Siem Reap Perspectives

For our third time in Siem Reap we decided we would do three things:

1 – Take it easy.

2 - Return to our favorites

3 – Try new things.

1 - Taking it Easy

Number 1 was simple. Upon arrival in Siem Reap we decided to stay put. We had one more stop planned – Lao – but at this point it sounded exhausting. We had been traveling forever and needed to stay put for a while. This last minute change resulted in a much simpler honeymoon – 5 days in Tokyo, 5 days in Koh Lipe, and 5 days in Siem Reap. Also, on our first day in Siem Reap we went to Barcode, a new local gay bar, we just felt…well, at home. It was so comfortable and fun, and it had a drag show! We decided to discover more about Siem Reap.

Temple Stomping

It is almost impossible not to visit the temples on the ground as well. So we did. The temples don’t easily get old. The temples can be completely overrun with people, but this time for some reason we felt like we had it to ourselves. We didn’t, obviously, but being two out of 1000 people is far more comfortable than being 2 out of 5000. We were able to get some great photos with minimal people.

I think my chest sweat is the best part of this picture. 

Peekaboo! 

I have a temple growing out of my head!

The temples are impressive from the outside but some of the best gems are inside. Wall carvings, buddahs, and monks worshipping and frolicking make for a unique and beautiful experience, if you pay attention.

The buddah statues are some of my favorite. The locals like to dress them up in robes of striking orange colors. 

Buddahs are everywhere in statue form. 

I love that Angkor Wat is an active temple. Monks (big and small!) come to worship and wander the grounds among the tourists. These were particularly endearing. 

 Monks aren't the only things to occupy the temple. These bats sleep upside down in the towers during the day. 

The wall carvings are intricate and extensive. Some tell grand stories, while some are just there to be pretty. I believe this is the latter.  

This one is part of a wall of storyline, primarily relating to war among the gods. 

It goes on forever. 

I like the horses. 

The views from the outside are simply unparalleled. We had a beautiful day for temple hopping. 

We were joined by little furry friends on this trip. I friggin love monkeys for some reason. 

Just chillin'

We always love coming here. 

Chinese tourists stick out like... pink umbrellas!

Sunsets

While we were on a mission to do new things, we would have been silly to ignore some of the best that Siem Reap has to offer – like sunsets. We ascended the sunset temple – I forget what it’s called – and got stuck behind a long queue of Chinese tourists. An all too common occurrence in Asia these days. Their sheer quantity is bad enough, but add the mob mentality and it’s all over. Anyway, the views were fantastic, as usual.

You never know what you’re going to see in Cambodia. This time on the sunset temple we were treated to something special – a film crew shooting some khmer boxing for a movie.  It was quite a spectacle, especially with the impressive temple backdrop.

Some live action footage:

3 - Trying New Things

Trying new things was surprisingly easy. We decided to stay in Siem Reap once we realized how much there was to do that we hadn't yet done. Siem Reap has tons to do, both revolving around the temples and not. 

Helicopter Perspectives

We had seen the temples a number of times and wanted a new take, so we took to the skies! Helicopter rides are offered from REP airport and we decided to indulge. The views were spectacular, albeit one-note. The temples are more impressive from the ground because you can appreciate their scale. From above, they just look small. But still, it was very neat to see them in the context of the greater landscape. It was a really fun experience and we are super glad we did it.

Our ride:

Locked in and ready to ride!

Angkor Wat was pretty obvious immediately. The moat frames it well!

The bridge is where you access the temples from the ground. 

From the side

One last of the main temples

This is another temple close by. 

Closer up

Views like this are one of a kind - I love the temples poking out of the green landscape. 

The views seemed to go on forever from above. 

The obligatory airport photo because I couldn't resist. 

And so you can experience it a bit more authentically than through my silly photography skills...

Mountain Biking

OK, so this isn't new. BUT, we did go to a new place! We couldn’t help but repeat one of our favorite Cambodia activities. Mountain biking is one of those unique ways to interact with a place. When we bike we feel like we earn what we see. It’s also easier to interact with our surroundings, the people included. People especially, actually. This time in the spirit of trying new things we decided to bike to a nearby mountain for some extra sunset time. It did not disappoint. The temples on the mountain were impressive, but much smaller than the others. We also made some other local stops. VERY local stops.

This wasn't our first rodeo. Jordan suited up and was off!

One of our first stops was a temple, because it’s Cambodia and that’s what you do. This temple was special. Huge ponds surrounded it with teems of swimming fish. I was scared for the ducks floating on the top – I thought they would be eaten!

Shtuppas abound. Even a miniature Angkor Wat!

The next stop was slightly more unusual. We visited a crocodile farm. Weird, right? Apparently it’s a big ticket item for both its skin and meat. This particular farm had numerous cages to house the crocodiles at each stage of their development. The small ones, medium ones, and…

The monsters that have no business in captivity. These things were huge and NASTY. They had quite an appetite.

The smaller ones.

The medium sized beasts.

Aaaaand the monsters.

These are the biggest crocodiles I have ever seen!

Hungry.

When I say they were hungry, I meant it. 

Apparently someone sleeps with the crocodiles every night to make sure they are ok. And to make sure they don’t escape and eat the local villagers. This is not a job I would want.

Apart from random croc farms, the most rewarding part of the biking adventure is the scenery. 

 This fun bike trip culminated in a steep climb up a random mountain, followed by a spectacular sunset that very few people have the energy to find. It was all very rewarding. The views speak for themselves. From here you can see temples, towns, landscapes, the biggest lake in Cambodia, and the sun in its full glory. 

Temples:

Towns:

Landscapes:

More of a vista than a landscape.

Rice paddies everywhere!

Pensive Jordan

And us!

All of this culminated in a fantastical sunset. 

 

Can't resist the selfie!

Pano

Biking never disappoints. This trip was not strenuous but we still went far. Ok I take that back, the mountain climb at the end had us walking along side the bike toward the top, but the rest of it was fine! It was nice to finally see the lake Tonle Sap. It apparently moves in and out with the seasons. During rainy seasons it swells to engulf the towns around it. That's why all the houses are on stilts and tout themselves as "floating villages." A scene for next time I suppose!

Cambodian Circus 

The tourism in Cambodia has given rise to all sorts of new ventures. The circus is an unexpected surprise and we were happy to see it and support these artistic kiddos. The circus is more of an acrobatic show - think of Cirque du Soleil. The organization is a charity that trains young Cambodians in the arts to give them a craft. They succeed mightily. 

The show is artsy. It is an acrobatic show laced together with a loose story. The storyline changes on the regular - this story was about a bad dream that all the kids are having simultaneously. 

They stack on top of each other...

Headstand...

Flip over each other...

And hang from the roof. 

This is all before my camera died. Oops. There was much more, and it was equally as impressive. This is a must-do for anyone going to Cambodia. 

Cabaret Show

Wherever we go we always make a point to try and support the local gay establishments. Siem Ream actually has about 4 gay bars. Who knew? One of them has a drag show every night. Sounds excessive? It is, but it's fun. Another has a drag show three times a week. This was perhaps the best drag show/cabaret I have ever seen thanks to the incredible dancers. The lady boys were quite good as well with their lip synching act, but it was the dancers that stole the show. 

Barcode has the daily shows. These shows aren't that intricate, but it is a good platform for local drag artists and dancers that want to make some side money. 

Some scenes.

The other place, Station Wine Bar, had a much more prominent stage, better dancers, better drag, and an all around show-quality feel. These two were the best dancers. The one on the left was perhaps the most engaging dancer I have ever seen. He loved what he did and felt the music in a way I have not seen before. 

I could have also been enthralled because a solid core of their set was K-Pop, which I am obsessed with. I knew every song. Here is the lead dancer on his own. 

This is one of my fave K-Pop songs. 

The best part about all this was that they were just having fun. They loved what they were doing and it showed. 

Then there were the drag queens. This one was flawless. 

This one was dramatical. 

This one was emotional. 

And this one was just fierce. Albeit drunk. 

Yes, those are some regular girls on stage as well. At the end of every show, they pull everyone in the front row onto the stage and make them dance. I was never a fan of this move, but I played along when it was my turn. 

When the cabaret was done everyone took to the street. Pub street, that is. Pub street has evolved into a crazy nighttime destination. Temple Bar, which there are now 3 or 4 of, is the hot spot. It's where locals and tourists alike congregate for shenanigans, beer, and debauchery. All in all, it was a fantastic way to finish off the night. 

For us, though, we made one more stop before Temple. We have a habit of befriending locals and Siem Reap was no exception. Here we made friends with the local industrious tuktuk driver that had converted his tuktuk into a street bar. This guy was awesome, serving up $1-$4 drinks until the wee hours. 

That bucket on the counter is a drink. A stiff one. We had too many. 

Flaming shots. Ugh.

Temple is always a raging good time. We only went a few times but we take comfort in knowing it's there in case we want to get messy dancing. Like I said, locals and foreigners go there for fun, as evidenced in this photo. 

Temple is not a gay bar, it's just a bar. Everyone goes. Everyone has fun. No one remembers the next day.

It was the right choice to come back to Cambodia on our honeymoon. Why fix what ain't broken? I am sure we're not done here. We didn't even get to do all the new stuff we wanted to. Oh well, that gives us an excuse to return!

This was the end of the honeymoon and back to reality. That was a tough transition. 

Cambodia Welcome - Raffles Grande

As many of you know, we have a thing for Cambodia. I am pretty sure it's the smiling, friendly people. When we planned the honeymoon, we couldn't resist returning to this magical country to see it's two greatest treasures - its people and its temples.

When we planned the honeymoon I think we were ambitious. In our defense, we didn't know we would be living in Singapore when we planned it. This made our Southeast Asia plans very convenient for our "return flight," but it meant that maybe we didn't have to pack in 5 locations in 15 days. We learned our lesson in Japan (kinda) when we decided to nix Kyoto and dig in in Tokyo for a variety of reasons. Well, this time we were supposed to stay just two nights in Cambodia then travel northward to it's poorer neighbor, Lao. We had been to Lao once before, but just to Vientiane, the dusty sleepy capital. This time we were bound for Luang Prabang for waterfall-gazing, temple-viewing, cultural immersion.

Well, the night we landed in Cambodia, our final honeymoon stop, the thought of Lao was exhausting. We promptly cancelled our hotel and flights, extended our stay at the Raffles, and booked a return from Siem Reap. This decision coincided with uncovering Siem Reap's actually bustling gay nightlife and finding a bar we really liked with drag shows every night. More on that later, obviously. Barcode is a new gay bar we discovered and was the site of the Lao no-go decision. I think it was somewhere around this spot:


You can't see it in this picture but there is a small stage to the left where the nightly drag show occurs. This drag show was pretty weak technically, but scored high marks in the entertainment category. The place was not too busy but we liked it - it was trying in earnest.

Seeing as it was our honeymoon, we decided at just about every turn to dial up the luxury. The initial Siem Reap thinking was to do a rustic, rural homestay. That fell apart a few weeks before because we decided to just go for the full on pampering and booked at the Raffles. Upon arrival we dropped the "honeymoon line" (this line makes me very uncomfortable, but you only get to use it once so I eventually got into it). Now, up until this point, the honeymoon line had gotten us a whole lotta "cannots" instead of any perks. Sure, we got the obligatory congratulations and a few extra decorations on desserts that we had ordered anyway, but it literally didn't get us anything free or any extra perks. Until now.

Determined, I approached the check in concierge about our nuptials and borderline demanded something. I mean, this was the RAFFLES. I'm SURE they get this kind of thing all the time and have a policy on it. Well, whether it was policy or not, it worked and we got a heavily (and I mean heavily) discounted rate on their most luxurious suite! The place had two rooms, two bathrooms, a canopy bed, two porches, and direct pool access. Observe:



I know what you're thinking - WHERE ARE THE TOWEL SWANS?! The porter apologized profusely for the error and insisted it wasn't an oversight, they just didn't have time since we switched rooms last minute. We forgave him.

My favorite part of this room is the elephant statue: 

The bathrooms were lovely. 

They DID have time to retrieve the champagne - YAY! 

As we were settling in, one of the porters knocked on the door asking if we would like some Chiclets. We didn't quite believe he actually meant to bring us little gums, but after several attempts at clarifying, we were certain that's what we would get. Then these arrived. Their accent is so cute.

The Raffles is old-world luxury, and the prices remind you of that. It was our honeymoon so we bit the bullet, but under no normal circumstances would we have indulged so much. The luxury here is really in the service. The staff is tremendous and attentive and smiley. We had coffee every morning a la butler service.

Sometimes we would enjoy the coffee on our balcony(ies). 

The grounds are very lush and the pool is downright amazing and the largest pool I have ever seen.

Some of the grounds. 

And me by the pool. 

And food by the pool. The food was GOOD even though it was western. We must have ordered the ($26) burger three times.



Calling the Raffles home for 5 nights was a perfect ending to our honeymoon. We did several major activities (helicopter ride!! - more on that later) in Siem Reap, but it was made all the more special by the time we spent doing absolutely nothing poolside at the Raffles Grande. Hotels rarely get their own blog post. Then again, they rarely convince you to cancel other parts of your vacation. The Raffles Grande was that good!

Liparadise

Koh Lipe is a tiny, tiny island located at the southern end of Thailand. Thailand is huge, and this is about as far a corner as you can find. Observe:

I don't know if Koh Lipe is the smallest Thai beach island, but it certainly feels that way. The place is just a fraction of some of the more popular large islands like Phuket and Koh Samui. I think it is a mere 3 miles across or so, and even less in width. 

Koh Lipe

There is one main "walking street" which you can see on the map is lined with restaurants and shops. There is even a 7-11 which is new to the island and brings "modernity" a la Lipe's first ATM. The place is also open 24/7 and, of course, sports industrial aircon that I'm sure draws half the island's power. 

7-11. 

Walking street

Out little slice of this island is potentially the bougeiest place available. Sawan Resort is identified on the Lipe map above with the blue arrow on the left. It's "far" from the walking street (10 minute walk?) and away from the hustle and bustle. It's adjacent to sunset beach, a place only popular from approximately 5pm-7pm, before and after which it is pretty much deserted. But for those two hours, you get some of the most spectacular sunsets you can imagine. Of course, this is the period when the folks on this side of the island can cash in, so the bars on this beach are pretty crowded for those 120 minutes. There is even a pop up bar run by a Spaniard who just throws towels down on the beach and sells mojitos for 100 baht from a makeshift bar on a folding table. It's all very Thai. 

Sunset beach panorama:

OK so I will cut to the chase with the key gems that Koh Lipe has to offer: 

Sunsets

From aptly named sunset beach we witnessed some breathtaking visuals. We had the luxury of being directly next to this beach and took advantage every evening. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

This isn't Jordan and I in a romantic moment but let's pretend it is. 

Food

Lipe's offerings don't top at sunsets. They actually have good food, too. But we shouldn't give it too much credit because this is Thailand, after all. All the food is good. 

There were a couple things that made this island stand out food-wise, though. First is Burmese food. The island is practically run by Burmese immigrants, both legal and illegal, but no one is really here to police anything so who knows. The "restaurant" that comes to mind is called Forever Restaurant (we are trip advisor slaves and we admittedly found it thanks to its favorable ranking). The quotes are necessary because this clearly wasn't a proper restaurant - it was more like a house with covered picnic tables on its front porch to serve the 2 diners at a time that come by. We ate there at least twice and both times were the only ones at the place. The other reason this isn't a restaurant is because it is run by a woman and her husband and is literally a house. When we would roll up on the place we would disturb them from whatever newscast or soccer match they were watching, while the wife would go prepare everything from scratch and the husband would wait on us farang (white people). The food tasted as special as they made it felt - the curries were delicious, the vegetables were unlike anything we had ever tasted, and the overall experience was delicious. 

Mustard greens, pork curry, another vegetable with fermented fish paste (not my favorite, actually), and others. 

Then there was the more straight-forward seafood the island is better known for. The walking street is lined with restaurants that show you your food before you eat it, in true Asia-style. 

Hmm....

I'll take that one, please! 

And this is what it looks like post-prep. 

And then there's the traditional Thai stuff like larb moo and papaya salad.

It makes me go oOoOoOh!

Perhaps our most memorable food experience on the island was the food that the Sawan staff made for us. They saw us walking past one day and asked us if we like "spicy." To us, this sounded like a challenge. They had thrown down the spicy gauntlet. We obviously couldn't back down and invited all they had. 

This was a poor life decision. The seafood noodle salad they were casually eating was the hottest thing that has ever touched our mouths. You can't see flames coming from the dish, but believe me, they're there. 

The next day we passed the staff and they all started laughing and asked us "how is your stomach today?!?"

Beaches

Obviously the main draw here is the beach. Thailand is the best place for a beach getaway in the world if you ask me. Lipe's beaches don't disappoint! Jordan's shirt says it all. 

From the water

Beach selfies

Longtail Boat Rides!

We took a whole day and went to the "outer islands" for exploration and snorkeling. Our boat generally avoided crowds and showed us some decent snorkeling areas, but none really blew us away. The boat ride is always a pleasing thing for me though. 

It was a choppy day, you can see from the whitecaps. 

The scenery was worth the near-seasickness 

A blurry but effective video at showing the exciting journey. 

Still image of islands seen in the video:

Happy as a clam. Or a sea urchin. 

I spent much of the boat ride trying to find monkeys in the trees. 

I had no idea what I was in for when we stopped for lunch. They were literally everywhere, and were way more interested in our food than us. I somehow didn't get many pictures, but here are some where's waldos:

Most of my time with the monkeys was spent being pissed that the Chinese tourists felt the need to feed the monkeys human food. The environmentalist guilt in me raged. 

Unfortunately, I can't find my underwater fish pictures so those will have to be added later. 

Actual Culture

Thai islands aren't known for their overwhelming cultural experiences, and Lipe isn't too different, but it does have some bright spots. I referred to the Burmese people that run the island. They have their little villages here and had at least two major parties/festivals while we were on the island. One of them, which might actually be a Thai festival with Thai rituals, involved sending burning candles out to sea. I believe this was honoring their ancestors. 

Here are some of the lanterns at sea. They are hard to see. 

Here they are preparing the floating lanterns. 

Our hotel actually provided us with one of these floaters. It was quite pretty! It came equipped with incense and all. 

Here's a blurry shot of Jordan putting his out to sea. 

Part of the festival was a parade with some sort of float. The key part to this was that the float was carried by a bunch of drunk 12 year olds. I'm kinda not joking. 

One thing I like about Thailand is their commitment to their culture. It is very strong in Bangkok and elsewhere we have been on the mainland, but it was also very refreshing to see it here on this distant island as well. 

Lipe was great and just what we needed after the mad rush of Tokyo where our FOMO severely hampered our ability to relax. We were sad to leave, obviously. It really hit the spot!

Epilogue

I wasn't sure if I would tarnish this post with spidey's appearance, but I would be remiss if I didn't share this terrifying experience with you. It comes with the territory of paradise-islands. Especially when your hotel room has outdoor bathrooms. 

This little critter, or as I like to call him, the largest f@#%$ing spider I have ever seen, was waiting for us one evening when we returned from the bars and massages of the walking street. It was about 1 AM and I would like to apologize here to the poor souls I awoke that evening with my wails. 

Without further adieu, I introduce would like to introduce spidey:

 

Imagine if I hadn't looked before I sat??? He (or she) could have eaten me entirely! Like, in one gulp.The spidey incident happened on the first or second night we were in Lipe. You can imagine my hesitation to sit for the rest of the week. This made for an interesting bathroom schedule.