Hi all. I am planning a trip to Ankor Wat with my boyfriend and am looking for suggestions... Any information you have would be greatly appreciated.
Specifically...
1. A good hotel to stay in the area.
2. Suggestions for gay bars, saunas, restaurants or other businesses.
3. Best airline deals - I think we fly directly into Siem Reap, right?
4. Is a visa needed for USA citizens or Thai citizens?
Any other tidbits or suggestions for tourist destinations would be appreciated. I plan on staying about 3 nights.
1. A good hotel to stay in the area.
I'd heard good things about the locale, staff and comfort of the Central Boutique Hotel so I booked there and had a fine stay. Easy walking distance to "Club Street", a good variety of restaurants, the night market, etc. Nice pool area and a good (albeit small) breakfast buffet. 2. Suggestions for gay bars, saunas, restaurants or other businesses.
Can't help you with the gay life there. I saw a couple of places close to the CBH, but I wasn't there for those. 3. Best airline deals - I think we fly directly into Siem Reap, right?
Check the rates. It used to be that Bangkok Air had a choke hold on flights in and out of Siem Reap, and charged accordingly. I flew into Phnom Phen on Air Asia for far less, but my schedule demanded my return from SR, and it cost me. 4. Is a visa needed for USA citizens or Thai citizens?
I believe US citizens need a visa, but it can be applied for online and printed at home. Thai citizens did not need one last year. I'm sure someone will correct this if it has changed.
If your time allows, I'd urge you to spend at least four days there, with an additional one or two in Phnom Phen. If your friend speaks some English it'd help. My friend was OK with the guide's English, but he missed some of the background stories because of his lack of fluency (and the guide's accent).
Although you have to be up at an ungodly hour, Angkor Wat itself IS worth seeing at dawn. A good guide can find you a decent vantage point in the pitch black you'll arrive in to get photos of the sun rising behind it. Be prepared for busloads of cattle being herded around the extensive grounds. My guy knew which places to go to avoid them and would check his watch every so often, making comments like "the Koreans will be here soon, let's move ahead to a quieter spot", both at Angkor Wat and other sites. Our days were planned in a different order than the tour groups to avoid some of the crowds.
I guess it kind of depends if you like to see a few things along the way.
Travel overland can work, as since they have improved the road it can be less than 2 hours from the Thai Aranya Prathet border by taxi.
There's easily enough to see out of the window to keep you amused for the Cambodian leg of the journey.
Once you have got to Siem Reap by land or air, it's always possible to take a bus down to Phnom Penh & fly out by Air Asia after a few days. I would recommend that, unless you have a limited period of time available for travel.
Visa. If you have a printer, go for the e-visa and print out AT LEAST 2 copies. Saves wasting a page in your passport & queuing @ the airport.
Incidentally, if you chose to ARRIVE at Phnom Penh, their baggage handling was very fast, so it can be worth paying the tiny sum to Air Asia for a front row seat on the plane to get both the leg room AND be first off the plane.
Siem Reap hotels, well it depends on your budget. On both previous visits, I stayed at Ei8ht Rooms, which is stylish budget accommodation with friendly service. Rather noisy though. On a future visit, I would probably consider spending a little more.
Finally, go for an absolute minimum of 4 nights, so 3 days in Siem Reap. This place is something special.
I stayed at the Golden Banana Hotel and enjoyed it. The rooms are all split level - bedroom and bathroom (plus a balcony overlooking the swimming pool) upstairs, and a lounge area downstairs. It's down a quiet side street, about 50 yards down the road that leads past Wat Damnak. Although it's on the opposite side of the river to central Siem Reap, it's within about 10 minutes walk of Old Market Bridge, Pub Street and The Alley (the alley runs parallel to Pub Street and has a wide selection of restaurants). http://goldenbanana.info/nomobi/js/home/
The only gay bar when I visited was Linga, which is at the corner of one end of The Alley. It's a lounge bar and pick up place for freelancers. There's no cabaret, or anything like that. It also has a massage place, on the opposite side of the street. There are other places now, though - I'd suggest Cambodia Out as a resource: http://www.cambodiaout.com/cambodia/sie ... ink-party/
When are you going? On 27th-29th November this year is Bon Om Tuk - a boat racing festival in Phnom Penh. It's a huge event, the city is teeming with people and it's well worth a visit, if you decide to add in a day or two in PP.
If your main purpose is to see the Ankor Wat complex I've been and each stone is numbered after the first 500 stones and the tree that grows out of a stone, it may lose its novelty, the whole tour can be done in a few hours.
The Golden Banana is down a dirt road a bit of a walk from the town center. Linga is the only gay bar at 11 PM there might be 4 people there. Two days is more than enough time. There is a boat that takes about 4 hours to Phenom Phen. Here you'll find 2 gay bars but only one is busy "Blue Chille" which is full most evening and is fun.
Some great restaurants, every place here likes dollars, no worry unless your change is very small you'll get dollars back. I would go back to Phenom Phen but certainly not Siem Reap.
I also recommend the Golden Banana, but there new section the Golden Banana Resort & Spa. It is about 2 years old. Dirk the owner and his staff are great. They have a great salt water pool & bar. The GB will pick you up at the airport and provide you wiith transportation everyday for the temple at no higher cost than outside. Everything can be put on your bill and credit cards are accepted. I recommend you visit "Cambodia Out" www.cambodiaout.com , this site is run by our good friend Jim from Bangkok they offer a 10% discount when making reservations. Get a 3 day pass for the temples and see everything.
Cambodia has a e-visa application done on line, cost is $25 for 30 days, you apply and get it back by email, print 2 copies and they take 1 and staple 1 in your passport. No waiting in line for a visa on arrival ($20) which takes a full passport page. Thais do not need a visa.
From BKK your only flying option direct to REP is Bangkok Airways. It is not cheap.
I agree that Phnom Penh is worth a visit.
There are some outlying temples that are a ways away from Siem Reap which are much less visited and less restored like Beng Mealea. You can also visit Phnom Kulen on the same day trip. It's a nice waterfall on top of the mountain. There are nice picnic pavillions there as well. You basically tell the ladies what you want and they find you and deliver it. We had a roasted chicken and some other things. You get a bunch of limes (which are locally grown) and some salt and pepper that you mix all together and dip the chicken in. It was really good.
Grimmy wrote:" ... I am planning a trip to Ankor Wat with my boyfriend and am looking for suggestions... Any information you have would be greatly appreciated."
Can't recommend ~ nor denigrate ~ anything about this place as we have not stayed there. The link has been hanging around my Bookmarks ('Hotels') list for awhile now, unused. Why don't you try it and let us know.
Cheers ... ( and just one more reason why I love living in Thailand )
Undaunted wrote:the whole tour can be done in a few hours.
If your main purpose of travelling to Siem Reap is to find a boy for the night you will be disappointed. Undaunted is correct, there is very little in the way of a gay scene although along the river at night can be cruisy. If it is sex you are looking for why leave Thailand?
I have flown to Siem Reap 3 times and each time gone to Angkor Wat because it is awesome. It is important that you hire a guide and have him take you around the Wat. Each room has a story, every wall has a story. The engraving is incredible. This place was built almost 900 years ago. Think about what was involved to build it. This is truly an amazing display of architecture.
500+ stones and a tree that grows out of a stone? If that is all you saw, I wouldn't blame you for not wanting to go back, it looks to me like you never got off the tour bus.
Grimmy, Your boyfriend will be blown away by it. Mine was.
Grimmy
