Thanks for bringing us along on your trip. Your comments about international travel are so right. I hope everything else goes like clockwork!

Sounds like you would agree with DH's and my slogan that "Travel is an adventure!" Thanks for sharing your story! Your writing sounds as if you are just shrugging it off. That's great! Not much you can do about it anyway, other than grin and bear it.

I hope your flight to BKK goes smoothly, and you can enjoy the Pen for a short time anyway!

We had fabulous weather in BKK over the holidays, so I'm hoping you will find the same for your visit to S E Asia. It is nice here at home (downstate Ill) right now, but I think the bottom drops out tonight! You left at the right time (we came back too soon!!!)... haha

>>>We’ll keep our room at the Peninsula for "tonight," but will now only have it for about six hours. At least we know the showers are nice and the breakfast will be great!<<<


Welcome back to the City of Angels, ms. go, and let me congratulate you again on your ongoing unmatched Art of Travel : checking into that cherished Peninsula property after long flights. (As of ~ six weeks back, she was as fine as ever for an all too brief King's celebration down by the river. Some wondrous friends still working at the hotel; we'll be returning for Valentine's Day. Special place)

Will be interested in your impressions of Haneda. (My flights into/out HND to date have all been with SQ; always efficient and some particularly stress free transports to/from Tokyo.)

Will you be finishing your holiday with two nights at the BKK Peninsula? If so, a fine way to finish your time in the LOS. Should you happen to be near the Pen's riverside lawn - and dock - around sunset, some fleeting and magical moments have been experienced on more than a few occasions : the way the setting sun reflects the Mandarin Oriental's various windows across the river. (Yes, I've never grown the least bit tired of that hotel and its staff and friends.)

Well, suspect (hope) you're touching down in BKK right about now, so will send warmest wishes to you and your family from a pleasant Singapore morning.

Enjoy,

macintosh (robert)


... Singapore Airlines, You're a Great Way to Fly ...

Ms_go is enjoying the Pen shower before breakfast, so I'll chime in real fast. First of all, thank you very much for your kind words, and you're right... it is the beginning of a great adventure!

For the record, we found Haneda Airport to be rather nice (although it should be noted that this was 9pm thru midnight, so likely less crowded than at peak times). And we can vouch for the delightful ANA lounge as well.

We're mixing it up a bit on the back end of the trip, staying at the Old Bangkok Inn, not too far from Wat Saket. It should provide a slightly different feeling and perspective on the city... assuming things go smoothly and we actually make it back here next week!

Now, off to breakfast and a bit of discovery before our all-too-soon return to the airport.

~ Mr_go (posting on my LW's computer)

BTW, it took just over 32 hours, door to door, from our home in suburban Chicago

have fun

Enjoying so far and looking forward to Siem Reap.

Don't forget to 'take us along' on this adventure.

Oh, BTW, winter moved in last night. We have wind and cold and SNOW this morning! You left at the right time.

We promise to do another update over breakfast in the morning. We're now in Siem Reap and all totally exhausted...and ready for sleep in something other than airplane seats for the first time since Monday night (US time). Yes, I've been seeing the updates for winter in Chicago, and it looks like we had great timing. The weather is wonderful here, by the way (and was in Bangkok earlier today, as well).

Day 1: “Monkey!”

One final note on the travel day on Tuesday/Wednesday: the misconnecting passengers were expecting not to leave the airport until Bangkok, so most (ourselves included) were ill prepared (as in outerwear) for the 30-degree Tokyo weather! It was…um, refreshing!

Our flight to Bangkok was long (nearly seven hours) but uneventful, and we landed about 5:15 am. We didn’t get much sleep—some of that having to do with a crying baby behind us. I have nothing but good things to say about Thai Airways (at least for economy service).

I think we arrived at the furthest gate out and walked about a kilometer (or so it seemed) through the airport to the immigration desks, which were actually quite busy at this time of the morning.

We used AOT for transportation the last time, so in our sleep-deprived state we decided to do the same. We asked how much it would be to the Peninsula and were told 2700 baht. WHAAATTT? I know we had three people, but that’s a lot more than the last time, which was closer to 1000 baht. When we turned to leave, the price came down considerably. I think next time we’ll just use a regular taxi.

We arrived at the Peninsula about 6:15 am and got to our room just as the sun was starting to come up. It was just like waking up to that wonderful view. The man at the check-in desk was sympathetic to our travel issues and offered (without our asking) to give us a late check-out time of 2 pm. Have I mentioned lately how much I love it there?

After showers, our first order of business was enjoying breakfast (for which we had opted in our room rate) along the river. Originally, our plan was to eat “light-ish” for breakfast and have something good for lunch before leaving in the afternoon. Well, that plan fell by the wayside pretty quickly when we started digging into the Peninsula’s buffet. So we made it a long, leisurely breakfast and finally set out to do some exploring around 10.

Given our short time today and the fact that this was DD’s first trip to Bangkok, we stuck to the river and some standard sights—Wat Arun and Wat Pho—using various boats to get across and up and down the river. The weather was great—it varied between somewhat sunny and somewhat cloudy, with a few very scattered raindrops while we were at Wat Arun. It was more humid than we’re used to (at least at this time of year), but nothing like it was when we arrived in Bangkok in early November a few years ago.

As an aside, we have a day-plus here at the end of our trip and will visit the Grand Palace and do a few other things then. DD has a Thai friend who was an exchange student at her (former) high school last year, so we may meet up with him.

It was really hard to leave the Peninsula. We had a round of drinks at the river bar and then hopped in a taxi back to the airport. Our driver was quite a character, in a number of ways. First and foremost, he drove like his head was on fire (that is, when we weren’t stuck in traffic). Secondly, it was hard to tell his age—he could have been in his 30s or 70s. He spoke a little English, and tried to ask us a few questions. What really made him memorable was when he reached out, without warning, grabbed some of mr_go’s leg hair (he was wearing shorts at the time, and was sitting in the front passenger seat) and cried out “Monkey! Monkey!” It was such a random and bizarre act, and mr_go was so tired, that he just shrugged and said, “oh sure, monkey” like he was Bill Murray in Lost in Translation. Soon, we were roaring off at 100 miles per hour again.

We weren’t too enthused about getting on another plane so soon (notwithstanding our travel fun the previous few days, this was also my twelfth flight since mid-December)--and particularly when we saw that this one had propellers. But it turned out to be just fine. Bangkok Airways even serves a box lunch with sandwiches, fruit and a muffin. Flight time was barely an hour, and we were in Cambodia! It was about 6:30 pm.

We did the visa on arrival thing and were prepared with cash ($20 per) and extra passport photos. It was a snap—actually taking less time than the immigration line. We got photographed and fingerprinted, again! After a few minutes of looking around, we found our hotel’s driver and were settling in to our room by about 7:30. By now, we were beginning to crash hard (DD especially), so we opted to have dinner at our hotel, Pavillion d’Orient, which hit the spot. And then we hit the beds hard. Seven hours of much needed sleep later, and we are ready to head out to the temples today. Our room rate includes a tuk-tuk driver for around town and the temples (hotel is about 15 minutes away??), from sunrise to 10 pm. We missed the sunrise view today but may aim for that tomorrow.

I love your 'monkey' tale!! That's a new one on me. The 100 mph driver, yeah, I've had that before. Just hang on!!!

Keep your adventure coming! (the snow here is AWFUL)

we survived the same kind of taxi ride in november.... our driver was drinking some "medecine"...

really enjoying, thanks.

Simpsonc510
Keep your adventure coming! (the snow here is AWFUL)

hard to imagine, we are sweltering through our 4th concecutive day of 35+ deg C (about 95 f), god how I would love to live where it snowed (or at least where we got a winter)

Ms_go...funny monkey story. 2nd crazy BKK taxi driver story I've just read. (see crellston's wild ride).
We just left SR yesterday, hope you're enjoying it. We r now in LP and loving it. we'll be here until Tuesday am. If we overlap and u'd like to meet up for a drink, coffee, whatever let me know.

Hi yestravel, we get to Luang Prabang on Monday early evening, so yes! I don't have our exact flight schedule handy, but I'll look at it later and let you know.

We had a great day today--Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm and Angkor Wat. We're getting ready to go into town for dinner, so will post more on that later or in the morning.

Sounds good! Just loved BAyon in Angkor Thom and wasn't TA Prohm just wild? Although Banteay Srei was my favorite. Looking forward to meeting you!

Hi yestravel, we are scheduled to land in Luang Prabang at 6:10 pm on Monday, so we could get together later that evening or Tuesday morning--whichever works for you.

We are visiting Banteay Srei tomorrow!

That's the same time we were supposed to get in, but arrived a good half hour or so early. we flew Lao Air with a stop in Parske. Funny stop over. We got off the plane, could have wandered anywhere on the Tarmac, sat in the transit area for maybe 15-20 minutes and then suddenly people started boarding the plane again. Within 10 minutes we were airborne again.

anyway we leave bright and early Tuesday am, so only Monday evening will work for us. We're open so,let me know what works for you. We're staying at Aspara which is on the street that runs along the Nam Khan river. Small town and lots of little restaurants and cafes everywhere.

Enjoy your day of templing.

(aussiedreamer, I'm very generous! I'll trade places with you for a few days, just so you can have a look and experience cold/snow/ice etc)

Yestravel, ms-go, I hope you can manage a GTG. Putting names and faces together is one of the neatest things to do, thanks to fodors. I've met lots of really interesting (and very nice) people from this forum.

Ms-go, loving your trip report. We leave to BKK and Siem Reap March 8TH.... can't wait

Day 2: Believe the hype!

Today’s report isn’t going to be too long. We visited Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm and Angkor Wat, in that order—and whatever number of words we could put down here simply wouldn’t do them justice.

Some places aren’t quite what they’re cracked up to be. We found the temples of Angkor to be everything advertised…and more! Each of the three was a very different experience. Angkor Thom, the massive and fascinating complex that just continued and continued to reveal new elements (we could have spent all day here and not seen it all). Ta Prohm, mysterious, beautiful and half ruined. Angkor Wat…simply majestic. And every step of the way, we kept asking ourselves, how could people craft this volume of structures, in the jungle, with just stone and simple carving tools?

The temples we saw were not just impressive in terms of their size, scale and architectural foundation, but also on a small scale in terms of decorative detail and sculpture (e.g., the bas relief that runs a mile-and-a-half around the interior arcade of Angkor Wat depicting epic stories and battles in mind-blowing detail).

Oh, yes…we saw a REAL monkey today at Angkor Wat, and a few along the side of the road somewhere.

We’ve seen some pretty impressive things in our travels, and this ranks right up there at the top—and, we’re not done! We have 2.5 more days to go.

On the logistical side, we bought three-day tickets to the monuments at $40 per.

As mentioned yesterday, our room comes with a tuk-tuk driver for the day. We met Vesna at about 9 am, and he provided helpful, courteous, punctual service through the day, until our return to the hotel at about 4 pm. He also met us back at the hotel at 7 pm and took us into town for dinner and then brought us back at 9:30.

We’re here in the “cooler,” drier season and found it pretty pleasant yesterday, for the most part. It got a little warm for us when we were in the sun for prolonged periods, but there were usually some shady parts in striking distance if we needed to cool off. We didn’t find it uncomfortable at all traveling around by tuk-tuk, as opposed to air conditioned car (although be aware it is a little bumpy, and a little dusty, and a just little heart-stopping on a few occasions when you see a bus or large truck approaching head on).

Our hotel has a pool, and it was nice to be able to come back and cool off for a bit before heading out to dinner.

Meals…well, we’re eating pretty well and definitely too much. Our hotel has wonderful breakfasts. Lunch was somewhere near Ta Prohm, selected by Vesna, and it was fine (if not a little expensive for this neck of the woods). We had dinner at Khmer Kitchen, in an alley off Pub Street, and quite enjoyed it—particular the amok (DD’s new Cambodian fave), but also lab, a fish dish with garlic and basil (can’t remember name), banana blossom salad, and dumplings (all for $15).

Today, we are off to Banteay Srei and to do a food distribution at the Knar School!

Yestravel, we're staying at Le Bel Air Hotel, which I believe is just a little further away from the town but still an easy walk in for us. Monday night would be great. I'll think about a way to connect off line to work out details.

Ms_go, r u on Trip Advisor? If so we could pm.

Knar school? If you meet Chenda or Souvanny (both English teachers), Please tell them Lucy from Hawaii really misses them and can't wait to come back!

This is so much fun to read, thanks so much ms_go. I'm following along intently. Love to hear about any standout dining experiences in Siem Reap.

Really enjoyed your take on the Temples.

(simpsonc510 we're planning to have xmas in Germany this year, so hopefully I'll experience some 'real' snow.)

yestravel, I am (same user name), but I've never PM'd on there before. If you send me one, I'll try to access it. I also am on Flyertalk with the same user name, and I have done private messages there.

lcuy, I didn't see your post until after we were there, sorry. We enjoyed passing out food to the students today and visiting the school.

Thanks, aussiedreamer. We're having a great time here!

And we're not missing the snow at home at all!

I think I successfully sent u a Message from flyertalk with my direct email it. We'll c!

Thanks! We are out for dinner but I'll check later when I get back to my computer.

Day 3: Back to school—A lesson in perspective

One thing that was on our wish list for this trip, from the start, was some sort of activity to support Ponheary Ly’s work with the schools in this area of Cambodia. We have been reading about—and inspired by—this on Fodor’s for the past few years. It was one of the few things we planned in advance, albeit not too far in advance due to too many things going on lately (thanks, offwego, for helping put this together in the last couple of weeks).

The Knar school is about 25-30km from Siem Reap, in the direction of Banteay Srei, which was also on our “must” list of temples for the trip. Given the longer distance and the fact that we were carrying some “goodies” for the foundation, we opted to hire a car (rather than tuk tuk) for the day. The hotel arranged this for a $15 surcharge. Our driver was great, spoke excellent English and gave us a lot of information along the way. He also knows someone connected with the school, so he knew exactly where to go.

We arrived at the school after a 40-minute drive from the hotel, and met up with Fodorite offwego immediately (and it is always so nice to place a face with the name when we meet our fellow Fodoites!) After brief introductions, it was off to the classrooms where we helped to distribute food to all the students at the school. Every kid received some canned fish, soy milk, and instant noodles to take home. We did our best to hand them all out in as fast and efficient a manner as possible, but it was hard not to stop and interact with each of these adorable kids!

Believe us… even the hardest heart would be instantly melted by the smiles of these children. And that is especially true when you understand the circumstances of their upbringing. They aren’t just “economically disadvantaged” or “opportunity-challenged.” They are dirt poor. But here, at this school, they have a chance to learn basic academic skills and vital life lessons as well; for example, on this day, the importance of cleanliness in their environment.

Our visit to the school was on a Saturday, which meant that students participated for only half a day in either a morning or afternoon session. That meant we could visit Bantaey Srei in between the morning and afternoon sessions. (We’ll come back to that in a sec). If anything, the afternoon session was even more spirited than the morning session, and the children could not have been any more appreciative and engaging. They sang songs for us in unison, and we lavished them with applause in return.

We were, of course, very happy to donate all the food for this event, plus some supplies for the school. We are not stranger to donating to worthy causes all over the world, but there is something substantially different about taking part and seeing firsthand the benefit associated with this endeavor. We are not naïve enough to believe that every kid will go on to a great academic career; that’s not what it’s there for. It’s there to give kids a chance. A chance to learn how to write, even if it’s nothing more than their own name. A chance to learn some basic math, even if enough to hold down a shop-keeping job. This and the other PLF schools are doing great work and doing the right thing. We’re happy to have had the opportunity to help out, however small.

http://theplf.org

Banteay Srei offered yet another completely different temple experience. It isn’t on the scale of the ones we’d seen the day before, but it has remarkable, intricate sculpture work that is surprisingly well preserved for a monument that old. It doesn’t take long to see the whole thing, but there is quite a bit there to see—well worth the trip out there.

We also made a quick stop on the way home at Prasat Kravan, which is notable for its brickwork and bas relief carvings inside the towers.

We were intrigued by Cambodian barbeque after walking by several places downtown the night before. We knew from talking with the driver and some others that the more authentic experience would be near Wat Damnak, but we wanted to combine dinner with shopping, so we headed back downtown and settled in for a dinner of grill-your-own beef, chicken and squid at Cambodian BBQ on Pub Street. We enjoyed it; it was fun! Dessert was ice cream from Blue Pumpkin—and we are still arguing about “the best” flavors. I vote for the cinnamon, but mr_go’s ginger and black sesame was awfully good, too!

After dinner, we walked around the night market and some of the streets in the area. One of the notable activities, available on most every block, is the opportunity to stick your feet in a fish tank and have swarms of hungry fish exfoliate and massage your feet. While it seemed a strange idea, the price was right at $2. Mr_go and DD decided to give it a try and reported that the experience was odd (definitely not for the ticklish) but somewhat effective—feet felt pretty good afterward.


We are running a day behind now. Yesterday we visited the fishing village on Tonle Sap and then several more temples in the afternoon--will try to get that posted later today. We are off to Luang Prabang this afternoon.

What a wonderful time you are having!!! Keep the report coming.

I'm enjoying your trip. Thanks for posting.

Ms_go, re the monkeys at Angkor Wat - they were there when we pulled away, and our first thought was to wonder whether they're "planted".

Great report. We too delivered a meal to the Knar school. We don't usually return to places, but I long to return...and probably spend some time volunteering. Looking forward to your LP posts (another destination on our wish list).

Day 4: “Apparently there’s something famous over here”

This was the last day of our three-day temple pass, and we still had many we wanted to see—but given the heat and humidity, we didn’t really want to spend the entire day trekking over the ruins. We decide to start the day with a trip to the “floating” village of Chong Khneas, although at this time of year it really isn’t floating; the houses are a good eight to ten feet over the surface of the water, and some aren’t even over water at all.

First, we take a 30-minute tuk-tuk ride from Siem Reap to the river basin/inlet. The journey out passes small villages of wood and thatched huts, many on stilts, and the occasional newer construction house that dwarfed the others. Some homes have a cow or three or four in the front yard. They all seem to have a smiling, waving child.

From there, the trip out to the actual fishing village is somewhat of a journey in itself. First, you buy tickets and then keep driving down a bumpy dirt path lined with fields. Eventually, a small waterway appears along one side, and then a bunch of small, flat-bottomed boats. After some prolonged and animated discussion in Khmer between our driver and a small group of men, one with a shirt that said “Glock” and had pictures of guns on it, we board a small boat (note, that each party gets its own boat and driver; it’s not a “group” thing).

For a while, we motor down a narrow waterway that eventually becomes wider, and after about 20 minutes the buildings of the village begin to appear—first, the school, and then houses lining both sides of the now fairly wide inlet. The village is abuzz with activity—everything from people doing their laundry in the water to rowing from one house to the next to preparing food to repairing boats. And everywhere, the children eagerly return our smiles and waves.

We pass on the optional rowboat tour through the mangroves (after our trip through a mangrove swamp with Tong a few years ago, how could anything possibly compare ? ), and our driver continues on out onto hazy Tonle Sap. On the way back in, he stops at a dock that consists of a very tenuous plank and ushers us off the boat in into a narrow walkway between two houses. The first sight that greets us was a small child playing in a pile of rubbish. We get the sense that we were supposed to stroll through this village, but glancing left and right, we feel very out of place (we were the only tourists—most of the boats were stopping elsewhere). Straight ahead is a small café, so we buy a couple of drinks and sit down to watch the children playing all around us, including a spirited game of marbles. The young woman working at the café, who was 22 but looked younger than DD, introduces herself and tells us how she is teaching herself to speak English. She even brings out her “Conversational English” book to show us.

As we return toward the starting point, the narrow waterway is now clogged with boats, some of them unattended. Our driver rather skillfully pushes his way past them, even going so far as to ram into them at slow speed. We hit an impasse that looks like it will offer no way forward or back, and we wonder how we (or the driver, that is) would get out of the mess. Suddenly….we look to one bank, and there is Vesna, our intrepid tuk-tuk driver, motioning us to follow. We exit on to the deck of another boat and then launch ourselves off that one on to another and then on to dry land, and we never look back.

Bakong, part of the Rolous group (which is actually older than the Angkor sites), is near the fishing village, so Vesna suggests we stop there on the way back. It’s not a large site, and certainly not a crowded one. Despite its age (it dates from the 9th Century), it still has some interesting carvings and a wealth of character.

After a little rest at the hotel, we head out for our last set of Angkor-area temples.

First up is Preah Khan, which is laid out in a grid-like pattern on perpendicular axes. It has a very long central corridor, through a series of doorways, through which we pass on our quest to find the famous hall of the dancers, or apsara (which has something to do with the title of today’s report). The layout seems a paradise for fans of first-person video games—spooky intersecting corridors where some monster might jump out at any second (although there were a few too many people around for monsters to be lurking today). It rained shortly before our visit, so it is very warm and humid, and puddles make the trekking a bit treacherous.

Preah Neak Pean is a quick visit, relatively speaking. It is a shrine on a small round island, and access to the area is via a long walkway over a mangrove swamp. We can only see the shrine from a viewing area across the water.

Ta Son is a somewhat similar in style to but smaller than Preah Kahn. On the far side is an entry gate that has become almost completely swallowed by an old strangler fig.

Finally, East Mebon. Vesna stops here on the way back to the hotel and asks if we’d like to take a look. It hadn’t been on our planned “list” but looks a little different than the others, so in we go. We pass one person leaving as we enter, and it turns out he was the last visitor of the day prior to us. We have the entire temple—and it isn’t a small one—all to ourselves (in fact, the attendant at the entrance packed up and left for the day while we were there). It has a big, square, almost pyramid-like base. Several of the lower levels are notable for the very large stone elephants at the corners. We climb to the top level, which has a nice view over the fields around it. The sun is starting to go down. We linger longer than we expected to—just soaking in the fact that we were alone on this thousand-year-old monument. It is a great finish to our temple exploration at Angkor. Vesna suggests one other stop on the way back, but we decline. It is almost sunset now, and we decide to end this part of our trip on that high note. We ask Vesna to take us home, and he jokes, “Okay, on to Chicago.”

Dinner tonight is at the hotel. Its restaurant is good, and the nice, quiet, relaxing environment is welcome after a long day.

Thanks for the nice comments, everyone. Glad you're enjoying the report! We're really enjoying the trip! We arrived in Luang Prabang yesterday after dark, so we are looking forward to seeing it in the daylight today. We definitely liked what we saw last night! It is refreshingly cooler here--particularly this morning (sweater weather!).

We had a nice dinner and visit with the yestravels last night before they move on today.

And apologies for any typos and such above. I just noticed that the verb tenses above are all over the place. We've written a lot of this pretty quickly, and the internet is a bit spotty here this morning, so I didn't proof carefully.

Good stuff---certainly not Kansas, Dorthy.
Did I miss the pics or is that a treat I can look forwrd to?

Pictures are going to have to come later (maybe much later). We'll send you some links that you might be able to see on Facebook when we get a chance.

Still really enjoying.

Day 5: “That hill is getting a little close for comfort”

Today’s report will be pretty short. It’s a transit day, and the better part of our afternoon is spent getting from Siem Reap to Luang Prabang.

After breakfast and packing, we head downtown for a little concentrated shopping. We’d spied a few stores of interest on one of our previous evenings out and are now back to spend some of our remaining US dollars. We also wander through the old market, which has everything from the ubiquitous scarves and other souvenirs to produce and pigs’ heads. There’s a section of food counters in the middle that look somewhat interesting, but we are far from hungry.

The hotel recommended that we leave at 1 pm for our 3 pm flight, so we do. Check-in and immigration formalities take very little time, and we have almost an hour and a half to kill in the very small terminal. Notably, one of the primary food vendors in the terminal is Dairy Queen.

Our plane arrives shortly before departure time, but they turn it around quickly and we are out of there shortly after 3 pm. Our flight makes a short stop in Pakse to refuel and add a few passengers. As transit passengers, we have to leave the plane and wait the 30 or so minutes in a small transit room with a concession selling some very nice scarves (but no attendant) and a television playing loud cartoons.

The second half of the trip takes about an hour and a half. Lao Airlines is just fine. The flights are on time. It serves boxed snacks on both parts of the trip. All announcements are in English only. And the safety “demonstration” lasts probably less than 30 seconds (not sure if that’s good or bad). As we fly north toward the more mountainous region of Laos, the scenery outside becomes more and more dramatic—with spectacularly rugged terrain of sheer cliffs, jagged peaks and lush green valleys. We land at sunset to some stunning views across the hills. As the plane descends into Luang Prabang, the hill to the right side of the plane (our side) appears to be getting closer and closer. Finally, mr_go says what we are both thinking, “You know, that hill is getting a little close for comfort.” Then suddenly, the plane banks to the left, and we land without incident.

Thanks to a tip from yestravel, we downloaded and completed our visa on arrival applications prior to leaving Siem Reap. As a result, we are first in line at the visa booth, while others are filling out the visa forms they receive at the airport. We pay our $36 per, clear immigration, pick up our bags, meet our driver, and are checking into our hotel (Le Bel Air Hotel) within about 30 minutes of wheels down.

We quickly freshen up and begin heading into town to meet the yestravels at Tamnak Lao for dinner at 8 pm. We’ll talk about our hotel more later, but it’s across the smaller river from the main part of Luang Prabang, which requires us to cross one of two bridges. Given that it’s dark now, we choose the more straightforward route, which means crossing the “high” bridge next to the hotel. It is a good couple of hundred feet above the river, and there is a narrow path for foot traffic on one side. I’m not good with heights, and I think it is actually good that we are doing this in the dark.

The other notable thing about this walk is the very clear night and the view of the wat atop the Phou Si, the hill near the center of town—which appears to be floating in the sky.

We have a good dinner (nice setting and good Lao food) and very nice visit with yestravel and her DH, swapping travel stories and trying not to be too jealous of the fact that they’re on a nine-week trip while we only have 10 days (and ours is now half over).

We walk home via the lower bamboo bridge, which is only open part of the year (it washes out in the wet season). Getting home via this route in the dark isn’t a slam dunk (fortunately, they’ve strung lights on the bridge), but we try to keep hugging the river, and eventually we find our hotel. Notably, it’s getting cool outside—almost “sweater cool.”

Hmmmm... I wonder if your flight path (close to mtns) is the typical path into LP. I've never been, but I know that some flt paths are really scary, between mtn formations.

Isn't it great to put names and faces together? Glad you got to have a GTG with yestravel!

I know what you mean about 'already half over' (when others have 9 wks). DS usually has about 6 wks, and I, on the other hand, have 2 wks or less when I visit BKK!

We've spent an afternoon with the yestravels (here in SF), so I know you must have enjoyed your visit!

I wondered how that walk on the bridge at night was going to be!

One of the nice things about fodors is the opportunity it provides to meet such interesting fellow travelers, share stories and pick up tips. Now if they would get a PM function...

yestravel, I much prefer that bridge to the tall one--night or day.


Day 6: “I wish my eyes were video cameras”

We wake up to a fog cover (not sure if that’s normal), and it is downright cold. We bundle up for breakfast on the hotel’s outdoor verandah. They put a small pot of heated charcoal under the table to warm us. Breakfast is pretty hearty, including a made-to-order omelet station.

Just as we’ve headed out, the sun starts to break through, and the temperature goes up about 10 degrees in a matter of minutes…and continues going up.

For a good part of the day, we do what we love to do when visiting new cities—we walk (and walk and walk). And Luang Prabang is easily walkable and we enjoy checking out the river views (both the Mekong and the Nam Khan), doing some window shopping, and observing the mix tourist and local life. We take a lot of photos, but they don’t really do it justice. At one point (after having a small toddler smile and wave at her), DD says, “I wish my eyes were video cameras.”

This is a Tuesday, so the palace is closed. We visit the Wat Xieng Thong, near the tip of the peninsula. It has a sim that is one of just a few remaining examples of local style (and is currently undergoing renovation). We also visit Wat Mai Suwannaphumaham. And then we climb the Phu Si (the big hill) to visit That Chomsi at the top, as well as to check out the amazing views of the city in all directions. On the way back down the hill, we stop at Wat Siphoutthabat Thippharam, the shrine with a Buddha footprint, and Wat Thammothayalan to see the large golden Buddha statues there. Again, the views from up here are definitely nice enough to justify the climb.

Somewhere in between those, we decide to have a quick, inexpensive lunch. We want a sit-down restaurant rather than a stand. As we pass by one on a side street, we notice one customer’s baguette sandwich (these are somewhat popular here, and a common street food item) and decide that this will be the place. Mr_go orders laap, and it is particularly good. Our two baguettes are very large and pretty good. Best of all, we get to sit in the nice shady courtyard (by now it is quite warm, and we are dressed for the cooler morning).

After a rest and refreshments at our hotel (including changing to more weather-appropriate clothing), we head back out to the night market. I think we can point to today as the day DD learned to start bargaining. She accomplishes all of her gift-buying in one evening (and a college student typically has lots of gifts to buy).

We aren’t terribly hungry, but we would like to settle in someplace fun for drinks and light food. We head to Dyen Sabai, which comes highly recommended in the Lonely Planet book and is on the way back to our hotel—across the bamboo bridge on the Nam Khan and just up the hill. It is located in the middle of a bamboo grove, and seating is in smaller sections lighted with funky lanterns. It is as much a bar as it is a restaurant; the food portion of the menu is one page, while the drink selections take up about five pages. One of the specialties is Laotian fondue (similar to the Cambodian barbeque), but we opt for an appetizer platter of Mekong seaweed, dried sesame pork, eggplant dip, Luang Prabang sausage, and a very hot chili garlic sauce—all with sticky rice. Our waiter instructs us to bunch up balls of rice with our fingers and eat with our hands (no utensils). The food is good, but the drinks and atmosphere are even better (it is mostly a younger crowd), and so we linger. A great way to end the day.

Great quote, "I wish my eyes were video cameras."

Day 7: Take me to the river

Once again, it is a cool and foggy morning (but perhaps not quite as cool as the day before). Breakfast is great—with a mix of western and Asian (e.g., green curry chicken and rice) on the buffet, along with eggs made to order. It is enough to hold us all the way through dinner. The sun burns off the clouds by about 10 am.

First things first—we trek back into town to visit the royal palace, which had been closed yesterday. Our first stop on the grounds is the Wat Ho Pha Bang, which is designed to eventually house the Pha Bang Buddha (which, according to our book, is the most historically significant artifact in all of Laos). We also check out the collection of royal autos, a photo exhibit, and the Pha Bang Buddha, itself, before entering the museum, itself. The palace is about what you’d expect, with a receiving room, ornate throne room, well preserved living quarters, and various artifacts (masks, clothing, etc.) from years past. We are ushered out promptly at 11:30 closing time for lunch.

Our real mission for the day is to get out on the Mekong for a while. The hotel has arranged a private boat for us and transports us down to the dock at 1 pm for a half day trip out to the Pac Ou caves, a little over an hour’s ride from Luang Prabang. Along the way, we stop at a small village where we sample the local spirit, lao-lao. Since this isn’t anything we expect to find at home, we buy a small bottle to put in our checked luggage (hopefully my bag won’t arrive home smelling like lao-lao). There are also dozens of scarf vendors, and we give in. What’s a few more…

Another 20 minutes up the river is the cave complex. We’re a bit surprised to have to pay an extra 20,000 kip per person to see the caves, but we’re here, so we do. There are two caves, an upper cave and then a really upper cave. The “lower” one is a bit of a climb from the docks, and the higher one is several hundred steps further up. Both are chock full of Buddhas of all sizes, many of them tiny. Until a few decades ago, this was a prominent pilgrimage site for people of the area, who visited annually after the new year.

The caves are certainly interesting, but we enjoyed the peaceful ride on the river as much or even more—like our trip out to the Perfume Pagoda in Vietnam last year, this is as much about the journey as it is the destination.

We arrive back into Luang Prabang a little before 6 pm to a brilliant sunset over the Mekong (although I won’t be able to post photos for a while, I may make an exception and try to get one of these up shortly).

Dinner is at Tamarind, one of the more “upscale” restaurants in town (though it is still casual). The food seemed to be “fine dining” interpretations of local specialties. We enjoy a dip platter and entrees of marinated grilled buffalo, fish cooked in banana leaf, and an intensely flavored pork stew. My favorite, though, is the lime and lemongrass granite cocktail. We have a nice seat on the outdoor front patio, and it's a nice evening, weather-wise. Total for dinner and all drinks (and there were a few) was barely above $30.

Another great day in the books.

We are back in Bangkok, btw (one more day of LP to post). This time, we took a cab. It was pretty flawless until the driver got downtown and couldn't find our hotel (despite two maps). I think we drove around the Democracy Monument at least four times. But it cost a fraction of the trip in last week.

And, oh yeah, our room has an outdoor shower!!

I agree, the river is the star, not the caves.

Do you actually like the outdoor shower? I had an outdoor bathroom in Sri Lanka and was NOT pleased. In the tropics I want my bathroom indoors with the AC. (Just like at home.)

I love an outdoor shower. With a green frog, preferably.

But I love a great trip report more. Congratulations ms go.

Put me down as another fan of outdoor showers.

I think every TR written about the boat ride to Pak Ou Caves (including mine) has said that it is all about the journey and not the destination...

This has been a really nice report - makes me long to return to LP.

Thanks, everyone! I'll answer about the shower tomorrow, after I've used it. We didn't get here until about 8 pm. There's loud music out there right now, from the bar next door.

And dogster, there is a terracotta frog in the outdoor tub (separate from the outdoor shower).

in asia i like an a/c bathroom because you are never totally refreshed otherwise..

in america, i love an outdoor shower in the summer, especially at a beach house---not just the wash down type, a full wooden enclosed shower

Okay, I'm giving a thumbs up to the shower. It might help that it's January and not beastly hot and humid out already this morning, and I could come right back into the air conditioned room.

I'm not giving a thumbs up to the news that we'll be coming home tomorrow to 6+ inches of new snow.

Brrr - sorry to hear about the snow, hope you at least have an uneventful flight.

In my case the whole bathroom was outdoors, although most of it had a roof. I had to keep the towels in the bedroom.

Great TR, thanks.

As you descend into the snow, remember those of us who never ascended. Thanks for a great trip report.

Have a nice flight. Hope you don't get tooooo jolted back to reality by the snow in Chicago! Vegas is nice. I was glad we were leaving Chicago yesterday, before the snow!

Safe flight home and thanks so much for 'sharing' your trip.

'As you descend into the snow, remember those of us who never ascended.

Ahhhh... perfect.

Snow......what's that like lol

Great reporting, thanks for taking us along!

Aloha!

Thanks, everyone, and good morning from the Thai lounge at BKK. We have fallen a bit behind and have two more days to write up (hopefully today's travels will be smooth and won't warrant a third). I'll try to write those during the flight to Tokyo and post from there--not sure any of our upgrades will clear, so I'll definitely need something to occupy myself. And hopefully the snow will be out of Chicago by the time we get there. We have to drive DD back to Madison on Sunday morning

Bad news...no upgrade from BKK to NRT. Good news...the plane was switched to a "new" 777 and it has power ports in Economy Plus. I was very productive.

Day 8: YMCA

Originally, we planned to cross the bridge early to see the procession of monks (respectfully, and from a distance of course). But on this morning, we don’t wake up until 7:30. With that, and packing and breakfast, we don’t make it out of the hotel until 10:30—giving us about four hours until we have to leave for the airport to check in for our 4:10pm flight to Bangkok.

The only thing we have on the agenda for today, other than some last walking around town, is a trip across the Mekong to the village on the other side. We’ve planned to take the public ferry but are a little concerned about the scheduling (ferries leave when they fill up with passengers—so what happens if we’re left waiting for a while on the other side, with a plane to catch…?). A boatman approaches us and offers to take us over and wait for an hour while we walk around. His price is a little high, but mr_go bargains for a bit to a level we’re satisfied with, and off we go.

From a “dock” (read: muddy beach) on the other side, we scale the bank and find the village of Muang Chomphet, which stretches along the river for about a kilometer. We walk west for a bit, passing homes, a school, and a gathering that seemed to involve the periodic delivery of groceries. There are very few tourists over here, and we definitely draw some glances (it is not a tourist free area, though; above the main ferry dock we see a bike rental shop).

There are several wats along the road, and we backtrack to the other end of the road to Wat Longkhun, which is extraordinarily quiet. Even the ticket seller is missing from the entrance. Along the way several school children ask us for pens (for school?).

Our boatman picks us up promptly after an hour, and we wander in Luang Prabang for just a bit more. We have a little more than an hour and some Lao kip to kill, so we take a shady seat at a riverside bar/restaurant on the Nam Khan and order a small appetizer platter and some drinks. The food is average. The drinks are, well, Beer Lao and Coke. The view is the real attraction here. We spend time trying to figure out if the person sunbathing (topless) on the other bank, next to some small boys playing in the river, is a man or a woman (originally we think the latter, but ultimately realize we are wrong). The bar is playing lounge/easy-listening versions of dance songs from the 80s. We chuckle over this rendition of Donna Summer’s Hot Stuff and figure this is as good as it gets. No…wrong. Next up is the Village People’s YMCA. You haven’t lived until you hear the lounge version of this!

We cross the bamboo bridge one more time and navigate our way around the weekly trash collection going on at the top of the other riverbank and head back to the hotel to check out. One last order of business is printing out the Old Bangkok Inn’s map and directions (in English and Thai) for our taxi driver on arrival, as we figure this is a foolproof way of ensuring that we don’t have problems getting to the Inn (stay tuned…). Then the hotel’s van transports us approximately 10 minutes to the Luang Prabang airport—one of the smallest commercial airports to which we’ve ever been. Once you’ve checked in, there isn’t a whole lot to do, and no one can figure out the wi-fi.

Our Bangkok Airways flight is about two hours and arrives right on time. We get a sizeable meal onboard, consisting of crispy chicken, steamed rice, tuna salad, fruit and a banana/mango dessert that was actually pretty good.

We get through immigration and customs quickly, claim our bags, and head downstairs for the cab line—which is longer than the immigration line. We hand the driver the map printed a few hours before, and off he goes. Everything seems pretty smooth until we get into the area of the Inn, then he stops to look at the map and appears very puzzled. A few more starts and stops. We pass the Democracy Monument a few times. Mr_go suggests to the driver that he call the hotel. He does. First call doesn’t go through. He calls back and the conversation turns heated, with the driver yelling at someone. At one point, I’m sure I see the hotel on the right as we drive down a street. One more phone call, and we finally find it. I’ve never been so happy to be out of a taxi.

We’ll comment more on hotels in our wrap up, but our room at the Old Bangkok Inn is one of the most interesting we’ve ever had (on vacation anyway; I’ve ended up with some pretty interesting suites on past business trips). It is the Inn’s Lotus Suite, and, among other features is the outdoor shower (two of them actually). Someone has clearly put a lot of thought and attention in decorating and outfitting this room. It is lovely.

It is going on 9 pm. While we would be happy to hunker down in this little piece of paradise in the middle of bustling Bangkok (and the AC certainly feels good), we head out for a few late evening drinks and very light snacks. Bangkok Airways had fed us pretty well, and only DD is hungry...and just barely.

Day 9: Three cheers for the man carrying a baby stroller up and down the Golden Mount…and a regrettable ending

We sit down to a very nice breakfast at the Inn. The fruit, in particular, is delicious and abundant—in both quantity and variety. There are also some of those delicious little warm coconut “cakes,” kind of like the ones Tong picked up for us at the railroad market a few years ago.

We have good intentions of getting out fairly early, but even so it is past 9:30 by the time we make it out the door in the direction of the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew. Apparently I was wrong earlier when I said the temps/humidity weren’t too extreme. It is downright steamy (at least for those of us who are getting used to winter). We are sweating profusely by the time we get to the Grand Palace about 25 minutes later. Our walk, by the way, takes us by Wat Ratchnatdaram, an amulet market and a number of stores selling large, shrink-wrapped Buddha statues.

Only one person approaches us on our way toward the palace entrance to tell us it’s closed. We laugh at him.

We can tell from the entranceway that the Grand Palace complex is teeming; there are far more people here today than during our last visit three years ago (in November). We’ve chosen this because DD has not seen it previously, and despite the crowds, we all enjoy our visit. The scale model of Angkor Wat is more interesting having just been there. And this time, we are able to walk right up to the palace, itself, and go into an armory display room. Last time, we were restricted to the walkway in front of the palace’s front grounds due to some kind of event. Nevertheless, we’ve been here over an hour, and the heat is starting to take its toll.

We decide one way to cool off a bit is to get out on the water, so we make our way past the row of tuk-tuk drivers to the pier and wait for a boat towards Tha Phra Athit, the closest pier to our hotel. The boat is so packed that we don’t feel too much cooler, but it is nice to be off our feet for a few minutes.

We make our way back to the Inn to freshen up, with a stop for beer along the way and a quick detour onto Khao San Road so that DD can see the madness and pose with the bowing Ronald McDonald statue (she’s seen her dad’s profile pic).

After a short rest, we head for the Golden Mount, which we can see from the street in front of the Inn. But crossing the streets in that area is a little confusing, and somehow we end up taking the long route there, ultimately doubling down and back to get across a klong. Part of it is an interesting walk along a street of woodworking vendors, many of whom are making doors—and one who has a selection of doors with emblems of European football teams (Liverpool, Manchester United, etc.).

As we start our climb, we pass one family of tourists (not Asian) coming down. The man is carrying a large baby stroller. We’ve been up to the top before and can’t imagine hauling that up and down.

From here we begin making our way by public transportation to dinner at Harmonique. First, we catch a klong boat—the fast one that has helmeted attendants who stand on the sides—toward the BTS. We get off the stop near the Jim Thompson House. It is almost closing time, but we make a quick stop in the very nicely air-conditioned gift shop (only to look and cool off) and then have drinks at the bar. We walk a few blocks back in the other direction to the Ratchathewi BTS station and catch a very crowded train to Saphan Taksin.

Thai is DD’s very favorite type of food, and she is looking forward to a great last meal before we head home. We’ve picked Harmonique because 1) we know how to get there and 2) we knew she’d like the atmosphere (quirky, very casual). We order up a bunch of food, including Panang curry, one of her favorites. As the food comes out, she takes a first bite of satay dipped in what we thought was peanut sauce…and begins to have an allergic reaction (she is allergic to tree nuts but not peanuts). We find out the sauce is made with cashews. She is not carrying her Benadryl or an epi-pen. This doesn’t happen often (she’s usually very diligent—but it did also happen at her senior prom last year) and her reactions are not deadly, but when it does happen she gets uncomfortable and eventually sick.

Mr_go asks our server to send the person who speaks the best English. The woman who returns immediately understands the situation and is very helpful, and she takes him out to the street to a pharmacy. He returns with an unidentified antihistamine. We know, though, that even if she had been carrying one, it wouldn’t have prevented her from feeling poorly the rest of the evening.

We finish the food as best as we can (it was good, particularly her Panang [ironically]) while she rests and drinks some water. When she feels up to it, we leave and hail a taxi. We give the driver the hotel’s card, with the address in Thai. No dice. We tell him to take us to the Democracy Monument or Wat Saket (both nearby). He says he doesn’t know either of those locations (!). What to do? As I’m about to put the card back in my purse so we can get out of the taxi, I notice the photo of the monument on the back. We point to it and say, “here.” Now he understands. He drops us in front of the McDonalds by the monument, a few blocks from the hotel, and DD proceeds to get spectacularly sick right in the street.

This is not our only trip recently that has ended with an allergic reaction; it happened at an Indian restaurant in London several years ago.

We feel bad that she’s missed her one and only Thai meal, and she feels bad that our trip is ending on this note.

As an aside, after a decent night’s sleep, she is fine—and very hungry. She was all over the breakfast buffet in the Thai lounge this morning. And, yes, she’s going to make sure she carries an epi-pen at all times now.


We are headed back to the snow in a couple of hours. We'll try to post some final thoughts, hotel reviews, etc. later in the week. Photos are going to take a while, but there will be some...

Great report! so sorry about your daughter...what a bummer to miss a THai meal. Maybe the snow will have melted????

I know all about food allergies! I feel for your daughter. I have to really watch it.

Thanks for the report. Hope the snow isn't awful for you.

great detailed report, thanks

Enjoyed your report and all of the detail.

Sorry you didn't get your upgrade...

Awesome report!So glad I found this. I knew jgg had started her Vietnam report and I stumbled upon this. I've never been to Asia - very high on my list right now and seriously considering a November trip. Ideas are all over the place right now.

How was DD's first semester? Son will not be at school second semester as he will be studying abroad in Cape Town.

Thanks for sharing.Hope the trip home was smooth.

Wloh what a final night! So how's the snow???

Thanks, everyone. We are now home. Today's travels went smoothly and more or less on time. Sadly, I was #1 on the upgrade waitlist for NRT-ORD when business class checked in full--about the fourth or fifth time that's happened to me in the last year, but it stings more on international flights.

We just finished shoveling the snow. The system has moved out and it is sunny. Looks like we got about eight inches.

DD has requested Thai food tonight, and after last night's episode we will make sure she gets her Panang curry noodles. We have a Thai restaurant in our town that we like, and DD's exchange student friend declared it to be good.

Hi fun4all4! You should go! DD has settled in well and LOVES it there. We're taking her back tomorrow She's already researching options for her study abroad next year. She's been thinking Tunisia but now says she might research SE Asia.

I'm ready for a nap, but I know it would be best not to do that. Really hoping the Bulls and Blackhawks games tonight are entertaining enough to keep us up...

CONCLUSION

We usually like to start our trip reports with a summary of “top 10” sites, activities and memories from the just-completed trip… but since this TR has been done on-the-fly (aka: blog-style), we’ve had to save the summaries for last.

In no particular order, here are some of our top experiences:

* Our visit to Ponheary Ly’s Knar school. The children simply stole our hearts, and the experience touched us all in a very real and lasting way.

* The temples of Angkor… all of them, but especially Angkor Thom and Angkor Wat. It is absolutely mind-blowing to see what the ancient Khmer culture could build 1000 years ago. With hand-tools. In the jungle. We have simply never seen anything like this before.

* The food. Oh my, the food. Especially Cambodian i>amok, Lao laap, and Thai curries. All accompanied by tall bottles of Angkor beer, Beer Lao and Beer Chang, of course.

* Our all-too-brief return to “The Pen” in Bangkok. Many places try to deliver this kind of service, and most fail in some way. These guys do it every day and make it look easy. (But honorable mention to all of our other accommodations — they may not all have been as luxurious, but they were equally as welcoming. We felt truly at home everywhere we stayed.)

* The refreshingly chill vibe and wonderful café/restaurant/bar scene in Luang Prabang. What a beautiful place to be, and such a welcoming character of the people there!

* Our visits to smaller villages in Cambodia and Laos. It’s one thing to understand that poverty exists in this world; we all know that, it’s no revelation. But when you see it this close, and this personally, it’s different. When you have to turn away a child who is begging for a pen – not money, but just a damn pen -- it breaks your heart.

* Being shuttled everywhere by Vesna, the friendliest tuk-tuk driver on earth. There are certainly faster and more comfortable ways to get around Siem Reap… but we don’t recommend them.

* The smiles. We met some of the warmest, friendliest people on earth on this trip. Bless them all.

* The cool tote bag that DD bought in a funky store in Siem Reap. It is inscribed with a memorable motto: “The day is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will set off a revolution.”

* The breathtakingly rugged and green topography of Laos, as observed from the air.

* Getting out on the Chao Phraya in Bangkok. I don’t think we could ever tire of watching the river life there.

* And finally... the chance to share the experience as a family and spend a lot of quality time with our college girl. We drove her back to Madison less than 24 hours ago, and I miss her already!

Ms_go will return to the thread with her usual wrap-up of practical & logistical matters sometime soon... as soon as her work schedule permits. But until then, thank you all very much for your kind words and for following our trip report this far. And what a trip it's been!

Our next stop... not certain at this point, but probably Croatia & Slovenia.

10/10 on your trip report Ms_go. Sterling effort.

travel on...

I am so going to miss checking in each day to catch up on your adventures! Sure has added to our excitement for our march trip. Can't thank you enough. We loved Croatia & Slovenia, good luck with your planning, which is half the fun.

Well done indeed.

Wonderful TR. u all need to check out Machu Pichu and the Scared Valley. I think u'd really like it.

Thanks again to all. It was all a bit of a blur, so I'm glad we posted our thoughts while they were still fresh. Ms_go did most of the work... I'll take the blame for any misspellings, eccentric diction and grammar atrocities that may have crept in.

Bob, I know you're hankering for pix... and I urge patience. Ms_go and I both returned to work-project messes that need fixing, so photo editing and posting may have to wait for a couple more days.

Good news: we now have a couple of photo albums from this trip up and running...

Bangkok pix
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p549348236

Siem Reap, Knar School & Fishing Village pix
http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p555555526

The bad news: We still have a ton of photos to sort through, including all of the Angkor temples and Laos. Please stay tuned!

Great report and photos!

OK, slowly but surely we are cobbling together our photo albums from this trip. We're saving the Angkor temples for last, but in the meantime... here's our look at Luang Prabang:

http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/p691536055

Fair warning: it's over 100 shots. Sorry.

Super pics!! Thanks for sharing.

Wonderful pictures. What camera do you use?

Meant to add, fantastic trip report, makes me want to go back to all those places. As Dogster said "sterling effort"

Great photos! Brings back memories of just last month

Thanks! Photos are a mix from a Canon DSLR, a Canon Powershot elph 500 (which had to be returned when we got home due to a problem with the zoom), and even a few from our iPhones.

yestravel, are you still on your trip? I haven't had much time to spend here lately, so I'm not doing a very good job of keeping up.

Yep, we sure are. We're in Hoi An and leave for Hue Wednesday. Be flying thru your part of the world end of next week.

Well, it's only taken six weeks, but we've finally been through our photos of the temples in Cambodia and have posted a few galleries:

http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/f87118812

Each of the 10 temples we visited was unique in some way. That number sounds like a lot, but we definitely didn't get "templed out"--we could have kept going but, alas, ran out of time.

Even with four mornings there, we did not get to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat. Two of the mornings were cloudy (one with some rain), and the other two...we were just too tired (recovering from overnight flights on two consecutive nights). Kind of sad about that, but that means we'll just have to go back sometime.

I'll probably keep tinkering with the photos for awhile, especially if I can ever get to the photos DD has on her iPhone (she took some great photos).

As a side note, we had a few guidebooks (including a smaller one we carried with us on site) but used Dawn Rooney's fabulous book for our pre-trip research. Thanks, Kathie, for the recommendation!

Wonderful photos!
PS -- we are finally home.

yestravel - time to start your mega trip report!

Welcome home, yestravel. Hope it was wonderful!! Glad we got to meet up in BKK.

U mean the epic novel, Hanuman??? Hopefully in a couple weeks. BTW, I think we rated Baan Benjarong in Pai as our #1 meal!
simpson, yes, nice to meet u & get the BKK overview & nice meeting u all too, the Go's.