Day 15: Last Day
We woke up late after yesterday's jam-packed schedule, around 10am, and took our time getting ready.  We took inventory and decided on what items should be left behind.

On aside, I noticed on the TV (as in Bangkok also) you get a number of local as well as international channels like BBC, CNN, etc.  But the only Canadian content we ever saw was Just For Laughs Gags.  It is Canada's major contribution to world television entertainment.

Today we weren't quite sure where to start, but it looked very warm (and this would be our last day of 30-degree weather so we decided to check our the Botanical Park and National Orchid Gardens.

First though, we stopped by our local Hawkers market to enjoy a freshly made fruit juice (Apple-Kiwi this time).  We also had some Asian fare - dumpling soup and curry bun - a delicious soft pastry with a chicken curry filling.  It was only a dollar.

I had to admit, though the hawker markets were great, what I really wanted was a bowl of Mueslix cereal.  Something clean and non-greasy.

The Botanical park was very accessible by train and huge and manicured (but free entry), similar to Queen Elizabeth Park, but perhaps double the size, with the station at the north end.

There were a number of interesting plants, bamboo thickets, tropical fruit trees (bananas), and several large ponds with fish, turtles and swans.

Simmi very nuch enjoyed the National Orchid Garden, which was very large (took well over an hour to walk through) and had every type of Orchid imaginable, including those named after famous people like Princess Diana and even our very own Jean Chretien!  Although I do admit Chretien got the least impressive looking orchid I'd ever seen, small and not even red (it was mustard yellow).  There were also some very rare ones (apparently) which we took a number of pictures of, as well as a small museum.


We then hopped aboard a double-decker bus and got seats right on the front at the top level.  I have to admit it was fun looking down and people watching as the bus drove us down Orchard Road.

We stopped off in the Muslim quarter, which had a number of shops in a neighborhood with a large, famous mosque at its centre.  We did not bother to go in as we opted to sit for lunch at a busy Biryani and Murtabak restaurant.  We ordered chicken biryani and mutton murtabak, a kind of meat prata with mutton, onions, spices and egg.  As usual, it was too much good food for cheap.  Most of the Muslims here are Malays but we did see a number of Indians as well.

Finally we made our way back around 6pm to relax for about an hour as we had done a lot of walking.  We freshened up and then went to Harbourfront, a waterfront area near Sentosa Resort Island which has a number of rides and includes Universal Studios Singapore.

We walked around the boardwalk here and took some pictures of the nive night scenery and lights.  This area was also next to Vivo City, a large mall area mixed with residential use.  It was a very well designed building.   One of the things I have noticed about both Bangkok and (moreso) Singapore is the beautiful architecture you see on almost all the major  modern buildings and hotels.  They really have a flair for style - even the train stations and the airport are well designed.


We then took transit to the Old Colonial Quarter which is now next to the Financial district, and is tucked along the Singapore river just north of  Marina Bay, but south of Clarke Quay.

This area is quite well preserved with City Hall, Museums, Cavendish bridge (the oldest bridge in Singapore and only open to foot traffic), the statue of Stamford Raffles, founder of modern Singapore in the 1800s, and of course the famous landmark Raffles Hotel - opened in 1899 and home of the Singapore Sling.  We went to the Long Bar (the original) and it was large, old, saloon type pub with dark wood tables and seats,  and a large staircase in the middle leading to the upper level where the band was playing.

Simmi ordered a Singapore Sling (only $26 here) and I got a Whisky Sour.   Sure it was a rip-off at $23 but it was honestly delicious and one of the better cocktails I'd ever had.

We savoured our drinks and munched on peanuts -there are heaps of them in large square wooden bowls on every table and the floor is covered in shells everywhere.  It's a nice touch and adds to the Colonial feel.

We also noticed the Tamil bartenders furiously making Singapore Slings for a large group of Japanese tourists, and the interesting fans that waved back and forth (rather than the usual circular ones).   All in all we decided this was a great way to cap off the trip.

The restaurant was closed (it would have been overkill anyway) so we went to an Italian bistro that was open late and enjoyed some ecxellent beer and pizza for our last vacation meal.

We got back to the hotel around midnight and packed for our trip home.  We'd honestly had an amazing time but were getting travel weary and looking forward to the comforts of home, home cooking, and of course family.

Things were uneventful at Changi International Airport (Singapore) and we boarded around 5am.

As I write this now, we had landed in Seattle (via Tokyo) and after some 16 hours in the air, it is still only 8am on the 27th.  We had been flying back in time.  We are at Sea-Tac, bleary-eyed and cold, but looking forward to home in chilly Vancouver.

Christmas Day parade on Orchard Road

Marina Bay 

Day 14:  Touristing in Singapore on Christmas Day
Singapore's Marina Bay is famous, so we started there.  We got off at the Marina Bay station (again, the MRT is ubiquitous and efficient) and walked through the manicured park by the bay.

We had read about the Supertrees, 300 foot tall man-made structures that are covered with plants (Bromelias), towering above the park.  There is a walkway among them, and we purchased some tickets (S$5 each) and took many photos as we walked on the suspended metal bridge between two of the larger Supertrees.

We then bought tickets to the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest, two large conservatory bio-domes (S$28 tickets for both.  Both were vey different and unique.

Cloud Forest dome had a 50 foot waterfall inside and was cool and misty throughout, meant to mimic a high mountain atmosphere.  There were several walkways around the inside of the dome showing off different ecosystems on each of several levels).

Flower Dome had a collection of flowers and trees from around the world including an impressive display of Large African Baobabs.

After spending much of the early afternoon walking, we went to the stunning Marina Bay Sands hotel and bought tickets to the observatory deck, which had an amazinf infinity pool 600 feet above the city.  Here we had a nice view of the city and took many photos.

We then needed a break and we went down to the Mall level (there are big malls everywhere here - all of them busy no matter what time of day).

Christmas is not a big deal in Singapore, everything was open (though I'm sure it was also a holiday for many) but you did see the odd tree or hear jingles in the mall.

We shared a big burger and fries (Kraze Gourmet Burgers) - good though not what you'd expect for a gourmet burger in Vancouver - plus quite overpriced at $25 for 1 burger, garlic fried and a drink.  FYI 1 USD is worth about 1.2 Singapore dollars so that lessened the pain somewhat.

After taking a break, we left Marina Bay for Doby Ghaut Station (a huge subway/rail interchange) and traveled to famous Orchard Street - Singapore's most famous shopping district (comparable to Robson - though many times larger).  The malls in Asia are not only spread out as they are at home, but they also go up several storeys.

Orchard Road was closed to vehicles on Christmas Day, and there was a parade going on, so it was crowded with people.  And we people watched.  The parade was interesting as the floats did not move - they were stationary and the crowd meandered through it.

It was actually a rather lame parade, and after wandering down the street and checking out some clothing stores, we headed off to Clark Quay, a popular clubbing/lounge and restaurant district near downtown and on the Singapore River.  Here we found a restaurant with an open table - a Tapas bar, and we enjoyed an overpriced pitcher of Sangria and a tapa while watching canal boats float down the Singapore river.

We were feeling pretty good so we decided to take a taxi back to our hotel - though we didn't quite make it, because we saw that Prata Paradise was open and we had an awesome freshly made layered prata with a spicy chicken curry. It was great value.

Day 13: Off to Singapore
We woke up at 630am to get ready to fly out of Phuket Airport.  We did enjoy one last rooftop poolside breakfast, and one last look at the beach.  Taxi was 1000bt (a rip off at $34) but we met a fellow Canadian (Montrealer) and we split the fare.

The flight to Singapore took about 90mins, and there is a 1 hour time difference as well.

Singapore is what you hear about - an independent city-state on its own island, that is warm, clean, beautiful and efficient.

I would describe it as a cleaner version of NY, though it is quite a bit smaller with "only" a population under 6 million, and all mixes of Asians.  Most are Chinese, but there are a lot of Malays and Indians (mainly south Indians - like Tamils).

We saw a lot of couples where the guy was Tamil and the girl was Chinese (that sort of thing) and at almost anytime you could overhear a Chinese person speaking Tamil or Malay (or some vice-versa conversation).  It was actuall very cool and you got the sense that everyone got along well.  At no time of day or night did we notice any hint of crime or homelessness.  And rarely saw any garbage of any sort on the trains, the stations, or anywhere else.  It is not surprising that Singapore is considered a model city to the world.

It has an extensive network (the MRT) of interconnected Skytrains and Subways, all of which you only need purchase one EZ-Card and top it up with funds. You even use it on the buses.  We took the fast and easy (and cheap) train (cost was about $3 each to downtown on the East-West line).  We felt really smart until we got off our station, which was still a 15 min walk to our hotel - assuming you don't take any wrong turns - which we did.  After 10 mins lugging our luggage (so that's where the name comes from) in the wrong direction, we went back to the station to "Q" for a cab.

FYI everything is super-organized here - you don't just hail a taxi off the street (we tried).

The taxi only took a few minutes to get to the Nostalgia Hotel - an urban boutique hotel with the tiniest rooms you can imagine.  And this is after we were upgraded to a "superior" suite.  The standard "deluxe" suite must have been a closet.

It was one of those rooms you have to walk sideways in, and you had to squeeze past your luggage.  The shower was superb though - a literal torrent of water.

The hotel itself can be best described as "quaint" - as it was an older hotel that was renovated.  The best part about it is its proximity to multiple MRT stations and to major sights in the city.

We were both getting a little travel weary at this stage, so we rested up a bit before starting our itinerary.  We didn't do a ton of research before arriving (we take our beach time seriously) so we relied on our handy TripAdvisor App on the Tablet which had a nice mapping/GPS function.

We first went to Chinatown, and we finally found Maxwell Hawkers market (kind of like the food court at MBK mall, but in an open and covered area, with dozens of food stalls selling their specialties.  We enjoyed some Rendang Mutton Curry (we will definitely learn how to make this at home) and some fresh sugar cane juice.  Singapore is famous for its Hawker markets, and it is the best place for fast, fresh, and cheap eats.

We saw two beautiful Temples here in Chinatown, one is the Relic Buddha Temple and museum, a huge Buddhist temple with an amazing red and gold "hall of 100 buddhas) and museums showing the history of Buddhism in Singapore on the upper floors.

We then went to a famous Hindu Temple, over 140 years old, and huge, with a large pyramid adorned with Hindu Gods and many murals on the ceilings.



After taking some time to pay our respects here, we wandered around Chinatown, which was a really nice and quite a large and authentic-feeling neighborhood that was in quite a contrast with the Chinatown in Bangkok.  Here Chinatown was no less busy, but without the fumes and noisy chaos that is an everyday part of life in any other Asian metropolis.

We now headed up a couple of statioms to Little India - which truly did remind us of Jaipur and Delhi (but cleaner), with heavy foot traffic and endless markets.

We ended up at Tekka Market, a famous Hawkers market with the entire top floor full of fabric vendors, and the middle level Hawker food stalls, and grocers/butchers at the lower level.

Here we wandered around for a while wondering what to eat (so many delicious options) - and we settled on Mutton Biryani and some layered pratas.  The food was perfect - tasty and cheap.  No dish was more than $5, and many were far less.  With huge portions.

At this point it was getting late, and we were very tired from the flight and the whole day and evening walking around.  We walked around some more and boarded our train again and, this time without issue, found our hotel and passed out.

Day 12:  Pa Tong

Tomorrow morning we were to fly out to Singapore, so this would be our last day of beach and we took full advantage of it.

We lounged until about 1pm and then freshened up for our trip to Patong.  The Tuk Tuk mafia (as it's locally known - they collude to keep prices high) charged us 400bt just to go to Pa Tong from Karon beach (about 10 mins ride - for about $13.

Pa Tong reminds you of Vegas in that there is neon and bars everywhere.  The hawkers (vendors) really come after you as well here).

We had booked a Thai cooking class this evening (Pum's Thai Cooking School) which was quite a bit of fun.  Pum herself was a quirky Thai lady who grew up in Australia (if memory serves) and she went through all the ingredients used in Thai cooking (like basil, lemongrass, coconut milk, etc).  They used a different kind of sweet ginger (galenko?) as well.

We first mashed up a paste of all the Thai ingredients to make a hot and spicy blend to add to each of the dishes.

We each had the opportunity to choose 3 dishes, and mine were: Chicken with Cashew nuts, Kang Penang and Coconut soup.  Simmi had Padh Thai, Chicken satay, and Tom Yam soup.




None of the dishes took more than 5 minutes to actually cook, and almost all of them were delicious.  I say almost because my Padh Thai (I didn't make the coconut soup due to a mix up with another student) was pretty bland.  It was probably because I couldn't use shrimp paste, and we didn't add anything except soy sauce.

Thai cooking is actually quite quick and easy (especially when the food preparation is done for you), but you just have to get the order of additions right, as well as when to use low heat vs high heat.  Having worked in food safety, I also saw where cross contamination occurs in a Thai kitchen - in the boiling pot, as well as in the woks (sometimes).  Another big surprise was the amount of cane sugar that goes into many Thai dishes.

We had a lot of fun in the kitchen, and also learned how the chefs do it.

After stuffing our faces with our dishes and enjoying a fun dinner with our fellow students, we waddled out and walked around checking out the sights and sounds of Pa Tong.

Eventually we got to Bangla Road, which is the party district.  It's about 4 blocks (no traffic) of non-stop bars (many 2 to 3 storeys high) and with alleys leading up to more bars, restaurants and clubs.  There's nothing like it; you have to see it to believe it.
Sleaze is on display everywhere, but it is mostly in good fun - as most of the crowd are couples and families at this time of night.   The ladyboys are probably the biggest attraction and they parade around in showgirl outfits taking photos with all the sightseers.  There are also "Go-Go" bars everywhere with their hostesses yelling at you (nonstop) to come in.

We picked a fairly modest pub playing 80s tunes, and enjoyed cocktails for an hour or two, watching the partiers and tourists roll by.

Finally we headed out (after another banana and nutella crepe) and it was 300bt back to our hotel.

Although buzzed, we did manage to pack before passing out.

Day 11: Phang Nga Bay
We had booked a long (and not inexpensive)boat tour and snorkeling trip with Captain Mark Tours.

They picked us up early (it is the longest tour) at 645am and we drove to the inner eastern side of Phuket, which faces Phang Nga bay.  The west side, FYI, is the Andaman Sea.

Although we travelled the furthest, we were the first to arrive and was greeted by Captain Mark, an older Aussie expatriate who looked like some cousin of the Skipper on Gilligan's Island.  He was jolly and had a great sense of humor, sarcastic usually.

We were joined by two Indian families and a white uicouple.  Amazingly, all lived in San Francisco.  Up until now we hadn't even met anyone from North America, so they were practically neighbors.

One family of 5 (Bala, wife Sangeeta and 3 kids) were now living in Bangalore, having moved from San Francisco.  I wondered what it would be like to immigrate to India as a (former) NRI.

 The other Indian family lived in SF and was a large troupe covering 3 generations. Ramana was the head of this clan.

And last but not least, Mike and Jami also from San Fran.

So the 15 of us boarded the speedboat and headed out to beautiful Phang Nga bay.

Picture this: calm green water, endless sky, and many rocky islands rising sharply (often with steep cliffs) from the calm water.  The sights were stunning to behold and I must have taken hundreds of photos.

The first activity was landing on a small island beach with high, sheer, cliff-like walls.  We walked through a low cave (through a foot of water) which opened to a protected inner clearing to a mangrove forest.  The ground was wet (you could tell water would flow in) and we took pictures of the mangroves, fiddler crabs,  and small fish that slithered over the muddy areas in the tidal pools.

The second stop was one of those experiences of a lifetime.  We got into kayaks at a beautiful and rocky island, again with high cliff walls.  The kayaks were navigated by local fishermen, and we kayaked through a long cave which opened up to a secluded inner Harbour within the island.  The ceiling of the cave started out low (we almost had to duck) but opened up with stalactites and other mineral formations.  It was serene and awe inspiring. We took some great photos here.  We kayaked further to another scenic location and took more great photos.   We had made good friends with our tour mates and we took photos of each other on their kayaks (to exchange later).

Next stop was a floating Muslim village, which is actually a remote fishing village built on stilts. We had a great lunch here; they served chicken curry, various seafood dishes and some veg options (all the other Indians on the trip were vegetarians.

We toured the village, which was remarkable in that it was a fairly large village with a population of 1700, complete with Mosque (new, big one under construction), school and 3 mini floating soccer fields.
For a floating village on a remote island, it felt cramped and dirty. I was happy to move on.

Our next stop was a small jungle island in which there was a giant Bodhi tree, supposedly planted over 100 years ago by Indians.

Our final stop was a beautiful white sandy beach where we did some snorkeling.  This was the clearest water I had seen in Phuket.  Still not as clear as Aruba, but perhaps comparable to Playa del Carmen.

I tried to teach Ramana's nephew how to snorkel (Vikram, about 5 years old) but he had some trouble learning how to breathe using only the tube.



We had all enjoyed the tour and Mark's guidance and sense of humor, and we exchanged contact information.

It was heavy traffic on the way home, and we were quite tired by the end of it.   We went for a massage and then dinner was very local (next door).  I ate some very unremarkable roast chicken.  Simmi was still loving her Tom Yam soup.

Day 8: Halfway Point
We woke up early and did the usual check out (quite a process here - again we would not recommend this hotel to others), and took a taxi to Don Mueang Airport, which is Bangkok's 2nd and smaller airport.

Checkin was fairly painless here though AirAsia, being a discount carrier, charged us extra for our checked bag.

The flight itself was uneventful - other than to say that Air Asia is a discount carrier so. Even the water is not free.

We found that Phuket airport was slow in returning our bags, and we booked a taxibus for 200 bt each.

We arrived at the Grand Sunset in about an hour and found the hotel to be very new, clean and modern, though the rooms were quite small.  Simmi wasn't sure if she liked it, but I didn't mind as the cleanliness of it won me over.  Also the hotel is named for its rooftop view, on the 6th floor where there is a nice modern pool, with deck chairs, a nice bar, and a great view of Karon beach.

We settled in and then went to the beach, about a 5 to 10 min walk.   The beach at Karon is about 100m wide and stretches on for at least 2 km.  It is fairly busy but not crowded, it is easy to find a lounger anytime.

You have to pay 200baht to rent a pair of loungers and an umbrella (and table) any time of day, and if you go, find your perfect spot first before you pay, because different sections of the beach are run by different companies.

The water was perfect if not just a little fishy (just a faint smell sometimes, sometimes you seen very small fish washed ashore).  But both the beach and water were clean, with decent sized waves (just right in my opinion) to keep kids entertained.

This was what we needed and what we were looking for - to do nothing for a few days.

That night we ate at Ging restaurant, one of the more popular of the ubiquitous "we serve everything" Thai casual dining restaurants.  They serve everything, but all of it very mediocre.  I had a terrible pizza.  Thai food is decent no matter where you eat.

Day 9: Lounging
We slept in (first time - still woke up at 8 though) and had a nice rooftop breakfast.

Not much happened today, and that was by design.  We lounged at the beach all day.  I was reading The Lord of the Rings trilogy (only 1394 pages) so I had my leisure cut out for me.


We played in the waves, and lounged some more.  Then we enjoyed a couple of Thai massages (270bt each) and "rested" for dinner.

For dinner we decided we needed some real Indian food, and we found a place (called Baluchi) with an Indian chef and a Tandoor at the Horizon Hotel at the south end of Karon Beach.

The food was good; a welcome respite from the endless coconut curries.  We had chicken tikka (made in the Tandoor), bhindi (a little bit too oily) and excellent garlic naan.

We enjoyed a banana crepe (food stall; 50bt) made by an Indian fellow (part Bangladeshi) on the way home.

Day 10: More of the Same

We got a better spot on the beach today (best one in my opinion) and we lounged all day.  We had some fun in the waves as well, hanging out amongst all the Russians.  It seemed that 80% of the people on Karon beach are Russians, with the remainder mostly European.  We sat beside some Finns (from Helsinki) and talked some Hockey.

Simmi got a manicure and pedicure (400bt) and I got another massage.

This evening we walked around the main area of Karon, which had several streets and alleys full of what you normally see here in Phuket: bars, restaurants, massage spas, currency exchange and ATMs,  tailors and retailers.  And usually in front of all of them - food stalls.

That night we found an Italian restaurant (serving only Italian food - no Thai) in Karon.  The owner, in fact was Italian (which we were happy to hear), and  we were pleasantly surprised to enjoy one of our best meals on the trip.  I had the Canelloni and Simmi had Mussels. We shared some white wine and enjoyed the break from Thai food.

Day 7: Angkor Wat and flight to BKK.
We decided to sleep in as yesterday's time in the sun and the TD left us weary.  Our hotel was excellent and let us stay late, so we checked out at 2pm and went back to Angkor Wat to resume our exploration of the grounds.

This Temple-city, the main Angkor Wat, is the physical embodiment of Hinduism. The moat is said to represent the broad ocean universe.  The tallest centre peak represents Mount Meru, home of the gods.  On the exterior walls are the famous "bas-reliefs," over 600 hundred metres of intricate wall carvings depicting the Mahabarat, Ramayana, the 37 heavens, 32 hells, and several other Hindu mythologies and events.  There is also one large section of carvings showing the battle between Rama, Hanuman and Ravana in Lanka.

One of the unfortunate things is that theives had desecrated many of the Apsaras (statues) for profit, often paid by collectors abroad.  Many statues, including those of gods (Vishnu), Buddha, Lions and Snakes have their faces missing.

Also, there is a lot of restoration going on to rebuild and reinforce buildings that have collapsed or are in danger of collapsing.

We stayed as long as we could, and then left to go back to our hotel (via Tuk Tuk) and we took the scenic route through a quaint village where we saw the locals, including many kids in their uniforms coming home from school, usually on their bikes.

Much like in India, it is not uncommon to see a family of four on a bicycle, smiling and waving to you.  The people are most friendly here.

The airport at Siem Reap is small and boarding was painless.  We sent our postcard from here and the flight was a quick one back to Bangkok. We booked this flight at the last minute as we wanted to avoid the horrible bus experience again.  Plus it gave us an extra day to explore Angkor Wat.

We checked back into the Asia Hotel late that night and showered and passed out quickly.

Day 6:  Angkor Wat

Woke up early and rented a Tuk Tuk driver for the day ($15) to show us around Angkor Wat, a huge temple-city sprawling over some 40 square kilometers.

Built over a thousand years ago by a Hindu king, visiting their numerous temples and taking in the vastness of the city (which once had a population of a million, and may have been Asia's first metropolis) gives you a feeling of stepping back in time.

Even though the various temples are very large, it is amazing that virtually every inch of the surface is inlaid with intricate carvings or statues.

I would compare the experience to that of visiting the Taj Mahal.  I would say the Taj Mahal is more striking with its marble, but Angkor Wat leaves you in awe as well.

We first went to Angkor Thom and saw the temple grounds of Bayon, Baphuon, the Elephant Terraces, and Ta Phroem.  While I won't go into much details here (we did buy a useful historical guide book) we took many photos and enjoyed the feel of getting lost in the ruins.

One other remarkable thing is due to the age of the Temples, many are slowly being reclaimed by nature.  We took some stunning photos of trees growing in and around the Temple comples of Ta Phroem.

We ended the day at Angkor Wat itself (the main temple complex) which is like a giant ancient castle (some 1.5 x 1.2 km in area for the grounds, not including the giant moat which is probably 400m wide.   This temple is dedicated to Vishnu and was built by King Subramanyan II at the height of his civilizations power in the 12th century.  We read that the building of these temples was so vast and expensive a project that likely led to the empire's downfall.

Notably, we ran out of time this day to fully explore Angkor Wat, partly beause of its sheer size, and partly due to my getting a nasty case of TD.  Luckily, in this part of the world you can get a hold of strong antibiotics over the counter at any pharmacy.  After a day or two of suffering, I did buy some and recovered quickly.

There is also a great number of tourists everywhere and from all nationalities as this a world famous "Wonder of the World.". Predictably, there is also an army of vendors (locally called 'Touts') why try to sell you anything and everything, and follow you almost everywhere.

We had dinner at the hotel and I opted for enlish fare as my stomach was still weak. Club sandwich.  Simmi had shrimp fried rice.

Day 5: Long trek to Cambodia
We had to be at the meeting point TAT Tours to catch our bus to Siem Reap at 7am.  We had no problem getting there and boarded our taxibus with a lovely family from Sweden who we fast became friends with.  Our connection was of course Hockey and the Sedins.
One of the ladies was actually cousins with Mats Sundin.

The ride itself was eventful but not in a good way.  We'd thought we had heard about all the scams the Cambodians would try but it was different at first hand.  Confusion seems to be their approach.

They first stopped us well short of the border for a so-called passport check.  Here they told us we only had a bus for Cambodia wheb we had booked a taxi.  They wanted an extra $20 or so to get us into a taxi, but we were lucky in that our Swedish friends had another taxibus with room to spare, and so we joined them for the trip from the border to Siem Reap in Cambodia.

We did fall for one scam - we were told to exchange our Baht for Cambodian Reils and were given a false exchange rate.  Luckily we did not exchange much and lost out on maybe $25.  We should have known that in Cambodia, the US Dollar is the defacto currency and all prices are quoted in USD.

We have since learned that Cambodia is considered one of the top countries for scam artists (mainly around the border).  In the main city most folks could not have been nicer.

That said, we were in for a treat when we arrived at our beautiful and luxurious hotel in Siem Reap - the Royal Angkor Resort.  Simmi and I were impressed with their top notch service, friendly staff and spacious and stylish room.   The hotel has a huge pool (we were overlooking the pool and could see Angkor Wat as well), and a large courtyard.

We settled in and then went out into town and found a restaurant (Khmer Kitchen) which seemed very popular.  We were looking forward to our first taste of Cambodian food but found the curry to be mildly disappointing.

As far as our first impression of Cambodia itself, we found it hot, dry and dusty.  Not altogether different from the feel of Jaipur, but not quite as much pollution.  It is certainly a third world country but is fairly clean considering the circumstances.  You definitely experience the fumes of petrol from the many motorbikes and buses, but no sewage.

Day 4 - Exploring
We slept in (woke up at 8) and took our time heading for JatuJak Market (or JJ market, to the locals).  This was our first experience on the Skytrain.  Two all-day passed were 260bt and the train to Mo Chit station, although crowded (it was rush hour) was cool and efficient.

JJ Market is a huge, crowded sprawling flea market that covers some 40 acres.  It is shady and covered (though not indoor) so it is bearable.  

We did a fair bit more shopping here than we expected to.

Hard to find fault, really. Some of the deals are incredible on everything you can think of.  We bought some purses, cushion covers and an ornate wall fabric. We also landed in the artist section where we agonized over and finally bought a beautiful painting from the original artist.  It was expensive perhaps by Thai standards (bargained from 7000 to 5000 bt over the course of an hour.   To me it was worth spending that amount  on an inspiring piece of original art.  The artist spent the better part of a half hour wrapping his artwork for us.

The fun was not to end there.  As we walked to the outer edge, we saw many aquariums selling brightly coloured fish, and stalls selling deep fried worms, beetles and crickets.   As we were taking a few photos of the deep fried grub an Englishman came by and nonchalantly popped a fried worm into his mouth.  He immediately said "it's buttery" and then ordered himself a small bag of fried crickets.  We struck up a conversation and he offered me one.  I nearly gagged looking at the brownish, lightly seasoned, but perfectly preserved two inch long cricket.  But he insisted that I try one, and handed it to me.  He asked "well, why did you come here?".  I looked at it and made the kind of face I used to when I was a kid and mum made spinach for dinner.  I looked long at its curved antennae, black eyes and spikey legs.

Then I popped it into my mouth and chewed furiously.

There was no juices; it tasted like some kind of roasted nut, hardly any substance.  It had a slightly buttery aftertaste as well.   I swallowed it all down but felt (or perhaps imagined)  small cricket parts in my mouth for some time. 

Afterwards we had a late lunch at a popular and busy diner with lots of cooling fans and loud Mexican music.  We briefly experienced a short power failure, and the coolness became stifling hot within a few minutes, but there were soon cheers as the power was restored.  Simmi ordered a delicious and fresh lychee and mint smoothie.

We walked around some more but decided that we'd filled our appetite of the vast flea market, and took the cool train back to our hotel. 

We freshened up and went back for another full body Thai massage at the same place of yesterday.  Although not as good as the Thai massage at Wat Pho, it was nonetheless enjoyable and refreshing.

That evening, we decided to be a little more adventurous and we found an alley full of locals and outdoor food vendors.  We enjoyed some fried chicken and a bit of chicken and liver curry.  All for less than $2.

We stopped into a cafe where we saw free WiFi and took the opportunity to "Face-Time" (why isn't it called 'iFace'??) with mum and pa in Vallarta.  We didn't realize it was so early, but enjoyed touching base.

I had some Pad Thai there and didn't realize it had shrimp until I was nearly halfway through.  But after a few nervous moments (I did have my Epipen on myself) I did not notice any ill effects.  

We hopped back on the train and headed for the nightlife area: Sukhumvit.   This was yet another incredibly large and upscale shopping district, with shops and music on multiple levels, and bright lights and glowing ads reminiscent of Times Square in NYC.  The major hotel towers were here as well (Sheraton, Westin Grand).

After taking in the sights (which included many old white guys often with much younger Thai girls on their arms) we ventured off the main road in search of a bar or lounge at street level.

And then we stumbled upon a shocking alley of neon and loud music.  This was a little slice of Bangkok's red light district, and the street was brightly lit in pink and green neon, and lined with Thai girls in skimpy outfits, along witha plethora of middle aged men.  We ventured into a strip bar out of curiousity and hopped back out.  We had a beer at a sports bar (Man City defeating Newcastle) and then headed out.  

We finally found a nice outdoor lounge with a hookah bar, and enjoyed drinks while watching local Thai born Indian kids enjoying themselves and speaking perfect Thai.  We have seen many Indians (including Gianis) here.

We briefly spoke and they informed us of another neighborhood we had initially planned on seeing - Silom - which apparently is quite seedy.

It was getting late and we decided to pack it in, as we had to pack and be up by 530am for our taxibus to Cambodia.

Day 3: Friday - A Day of Tours
We awoke early, refreshed and headed out to our tour booking to the Floating Market.   It was  an hour out of town but actually took over 90 mins to arrive to this tourist trap.  Our driver took us to a pier where they wanted 4000 baht for a boat tour through the market.   I nearly blew my top at the operator and we sttled on half that amount.  Everyone is in on it together.  I should have told him to take us directly to the market, but we did the boat ride for the experience.

I am glad we did because we traveled through a real and beautiful waterway of canals through a quaint water village. We ended up at the market which was bustling with vendors on long boats selling fruits, vegetables, snacks, and souvenirs.  We bought some mango, coconut juice (served as a coconut with the top cut off and a straw inserted), and a picture for our kitchen.


The drive back was uneventful and I chastised our driver and gave ourselves a discount when it came time to pay.  He was not happy but we left.

We had gotten dropped off in Chinatown at the China Princess Hotel.  Wary of the midday heat, we ate at a busy little Thai cafe - some delicious Thai chicken and tomatoe soup, and some dry chicken curry.  Food and drink (plus tip) was about $12. 

We relaxed for a bit and met up with our bike tour (the reason for being at this hotel).  

The bike tour was a great bargain.  It was three hours of biking (from 2 to 5pm - ending at dusk) and was a highlight from beginning to end.  We went through mazes of bustling alleys, neighborhoods, local markets. We ferried across the river (a small boat) to Thonburi where it was quiet, very clean, somewhat upscale and really nice.  The purpose of the tour was to see the real Bangkok through the local pathways and I think we accomplished that.  We saw the local schools (and schoolkids in their blue uniforms), smaller temples, and memorials.  Before ending the tour back at the hotel, we rested at the late Thai Queen's memorial, an expansive museum and shady garden courtyard in a quiet neighborhood.   Of our group of 6 cyclists, I was always the laggard as I was stopping everywhere to take snaps.  There was one picture I regret not taking - that of a smiling grandmother on her porch who reminded me very much of Nani.   

FYI - we saw poor neighborhoods as well as the upscale ones.  The poor (often migrant workers) live in small apartments housed in large dilapidated apartment complexes - these rooms have no kitchens, and rent is 1500bt per month.  This is not a concern since no one seems to cook - street food stalls are literally everywhere, and always serving some food or another.  It is cheaper to live here and to commute to the downtown core.

 
After we finished with the bike tour, another massage was in order and we found a genuine Thai massage studio a couple of blocks from our hotel.  I say genuine because there are massage shops on every block, but the massages aren't the same.   There we enjoyed an excellent hour long foot massage, which totaled 400bt for both of us ($13).  Feeling guilty at the bargain, we tipped very generously.

We stopped into a clean looking restaurant recommended by Simmis masseuse, about a block away.  This clean but mostly empty restaurant was cheap and incredibly delicious.  I had one of the best meals of my life here and food and beers (Singha of course) came out to $18.  We had pork fried rice, and a spectacular chicken coconut and chili soup.

At this point we were dead tired, though it was barely 9pm.  So we went to bed.

Day 2 - Temples - Thursday (and Sim's b-day!)
First thing we did was book a couple of tours.  A bike tour of Bangkok through TAT Tours, and a bus to and from Siem Reap.  We chose comfort over cost, though it would have been better to spend more to fly. Essentially would have saved a day.  Live and learn: time is the most precious asset.  We had to bargain, and got about 15% off.  Thailand is a lot like India; everything is to be haggled over.

Started the first days tour with a boat ride down the main river (chao phraya?).  Everyone wants your money.  The taxi driver took us to the pier on purpose, even though we just wanted to go directly to the major temples.  

Traditional thai long boat

FYI- Thailand has an excellent Skytrain system, better than Vancouver's. Clean and air conditioned. But it does not go into the heart of downtown or anywhere near the main Wats (temples), which is a bit odd. 

The boat ride we bargained down to 1500 baht ($50!) and it took us first along the river to Wat Arun, on the other side (Thonburi or Old Bangkok).  This was a huge Indian temple/monument named after Aruna, goddess of Dawn.    

It was stunning.  Intricate, tall, expansive and old.  No gold here, but many carvings of gods, flowers and elephants.   We climbed some very steep steps to about 60 ft or so to take in the view and take some snaps with the camera.

Now it was starting to get really hot.  The morning was manageable, enjoyable, even.  But I had under estimated the strength of the equatorialSun.  We were going through a lot of water.  

After Wat Arun (about noon now) we boarded our personal tour boat and went to the other shore. Here the boat tour ended and we got off at the pier to the Grand Palace.  

FYI - we had read about the scammers, taking tourists off their plans.  But we experienced it directly (well, almost) as a nice fellow gave us a free map and advice, and showed us some sights to see on his maps, and informed us that the Grand Palace was best visited in the late afternoon (many sections closed off for monks to do prayer), and that a Tuk Tuk driver (auto-rickshaw to us Indians) would take us to a couple of free temples and sight).  We said sure, and got on, but realized at the last moment they were all lying and jumped off and headed directly into the Grand Palace.   In fact, there we loudspeakers around the Palace grounds advising visitors to speak to no one and to proceed directly into the Palace.  

Entrance into the Palace was 800bt for the both of us.  Simmi wore a long dress but still had to rent a blue shirt to cover her shoulders.  It was crowded and there were some long lines, but we got in quickly.

The famous reclining buddha statue

The Palace itself was a very large ground covering some 35 acres.  One could equate this landmark as Thailand's Taj Mahal.   

Intricate designs and golden statues of Buddhas everywhere, along with paintings and carvings of the Ramayana (Thai religion appears to have strong Hindu roots).


In the Palace, we saw beautiful and large art and sculptures of every kind of Thai culture.  Most impressive was the Emerald Buddha, which is actually made of jade.   While it is only 2 ft tall, it sits on a 20 ft high mountain of golden sculptures, and with many Thais offering their worship.  We took a moment to do the same.

At about 1pm, I learned an important lesson about heat exhaustion.   I began to feel tired and nauseated from the hot midday sun. I felt sick with a sore throat and even muscle cramps in my hands. My face was beet red.  I literally needed to spend several minutes in an air conditioned textile museum to lower my core temperature.

Lessons learned:
1. Stay out of the hot equatorial midday sun.
2. Water is not good enough.  Drink something with electrolytes, like fresh cold juice.  I had some ice cold mulberry juice which really helped.
3. Don't over exert yourself in the heat, especially after 24 hours of travel.

Due to my state, we ended up shortening our tour of the Palace (again, impressive, but I will let the pictures do the talking).  We had seen most of the grounds anyway, and luckily found an air conditioned cafe across the street.  We had lunch (sandwich, we hadn't had any real Thai food yet) and cooled off for about an hour. 

Although the midday sun is harsh, by 3pm the shadows start to grow long as the sun already begins to move to set.  It was still hot, but now bearable.

We took a Tuk Tuk to Wat Pho, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.  This famous landmark did not disapoint and I must have taken a hundred snaps as we marveled at its splendour.  

We did a short prayer here (as the locals were all doing).  Simmi offered a donation, and was given a cup of coins.  Behind the Buddha was a long row of pots (at least a hundred) where you walked and dropped coins into each pot, and made a wish).

Wat Pho is much more than the Buddha, and there were many beautiful temples and courtyards that we visited and tool snaps of.

As we were exiting we noticed (almost by luck since we were not looking for it) the Thai Massage school, which offered 1 hour massages for the equivalent of $15 CDN each.  We got into the queue and experienced the most fantastic massages we'd ever received.  It cured my heat related ails, and got out all the kinks from the flights.  I had vaguely remembered reading about this place, but did not have it in mind. I am very glad we did go, and then and there we decided to get massages as often as possible.  
   
FYI - Thai massage is quite different from our RMT massages back home.  You are clothed (though you empty all pockets, belt, watches etc) and they practically climb on top of you to apply direct strong pressure to muscles and stretch your limbs as if you were doing yoga.  We tipped the ladies well.

Now we felt great as we went back into the Asia Hotel.  This hotel was cheap and roomy, and in a great location.  Still I would not recommend it to others as 1) they charge an obscene amount for internet - which had we known before, would have been a deal breaker) and 2) we found small ants in our room.   Not a hoarde of them but here and there. We asked them and they admitted they do have ants, and said not to put any food out.  No point in changing rooms, then.  We are not squeamish and do realize we are in a 3rd world metropolis, so we didn't mind much.  On the positive, the service was good and the location was great, with a direct walkway to the Skytrain station.

Bangkok deserves a paragraph (or three).  The city is a crowded bustling metropolis of some 15 million.  I would compare it to Mumbai.  Thailand is very much like India (crowded and hot) but cleaner and with more modernity (skytrain as an example).  Very few beggars.

After relaxing at our hotel, we walked about 10 minutes down to MBK Mall, the largest mall in Bangkok.  It was huge. Imagine if Metrotown Mall had 6 levels.  And they sold everything.  Our taxi driver gave us a good tip and said we should eat on the 6th floor.  The food court was at the end (a good 10min walk) and the shops on this floor were like a huge Richmond Night Market.

MBK Mall. The largest mall in Bangkok.

The food court was busy and there were about 30 food stalls, each making a single type od dish (chicken soups, beef soups, noodles, Tom Yum, rice, etc).  You had to buy tokens to give to your selected food stall chefs, and then return leftover tokens for refund.  Not the most convenient but interesting nonetheless.  

FYI- the food in Thailand is absurdly good, and ridiculously cheap.  It is truly a foodies paradise.  We feasted on delicious beef noodle soup, spicy chicken basil and some fried chicken for about $15.

We slept well.