angkor wat

[incognito]

imm off to cambodiavery oon, thinking about visiting the "wats sorry for any incorrect spelling, barbarian that i am.

anyhoo im travllin on my pat malone, so a hinkingabou going on a commercial tour of the temples. Im figuring i will meet people (please oh please let it be horny german backpacker nang addicts), as well as providing some modocum ofsaety (being in a goup). purpose of this post is, i guess, to ask if anyone has done a tour of the wats and could provide name of tour company, etc etc

also if anyone has been t cambo and can tel me some fun stuff to do, not really intersted in shooting cows with bazookas, visiting tuol seng , killing fieds etc mre FUN and RELAXING suff. aso keen to eat lots of elicious food so if anyone could recommend restaurants etc would be spremely bonzer.

anyhoo, mny thanks in advance, eh?

[etherealdrifter]

my man in Kampuchea says: drink pretty pretty

mmmmmmmmmm

http://www.i-escape.com/fcc-angkor/reviews

plus that dude semthpod says his location is cambodia......he could possibly help you in your search .............you pretty, flirtatious,'available' sexy sexual tension demigod

[incognito]

Yah I'm in contact with Seth. Planning on hangin out. I wish you had made your feelings known at ega eth. Would have happily have tapped your rainbow eyed ass.

[etherealdrifter]

nah man, the line in front of me is too long...................i'm looking at you marcel you well dressed 1879 kinda guy.

[incognito]

He's old news now.

[etherealdrifter]

done his dash? spent his load? rear wheels are fully blown? the tank is empty? headlights have gone dark? the pony has well and truly bolted? short changed? depleted uranium core?

...................................or did he just get sick of you ringing and texting him all day everyday with preposterous pictures of your yoga positions on the beach in front of the full moon in the background

[incognito]

All of the above and worse..

[Psylo]

a 'commercial tour' would be a complete waste of money. Get to know a tuk-tuk guy in Siem Reap, there are many students who love to practice their English, and they know all the Temples, will wait for you for as long or as little time it takes. You will spend hours at the big one. They all know the history and its a local guy for the day can work out to be your driver for your whole stay. Also an opportunity to see some of the real Cambodia, if you hit it off you might get to stay at his family's home.

If you are travelling from PP to SR, I highly recommend you take the ferry on Tonle Sap, its a beaut experience (and the 'wharf') at the SR end is an eye-opener.

[Psylo]

and while you might not like the idea, a visit to S-21 is worth it, as a confronting slice of the country's history. The so called "Killing Fields" are a bore, since they removed all the bones sticking out of the ground.

[incognito]

Im a little scared of tuk tuks. I need to grow some nads fast before I head in a week. Going for three weeks and have nothing planned or prepared. May lord jesus, buddha and shiva help me.( and not let me meet some heinous fate. Sethomopod if ur reading pm me bro.

Edited April 6, 2012 by incognito

[Psylo]

bah, pussy. You will take away more experiences if you remove yourself from the jet-set safety of having your hand held. Cambodia's wild-west underbelly, and the people who exist in this realm, will put some excitement into the trip. In saying that though, I was kidnapped in Phnom Penh for half the night.

Drugs, guns, beer & hookers. That's all you need to focus on.

[incognito]

Can I pass on the last 3? At this stage of my life in not down on being kidnapped nor killed, and certainly not arrested. U have inspired me to take out travelers insurance.

From what I read phnom penh is rich in culinary delights. Tex mex, French , Italian and then some. I plan on just kicking back for the first week at my hotel and suck it all in and get acclimatized before i begin to think off something to do. Been working 70hr weeks the last 6months first Port of call is eating, then sleeping. I hear the live music is above average ?

Edited April 6, 2012 by incognito

[Psylo]

There are also many western-catering eateries in SR, if that's what you are seeking. Doesn't really make sense for the way I like to experience travel, but to each their own. I probably can't offer you any tips on travelling, as we seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum, you with the Five-Star expectations, and Psylo collapsing in some $5 a night drug den where tourists fear to tread.

I did often made exceptions to living off local food when there was Happy Pizza available.

Anyway, PP & SR have many, many opportunities in food, lodgings & tours for the safe & sound traveller. Don't worry about it.

[Psylo]

If you will be there between the 11th & 25th May, I might even fly into PP from Indo for a few days to take you on a very special tour.

[chnt]

do it psylo, and take videos and upload it.

[Psylo]

Incognito may not want his image uploaded.... but it won't matter since the blindfold and ball-gag will conceal his identity.

[LokStok]

Incog, if ur still planning to do some volounteer stuff at New Hope at Siem Reap, Kerry & the crew there will be able to hook you up

with what you need to safely & cheaply see Angkor (they dont run tours or anything, they are just longterm plugged into local networks

& knowledge).

Psylo is right (ugh), commercial tours there are for bloated groups of Japanese & totally not the way to see Angkor. Hiring a guide/tuk driver

for the day is the go (with 2-3 other travellers makes it even more fun & cheaper).

Tuk drivers are a great resource in Cambodia, but take more care in Phnom penh as they have been known to be parts of robbery scams (1st Hand).

Kmer food is my favourite in all of Asia. Love it! Im drooling now just thinking about Amok.... The people are very proud of their culinary heritage & some of

my best eating experiences have been at simple little non-tourist aimed restuarants.

My best advice to you is dont hang at the top end of town, go where the backpackers & travellers are. Thats where the juice is to be found.

[TheExplorer]

When I went to Siem Reap I stayed in Happy Guesthouse after getting dropped off there by a Tuk-Tuk (friend of the owner sorta thing). This was about a year ago and I loved it there. It was about $7 for a double room with air-con from memory (although I just looked at tripadvisor and since then they have gotten a lot of good reviews so it may have gone up). It was clean, the staff were friendly, and they had a lively little courtyard with food and drinks. We also booked our tuk-tuk for the temples with them, and luckily we ended up with this cool young guy who was friendly, took us out partying, hooked up my friend, and was good at his job at the same time. I'm not sure how to spell his name, but it was pronounced Ay-larn, so if you ask at the guesthouse he may still be driving.

As for drivers, you can get a taxi if you really want but they will cost more. We paid our tuk-tuk dude $15 per day for the close temple sites, and $45 one day to go see the distant complexes and sites (sunrise to sundown pretty much)*. I would recommend only doing 2-3 days to see the majority of the sites around there. Unless you really love history or temples, you will be a bit over it after more than that.

To sum up the rest:

- Cambodians are some of the friendliest people you will ever meet and if you stick to the tourist trail you will have no problems.

- When you say you don't want a happy pizza it may still come happy. My friend found that out as he walking through customs. Funny for me though...

- Stick to local food where possible, the western food is usually terrible.I can't remember specific places that I ate at, but most of the places in Siem Reap are on Pub Street.

- 1 week in Siem Reap and 1 week in Phnom Penh is more than enough, so if you have time you could head down to Sihanoukville which is a pretty cool beachside town. It's kind of touristy, and a little bit more expensive, but it's good if you want to spend a bit of time on the beach. There are also usually kids selling fireworks, but be careful as they are cheap and often explode on the spot, haha.

- The Killing Fields (PP), S-21 (PP) and the Landmine Museum (SR) are good to see, even if you don't like history. For me it really made me admire the strength of the people there. Which leads me onto the next point...

- I'm not going to sugarcoat it, you will see some depressing shit in Cambodia. You will see many people missing bodyparts and there are quite a few beggars around (it's up to you who you give money to, everyone has a different opinion). The young driver I mentioned earlier lost his Dad to a landmine. My driver in Phnom Penh, a friend of the guy in Siem Reap, lost both of his parents to the Khmer Rouge as they were considered intellectuals. It's tough, but the people are strong and you will see that.

- If you are land crossing into Cambodia there are a lot of dodgy things to watch out for. Let me know if you are and I'll give you a heads up.

- If I remember more I'll let you know. And if you have any other questions hit me up.

* It's kind of expected to offer your driver dinner and drinks as well, but not completely necessary if you don't want to. Although it did pay off for us, as he took us to this cool Khmer BBQ buffet place which we would have never found otherwise. Another night he took us to the local pool hall where we had a great night drinking and playing pool with the locals.

Edited April 6, 2012 by TheExplorer

[chnt]

this thread is making me crave some phom penn rice noodle soup or something, damn you good friday.

[Psylo]

[sethomopod]

Pm'ed oh nad-less one..

[sethomopod]

Drugs, guns, beer & hookers. That's all you need to focus on.

 

Can I pass on the last 3?

 

Well that just blew my plans for you out the window, I was gonna take you to a place where we get high, and shoot beer cans off hookers heads

[nabraxas]

you should spend some time at the beach in Sihanoukville (book ahead hostels can get full quickly), especially if you want to meet sexy backpackers.

The beach scene is pretty amazing & can be abit full on, escape the crowds by hiring a bicycle & riding to Otres beach.

Otherwise everything Psylo said in his first post is spot on.

[botanika]

As psylo said you don't need a tour - just rent a bike or befriend a local tuk tuk. Try visit sihanoukville, as nabraxas mentioned, rent a moped and drive up the coast - it's near deserted.

Can find shrooms at ankor ;)

Edited April 9, 2012 by botanika

[incognito]

I'm planning on taking some prints, Seth we really need to organism how I'm gonna contact u once I'm there , heaps keen to cum visit

Edit- goodman dead Kennedy's song stuck in my head

Have just made a one week reservation at the walkabout hotel on pub street in phnom penh. Owned by Aussies who have a lot of great local advise re tours etc. that's all the plan I have.

Anyways Ivw taken out life insurance so yeah leave the rest to fate just hope there's a whole heap of fun and yummy food on the adventure.

Edited April 9, 2012 by incognito