3 days in Siem Reap
In Cambodia, in the city of Siem Reap, you have to go through the border town of Poi Pet, and it is located approximately at the same distance from Bangkok, Pattaya and Koh Chang. Therefore, travel agencies offer tours from them at the same price.
On the beach of Kai Bay about. Koh Chang in different travel agencies tour 3 days / 2 n (it makes no sense to go on a 2 day / 1n tour - you won’t see anything) with accommodation in a 4 * hotel for 9.2 thousand baht / person, + services of a Russian-speaking guide - 1000 baht / people per day. In addition, you have to pay for a re-entry permit Thai visa 1200 baht / person. Hotel guide Maxim Coral travel offered the same trip for 12.7 thousand baht + re-entry permit visa.
The problem is that it takes about 9 hours to get to Siem Reap and all other travel agencies leave after breakfast at the hotel at 7-30, and Coral travel at 5-15, i. е. on the first ferry at 6-00 from Koh Chang and therefore gets to the hotel in Siem Reap around 15-00. Those. Coral travel has an evening program on day 1 of the tour. In addition, Coral travel, unlike the vaunted Satang company, provides full board during the trip (6 meals a day) and VIP border crossing.
We went with Coral travel. I was surprised by the large number (more than 8) of checkpoints at the entrance to the Cambodian-Thai border. At the border in Poi Pet we were met by a man who led us to obtain a re-entry permit (we paid 1200 baht / person, take 2 photos with you), transferred us through the Cambodian border (Cambodia visa - $ 30 / person, which he paid myself). As a result, we crossed the border in 15 minutes. to 12-00. He brought us to the bus where there was a very good guide Nelly, who spoke good Russian and told a lot about Cambodia.
We were at the Princess Anhor Hotel at 2:45 pm. We were given room 418 with windows to the south and to a very busy street number 6 - the room was unrealistically noisy. It turned out that in this hotel almost all the rooms face street number 6. Only numbers X02, X04, X06, X08, X10, X12, X14 and X16 go to the opposite side. But in room 412 there was an occasional jackhammer noise, and in the end we stayed in corner room 302. The first night it was quiet there, the second rumbled the air conditioner of the next room. The sheet was 60 cm shorter than the mattress. In addition, the Princess Anhor hotel turned out to be vegetarian and there were mosquitoes in the restaurant and at the reception. The sconce in the room was turned off only by unscrewing the light bulb. There was no hot water, the drain in the sink was clogged. Avoid staying at this hotel.
Next, on the first day of the program: Royal Square, Genocide Museum, National Cultural Park, Apsara show with dinner. At 18-30 we came for dinner, and it turned out that there was no table closer than the 12th row from the stage (the guide did not book a seat in advance) and we saw the Apsara show from afar. Show from 19-00 and lasted 45 minutes. Then the driver took us to Pab street where we wandered among the crowds of tourists and bought local goods.
The peculiarity of Cambodia is that US dollars are freely circulating in it as the main currency and cheap, locally produced, coffee and alcohol. So take a lot of small dollar bills with you. Prices: 0.5 kg of coffee - $ 2; cane sugar in a beautiful package in 3 bags (0.2 kg) - $ 2.9; local rum (0.7l, 35°) – $2.5; local whiskey "Gold label 41" (0.7l, 41°) – $4
Cambodia has no tax zone and is littered with cheap "French" and "English" spirits. We did not dare to buy.
On the second day at 5-30 we left the hotel and at 6-00 we met the sunrise over Angkor Wat (entrance $ 20 per person, they give out a card with a photo, the guide paid). The sun rose into the clouds. Our guide was Lin Keo - a very good guide who knows Russian well.
Entrance to the 3rd tier of Angkor Wat is only from 7-45, so we are about 20 min. stood in line and during this time ate food from the lunch boxes received at the hotel.
At 9-00 we were already in front of the entrance to the Bayon temple. We examined the terraces of elephants and the leper king. At 10-30 we were at the Ta keo temple (with very steep steps) and we didn’t go further than its 3 levels. It is very hot in Siem Reap after 9-00, so take plenty of water with you and be prepared for sweat to get wet through your clothes.
At 11-00 we were at the temple of Ta Prohm (the film "Lara Croft... " with A. Jolie was filmed there). It wins in that the bas-reliefs are better preserved in it and it is in the shade of tall trees.
At 12-20 we were brought for lunch (buffet, several cuisine options). In Cambodia, a siesta is accepted, which we had until 15-30, when we went to watch the floating village and the sunset on Tonle Sap lake.
On the way, on his own initiative, Lin made a stop at a lotus plantation and near a rice field. It was interesting - thanks to him for that. To the floating village and the 2-storey floating restaurant, the three of us sailed on a fairly large boat for about 30 minutes. after sunset, we were taken to the hotel, where there was dinner with the waiters according to the menu (5 dishes) pre-ordered by the guide.
I would like to note that the service in Cambodia was at a high level - all our requests were immediately fulfilled. If you have any questions, write to sk_lora@ukr. net and I will answer.
On the third day, we left the hotel at 9-30, because I had to catch the last ferry to Koh Chang. If you are coming from Bangkok or Pattaya, there is no such problem and on the third day there will be an excursion program, such as a visit to the day market, etc.
This time the border was passed much longer - at first they stood on Cambodian for about 20 minutes, then on Thai for 50 minutes. The attendant was the same. He checked that we filled out the Thai entry cards correctly, but did not speed up the border crossing. We dined that day at our own expense. There are 216 km from the border to the ferry and we drove them in 3 hours 10 minutes. to 16-45. We were lucky, in half an hour our Toyota was the last to board the ferry and at 18-30 we were at the hotel.