Cambodia – Travel Younger

Chapter 251: Angkor Wat Redux

Norm Bour — Thu, 27 Mar 2025 04:13:15 +0000

03.27.25

In February of 2020, just as Covid was starting to impact everyone’s travels, we came to Seam Reap, Cambodia, and spent 2 days at Angkor Wat, the largest religious monument in the world. We had been on the road for less than 12 months, so everything was new, but this place totally blew our minds. In the years to come it was consistently in the top 10 most memorable places we visited. We have been back in Cambodia, this time for almost 2 months, so we bought a 7-day pass, and have been out to the monument three times already. Did it still blow our minds? Has anything changed?

Yes.

We have changed.

Since that time we have seen dozens more monuments all over the world; some were better, some were worse, and many that blew our minds frequently. Angkor Wat truly IS spectacular, spread out over dozens of different monuments and thousands of acres. There is no way to really see or appreciate it in one day, but many are only able to hit the highlights, especially with the heat. But the difference in price between one day and seven days’ pass is not substantial, so it’s nice to have options. One of the saddest aspects of the ruins is the condition they are in. Due to the building material, they have not weathered as well as those made out of granite or marble that we have seen in other parts of the world. If you have any plans to visit, you should do it sooner rather than later…

Overall, as we finish our last few weeks in town, it’s been a pleasant surprise. Aside from the ruins we did other things as well , including a cool acrobatic circus, a lovely botanical garden, a terrific national museum, and a nonprofit that taught us how rats are trained to locate land mines which can be removed, saving lives. So sad to think that this country has between 4-6 MILLION unexploded landmines, and even today, decades after any war or conflict, many are still killed and injured.

Due to the heat there are many things that we did NOT do since it’s been so brutal. Truth is, we removed the pressure to do everything at each stop a long time ago, and since we will return, we can catch them on the next round. In cooler weather.

We just started our last big adventure here: a four day ride down the Mekong River to the capital city of Phnom Penh, where we’ll spend two days, then return by bus. A week after that it’s off to Athens via Bangkok, and start our five months in Europe

Chapter 250: Asia: One Year Later (Part II of III)

Norm Bour — Thu, 13 Mar 2025 12:40:29 +0000

03.13.25

And here’s our past years’ itinerary:

(Nov 2023) Bali #1, Indonesia (4 mo total, two visits)
Philippines (1 mo)
Vietnam #1 (4+ mo total, two visits)
Malaysia #1 (5 mo total, two visits)
(summer, 2024) Vietnam #2
Thailand (2 mo)
Malaysia #2
Bali #2
(now) Cambodia (2 mo)

WOW. I had to review my calendar to properly remember, but that’s a lot in 17 months.

Stops #4 & #7: Malaysia

Our initial incentives to visit Malaysia were twofold: I’m a sucker for tall buildings, and they have some of the best medical facilities in southeast Asia. And we took advantage of both of them! On our first trip, Kat and I both got full body scans from head to toe, for about $500. Our experience was over the moon and we thought it money well spent, for peace of mind, as well as for the results, which were all good. Things to be watchful of, but nothing to worry about.

We visited the tallest twin towers on the planet, Petronas, and that was a great time. I have been in the Burj Kalifa in Dubai, currently #1, tallest on the planet, but Petronas is hugely impressive, especially since there is a walkway on the 41-42^nd floors, and that is a trip, standing above the street between the two towers. The KL (Kuala Lumpur) Tower (yet another tall structure) is all vertical, with no offices and such, but affords a nice view as well. We also went to Batu Caves, just 20 minutes from town, plus took a few train side trips to the northern towns of Ipoh and Penang. We left Malaysia wanting more, and since we can stay for 90 days with NO paperwork or visa, that is a huge incentive, as is the English usage, which is quite high, since it is a true second language there.

Towards the end of ’24 we did return for our second visit, stayed for (another) 90 days, and continued with exploration of their medical services. Some voluntary, some not. Kat primarily wanted to return for cataract surgery, which was great, and she got both eyes done at one time, which is not that common in many countries. I had a little blood pressure scare and had a complete heart exam, with 3D, full color, diagnosis, along with scans and blood tests. The results were good, nothing going on other than aging…So I stay on meds and that keeps everything in alignment. We spent most of our time in KL, plus had a trip up north to a primitive “jungle resort,” and also down south to a town called Malacca, which we both agreed to return to. I was also able to use my press access to gain access to the SECOND tallest structure in the world, the Merdeka 118 (118 floors), and that was amazing, especially since it won’t be open to the public for a year or more.

Our conclusion. The “goal” in Asia was to find places where we could stay long term. Malaysia passed the test, and we will be back.

from left to right: Merdeka 118/ KL Tower/ Petronas Towers

Stop #5: Vietnam (our second visit):

We landed in the central city of Da Nang the end of April with the intention of “checking it out” for three days to determine if we wanted to return the following month. We did. It was Love at First Sight for both of us, and since we stayed at the nearby city of Hoi An for 30 days, we got two for the price of one. It was clean, friendly, affordable, and had a great beach and generally good weather. Hoi An is an Ancient City with lots of history, and is situated on the Thu Bon River, which gives it a lot of character. It’s fairly small and the city itself is insane to scooter through! But everyone drives carefully, slowly, and still only ride with head face forward, but it all works.

After our 30 days in Hoi An we moved all of 30 minutes north to Da Nang. Our incredible room (about $400 USD/ mo) was large, new, and only four blocks from the beach. We could walk to dinner in a dozen different ways and not be disappointed in any of them. I did a three day motorcycle ride to the interior and was blown away at the green foliage and scenery. Brilliant.

Conclusion: So much more to share, which I can by referring you back to our Travel Younger blogs, which covers much more detail. Again, Vietnam also offers a 90 day visa, easily extendable, so between that feature and the costs and beauty, Vietnam also passed the test. We will return to Da Nang, but also have many more unvisited places to try.

Hoi An is a trippy place with a lot of character!

Stop #6 Thailand: Pattaya

Our first stay in Thailand in 2020 soured me on the country, and Asia in general, so we had to go back to see if first impressions were wrong. They were. Our two mo stay in Thailand was lovely, as we lodged in front of the water in Pattaya, a town with a bad rep, somewhat unjust. It has been known as the “party capital,” as well as the place where old western men hang out for their lenient prostitution laws, easy and convenient marriages with young Thai women, and legal cannabis. We saw all the above, but, like always, it depends on what you SEEK and what you look for.

We were able to stay 60 days no questions asked, no visa required, and the prices were similar to our other places. Overall, our lodgings while in Asia ran $400-$800 MAX per month. In Pattaya we rented a scooter for a month, about $45, and the traffic was very non-threatening, unlike treacherous Vietnam! We truly did not go anywhere special, but used the time to relax, read, write, and our 60 days between July and September were uneventful—which is just fine by us! As full time travelers we find it important to just BE, be there in the MOMENT, in the PLACE you/ we are. And that is what we did. The last few weeks we did visit some islands, including Koh Samui, but didn’t get down to the hot spots of Phuket and Krabi. Our train ride from Bangkok to the Malay border was a fun experience, and allowed us to enter a new country without flying in—or having to worry about packing or weight limits!

Conclusion: As much as we liked Pattaya, and we also liked Chiang Mai on our first visit there in 2020, I haven’t felt led to stay in any particular part of the country. There is a pull since Thailand is one of the most popular destinations for tourists and nomads in Southeast Asia, and I get it, but so far Kat and I agree the jury is still out.

we stumbled upon this hotel in Ko Samui and had a room with this view!

End of Part II

Part III will cover Bali for the second time, and Cambodia, our last stop, numbers 8-9, so that will be our next letter. Please subscribe and share if you can.

Chapter 249: What’s Happening in Siem Reap?

Norm Bour — Sun, 09 Mar 2025 12:13:48 +0000

03.09.25

We’ve been in Siem Reap, Cambodia, for about 3 weeks now (three more to go), and we find it much hotter than many of the other Asian countries we’ve been to in the past 15 months. Because of that we haven’t done as much as we planned to do. Even so, we did attend the Khmer acrobatic show, which is a circus with an underlying Cambodian story. The stars of the show are Cambodian locals that audition, and by getting experience, they develop skills to create a promising future. Before the show there were several booths set up with local food and it was all delicious! There was also a brief pre-show performed by younger native Cambodia children, so overall we had fun and supported a good cause.

Our friends and hosts, Heather and John, are amazing, and as new people come into our homestay, then leave, we have met travelers from Poland, Hungary, the UK, Russia, Canada, and a few fellow Americans. It’s like an apartment where you get to know your neighbor, and maybe even hang with them! We attended a fun street parade made up of a dozen LARGE paper mâché puppets, manipulated by different school kids, and the puppets illuminated when it got dark. It’s terrific that this country supports kids, and strives to better the lives of the younger generation.

Not all of Siem Reap is about their amazing temples (largest historic monuments in the world), but no doubt, Angkor Wat is the biggest draw, and what brought us here 5 years ago. We’ve been surprised by the number of Americans we see here and find that many decide to stay once they get to know this place. Cambodia offers a pretty lenient retirement visa, and the age 55+ visitor can stay for 6 months to one year with a small application fee and no proof of anything, including income. That is very rare. Plus it is eminently affordable.

In the next two weeks we WILL make it back out to the temples, since we did enjoy them so much on our first visit. In the meantime, we found the Angkor Wat Botanical Garden, which was quite lovely and offered free admission, which is always nice. As we started our tour I commented to Kat that I thought that the grounds needed work, however, within a matter of minutes we were pleasantly surprised at just how beautiful it became—even with the heat. We finally finished at a cute little coffee shop where we reflected on what a nice surprise it was, and how sometimes those unexpected pleasures really catch me by surprise! Anticipation is such a funny thing…

We had the opportunity to stay at a beautiful 5 star resort in town called Shinta Mani. This came about because they offer a special “gastro tour” which allowed us to experience a four-course meal made up of local ingredients from within 25 km of the hotel. Including red ants! Interesting to say the least. I have concluded that I am not a really good foodie, since I don’t always have a good stomach for unfamiliar food, or a comfort level to match. For many years I did a lot of food reviews on beautiful restaurants in Orange County, and never quite got the ” small portion, unique taste” concept over more is better! I think I’m just an old fashioned meat and potatoes guy, so give me a good hamburger with all the accoutrements, and I’m a happy man! We’re also doing another “media event;” a four day boat ride down the Mekong River to the capital, Phnom Penh, the end of March.

In about a month…Asia will be done, hello Europe.

Chapter 247: Goodbye Bali, Hello Cambodia

Norm Bour — Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:41:46 +0000

02.22.25

There’s a lot to be said for 6:45 a.m. flights! There was no traffic getting to the airport in Denpasar, Bali, and since we were only 10 minutes away, it was easy. We were the first and the only passengers through security and immigration, and even with the time delay of paying an overstay fee of $60 (by four measly hours! ), we were through lickity split. So overall it went pretty smoothly. A brief three hour layover in KL occupied our time, and now we’re in Cambodia for about 50 days, and can relax before our long trip back to Europe.

We have only been to Cambodia once, exactly 5 years ago, just as Covid was starting to interrupt flights, and we stayed in the then very small city of Siem Reap and spent several days touring the Angkor Wat religious and historical site. That small town is NOT small anymore, and those dusty, rickety streets are now paved and quite busy! We’ve been downtown a few times since we’ve been here, and it’s nice walking around since they offer a host of different shops and markets. The weather so far has been amazingly nice, and even with a high TEMP, the humidity is much lower than we’ve been dealing with, and quite manageable. Even a staggering 94 on the temp reading is doable!

After 15 or so months in southeast Asia, we’ve seen a variety of different price ranges. No doubt, we have been spoiled by prices lower than in much of the world, but it seems there is a large expat community here from all over, and their/ our presence push up the prices. Cosmetics, western name brand items, and dairy products, like cheese and yogurt, are higher than we are used to, but we were shocked by alcohol prices! The two liquors we like, Malibu Rum and Amaretto, are in the $15 range, and we have seen them over $50 in some countries! We found a store that is the closest thing to a COSTCO we have seen outside the US, called Makro. They had everything from food and produce, to a host of canned, bagged, and various products, both eastern and western, and that place was dangerous for me!! SO many temptations.

Otherwise our housing here is one of the best we have stayed in! Some American friends we met in Vietnam surprised us (and themselves!) by buying a small hotel up here, and it was their invitation that brought us here. The place is as close to a “home-like” feel we have had in a long time, and Kat has fixed the place up beautifully. Our ground floor room opens to a large salt water pool and at night it is bathed by deep blue lighting. There is a full kitchen on the third floor plus a HUGE workout/ stretching area up there, so that is my first stop of the day before breakfast. I joined a local gym, about 7 minutes’ drive, and at $1.00 per workout and good equipment, how could I not?? Our scooter for the month is $100 USD, higher than some, cheaper than others, and traffic is very doable with right side driving again. But the true novelty is being here among friends. Our hosts, Heather and John, are friendly and engaging, and in just a few days we have met half a dozen new friends, all English speaking, and it’s always nice to feel that camaraderie.

Angkor Wat is the big draw here, it’s about 10 minutes away, and we will go back (again) to check it out. Otherwise, we will probably bus down to the capital Phnom Penh for a day or so, and visit some of the local attractions.

Since many people have inquired about our lodging, here is a link: https://www.airbnb.com/s/Saralya-Home–Krong-Siem-Reap–Cambodia/homes?refinement_paths%5B%5D=%2Fhomes&flexible_trip_lengths%5B%5D=one_week&monthly_start_date=2025-02-01&monthly_length=3&monthly_end_date=2025-05-01&price_filter_input_type=0&channel=EXPLORE&query=Saralya%20Home%2C%20Krong%20Siem%20Reap&place_id=ChIJWaJsYSIXEDERcPfWnoHoTHs&location_bb=QVYYaELPrLVBVg1bQs%2BrUw%3D%3D&date_picker_type=calendar&source=structured_search_input_header&search_type=autocomplete_click