Vietnam and Cambodia 2020 – Siem Reap

Dividing this into 3 blog posts –  1. Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) 2. Hanoi, Vietnam and 3. Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Fri Mar 13 (!!!!)

Flight was a little early so arrived just before 6:30.  Good flight, good service…..more snacks!

Not a very big airport……stairs rolled up to the plane out on the tarmac.  As soon as we got to the door of the plane the heat hit you!  Wow…..what a difference in temp.  Was 28+C (almost 90F).

Found the China Star visa guy.  He took all our stuff while we filled out the medical questionaires……took about 1/2 an hour for processing and then out to meet our guide here, Kim.  He found us!!  Not too many people arriving so no problems.

Just waiting outside for our van we worked up a sweat.  I can’t even describe how hot it is.  The van is not very big…..basically a mini van with an extra row of seats at the very back that are virtually impossible to get in and out of.  Not terribly comfortable.  Connie wasn’t happy….we are not little people, or at least some of us certainly aren’t.

About a 5 minute drive to the hotel. Not much to see.  Pretty impressive place.  Angkor Empress Hotel   https://www.empressangkor.com/index.html  Beautiful entry and lobby where we were met by a guy with hand sanitizer and a nice refreshing drink of some kind of juice.  Kim asked us to wear our masks…..I think he was worried for himself with a bunch of older ladies….fair enough.  But they are really quite awful to have to wear, especially in this heat.  Beautiful pool and bar area surrounded by the rooms.  Very big place.  Nice room on the 2nd floor but no view, just a wall.  Good air conditioning, thank goodness!!

Brenda knocked on our door looking for her bag, it was no where to be found.  We all took off back to the lobby to find Kim.  Him and her immediately headed back to the airport to check.  They were back in about 15 minutes luckily with her bag…..found sitting on the curb.  Obviously got left when they were loading up the van……it was touch and go if all the bags would fit.  Backpacks didn’t so we just held on to them.  Not sure exactly what happened but that, along with the small van had really annoyed Connie.  They definitely should have been more careful about loading the stuff……they told us to just go ahead and get in but I usually always check to make sure my bag is loaded and honestly we were the only people being picked up at that spot.  She contacted the tour company who arranged for a bigger vehicle and since we now had an extra day they would give us a complimentary tour to Tonle Sap lake and the fishing village.  It all turned out OK.

Met in the lobby for dinner right after Brenda and Kim got back and piled into our much bigger van!!  Another excellent dinner at a place called “Queen Cuisine”.  The food is just a touch different here but all really good.  Had our first Cambodian beers, which were ice cold and really refreshing (Cambodia Lager and Angkor Ale).  All our meals have been from set menus but you get a ton of food and good variety of dishes.  Tonight the “fried morning glory” was delicious…..the stocks and buds are done kind of like zucchini sticks.  Best tho was the minced pork and beef lok lok……we got the recipe for it.   Only us and 4 others, also tourists, in the restaurant.

 

Dinner was quite late so just time for a drink at the bar by the pool and to bed.  Unbelievable how warm it is still at that time…..11PM!  Angkor Wat tomorrow!!

Sat Mar 14

Up early.  Nice little buffet with an egg guy.  Only our group for breakfast.  There is at least one other group of people at the hotel…..a family of 6 from Germany.  So that said, not sure why they put us way at the back of the hotel???  Oh well!

No need to find ATMs or bank machines here.  Only US dollars needed.

On the road just after 8.  Was dark last night when we arrived so great to see the city sites and activity in the daylight.  Lots of big empty hotels here.  Tourism is what keeps this place going so very sad situation for them right now.  There is a big ferris wheel, the “Angkor Eye” just about across the street from us as well as a night market that is closed right now.  Lots of small strip mall type shops along with the road side food and produce stands and wagons.

 

Would describe it as “scruffy”.  Not dirty but not terribly neat and tidy…..sort of a mix of helterskelter buildings, paved and gravel, or dirt, driveways.  There are separate side roads on either side for scooters, which is a good idea.  Seen that someplace in Vietnam as well.

Drove for about 10 minutes to the Angkor Wat visitor centre where  got our 2 days passes.  They take your picture and give you the pass on a lanyard.  How exciting to see this!!

https://www.tourismcambodia.com/attractions/angkor/angkor-wat.htm   My pictures just don’t do justice……and there is a smudge on my lens!!!

The whole site, which includes Angkor Thom too, is huge, over 400 sq km.  Built somewhere between 9-13th centuries.  There are a ton of temples scattered all thru the park.  It’s all very nice, lots of forest as well as various kinds of food and sourvenir stands along the road and at the entrance gates.  Hardly anyone there!!  Maybe a couple hundred people as opposed to the usual 1000’s.  Angkor Wat is pretty impressive as you approach it.  You cross over a moat on a floating bridge.  The moat is pretty yucky…..quite a bit of garbage unfortunately but some pretty pink and purple water lilies.  Also guys fishing in it!!

Kim gave us the history of it.  Loved the serpent statues…..the body makes up the railing with the head and tail at either end, lots of carved pillars….incredible detail.  Just spectacular.  Once thru the main entry there is another long stone walkway up to the temple.  Us and a handful of people!!!!  In some ways we are incredibly lucky to be here at this time.  Just fantastic with so few people.  There are lakes and ponds on both side of the walkway closer to the temple…..this is where everyone comes to see the sunrise.

Very, very hot and it was just after 9!  The temple is just spectacular as you approach it. Once up to it you can spend hours taking in all the detailed carving everywhere and on everything, post, pillar, wall……just amazing.

They have a set route to follow for exploring, which is probably necessary when there is a zillion people here…was even good today as it keeps everyone going in the same direction.  I would guess-timate that there were maybe 100 people, if that.  Even with the directions there are open areas where you are free to wander and just admire the detail on pillars and walls.  Many Buddha altars that are decorated…….never turn your back on Buddha, always back away!  There were a couple of monks doing blessings so we all got blessed…..happiness, peace and health (lets hope so!!) The blessings are by donation….$1US.  The monk was quite the character…..tried to make some jokes and laughed a lot.  When Brenda went by later he splashed water on her and laughed.  Many of the Buddha statues, of which there are 100’s I think, have lost their heads!!  Lopped off by people over the years to sell, which is too bad.

Finished following the marked route…..the intricacy of the carvings is incredible.  Still lots of restoration happening so hopefully they’ll uncover, and recover, much more.  We were able to climb the very steep and narrow stairs to the highest temple.  The view from the top is great, more and more carvings.  Coming down the stairs was a bit scary, luckily there is a good railing.

It is soooooo hot….said it was 38C (105F) and humid.  Just brutal.  Glad I brought my hat!

We exited thru a different gate so didn’t have to walk all the way back.  There’s a stupa that was built for the caretakers of Angkor Wat and some beautiful carved murals on the wall that tell a story.  All the floor stones have two holes in them…they were used with sticks (strong sticks!!) to move the stones there and put them in place.    The walkway out, after going thru the gate, is very pretty, treelined with various other buildings, more roadside stands selling food, fruit, veg and souvenirs.

Lunch was a short drive away at a place that overlooked the lake.  Very pretty.  Small communities scattered about.  Not sure if they are actually in the park but apparently are still part of Siem Reap the city.  Lunch was great….we ordered from the menu today.  The Angkor beer was especially tasty!  This place served “authentic” Khmer food.  Had my first taste of “amok”, which is delicious.  It’s a mild curry sauce usually served with fish……”amok frog” was also on the menu!!!!  I had the ribs (v.g.).  We were admiring the very pretty carved carrot garnish on the plates so the chef came out and did a demo for us.  Very sweet, cute lady.

Drove back a different route, past more little communities and lots of roadside food stands.  Most of the stands have hammocks strung up in the trees behind them…..they call them “hammock cafes”.  Locals come on the weekend to enjoy the food and the shade.  Tons of monkeys.  Scavenging for anything they can find or snatch.  A couple of them were on a hammock having a great time swinging and flipping around.

Our next stop was the Killing Fields Museum.   https://www.justgola.com/a/wat-thmey-killing-field-2533637   I only made it thru the first room displays….just beyond ones imagination how horrific it was.  Just unbelievable really.  You can’t “un-see” things, so could not handle this at all.  I don’t think you have to see it to believe it!  While everyone else was going thru, I went back out to the covered outdoor lobby area and chatted with a lady from England, who also couldn’t deal with the museum. Watched the monks at the temple next door.  They were trying to get a chainsaw started….about 5 young guys working on it.  Followed the others but stayed on the walkway and caught up with them in the plaza or ?? at the end, where there is a glass stupa filled with bones that was built to commemorate the horrors of the war and all who lost their lives.  The bones are from mass graves that were found around the area.

Beautiful temple in the plaza.  Brenda and Cathy got blessed again.

Cambodia also has a very young popultation so few people left who experienced that horrible period in their history.  According to Kim the young people are fully aware of the atrocities that took place and have vowed that it would never happen again.  I can only hope for their sake that it does not.  We cannot, in our comfy homes and war-free countries, even begin to imagine what they lived, or didn’t live, thru.  There was an elderly man selling a book that he’d written…..he was a survivor of the Khmer Rouge.  I kind of wish now that I had bought it.

Back to the hotel with a few hours to spend by the pool…..which was like bathwater but refreshing enough when you got out, at least for a few minutes.  Just us!  A couple others had been there when we were walking to our rooms but gone by the time we got back down.  Had time to update journals, visit with Connie and Lori and have a couple of drinks, which were not cheap and unfortunately not very good either.  I had a Long Island Ice Tea, which was one of their specials.  I’ll stick with wine or G&T’s.  Have no idea how hot it was today but you cannot honestly move a foot without working up a sweat.

Tonight was our special dinner show at a place called Por Cuisine.  https://www.porcuisine.com/   According to their menu/program some of the money received is donated to a charity, which is good.  Very nice place, semi-outside, dinner was excellent.  Definitely a place geared towards tourists though.  Not too many empty tables.  Show was good, all done quite nicely.  Nice evening!

No drinks at the bar back at the hotel tonight.  Quite late getting back and still has to be in the high 20’s….not cooling off at all.

What a great day.  Long and hot but so lucky to have been able to visit with no crowds!

Sun Mar 15

Something was in our ceiling last night…..between our ceiling and the floor above.  Sounded like critters of some sort.  Could hear it squealing and racing around, like claws scratching.  After listening for about 10 minutes we called the front desk to try and explain what we were hearing…….they sent up two guys to fix our air conditioning!!  That was definitely not the problem…..we tried to tell them the noise was in the ceiling but just gave up.  The scratching had stopped so we couldn’t explain it any better than we already had.  Oh well!  I hope we don’t hear it again tonight.

Breakfast today was not buffet, guess not enough people here to put out all that food.  Had our choice of 3 different things……continental to full English breakfast.  All very good.

To Angkor Thom this AM.  https://www.siemreap.net/visit/angkor/temples/angkor-thom/

Excellent map of the entire site!  It’s hard to put into perspective where you are when being driven around.

Click to access Map-of-Angkor-Side-A.pdf

Thru a different entrance into the park this morning.  Way more trees around here,  very nice.  The roadside is dotted with fruit/veg/food vendors and a few souvenir kiosks.  The bridge up to the entrance is lined on both sides with Buddhas….happy ones on the left and mad ones on the right!

Bayon temple was our first stop.  The ruins are just phenomenal….the carvings unbelievable.  I’m a roman ruin junkie but these are so different and so interesting.  Some restoration has been done, and continues to be done, but still enough of the ruin left for you to use your imagination to see what it was like once upon a time.  I think I like this better than Angkor Wat because of the state that it’s in.  Part of it was closed due to the restoration work but luckily the main towers with the smiling Buddhas could still be seen.  Was great just wandering around, every turn or arch that you walked thru offered something just a little different. Amazing!!

Baphuon temple (Baboon temple) next…..this place was just as impressive.  Much more forest/jungle.  There were monkeys having lots of fun in the pool at the entrance.  Running up and down the steps, pushing each other and jumping into the water….just having a great time and very entertaining to watch.

You could climb up the stairs to the top of the temple but we didn’t…..too hot!  I found the grounds of this temple very interesting.  All the stone and bits ready for restoration.  Lots of trees trying to take over the ruins.  Lots of shade so nice to explore.

The Elephant Terrace was probably pretty spectacular in it’s day.  It was the viewing platform for the king.  It’s almost 1000ft long and built with huge stones that were then carved into elephants with Buddhas on them.  Some have trunks that stand out…..at one time there were tusks too but those are long gone.  Just all pretty impressive.

Our last stop was Ta Prohm, where the movie Tomb Raiders was made.  This was the absolute best place yet!!  The ruins, the trees, just everything about it……trees growing out of buildings, roots taking over, rubble scattered all over, amazing bits of stone with carvings half hidden by more rubble or roots…..truly nature taking back what was taken from it!!  Just fantastic.

The cicadas!!  Almost deafening the noise that they made…..you could not hear yourself talk!  Nor could you hear the guys, survivors of the war….a couple of them were blind, who were entertaining with traditional music and songs.

Magnificent trees, possibly a type of banyon, whose roots not only grow under ground but above the ground, up and over anything and everything that gets in their way…..just amazing.

In one of the doorways was a guy doing ink drawings of Angkor What.  Bought one that he’d just finished…..he wanted $25, offered him $20 and he took it.  I almost felt bad because you could see all the work that went into it!  He rolled it up and put it in a woven reed tube for me.  I just love it.

This place is just magical!!!  Not only tree roots, but entire trees growing out of, or on top of, rubble.  They’ve put in some reinforcing so arches and walls don’t fall down.  Some of the carving are still in fantastic shape with sharp details.  Not sure if the stone has copper in it that has iodized or whether it’s just the lichen but it’s all so beautiful…..truly one of the most amazing places I’ve been.  This is better than Angkor Wat!!  I’m glad we did this after because I really think I’d have been disappointed.  We all got to stand by the entrance covered in tree roots that was in the movie.  Inside one of the more stable looking ruins you can see how these were built using huge stones shaped into rectangles that were stacked.  The outside was carved into whatever the ruler at the time wanted.  I can’t even describe this place.  Except for it being unbelievably hot, I think I could have spent hours and hours just wandering around Ta Prohm.

Restoration is continuing but very slowly…..and I think that makes me happy!  I’m sure there are wonderful treasures buried under the rubble and roots but it is just beautiful and magical the way it is.  My fav place so far!

Lunch was at a restaurant called “Nearly”, from a set menu…..all excellent again!  Love the very, very spicy peanuts that they put out for nibblies.  Tried a “Brunty’s Pear Cider which was really refreshing…..was a British company but now local.

After lunch we visited a couple of local artisan shops.  The first one was ridiculously expensive and I’m not sure that is truly was local.  Ran by people from India.  Lots of the same type of stuff we saw in artisan stores there!  Beautiful scarves…..upwards of $50US, lots of knickknack type things, jade and bronze Buddhas, as well as some huge statues and furniture…..and carpets!!  All lovely but not anything that any of us were interested in.  Next stop was good though, a place called Artisan Angkor.  Said it’s all local and hopefully it was.  Beautiful silk clothing and scarves, lots of little bits of things like keychains.  They had candles as well and some larger items too.  Still a little expensive but a bit more reasonable.   I did buy a very pretty bright pink silk scarf and a few other little bits for gifts.

A bit of a drive thru the city enroute to the new night market…….lots to look at along the way.

Our last stop for the day was the market.  Fun place with a maze of stalls, mostly all selling the same stuff.  Lots of fun browsing and bargaining.  The old market is across the river, where we’ll go tomorrow night.  The streets and bridges are all lit up at night.

Back to the hotel around 7:30 for dinner.  Set menu but all good and beautifully presented.  I’m pretty sure I had never had Cambodian food before and have to say it has been my favorite!  Love Vietnamese but I think these guys have a bit of an edge…..similar but more flavor and spice.

Very tired after a long, busy and very hot day…..and still hot night!!  Definitely near the top of the list for highlights of the trip.

Mon Mar 16

No critters last night!  Up very early today……our last day.  So much crammed into this vacation it’s hard to believe we’ve only been gone two weeks!  That’s a good thing in a way…..I guess.  Very hot again…..

After breakfast we went off on our “extra” excursion.  Tonle Sap is a fairly big lake just outside of Siem Reap, about a 1/2 hr drive, and the floating villages.  On the way there we passed thru many little villages, farms with lots of water buffalos and cattle, the usual fruit stands, a few restaurants and the lotus farms, which are gorgeous.  We stopped on the way back.

 

We arrived at the marina and boarded our rather lopsided boat, which luckily had a cover…..very, very hot.  Many boats tied up…..not the usual number of tourists unfortunately.  These poor, literally, people are going to feel the pinch.

This whole area is part of the Mekong flood plain, even though we’re a few hundred miles away from the river.  Many of the houses along the river are built on stilts to stay above the high water during the rainy/flood season.  The lake is really low right, probably only a few feet deep in many places.  Quite a steep ramp to get down to the boat.  The river looks very dirty but apparently it isn’t, just now because it’s so low there is a lot of sediment.  Lots of people fishing in the water along the shore……supposedly crocs in the lake!!

Quite a few boats heading in and out of the lake getting supplies, gas etc.  A few temples along the channel, or this narrow part of the lake, built up very high with really steep stairs.  A cemetery built on one of the higher banks.  One side on the way is a very pretty forest, the other is roughly put together storage buildings and some of the houses built on stilts.  As we got closer to the open lake the channel widened and we started seeing the fishing traps…..looks like a bunch of sticks stuck in the water in big circles.  Passed a croc farm.

Once out on the lake there’s a main floating village area with a church and a school.  The rest is sort of scattered around .  Many are little communities or “neighbourhoods” with some houses attached by ramps.  Some are definitely floating while others are built on stilts.  A few of the homes are just boats that the fisherman and their families live on.  Quite a few boats out of the water on stilts too…..sort of drydocking to maintenance.  Most are painted in very bright colours…..really very pretty.   Apparently there are approx 180 of these floating villages on the lake.  Many houses have big potted plants and boxes or pots of pretty flowers.  We weren’t sure how deep the water was until we saw a little boy following his boat…..it was waist deep on him.  A few other people in the water doing whatever.  Lots of little kids….really cute and most of them naked or just about.

Spent about an hour just motoring around the lake…..really enjoyable.  Some of the houses looked like they might be restaurants…..big pots steaming away and a few tables on a dock.  All incredibly interesting.  Must be a very difficult life with so few amenities close at hand.  Kim pointed out the “bathrooms” on a couple of the houses and boats….what was shaped like a port-a-potty attached at the back….no real sewage systems for sure.

We stopped at the croc farm on the way back, which was really not necessary.  Too many of the poor things just stacked one on top of the other.  The only good thing was the view from the roof-top platform.

Our boat stalled a couple times on the way back.  Our captain had to make his way to the back to pull up the motor and untangle weeds, nets and who knows what else that we’d collected along the way.  We all gave him a nice big tip….not sure when he’ll get more business.

We stopped at the lotus farm on the way back.  It is so beautiful!!  They have walkways over the water and little thatched huts where you can go to have lunch.  You can bring your own or they’ll prepare one for you.  A very beautiful little girl was showing us around.  She picked one of the unopened blooms and showed us “magic”.  She twirled it quickly between the palms of her hands and it opened.  She gave each of us one to try ourselves.  What a cutie she was.  They have a few geese, chickens and ducks wandering around.

I think it cost $2US to get in and wander around.  The lotus flowers are very pretty and grow quite tall compared to waterlilies.  They bloom during the day then the petals fall at night….interesting!  The lotus blossom is sacred to Buddhists.  They eat the new leaves and the roots.  The seeds are used to make a tea for sleeping.  The stand across the street had the green pods that are left after the petals fall off…..had only ever seen the brown dried pods at home.  The whole place was just lovely……like a Monet painting!

Lunch was at the same place as yesterday…..a first!  We’ve never had a repeat but I guess since this was a bit of an unplanned day we just went back.  All was excellent as usual…..another pre-set menu but different.  We ordered a side of fries, which was a real treat.  Had another Brunty’s Cider.

Kim arranged massages for us!!  So back to the hotel for a couple hours first to have a swim, a drink or two and to just relax by the pool.

Massages were interesting!!  We had our choice of full body with oil, full body without oil or just legs.  Lori and I opted for just the legs and Connie went with the full with oil, the others did the full without oil.  Only Connie got to go into her own separate room.  First though, we had to take our shoes off and have a bit of a foot wash……while they served us some hibiscus tea.  We got these huge floppy sandal things to put on then were ushered into a big long room with 5 mats on the floor.  Those having full body had to put on these big loose pajama types things, Lori and I just had to put the bottoms on.  I guess seen they aren’t using oil, it would be kind of rough on the skin or ????  Anyway, we had lots of laughs and fun getting ready.  Then our ladies came in and started the massages.  They were not gentle!!!  But it actually felt pretty good.  I was sure I was going to have bruises on my shins.  They’re big on toe pulling!!  And leg pulling, pushing and twisting.  Ended with a neck and back rub and chop or two.  Surprising how good it felt after!

Tonight, being our last night and on our own for dinner we decided to spend the evening on Pub Street.  Kim first took us on a bit of a tour, pointed out some of the better places to eat and where the entertainment would be later.  And explained how the tuk tuks worked.  $4US per tuk tuk, not per person, to get us back to the hotel.

We thanked Kim for being such a great guide and tipped him, on top of what we’d already paid the tour company for tips.  He was really good, a great host to his country.  I think he was a bit afraid of us at first, but we had lots of fun with him.

We all sort of went our own ways for an hour or two and decided to meet up for dinner around 7.  Lori and Connie are still here for one more night, but we’ll meet up with them again at the airport in Hong Kong.  Not sure why we couldn’t have just stayed as well but oh well.  And so far, so good…..no messages from Eddie telling us anything to do with our flights home has changed.

The markets was fun to wander around……mostly all souvenir type stuff.  Lots of clothes, some a bit different but pretty much all the same stuff we’d seen at all the other markets and stands.  Unfortunately most of it comes from China.  A few places did have locally made stuff and the odd artisan type shop here and there.  Found a lady who made cards!!  Absolutely beautiful ones with the designs made from folded paper.  She is deaf and some of the money she makes goes to an association for people with disabilities……how nice.  She was just lovely too.  There were also a few of the fish pedicure places…….eeewwwwww.  Just could not imagine having that done.  Depending on how bad your feet and toes are I guess, they have different sized fish!!

As it started to get dark, all the streets around the market filled up……tons of people.  Have no idea where they all came from since we’ve seen so few tourists anywhere we’ve been……and these were definitely tourists.

We all met up and found the $2 mojito guy!!  Watched him make them…..quite a show!  And they were really good.  Lots of places with beer on tap for $.50!!!  If you want a bottle it’s $2. Went to a pub right on Pub Street for dinner.  I ordered a hamburger, which is something I don’t usually do but they sounded and looked pretty darn good.  And it was!!  A few drinks and a bit of chatting made for a fun last evening with Lori and Connie.  They went off one way and we walked about 10ft to where the band was set up and grabbed one of the many tables set up in the middle of the street.  Also grabbed a few of the cheap draft beer.  The music started and so did the dancing……was really good, lots of fun.  Great music!!

Along came a local man with down syndrome, who somehow honed in on Cathy…..maybe he knew that she was one of those wonderful people that has a big heart……and that she works with people with disabilities.  He had a wonderful time dancing with her.  At one point he dug out his wallet, went up to the jar that the band had and put some money in it.  Other people then started doing the same thing.  After a few minutes some security guy came along and tried to move the man along…..Cathy basically told him to bugger off!!  The guy was having fun and bothering no one.  Good on her……a number of people came along and gave her a pat on the back for that.

Earlier in the evening one of the tuk tuk guys had asked if we needed one……we said that we would but later.  He hung around us all evening!!  I guess if you’ve got a potential customer you hang on to them, especially right now.  Tons of people though on the street just having a grand old time.  Chatted with some fellows from India, a couple ladies from England became dancing partners thru the evening.  Everyone just having a wonderful time.

Really not looking forward to going home!!  Messages coming fast and furiously now about long line ups at the airport, cancelled flights, no toilet paper (??), empty shelves at stores, everything closing down etc. etc. and having to self-isolate for 2 weeks once we get home…..ah sigh.  Sounds like it might be safer to just stay here!!

Was 11 by the time we told our tuk tuk driver that we were ready to go.  Nice little drive back to the hotel…..took about 10 minutes.  Nice young guy so we each gave him $5US!!  Hopefully he went back and managed to get another customer or two because once everyone here is gone I don’t think they’ll be seeing too many tourists for a while.

What a great day and a super evening for our last day!  Pretty much just fell into bed.  Will pack or re-pack in the morning!

Tues Mar 17

Nice bit of a sleep in this morning……our flight to Bangkok isn’t until 1:30 so lots of time to repack and get ready.

Breakfast was back to buffet this morning…..seems to be a few more people.  Chatted with a gal from Toronto yesterday by the pool that is heading to Thailand to teach a month long yoga retreat…..I hope it all works out for her.  She had some concerns but decided to do it anyway.

Went to the hotel dress shop and bought the cute dress I’d been eyeing the last few days.  Packed up, said bye to Connie and Lori and off to the airport we went.  Only the driver, no Kim.  Tipped him too for putting up with us the last few days……he hadn’t said too much be was very accommodating at stopping/starting etc. when ever we wanted…..only that luggage thing at the beginning but…..

Airport was pretty much empty…..very few flights.  All flights to China…..cancelled!!  What an interesting time to be travelling!

Flight to Bangkok was only 1 hour.  On Bangkok Airlines…..apparently has won awards for the best “boutique” airline in Asia.  Small plane (prop), only held 50ish people.  Served snacks of course!  Not much to see because of cloud, or haze.  Neat airport in Bangkok…..kind of like Papeete.  Walked from the plane to the terminal and right to our gate.  Only one hour to wait.

Cathay Pacific for the flight to Hong Kong.  Plane only half full and seemed to be the only there at the time we left.  Uneventful flight…..a couple hours to Hong Kong (yet, more snacks!!), plus a 1 hour time change so well after 8 by the time we arrived.

Thru customs in Hong Kong, no issues.  Chatted with a guy on our flight that also had to overnight in Hong Kong but he was put up at an airport hotel……so why we had to go all the way into the city to the “Panda Hotel”, who knows.  Could not find our driver or shuttle, so up to the Cathay Pacific desk to ask for some help.  The guy had a look at our voucher and called the hotel……no problem.  Just grab a cab and the hotel will pay when we get there.

We found the taxi stand, hopped in and off we went.  Had started to rain a bit and a lot cooler in HK for sure.  Many big taxis in line but the next taxi was just a Toyota or something like that….not a big one either!  Our luggage didn’t fit all the way in the trunk so he used a bungie cord attached to a trailer hitch or ? to hold the trunk down….. a couple of worried laughs from us…..he said “no problem”!!  OK then!  The poor driver was afraid of us I think…..it looked like he was trying to lean over against his door as much as he possibly could…..Donna was in the front, the rest of us squished in the back.  He wore a mask and we all wore ours too.  Not sure if he didn’t speak English or was just too stressed to talk to us.  We’d ask a question and he’d nod or just say “yes”, “OK” or not answer at all!

Took well over 1/2 an hour to get to the hotel.  Couldn’t really see too much…..too dark.  We’re at the Panda Hotel.  http://www.pandahotel.com.hk/en/accommation/rooms  The lobby is lovely, the rooms not so much…..definitely not anything like the pics!  Thought maybe we’d been stuck in some cheap crappy rooms at the end of the hall but could see in the other rooms on our floor and they looked exactly the same…..so the website pics are definitely deceiving.  Our room was clean and all but very basic, almost army barrack-ish and rather old/outdated.  Looks like we might have a not bad view though….we’ll see tomorrow.

Checked in, filled out health forms, temperature taking etc.  They told us to just leave our luggage with the concierge and run in to have dinner before the restaurant closed.  Which we did…..lady was not happy but we explained that it was not our fault and to not be angry with us…..she did come around even laughing a bit.  Too late for a big meal and gawd knows we’d had enough snacks enroute.  I had soup and garlic bread, which was very good.

Up to our rooms, they take your temperature every time you go up the elevator…..hope those things don’t cause a brain whatever!!!  That was pretty much it for the day.   Not enough plugs in the room….or ones in the right places.  Needed one for Donna’s CPAP or she’d have to sleep with her head at the foot of the bed.  Called downstairs for an extention cord and they did send one up but it didn’t work…..plugged it into all the plugs (2!!) and would not work in either.  She survived without it.

Long day of just travelling.  Was just happy that all went as planned, or at least just about except for the missing driver at the airport.

Wed Mar 18

Slept OK.  Nice breakfast buffet including an egg guy and really good bacon!  No rush this morning but no time either to have a bit of a walk around.  Just wandered down onto the street in front of the hotel to have a bit of a look but was drizzling so didn’t go too far.  Just about everyone in HK wears masks……maybe a handful of people that don’t and that’s it.

Not sure what area of Hong Kong we’re in but a lot of both commerical buildings and apartments.  Busy street.  Our hotel seems to share a lobby with a business tower, with a separate set of elevators just past the reception, so tons of people just wandering thru.  I think there is a mall below.  The hotel lobby is on the second or third floor.  At the back, coming off the street there’s a covered walkway up.  Tons of traffic but not a lot of honking!  Can’t say one way or the other what I think of HK since we really didn’t get a chance to see any of it.  So maybe another time……

Check out is at 11, so we did that and stored our luggage while we went and had lunch….that was included thanks to Cathay Pacific.  Basically finished it and our driver arrived to take us to the airport.  Our flight is at 4.

Saw a bit more on the drive to the airport…..the cable car, tons of fairly tall apartment buildings…….or just tons of buildings period.  Crossed the bridge again and got a look at the port area and marinas.  Lots of green spaces too.  Looks like it could be quite nice.

Arrived at the airport, check-in etc. all went smoothly.  Had to go back thru immigration, which was a bit of a pain but didn’t take long.  So now I have an HK stamp in my passport!  Not much to show for it though.

Airport is just as empty as it was the first time we came through.  You can see the planes parked for what looks like miles around in every available space they have…..just wow!   Met up with Connie and Lori!  They’d just arrived, their flight was direct from Siem Reap. Lori will head to Vancouver with us and Connie will catch her direct flight to Toronto, which leaves an hour or so after ours.  Chatted with them for a bit before we boarded.  Yet again, said goodbye to Connie.

Plane was maybe 3/4 full.  I had the window, Brenda had the aisle with no one in between.  Was on the good side of the plane for pics except too much cloud so not much to see unfortunately.   Very bumpy flight…..the first couple hours especially.

Dinner was served about an hour or so after take off…..pork something or other.  Looked good but kind of tasteless…..had a little bottle of wine, which was good, and took my gravol.  Slept for about 5 hours straight…….using my foot hammock again.  That thing is really great.  I don’t think it bothers the person in the seat in front of you…..at least I hope it doesn’t.  They didn’t say anything so will assume not.

Flight home was only 11.5hrs, which was nice.  Dozed on and off pretty much the rest of the way until breakfast was served about an hour before landing.  Our flight arrived around 11AM, so we not only gained back our day but an extra 3 hours!  Can always use extra hours!!

Was a little anxious about arriving back in Vancouver after all the messages we’d gotten and some of the news we’d read……horror stories about people in line ups for hours etc.  Had none of that!!  I think we may have been the only international flight arriving so took no time at all to clear customs.  Donna and Brenda have Nexus so they went off into a different line, Cathy and I were together in the other line.  We both got up to counters next to each other at the same time.  My guy was a bit snarky……asked where I was coming from so I said HK and before I could add Cambodia and Vietnam, he sort of barked “before that!!”  He didn’t ask if I was sick, or had been sick.  Didn’t question anything about what I’d bought etc.  What he did ask was……taking his thumb and pointing over at Cathy…..”Are you travelling with HER?”, I said “yes”.  He sort of stares over at her and says “How do you know HER”…. My neck hairs are starting to bristle…..but I very calmly said “We met 6 years ago when OUR husbands died”……at which point he turns to look at me and pauses for a minute and says very quietly….”Oh, I’m sorry”….hands back my passport and sheet about self-isolating and away I go.  What a jerk!  Other than where she’d been, Cathy nor the others weren’t asked anything.  Oh well.  Waited for our luggage, said goodbye to Lori and off we went to grab the shuttle to the Park n Fly.

Was just about 3 by the time I walked in my door after dropping everyone else off.  Linds had moved to my brothers for my 2 weeks of isolation so she could still go to work.  She’d stocked up on goodies for me, including wine, so will be good for at least the next week then will have to phone her or a friend to restock.

Overall just an excellent trip, wonderful sights, beautiful and friendly people……..so very lucky to have been able to go as who knows when the next one will be.  I’m also very lucky that I was able to squeak in those couple weeks in Cabo in February.   Darn lucky I’d say……managed two trips in 2020 and many won’t even get one!