Some travel tips for Cambodia and Thailand

Keep in mind, I only went to Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Bangkok, and Railay Beach (Krabi). Oh, and when I mention the Lonely Planet guide book, I'm referring to "Southeast Asia on a Shoestring", 2008 edition. Their Thailand specific book probably has more detailed info, at least it better have more detail.

That said, here are some things I learned along the way, in no particular order:

1. Bus stop restrooms. Lesson: Pay the kid. Explanation: The kids trying to get money for the bathrooms at bus stops on the way to Siem Reap are not begging. Our tuk tuk driver in Siem Reap, Nat, says it is common to charge people 500 Riel (~US$0.12) to use the bathrooms. He says even he will get charged.
2. Negotiating prices. Lesson: Do it. Explanation: Sometimes it works if you let the seller offer a price first, then counter. Don't worry about getting "ripped off" the first couple of times: it allows you a chance to gauge what prices should be. Without any prior knowledge (i.e. guide books) of what a reasonable price should be, sometimes the only way to find out is through trial and error. Once, when looking at sunglasses, I didn't say a word (not intentionally) and the vendor kept lowering his prices. He even told me, "you know, you can negotiate prices". Haha, I know. It was great, because he got down to pretty close to where I was willing to pay. Oh, and it often helps to give a final offer with a smile. That worked 2 of 2 times for me to get my final price. I held firm and then finally smiled with the same offer and they gave it to me. And, it really is true what the books say, it's not about getting the lowest possible price, it is getting the most agreeable price to you and the vendor. If the price is what you are willing to pay and believe to be reasonable, and the vendor agrees, then there you go.
3. Railay Beach.
   
1. Getting there/back. Lesson:book a return trip to the airport through your hotel/guesthouse/or tour operator. Explanation: This was especially true for us in the low season, when it is hard to get a boat. It was cheaper for us to do so than to hire a boat for just the 2 of us. Or, wait an indefinite amount of time for the boat to fill up. In the high season, you may be better off going directly to the boat operators. Getting to Railay, we took a shuttle from the airport, so I can't comment on whether to book transportation through the hotel.
   
2. Food. Lesson: Explore. Explanation: Railay Beach is tiny. You can cross from East to West in less than 15 minutes' walk, probably less than 10. The cheap, local food is on the east side, just north of Yaya Resort. We spent a day or two with sticker shock, until Jessica brought me to a local food stand. Thank you Jessica!
3. Rock climbing. Lesson: Do it. Explanation: Railay is the place to climb. There are at least 3 outfitters here. We went through King Climbers and had a great experience. I'd never climbed before, my roommate had been climbing for 1.5 years. Aibe runs the joint, located between the Railay Princess Resort and Yaya Resort. Tiq, our guide, was fantastic. Super nice, mellow, all around good guy. I think this is the correct link to King Climbers, but I'm not sure.
   
4. Taxis.
   
1. Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) to Bangkok. Lesson:Pay the tolls and surcharge. Explanation: Like the guide book says, go to the taxi stand just outside the terminal. The driver will use the meter. What the book doesn't tell you is that you are responsible for the tolls. The taxi stand gives you a piece of paper describing when you are responsible for tolls and a surcharge, and when you are not. Unfortunately, it is a little confusing about the definition of "Greater Bangkok". I argued with the driver when we reached our destination, but eventually paid him, figuring it wasn't worth the fight. Thanks to my friend Abbie who later confirmed the driver was not ripping me off.
2. Meters. Lesson: Insist on them. Explanation: Speaking of taxi drivers and rip-offs...Lonely Planet is right: insist on using the meter when taking a taxi (unless you absolutely know where you are going, how far it is, and how much it should cost). I was about 5 minutes walking distance to Wat Pho (which I didn't know at the time), it was raining, and I was late to meet my friend, so I decided to hop in a cab (going the wrong direction, of course). He wanted to charge me like 200 baht (~US$5) but I insisted he use the meter. Even taking the long way around the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew, it only cost like 30 baht.
3. Bangkok to Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK). Lessons: Don't exit the freeway and insist on the meter. Explanation: Again, thanks to Abbie for the heads up. If your driver exits the freeway just before getting to the airport (watch the signs), then he's taking the long way. The freeway goes directly into the airport, so make him get right back on. And, again, it was cheaper for us to use the meter from the Banglamphu district of Bangkok to BKK, even with horrendous morning traffic in town.
5. Damnoen Saduak floating market. Lesson: Shop around. Explanation: The only time we did a flat rate was for a taxi to the floating market. I think we paid a bit more than we would have if we took a taxi to the bus terminal, then a bus to the market, but we figured it was worth the time savings. So, if going to Damnoen Saduak floating market by taxi, be sure not to head into the first several parking lots: they are more expensive. I think the first guy tried to charge us 1000 baht, while LP suggests 150B to 200B per person. I don't know where the main pier is exactly, but we drove quite a ways in before turning ( left) into some area, which seemed much more active than the first lot. Lonely Planet says to take the bus to the pier, but we didn't see any buses, so maybe we weren't at the main pier yet. In any case we were able to negotiate a boat that was similar in price to Lonely Planet's suggested price. Actually, now I forget if we paid 300B total, or 300B each. Anyway, pretty close regardless. The market wasn't like those I've seen in posters but the posters might be old, as Lonely Planet does say the market is geared more towards tourists now than being an actual marketplace where locals may shop for everyday goods.
6. Air con. Lesson: Get a remote. Explanation: Look for rooms that have a remote controlled A/C. You can fine tune the temperature and make other adjustments. Everyone seems to be carrying Lonely Planet books in Cambodia and Thailand, so guesthouses LP recommends fill up faster. Mostly, the reviews were accurate. It's just some of the tiny details that might be left out. For example, we first checked into the Rambuttri Village Inn (our first choice Lamphu House was difficult to find [you have to look hard as it is towards the back of a tiny alley], and when we did it didn't have the room combinations we were looking for). RVI was pretty much a concrete dorm room, see pic. LP wasn't kidding when they said "there's not much atmoshpere to speak of". Stark white walls, but hey, it was clean, there was tv and air con! Speaking of air con. Here's why you want a remote. RVI's a/c unit was basically on/off, unless you are 6'2" like me. I even had to stand on a chair to turn the stick (they pulled off the knob) to try and adjust the fan speed and temp. It must have been even harder for Tracy. Anyway, didn't help. Woke up too cold, turned off a/c. Woke up too hot, turned on a/c. Repeat. The next day, we went exploring for a new place to stay. Settled on Happy House Guesthouse. Nice staff, better "atmosphere" in the room, and remote controlled a/c! You can set the temperature, control the fan speed, etc. Much better sleep, and same price as RVI. There was construction next door, but the front desk clerk was accurate in saying when it started (~8am?). I didn't notice it at all at night. The picture on the left is almost exactly the room I had, sans flowers on bed and candle.

Sigh

My last post from SE Asia. I'm trying to burn up some baht, so decided to log on and post. The internet rates here in Railay are ridiculous, relatively speaking: 3 Baht per minute, which is roughly US$4 per hour. I think rates in Bangkok, in the tourist areas, were half to a third the cost.

So, that was a nice segue to the sticker shock I experienced when we arrived on Railay Beach. That, and the weather, were making me very unimpressed. But, after settling in for a day, things got better. First the weather, which makes the west beach much better looking. And, when the tide is high, the east beach is decent. It's amazing the difference between high and low tides.

Tracy has pretty much been rock climbing the entire time. She signed up for a 2-day lesson, which turned into 4 days of climbing. I watched her climb the first day (Thursday) and then explored the peninsula a bit, but apparently I missed out on most of the good stuff. Though the peninsula looks small (you can walk from the west to east sides in about 10-15 minutes), there is a lot more to find north-south. And, what looks like a jungle ending, reveals paths to climbing sites if you just venture in a bit. And, some of those sites have accessible views for non-climbers. Especially good is a cave you climb to (via ladders) on the Thai Wand (sp?) wall off of Phrah Nang beach. I never did make it up the rope to the lagoon and lookout. Next time I suppose.

I tried climbing for the first time on Friday. Did ok. Learned how to belay and lead belay right from the start. Crazy. Made it up 2.5 climbs before pooping out. Scraped up my fingers on that last climb, and arms just got too tired. Pool time after that!

On Saturday, I tried a "Discovery" scuba dive. That was fun. So much more to see when you can stay underwater. And it is so cool to be able to use air as a ballast like the dolphins do (I think they do).

Today, Sunday, I tried another half day of climbing. Made it through 3 full climbs this time without too much incident. Climbed a 6a(?) level wall, whatever that means. All I know is it was the hardest one I did and I got stuck in one spot, but the two Andreas' and Bao (my belayer) helped me get unstuck.

Oh, before I forget, we met Jess(ica) and Tik (Tracy's climbing guide), who were awesome. Jess showed us some local haunts which was really great, b/c it got rid of my sticker shock, and the food was local and some of the best we had on the island. Tik let us climb with him and showed Tracy a ton of stuff. He's just so chill and generous. Actually, all the locals here are super nice and I think once you are around for a while, they just accept you into their community.

OK, have probably burned enough baht. Will post more later (yeah, you've heard that line before).

Greetings from Bangkok

Finally have some time to sit and write. So much has happened since my last post. We made our way from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. Along the way, I was able to sample some truly local delicacies: tarantula and grasshopper (or cricket).

When we arrived at the siem Reap bus station, we were swarmed by tranportation vendors peddling their services (mostly or all tuk tuks). Around here, it's all about who asked you first. You'll hear this a lot: "remember me, I asked you first." So, yeah I went with the first guy to approach me, though I do remember hearing someone yell out earlier, " you with the glasses..." The people here are quite proficient with their English. Our "sales rep" sounded like he'd returned to Cambodia from the States. Turns out he wasn't the driver but instead just the guy rounding up customers. He also tried to sell us accommodations and a tour package. Upon arrival at the Golden Banana Guesthouse (yes, it is run by a couple of gay guys and is lgbt friendly), our driver offered his services to be our tour guide the next several days. When I declined our cheap fare suddenly tripled from 1000riel to 3000 Riel ($0.75). No worries, we kind of expected this anyway, seeing as the original fare was ridiculously low (side note: this is one of the few instances where my general impression that most people here are honest and helpful and have two sides: business and personal. Business-wise they will try to negotiate as much as they can get up front, not that they are trying to rip you off. But after a price is negotiated thats final. Personally, they are quite nice and helpful.) So back to the fare...I gave him $1 for his trouble.

Greetigs from Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Happy Mother's Day! Arrived in PNH yesterday morning. Flight was ok. Tracy got a window seat, but that stuck me in the middle. Would have preferred and aisle of course. Kei was at the airport to meet us with his friend, Nancy, who has a local hookup here. Checked in to a guesthouse and did a little bit of sightseeing: went to the Central Market where I decided to dive into the local food scene with both feet. Ordered some interesting drink from a vendor who spoke no English, so I just had her make something for me. A coconut milk base with cellophane noodles, some unidentified fruit, and ice. The ice worried me, but as I write this email, I have not had any digestive problems yet. Also ate a bowl of noodles with pork blood, and just about any other chicken part. I think I identified some chicken liver (maybe it was kidney as it didn't taste like liver) and maybe a heart. It was a curry base. Also tried a pan fried rice cake stuffed with chives.

Dinner was less interesting. We went to a Khmer restaurant recommended by Lonely Planet. It was ok, not amazing. Had some ice cream at a local shop later. I actually wanted shave ice, but orderd the wrong thing: "mixed fruit ice", which I assume would be ice, not ice cream.

I'll leave out the sightseeing of the former Khmer Rouge detention center, as it is rather depressing.

My life as a drug lord

I've been back from Mexico for about two and a half weeks now, and am finally ready to write about it. I think it's because I've finally compiled some pictures from the 1000+ (and counting) that were gathered from various people on the trip. Hard to choose from them all. I organized about four hundred into a slideshow, and uploaded fifty seven to my Facebook and PicasaWeb accounts. Could probably have done more, but the Facebook plug-in for iPhoto only allows sixty uploads at a time. And since Google kept giving me an error when uploading to Picasa, I just decided to keep the photos down to fifty seven. Plus, do people really want to look at more than four hundred photos at one time?

So, as I keep telling people, Tulum was amazing and horrible at the same time. OK, not horrible, but it could have been better. Amazing group of family and friends. The setting was beautiful: fine sand, turquoise water, almost private beach. Casa Magna was beautifully yet simply decorated. Simple luxury. Yet, beyond the amenities (freshly prepared breakfast, lunch , and dinner; sea kayaks; snorkeling gear) something wasn't quite complete. Perhaps my expectations were too high. After all, my sister had booked the place and she is known for some amazing finds on her vacations. And, Casa Magna was once part of Pablo Escobar's drug empire. OK, this can't be confirmed, but it is definitely something that the Casa Magna website promotes. One of the owners, Melissa Perlman, admits herself that it is unclear who the original owner was. [Note, I got this information directly from the Casa Magna website: http://www.casamagnatulum.com/]. Anyway, I digress. All this hype about Pablo, and the descriptions on the website definitely made me think this was going to be a luxurious vacation. I also knew from the website that all food, excluding alcohol, was included; there would be limited electricity and no air-conditioning.

When we arrived, we learned we'd be staying in Casa Magna 2, the bigger and most recently renovated of the two villas. Great. Bigger place, same price. Place was beautiful, and all to ourselves. Showers weren't fresh water, no problem. My first shower, I wasn't patient enough and thought there was no hot water. So I took a cold shower, which considering how horribly hot and humid it was the first day, felt refreshing. Slowly, over the next few days, I learned that other people were not so lucky. They actually did not have hot water. And, nobody was really complaining, so it was just in random conversations that things came out. I think some people may have just assumed that the "eco", as in ecological not economical, part of the resort description meant not having hot water, I don't know. I think some people might not have even had running water (I certainly did not for the first few hours of our last day there).

Bugs. Oh boy, were there bugs. It being hurricane season, the mosquitoes were out in force. I started out just using OFF or whatever weak stuff they sell in those spray bottles, but I had to bust out the Jungle Juice from REI soon enough. A couple of mornings I awoke to find mosquitoes inside my netting. One of those mornings, I killed five! Inside my mosquito net! After that, I made sure to inspect the netting before I climbed in for bed. Believe it or not, I wasn't the worst off. Some people had holes in their net. Others were just getting bit more than I (a rare situation). One evening, I tried climbing a coconut tree and found myself covered (a very slight exaggeration) with fleas. I immediately ran to the shower to rinse them off. Speaking of fleas, almost all of us brought some home, so the misery of insect bites continued at least a week after we returned. Talk about the gift that keeps on giving. And anyone who is reading this from the trip, I swear it isn't me who gave you all the fleas by climbing that damn tree. I think the fleas were all over the sand and on the dogs.

Speaking of dogs, there were like 8 dogs running around the property. They were friendly, of course, though one new dog arrived sometime around Thursday night and growled at me on my way to the kitchen. Aside from that, they were nice. A couple were mangy and I didn't want to pet them too much. Anyway, I think they were introducing the fleas. Some of the dogs kept wanting to get into people's rooms, Rob and Emily's in particular. They would scratch at their door around/before sunrise and wake them up. Other's apparently tried to climb into bed with some folks. Another, or two, actually shit on the floor inside the room. Not something you want to happen to you while you are on vacation, without pets. A lot of us are or were pet owners, so it's not like we have anything against dogs.

I think bringing home fleas was the icing on the cake, or maybe the straw that broke the camel's back. Though I think the breaking point was reached far in advance of leaving. Two couples actually left Casa Magna for nearby digs two nights before we left.

Food. Food was great. Kitchen staff was wonderful. They catered to our various needs: special meals for the children, no onions for Cyndi. Maybe someone else didn't like onions either. Meal times according to our schedule. Alcohol price was exorbitant, but I understand that's how places make their money. And, maybe it was a deterrent to drinking. Casa Magna is, after all, a place to cleanse the body and mind. It definitely deterred me from drinking too much, after racking up a $60 bar tab the first night, maybe two (US$6 margies, US$3 bottled beer). Getting sick helped limit my alcohol consumption too (I got no sleep the first night as the air was so thick I couldn't breathe, no sleep the second night either, as I was getting mild stomach cramps; third day I was a zombie, but recovered after sleeping 12 hours that night; I think it must have been heat exhaustion). One problem with the kitchen in Casa Magna 2 is that the refrigerator didn't work. They left us a cooler (more a bin) with beer and ice the first night or two, but all the ice melted within a couple hours. They finally brought us a proper cooler, but still not as good as the one I have at home. This was just a minor inconvenience. It wasn't as if we were cooking our own meals. Though, I know some of the parents were annoyed b/c they couldn't store milk for the kids.

The staff was wonderful, especially Javier and Josh. Though we did wish they would have closed our windows for us one day. We were out on an all day excursion with Josh, when some scattered t-storms rolled through (though not on us). My room, 2nd floor, did not have an awning, so the rains just blew straight in. There must have been an inch to an inch and a half of water. Same with Pele and Pilar's room, though their's was from a leaky roof, in addition to an open window. Cyndi had a partially leaky roof and open window, but luckily was confined to her bath area. Surprisingly, the rooms downstairs were unflooded, due to awnings protecting them. I think Jim and Erin's room partially flooded as well. We ended up helping the limited staff (it was probably 8pm or 9pm, so understandably limited) sweep out the water. Javier was so helpful with that effort. I felt a little bad calling him in to take over for me but I felt for a moment that I wasn't paying good money to labor. After a moment of guilt, I resumed sweeping while asking Javier to look for more squeegies.

Finally, our last night there was on my sister's birthday, so the staff threw a party, piñata and all. The kitchen prepared a special surf and turf meal (did I mention that the staff, like Javier, went out fishing or divng every day for fish, lobster, etc.?). I think that was the best meal of the week (though I did miss another lobster night when sleeping for 12 hours). Josh, Jen(?), and Sascha (sp?) helped blow up balloons manually. Free margaritas and beer. Sort of. That was probably the downer of the night (and not that much of a downer really), but there was confusion over the alcohol. Originally, the staff had said the drinks were on the house, but then Melissa said no. Then she reversed herself and they were indeed free, I think to help make up for the inconveniences of the week. But later, when we went back to our villa, I heard the drinks were only free during the dinner party, not when we got back to CM2. Then, some staff brought over margarita mix and a bottle of tequila, saying it was on the house. Turns out, there was barely enough tequila for a pitcher of margies. All that waffling really made the apology seem disingenuous.

So, the trip was great overall, but could have been fantastic/fabulous. Maybe Casa Magna just has some kinks to iron out. After all, they have just recently (within the year?) opened villa #2, but based on the reviews on Trip Advisor, this may be an ongoing concern. My sister posted a review there, to which Melissa responded. After objectively reviewing what she wrote, my sis pulled her review. However, one thing Bonnie told me that Melissa had said is that Casa Magna was supposed to be more of a villa rental, where we are independent, than a 5-star hotel. I think if that had been the case, it would have been perfect. I would have loved to get into the kitchen and whip up some Coco y Cacao. However, we couldn't really use the kitchen. No refrigerator, no utensils, cookware, not that I searched very hard, but the kitchen was definitely not inviting. Also, I think there is a discrepancy between the web site and it's implied sense of luxury, and what Melissa is saying we were supposed to get - a villa rental. I don't normally think of daily maid service when I rent a cabin in Tahoe, only when I stay in a hotel. In general, I guess I would have preferred something a bit more defined. Either roughing it or luxury. This "rustic luxury" was almost like a tease. Here's a beautiful locale and villa, but yet it isn't as comfortable as it suggests. Or maybe it would be better in the high season, when the weather is better.

Finally (again), just to put things into perspective, most of this group is a bunch of seasoned travelers, myself excluded. OK, I've done my fair share of traveling over my lifetime, but much less compared to the rest of this bunch. Not only have they traveled personally and professionally, but they have worked in/with many hospitality/food service professionals (i.e. Joie de Vivre, Peninsula). They are heavyweights in branding, so basically, what I'm saying is they know what they are talking about.

"Wild" turkeys trying to get into my building at work. My question is, are wild turkeys normally this tame? If so, I now know why we eat them for Thanksgiving dinner.

And the winner is...

???


My little t-shirt modification in anticipation of the upcoming announcement.