On the rainy days in June 2018, we, the staffs of Asiatica Travel together joined a trip to discover the mysterious country of Cambodia. With the purpose of deep learning about culture, traditions and the daily life of local people, we had visited almost all of this country within 10 days.
Our trip began with a two-hour flight departed from Hanoi on a Vietnam Airlines aircraft. Arriving in Siem Reap when the clock ticked at 8 p.m, we went for a dinner at a traditional Khmer restaurant with Angkorian dishes and Angkor beer. After dinner, we moved to the hotel to check-in for the first night in Cambodia. The hotel we stayed is Tara Angkor Hotel, a 4-star hotel located about 10-minute from the center of Siem Reap by tuk tuk.
In the first morning, our group visited the Angkor complex with its most renowned temple, namely Angkor Wat, Bayon and Ta Prohm. After lunch, we continue the trip by visiting KILT NGO orphanage house, which located not far from the city center. At the house, we talked and sang together with the kids and gave them some gifts including notebooks, milk, cooking oil, wheat and some money to help improve the living space for the center. Then we transferred to visit Kampong Pluk floating village on the Tonle Sap Lake. All the houses in this village is built on dozen-meter bamboo piles. In rainy season, the water can even flood all of these piles. In the evening, the dinner at Por Cuisine impressed us extremely with Apsara dance music, a traditional ballet of Cambodian Royal Family, which was used to be performed to noble class.
On the second day, we continue our trip to Battambang, the second largest city in Cambodia, which is located not far from Cambodia - Thailand border. The first attraction we visit in Battambang is Phnom Banan, a temple situated on the top of a hill that can be reached after climbing up 300 stairs. This is a temple relic remaining from the Angkor era. After Phnom Banan, we had a chance to experience the Bamboo Train, a former mean of transportation of locals here by using the old railways. Unfortunately, nowadays, travelers are no longer allowed to use the old rail tracks but a smaller track in a specialized area for tourists. Then our group traveled back to the city center and had dinner with fried chicken, curry and spicy beef salad. We spent the night at Classy Hotel.
To begin the third day, we headed to Phnom Penh Capital. Before leaving Battambang, we paid a visit to Wat Ek Phnom, an Angkorian ruined temple. The scenery from Battambang to Phnom Penh is rather poor and monotonous. 50 kilometers before arriving Phnom Penh, we stopped at Oudong ancient capital, where remains several temples dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries and a beautiful new temple, which was only built a few years ago. The traffic in Phnom Penh was quite bad so that we can only reach the city at 8.30 p.m. After dinner in Aeonmall Center, we were transfered to Double Leaf Boutique Hotel for the night.
The next day, we spent time to explore Phnom Penh, the most beautifully planned city during the colonial period in Indochina. The small tree-lined streets with French-style villas make us feel like wandering in Europe. The Royal Palace is the most important tourist attraction in Phnom Penh. Situated close to Bassac River, with its distinctive Khmer-style yellow roofs and Italian marble floor, Cambodian Royal Palace deserves to be one of the most beautiful palaces in the world. The palace's grounds consist of the Silver Pagoda, whose floor is paved by 5329 pieces of silver; and numerous gardens and the library, creating poetic scenery. We then visited the National Museum of Cambodia, which was built during the French colonial period, with an appearance of a magnificent bordeaux-colored pagoda. The museum is a place to preserve thousands of national treasures such as stone statues, royal furnishings and reliefs from Angkor complex. After the lunch on Bassac riverside, we set off to Sihanoukville, the largest port city in the south of the country.
Sihanoukville welcomed us by a heavy rain at its peak of rainy season. The city has become more clutter with unfinished constructions everywhere. There is a large number of Chinese people come here to live, along with that is the growing of numerous Chinese-owned casinos.
After one night relaxing in Sihanoukville, we departed to the port to visit Koh Rong island. As soon as arriving at the port, we went on a high-speed boat to transfer to Koh Rong Island, the tropical heaven in the middle of the Gulf of Thailand. As the weather is rainy, the beach was not as alluring as in the photos we saw on the Internet. At present, Koh Rong is the paradise for backpackers with plenty of bars and pubs that create a lively nightlife on this island. The beach with white and smooth sand now has been divided by the paths to drain water from the bungalows into the sea. The scenery was under our expectation because it is not beautiful as it was.
The next day, we traveled back to Phnom Penh and went shopping at the city's night market on the river bank.
On the seventh day, we get on the road to visit Kratie, a small city in the northeast of Cambodia, along Mekong River. We saw more green scenery with rice fields and corn fields. Mekong River brings the rich to this area with the river islets full of fruits. After 5-minute transfer by ferry, we set our step on Koh Trong Island, where we stayed in a homestay and enjoyed local specialties.
Early morning on the eighth day, we cycled around to explore the whole Koh Trong Island. We planned to take a boat to watch the Irrawady dolphins, an extinct spieces with only individuals remaining. Nevertheless, due to the rainy season, we had to cancel this plan. We then headed to Kampong Cham, an old port city of Champa and Khmer people. En route, we saw a village of Muslim Cambodians. Arrival in Kampong Cham, we firstly visit Wat Nokor Banchey, an Angkorian relic from the 12th century. That evening we stayed at LBN Asian Hotel and enjoyed dinner at Mekong Crossing restaurant by the windswept Mekong river bank.
The ninth day, we moved to Kampong Thom, another city on the way from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. En route, we stopped to visit Phnom Bros and Phnom Srei, two newly built Khmer-style temple. Arriving at Kampong Thom at 2 p.m, we visited Sambor Prei Kuk, the ancient capital of Funan Kingdom. This is the group of temples located deep inside the jungle, which was built of bricks from the 7th century. These are considered the oldest temple in Cambodia. In Kampong Thom, we stayed at the lovely Glorious Hotel & Spa.
On the last day, we returned to Siem Reap and visited the Angkor National Museum before went to the central market for shopping some gifts for our family, friends and colleagues. Late in the afternoon, we arrived at the airport for the flights to return to Hanoi.
This trip was a long trip with a lot of challenges in terms of weather, food and transfer but left us with a wealth of experience of travel routes. See you in the nearest day in Cambodia!
Year 2018 starts with plenty of positive signs of a successfull business year to Asiatica Travel. Every staffs of Asiatica Travel has been working in the spirit of highest enthusiasm to bring you the most excellent travel experiences in our country. To reward to these efforts, Asiatica Travel's board of director had organized an incentive trip for all employees to 2 coastal cities, Tuy Hoa in Phu Yen province, and Quy Nhon in Binh Dinh province.
Departure from Noi Bai International Airport on a flight operated by VietJet Air at 7:15 in the morning, we are welcomed at Tuy Hoa Airport in Phu Yen with blazzing sunshine and extremely hot sea breeze.
Our first stop is Nhan tower, a Champa building structure that built at the end of the 11th century. The tower situated on the top of a hil, with a wide panoramaview to the little city of Tuy Hoa.
We continued the trip to visit with a journey of 3 kilometers hiking to reach Dai Lanh lighthouse, the very first place to welcome the dawn in the mainland of Vietnam. In the evening, we spent time relaxing by the pool, enjoyed dinner on the beach and went for a street food tour.
The following day, we woke up quite early to prepare for the departure to Quy Nhon, a coastal city, an emerging destination for even Vietnamese people. En route, we visited Ganh Ong, an alluring beach, where was the filming place for the film "Yellow Flowers on Green Grass"; Da Dia reef, a masterpiece of nature with thousands of round-shaped rocks stacked on each other, make the area look like a giant plate piles collection. Arrived in Quy Nhon, we spent all the afternoon to play with the sand, the sea waves and harmonious melodies from the beach bars.
In the last day, we traveled on canoe to Ky Co island, a tiny island, renowned for its crystal clear water just like in Maldives. In the afternoon, we visited Eo Gio, the most stunning place to admire sunset in Vietnam.
The next day, we were regret to say goodbye to Quy Nhon to return to Hanoi from Phu Cat Airport on a VietJet Air flight. The trip only lasted for 3 days but it had created wonderful memories for all of us in Asiatica. This is the ocassion for us to refresh after hardworking days and above all, we had a chance to explore our own country and receive more experiences serving our job.
And you, do you want to have relaxing time and enjoy yourself with the tropical summer like Asiatica? Asiatica are also experienced in organizing incentive tours for companies with unique experiences that can only be made by local expert. Don't hesitate to contact us now for more details!