We flew from Hanoi, Vietnam to Siem Reap, Cambodia on 9/23. The flight was a couple of hours late, so we didn’t get to do any “tourist” stuff until the next day. We stayed at the Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor, built in 1929 as the only luxury hotel in Siem Reap. It is still a magnificent hotel in the Continental Style. Siem Reap, being the gateway to the Angkor Wat area, is developing like Las Vegas with modern huge tourist hotels with limited casinos that are just now beginning to be included.
We were to be in Siem Reap for five nights, then our party would split and Lois would visit Thailand, the rest on to Ho Chi Minh City.
We arranged for a guide and a van from the hotel to tour the area the next 3 days. This worked very well, and though it could be done more cheaply in the city, the hotel provided an outstanding guide and a good van with cold water, and having A/C here is a requirement.
This is an area where the sites are “the thing”, contrasted with Hanoi where the local environment is “the thing”. Nothing can prepare you for your first view of Angkor Wat. Study, read, look at pictures, and still expect to have your breath taken away.