley) were two other hotels for about $35 a night. Rooms were a little bigger but basically the same. Also on the alley is an Internet cafe with about 20 computers and an Internet phone booth. On the next street behind our guesthouse, Pham Ngu Lao Street, were many hotels ranging from $14 to $80 per night. Across the street from our alley was the Century Hotel, a 5 star hotel located right on the river. All in all there are about 20 small hotels and guesthouses in a few block radius. I suppose if you didn't have reservations just take a taxi to the Century Hotel and walk up and down the 3 blocks across the street from it and you will find a room to suit your needs and budget.
Food: There are many restaurants in this area also. We ate at a restaurant called Ushi's on Pham Ngu Lao Street. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was a popular place with a pool table in the back and an Internet computer to use if you need to check email or something. Both Asian and Western dishes. Prices were dirt cheap as you will find in most of Vietnam.
Tours: The Citadel (Emperor's Palace) is within walking distance across the river. You just need to walk there and pay the $4 entrance fee. You should reserve at least a half day to walk through the whole place. On the same side of the river is the central market. Your guesthouse will encourage you to see the other sites via motorbike. Do it. The other option is the dragon boat. Don't do it. The sites are located off the river so when the boat stops you will be fighting with all the other passengers to negotiate with motorbike drivers which are not included with your dragon boat tour to take you down the road to the temples, pagodas and palaces. You have to do this at multiple stops. It also limits the amount of time that you get to spend at the different sites because you have to get back to the boat. If you arrange a motorbike tour you will get your own driver who will take you to all the sights and wait while you spend all the time you need to enjoy the sites. The tour will cost you $8 for the whole day. There are a couple of sites that have an admission fee of $4 each. The rest of the sites (temples, pagodas, conical hat factory) are free. The ride is safe, they give you a helmet and they don't drive fast. If you want to take a dragon boat ride on the river have your guesthouse make a call and negotiate a good price for an hour or two ride. Two days in Hue is enough time to see the sites.
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Flew from Saigon to Siem Reap on January 30, 2008. Vietnam Airlines non-stop. $333 round trip. A little bit expensive for a 1 hour flight. Other options are a 6 hour bus ride from Saigon to Phnom Penh and a 5 hour boat ride from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. That would be the way to do it if you have the time and want to see the Killing Fields in Phnom Penh. Even better the two day Mekong boat tour from Saigon to Phnom Penh with Sinh Cafe.
Visa info: You can get a visa upon arrival at the airport. $20 USD + $2 for a photo unless you have one passport size photo. For the $2 they scan your passport photo for you. Departure tax is $25 USD.
Taxi from airport to town will cost you $5 at the taxi stand at the airport. Taxi from town to the airport $7.
There are guesthouses in town and along the river that cost about $28 per night. But if you have a bit more to spend you can get a room in the best hotels for $45 to $60. We stayed at the City River Hotel, #0622, Steung Siem Reap Street, Wat-Bo, Siem Reap City. Telephone 063-763-000. Email: booking@cityriverhotel.com Website: www.cityriverhotel.com This was more of a western style hotel. They have a buffet breakfast that is included in the room rate. It is fantastic! All the eggs you want fried or scrambled, bacon, toast, croissants, juice, coffee, yogurt and excellent fruit. We tried to stay at the Bohpa Angkor that is next door to the City River Hotel but they were full. The Bohpa Angkor is a more traditional style high end hotel with a lot of gardens and a pool. www.bohpa-angkor.com Although the City River is putting in a pool as I speak.
Food and entertainment: Breakfast as I mentioned was great at the City River Hotel but lunch and dinner was horribly uneatable. We ate lunch and dinner a few times at the Bohpa Angkor. It was fantastic, authentic Khmer cuisine. There is a street in town that is closed off for pedestrians at night. It is full of restaurants and the place to be for night life. The Red Piano restaurant and bar (made famous by Angelina Jolie while filming "Tomb Raider") is at one end of this street so you should have no problem finding it. At the other end of the street is the Blue Pumpkin. This is the place to go in the afternoon during the hottest part of the day (101 degrees Fahrenheit) after you have been climbing all over the temples of Angkor. It is like a Starbucks on steroids. First it is air conditioned. It is a coffee shop. It has tasty food and incredible baked goods. WiFi is free so bring your laptop. The most unique thing about the Blue Pumpkin is the upper level air conditioned section which has beds along the length of it where you can really relax. They serve you your food or lattes on a tray table like breakfast in bed. There are also tables to sit at if the beds are full. www.tbpumpkin.com
Shopping: In the same area of the pub street is the Old Market. You can find anything there amongst the many vendors selling everything from souvenirs to meat, fish and produce. In this same neighborhood are many shops, boutiques, pharmacies (stock up on your drugs which are cheap and prescriptions are not required). You will also find many massage establishments that will work your feet, shoulders, neck or whole body for very inexpensive rates. If you are looking for high end jewelry you will want to go to the new, air conditioned shopping plaza located next to the royal palace in town. It is the size of half a football field filled with jewelry cases of precious gems and jewelry. Cambodia mines ruby and sapphire. But they also have everything else. Example a 3+ carrot ruby ring in a gold setting for about $160. Bring your credit card!
Tours: Angkor temples! What could I say. The highlight of the whole trip. Spectacular! This is why you come to Siem Reap. Two days minimum to see them. There is an inner ring and an outer ring of temples. Do the inner ring on day one and the outer ring on day two. Then any additional days you can go back to your favorites or head to some of the temples that are a bit farther from town. Get as early a start as possible because by noon the heat will get pretty brutal. Unless of course you enjoy the outdoors in Florida or Texas in the middle of summer with not much breeze. Some people head back to their hotel for a shower and a nap. Some of the guesthouses have a power blackout from around 2 to 6 PM (not the better hotels). So all the more reason to head for the Blue Pumpkin.
Tour guides and transportation: The taxi driver that you take from the airport will try to convince you to take a taxi to see the temples. If you need to hop into an air conditioned car all day then this is for you. Might cost you about $22 a day. I recommend the more popular choice. A tuk-tuk. It is basically a two or four seat rickshaw or wagon with a roof for shade pulled by a motorbike. This will cost you $12 a day and the guide will stay with you all day as long as you can stand the heat. The guide will take you to the temples and wait for you at each temple entrance allowing you to explore the temples on your own at your own pace. He also can't go in because he won't have a pass. You will have to buy a pass to enter the sights. It will cost you $20 per day or $40 for a three day pass. Don't loose it, tear it or get it wet or you will have to buy a new one. They actually take your picture and print it on the pass. You can also rent bicycles and ride to the close temples on your own but you will still need the pass. I will let you google Angkor Wat or read about it in your guide books. Try to find a guide who speaks enough English or your language of choice that you can understand. Our top choice is Mr. Chia. If you want to find him you could inquire at the front desk of the City River Hotel to find out if he is available. He is on their preferred list and they will call him for you if he is available even if you are not staying there.
Tokyo Travel Tip
If you are traveling through Tokyo and have a layover in Narita Airport check out the dayrooms. Instead of going into the city, paying for an expensive hotel and having to pay a departure tax the dayroom is a nice alternative. We had a 9 hour layover. The rooms are right in the terminal and there are single or double rooms with a bathroom and shower, air conditioning, super quiet, no windows so you can sleep throughout the day or night. The beds are Japanese style (low to floor) and very comfortable. Clean sheets and towels and the rooms are spotless. If you don't need a bed and just need a shower they have shower rooms available also with soap, shampoo and towels provided. It is a good idea to reserve ahead of time. You just need to fill in the form on their website and submit it. No need to give prepayment or credit card. They will send you an email confirmation right away. You should provide your flight info in case your flight is late. They will hold your room. Otherwise you have about 30 minutes to check in after the hour you designated or they can give away your room. When you land do not go through immigration. We arrived on the top level of Terminal 1 and had to go through another security check point to the transit area. No one new where the dayrooms were located. Just get through this checkpoint for transit passengers and go down the escalators. You should find yourself around Untied Airlines gates. The dayrooms are right around the corner heading toward the McDonalds around Gate 26, 27,28. The double room was $14 for the first hour and $7 for each additional hour. The single room was even less. I think the shower room only is about $5. Where else can you get a hotel room for $49 and avoid ground transportation and departure taxes. The website to reserve is
https://www.npf-airport.jp/refresh/en
The telephone number is 0476-32-4734. Don't forget the "s" in the https of the web address as it is a secure site.
Here is a link that will show you the location in Terminal 1
http://www.narita-airport.jp/en/guide/service/list/map/37_t1_3f.html
and here is the link to find them in Terminal 2
http://www.narita-airport.jp/en/guide/service/list/map/37_t2_b1f.html
Arrival in Saigon January 19, 2008. The dry season. Also the coolest temperatures of the year. (Not!!!!!) If you can handle Florida or Texas summers the climate will be a walk in the park. If you are coming from a cold climate with thickened blood you may have to acclimate. Saigon is an exciting city. Very busy! 10 million people, 5 million motorbikes. The most important criteria in finding a place to sleep is noise. Look for a place off the street. No windows in the room would also be a plus as long as you have air conditioning.
The New Hotel, 14 Ho Huan Nghiep Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Telephone: (84-8) 8231343. Email: newhotel@vnn.vn Center room with no windows $35, front or rear rooms with window and balcony $40 - $45. Brand new hotel, marble tile floors, ice cold A/C, satellite TV, ionic breeze, brand new beds. Located next to Renaissance Riverside Hotel in the same neighborhood as the Continental, Caravelle, Majestic and the Rex Hotels. Free wifi in the hotel if you have a laptop.
Food: If you are challenged to find a place to eat try the Givral on the corner facing the Continental Hotel. You are sure to get a good meal at a reasonable price. You can venture out from there.
Entertainment: The rooftop lounge of the Caravelle Hotel offers spectacular views for a cocktail. Second to the Caravelle is the Rex Hotel roof made famous as the hang out of choice for news reporters during the War. Both rooftops offer great views and live musical entertainment.
Tours: Sinh Cafe Tours and Kim Cafe Travel are located next door to each other. Just ask the taxi driver to take you there. Both have buses departing daily for tours. You must reserve at least a day in advance. Cu Chi Tunnels half day tour is a must. We did a full day Mekong Delta tour (too long and too many factory tours, not enough time on the river). If you are moving on to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the two day Mekong Tour that ends in Phnom Penh looks interesting.
Our intention was to fly to Da Lat and Nha Trang but due to Lunar New Year approaching all flights were booked. Too bad. Our friends went and said Da Lat was beautiful. Nha Trang sounds like a great beach resort.
We flew from Saigon to Da Nang to get to Hoi An. $65 on Vietnam Airlines. 1 hour flight time. Booked ahead of time at our hotel in Hoi An so they had a driver meet us at the airport with our name on a hand held sign. 30 minute drive past all the new luxury beach resorts being built from China Beach in Da Nang all the way to Hoi An.
If you email ahead to your desired hotels in Vietnam or Cambodia they will respond quickly with confirmation and will meet you at the airport or bus terminal. Prepayment or deposit was not required except for Saigon.
Hoi An, Vietnam
Climate: Very nice in January. Not as hot as Saigon. Showers can occur even in the dry season and can last a couple of days. Take advantage of the sun for your "My Son" and beach tours as soon as possible.
An Huy Hotel, 30 Phan Boi Chau Street, Hoi An. Telephone: (84.510) 862116. Email: anhuyhotel@vnn.vn Website: www.anhuyhotel.com This hotel was great! I would not stay anywhere else. Located on the quiet side of town. Don't reserve a room on the first floor. Hoi An floods during the rainy season and most buildings have water in their first floor. Mold. Our second floor room was great. $30 per night. Breakfast was excellent and included. Free Internet with two computers in the lobby and a wifi router. The staff is fantastic and can provide you with travel assistance such as flights, buses and hotel reservations to your next destination. You will not be charged any premiums or fees for this service. Local tours can be booked with the hotel. We did the My Son tour with a bus to My Son temples and a boat ride back to Hoi An. $12 for two people. We also booked our bus to Hue, our next destination, $10 for two people.
Food: 96 Cafe on the riverfront. Doesn't look like much but has the best food in town. Also has a cooking class that you can take. Vietnamese cooking lessons and you get to eat the food. Green Moss Restaurant located on the street behind the An Huy Hotel was also delicious and rated as a favorite in Lonely Planet guide book. The Cargo Bar located next to the Japanese Bridge is a coffee shop with the best pastries in town. Great place to relax with a cup of joe.
Tours: Renting bicycles and riding out to the beach is a must. The entire town is a World Heritage Site. You can buy tickets to tour many of the local museums and historical sites. Buy your tickets and walk around to the sites while shopping along the way. The local market on the river is bustling and a must see. The "My Son" tour takes you by bus to a valley of temples. A few temples remain after the U.S. bombed many during the War. Thousands of Viet Cong hid out in the valley thinking that the U.S. would not bomb this sacred site. They were wrong. The Ho Chi Minh trail passes through this valley. Hoi An requires at least 3 days/4 nights to enjoy.
Hue City, Vietnam
The bus from Hoi An to Hue seemed to be the simplest way to travel. It was very comfortable. Similar to most coach buses in most countries. Reclining seats and air conditioning. The fare for the 4 hour ride was $5. The ride winds through coastal mountains with spectacular views of the South China Sea. Sit on the right side of the bus if traveling north for the best views. The people at the An Huy Hotel can reserve your place in Hue if you wish. That way you will be met at the bus stop by your hotel staff who will take you and your luggage to the hotel. Be forewarned. The transportation will most likely be motorbikes unless you specifically request a taxi. They will have a motorbike for each person in your party. It works! They will put your luggage in the space between the driver and the handlebars and you on the back. We had a little rain and it was cold. A jacket would have come in handy.
Hotel Bao Minh. 66/8 Le Loi Street, Hue City. Telephone: (84.54) 829953. Email: baominh2673@dng.vnn.vn This is the guest house where we stayed. It is on a street that I might call an alley. There are 3 other guesthouses next to it. It was very clean and simple. Twin beds, full bath with tub, satellite TV and air conditioning. The room was $10 per night. Breakfast will set you back $1 per person, per day. It was adequate. Like most simple breakfasts in Vietnam you get a couple of eggs, bread and a cup of coffee. On the same street (alley) were two other hotels for about $35 a night. Rooms were a little bigger but basically the same. Also on the alley is an Internet cafe with about 20 computers and an Internet phone booth. On the next street behind our guesthouse, Pham Ngu Lao Street, were many hotels ranging from $14 to $80 per night. Across the street from our alley was the Century Hotel, a 5 star hotel located right on the river. All in all there are about 20 small hotels and guesthouses in a few block radius. I suppose if you didn't have reservations just take a taxi to the Century Hotel and walk up and down the 3 blocks across the street from it and you will find a room to suit your needs and budget.
Food: There are many restaurants in this area also. We ate at a restaurant called Ushi's on Pham Ngu Lao Street. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was a popular place with a pool table in the back and an Internet computer to use if you need to check email or something. Both Asian and Western dishes. Prices were dirt cheap as you will find in most of Vietnam.
Tours: The Citadel (Emperor's Palace) is within walking distance across the river. You just need to walk there and pay the $4 entrance fee. You should reserve at least a half day to walk through the whole place. On the same side of the river is the central market. Your guesthouse will encourage you to see the other sites via motorbike. Do it. The other option is the dragon boat. Don't do it. The sites are located off the river so when the boat stops you will be fighting with all the other passengers to negotiate with motorbike drivers which are not included with your dragon boat tour to take you down the road to the temples, pagodas and palaces. You have to do this at multiple stops. It also limits the amount of time that you get to spend at the different sites because you have to get back to the boat. If you arrange a motorbike tour you will get your own driver who will take you to all the sights and wait while you spend all the time you need to enjoy the sites. The tour will cost you $8 for the whole day. There are a couple of sites that have an admission fee of $4 each. The rest of the sites (temples, pagodas, conical hat factory) are free. The ride is safe, they give you a helmet and they don't drive fast. If you want to take a dragon boat ride on the river have your guesthouse make a call and negotiate a good price for an hour or two ride. Two days in Hue is enough time to see the sites.
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Flew from Saigon to Siem Reap on January 30, 2008. Vietnam Airlines non-stop. $333 round trip. A little bit expensive for a 1 hour flight. Other options are a 6 hour bus ride from Saigon to Phnom Penh and a 5 hour boat ride from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. That would be the way to do it if you have the time and want to see the Killing Fields in Phnom Penh. Even better the two day Mekong boat tour from Saigon to Phnom Penh with Sinh Cafe.
Visa info: You can get a visa upon arrival at the airport. $20 USD + $2 for a photo unless you have one passport size photo. For the $2 they scan your passport photo for you. Departure tax is $25 USD.
Taxi from airport to town will cost you $5 at the taxi stand at the airport. Taxi from town to the airport $7.
There are guesthouses in town and along the river that cost about $28 per night. But if you have a bit more to spend you can get a room in the best hotels for $45 to $60. We stayed at the City River Hotel, #0622, Steung Siem Reap Street, Wat-Bo, Siem Reap City. Telephone 063-763-000. Email: booking@cityriverhotel.com Website: www.cityriverhotel.com This was more of a western style hotel. They have a buffet breakfast that is included in the room rate. It is fantastic! All the eggs you want fried or scrambled, bacon, toast, croissants, juice, coffee, yogurt and excellent fruit. We tried to stay at the Bohpa Angkor that is next door to the City River Hotel but they were full. The Bohpa Angkor is a more traditional style high end hotel with a lot of gardens and a pool. www.bohpa-angkor.com Although the City River is putting in a pool as I speak.
Food and entertainment: Breakfast as I mentioned was great at the City River Hotel but lunch and dinner was horribly uneatable. We ate lunch and dinner a few times at the Bohpa Angkor. It was fantastic, authentic Khmer cuisine. There is a street in town that is closed off for pedestrians at night. It is full of restaurants and the place to be for night life. The Red Piano restaurant and bar (made famous by Angelina Jolie while filming "Tomb Raider") is at one end of this street so you should have no problem finding it. At the other end of the street is the Blue Pumpkin. This is the place to go in the afternoon during the hottest part of the day (101 degrees Fahrenheit) after you have been climbing all over the temples of Angkor. It is like a Starbucks on steroids. First it is air conditioned. It is a coffee shop. It has tasty food and incredible baked goods. WiFi is free so bring your laptop. The most unique thing about the Blue Pumpkin is the upper level air conditioned section which has beds along the length of it where you can really relax. They serve you your food or lattes on a tray table like breakfast in bed. There are also tables to sit at if the beds are full. www.tbpumpkin.com
Shopping: In the same area of the pub street is the Old Market. You can find anything there amongst the many vendors selling everything from souvenirs to meat, fish and produce. In this same neighborhood are many shops, boutiques, pharmacies (stock up on your drugs which are cheap and prescriptions are not required). You will also find many massage establishments that will work your feet, shoulders, neck or whole body for very inexpensive rates. If you are looking for high end jewelry you will want to go to the new, air conditioned shopping plaza located next to the royal palace in town. It is the size of half a football field filled with jewelry cases of precious gems and jewelry. Cambodia mines ruby and sapphire. But they also have everything else. Example a 3+ carrot ruby ring in a gold setting for about $160. Bring your credit card!
Tours: Angkor temples! What could I say. The highlight of the whole trip. Spectacular! This is why you come to Siem Reap. Two days minimum to see them. There is an inner ring and an outer ring of temples. Do the inner ring on day one and the outer ring on day two. Then any additional days you can go back to your favorites or head to some of the temples that are a bit farther from town. Get as early a start as possible because by noon the heat will get pretty brutal. Unless of course you enjoy the outdoors in Florida or Texas in the middle of summer with not much breeze. Some people head back to their hotel for a shower and a nap. Some of the guesthouses have a power blackout from around 2 to 6 PM (not the better hotels). So all the more reason to head for the Blue Pumpkin.
Tour guides and transportation: The taxi driver that you take from the airport will try to convince you to take a taxi to see the temples. If you need to hop into an air conditioned car all day then this is for you. Might cost you about $22 a day. I recommend the more popular choice. A tuk-tuk. It is basically a two or four seat rickshaw or wagon with a roof for shade pulled by a motorbike. This will cost you $12 a day and the guide will stay with you all day as long as you can stand the heat. The guide will take you to the temples and wait for you at each temple entrance allowing you to explore the temples on your own at your own pace. He also can't go in because he won't have a pass. You will have to buy a pass to enter the sights. It will cost you $20 per day or $40 for a three day pass. Don't loose it, tear it or get it wet or you will have to buy a new one. They actually take your picture and print it on the pass. You can also rent bicycles and ride to the close temples on your own but you will still need the pass. I will let you google Angkor Wat or read about it in your guide books. Try to find a guide who speaks enough English or your language of choice that you can understand. Our top choice is Mr. Chia. If you want to find him you could inquire at the front desk of the City River Hotel to find out if he is available. He is on their preferred list and they will call him for you if he is available even if you are not staying there.
Tokyo Travel Tip
If you are traveling through Tokyo and have a layover in Narita Airport check out the dayrooms. Instead of going into the city, paying for an expensive hotel and having to pay a departure tax the dayroom is a nice alternative. We had a 9 hour layover. The rooms are right in the terminal and there are single or double rooms with a bathroom and shower, air conditioning, super quiet, no windows so you can sleep throughout the day or night. The beds are Japanese style (low to floor) and very comfortable. Clean sheets and towels and the rooms are spotless. If you don't need a bed and just need a shower they have shower rooms available also with soap, shampoo and towels provided. It is a good idea to reserve ahead of time. You just need to fill in the form on their website and submit it. No need to give prepayment or credit card. They will send you an email confirmation right away. You should provide your flight info in case your flight is late. They will hold your room. Otherwise you have about 30 minutes to check in after the hour you designated or they can give away your room. When you land do not go through immigration. We arrived on the top level of Terminal 1 and had to go through another security check point to the transit area. No one new where the dayrooms were located. Just get through this checkpoint for transit passengers and go down the escalators. You should find yourself around Untied Airlines gates. The dayrooms are right around the corner heading toward the McDonalds around Gate 26, 27,28. The double room was $14 for the first hour and $7 for each additional hour. The single room was even less. I think the shower room only is about $5. Where else can you get a hotel room for $49 and avoid ground transportation and departure taxes. The website to reserve is
https://www.npf-airport.jp/refresh/en
The telephone number is 0476-32-4734. Don't forget the "s" in the https of the web address as it is a secure site.
Here is a link that will show you the location in Terminal 1
http://www.narita-airport.jp/en/guide/service/list/map/37_t1_3f.html
and here is the link to find them in Terminal 2
http://www.narita-airport.jp/en/guide/service/list/map/37_t2_b1f.html
