Indochina 2012

Indochina 2012

A Little Travel Diary

Travellers: 2 brothers Enrico&Roberto Guala

Do-it-yourself trip from 03 January 2012 to 02 February 2012 Cost: 532€ flight Milan/Bangkok + about 800€ all inclusive (food, accommodation, transfers etc..); currency exchanges: 1€?40Baht (Thailand) 1€? 5350 Riel (Cambodia) 1€? 27.000 Dong (Vietnam) 1€? 1.38 $ US

03.01.2012

Departure from Milan with the airline GulfAir at 15.20 – stopover of about 2.30h in Bahrain

04.01.2012

Arrival in Bangkok at 12.20 (6h ahead of Italy) By train and Skytrain (very convenient to reach the centre of BGK by public transport!) we reach the Manohra hotel that I had booked by email from Italy (cost 15$ per room per night, breakfast excluded).

05.01.2012

Bangkok (Thailand) – Siem Reap (Cambodia)

06.00 Departure overland for the Cambodian border – Aranya Prathet border post (the cheapest options are the train, buses and shared taxis departing from Victory Monument. Arrival at the border in about 4h; we relied for the Visa on the agencies on site (it is the fastest system and for a cost of 200Baht they take care of everything..recommended). The cost of the visa is 1400Baht (the exchange rate is 1€?40Baht) and the cost of the shared taxi as far as Siem Reap is 600Baht. Once customs formalities are cleared in about 1h, the shared taxi takes us to Siem Reap, where we arrive at 13.00.

The Guest House chosen through the inseparable Lonely Planet guide is the PROHMROTH Guest House; it will turn out to be an excellent choice..extremely kind staff, spacious and spotless rooms, hot water, air conditioning..the cost is 13$ per night per room (breakfast is not included and costs 1.5$ each..good and plentiful). By 16.00 we are already nice and warm and we immediately rent bicycles (cost 1$ per day) to go to the ticket office for the temples of Angkor Wat (about 10Km) where we will buy the 3-day ticket (cost 40$)..I advise you to go straight away in the afternoon to buy the ticket because in the morning there is a long queue! The Lonely Planet says to bring a passport photo..that's not necessary because they will take your photo with a webcam and it will be printed directly on the ticket.

From 17.00 access to the archaeological area of Angkor Wat is free and open..we took advantage of it to visit the first complex..let me remind you that the archaeological area covers a surface of more than 26 square km. In the evening around the beautiful Siem Reap..For massages (which are a must after an intense day) I recommend the excellent and reliable Island Massage (cost 8$ 1h full body). We ate on the street in a beautiful street full of little tables and open-air kitchens…(cost 5$ for two).

06.01.2012

Siem Reap

The adventure and the discovery of the fantastic temples of Angkor Wat begins..I won't go on at length here but I assure you they are incredible..breathtaking. An intense day visiting them..back in the late afternoon in Siem Reap… On my blog Life's a Journey I will put the description of the various archaeological complexes (

07.01.2012

Siem Reap

A day dedicated to discovering the Temples of Angkor Wat

08.01.2012

Siem Reap – Battambang

This morning at 10.30 we set off by bus for Battambang (bus cost 6$ each), arrival in Battambang at 14.00; from the bus stop a tuktuk took 1 of us to the Royal Hotel (again recommended by the LP) – cost per night 15$ for two. Spacious, clean rooms and excellent staff able to help you organise excursions, rent bikes, motorbikes etc..In general this was true for all the GHs where we stayed..they can all book and help you organise transfers, excursions, rent bikes, motorbikes etc..the difference you pay by having them get you e.g.

a bus ticket is about 1$ more than buying it from the company; a reasonable price given that you save time! Right after checking in we rented the bikes (1$ each) and had a nice ride around the city and surroundings; we also went in search of the Emergency hospital..needless to say that once there you feel proud to be Italian! There isn't much going on in the evening in Battambang; to eat we chose a nice place with a terrace.. the journey continues on