Cruise Planners - On the Road - Socially Conscious Entertainment in Siem Reap - Phare

On our second night in Siem Reap, after a long day touring the Temples of Angkor, we headed out via Tuk Tuk to the Circus.  Circus in Cambodia?  Christian at the Shinta Mani had recommended Phare - as good entertainment perspective with a socially conscious theme.  A school for young Cambodians to learn skills for the entertainment industry with performance profits plowed back into the community to educate and train more young people.

http://www.pharecambodiancircus.org/circus/

How often do you get a chance to be entertained and know you are doing good at the same time? We paid for VIP seating - $35 each - and it was money well spent.

Phare Poster

The circus was in a big top tent and the show itself was a combination of comedy, music, dancing, balancing, aerials, and juggling - with everything including the live music done by Phare performers.  There were 9 performers in the cast - three musicians and six athletes - and they were all pretty much on stage the entire performance.  A high energy production...

The Show's Stage

What came next was a 90 minute, non-stop show with innovative use of "junk" for percussion instruments (car doors and the like) and performers who were alternately actors and performers as they wove a story line around their physical feats.  Make no mistake, these kids are professional performers who exhibited strength, flexibility, and balance throughout their show -- I would put them on par with the best "Cirque" style act I have seen on a cruise ship.  The production might have been a little less elaborate but the actual acts were certainly as good.  If you are in Siem Reap, or perhaps have the opportunity to see Phare when they go on the road (which they do from time to time), go see the show, you will thoroughly enjoy yourself and contribute to continuing this worthy effort.

After returning via Tuk Tuk to the Shinta Mani Club -- and our waiting cold, scented towel and bottled waters, we got a restful night's sleep for our embarkation aboard Ama Waterways Ama Dara the next day.

Cruise Planners - On the Road - The Temples of Angkor

Ever since seeing the movie, "Lord Jim" in the mid-60's, Angkor Wat has been on my list of mysterious places to see.  Of course, seeing Angelina Jolie cavort around the self same temples as Lara Croft didn't diminish my interest either.

So when we decided to take Ama Waterways Ama Dara's inaugural Mekong River cruise last November, we knew we'd have to put seeing the temples on our list of Pre-cruise activities.

Now, to be honest, we didn't do a lot of pre-planning or reading to figure out how we were going to see them - we figured that once we got there, we'd ask a local.  Our local in this case was the General Manager of our hotel, the Shinta Mani Club, Christian DeBoer.  Christian immediately put us in contact with Mr. Chin Reaksmey (+855 12 704 985; sunshinelok2003@yahoo.ca ; facebook [ soriye malen)  Mr Chin was definitely the key to unlocking the doors of Angkor for us.

Our Guide Mr. Chin

Our second day in Siem Reap (pronounced “C-M” “Rip”) was an all day tour of the glory of the 9th-15th Khmer capital known as Angkor Wat.  Angkor Wat was the center of an empire that once encompassed what we know today as Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos.  The Angkor era was also a time of religious ebb and flow - between Hinduism and Buddhism.  This religious dichotomy is reflected in the temples of the ancient capital being excavated by a multi-national UNESCO led effort to restore the Angkor Wat area.  

At 7:30am, we met our guide, Mr. Chin, at the Shinta Mani and headed to the Angkor Wat area.  We chose to take a car vice “Tuk Tuk” (open air motorcycle towed cart) and are so glad we did.  We are officially in the “rainy” season although we weren’t rained on at all - but the temperature is still in the low to mid-90’s with humidity raising the “Feels Like” temperature to 102 or so. Perfect golf weather for southwest Florida transplants, but after spending an hour or two at each of three temple areas baking in the overhead sun, having an air-conditioned car to move from site to site was well worth the additional cost (Total was $81 USD per person).  Having a nice cold bottle of water each time we got back into the car after each temple was so appreciated.

Mr Chin is very knowledgeable about Khmer history and a talented photographer who helped us record our day at the Temples of Angkor...

So, when is Discovery not Discovery? When what is “discovered" was previously known by mankind, does this really constitute discovery?  Or perhaps might we call it, Recovery, Re-discovery, Renewal, or Re-embracing the past?  This was the dilemma posed by realizing that Western (French) explorers who stumbled onto Angkor and "discovered it" in 1860 didn't find something that locals had forgotten about. In fact, locals had villages all over the grounds of the greater Angkor but the temples themselves were no longer used for shelter or worship.  Perhaps it is less about discovery and more about adding to the wider knowledge of mankind's shared history.

Of note is that while what we were seeing at Angkor were temples, this area was actually an area hosting a population of as many as 1 million people back in the day (9th to 14th centuries).  But homes, businesses, and palaces were built of wood, long since burned, decayed, or buried by time  and wars.  So Angkor was first and foremost a city although the artifacts most obvious today are all centered on religion.

First up, the Temple of Angkor Wat... We enjoyed picture perfect weather and skies.  Temperature was probably around 90F - hot but not too sticky - no a blood sucking insect to be seen.

We approached from the South - Opposite side from where most visitors enter

Iconic Picture

The walls tell the stories of the Khmer legends

The Super Monkey helping the Good King - later we would see this legend depicted in dance by a Cambodian Dance Troupe aboard Ama Dara 

Many locals leave offerings for Buddha's blessing

Exact center of the Temple looking up

Explaining how offerings are left for Buddha

Next up was Angkor Thom - approaching again from the South Gate whose entrance is flanked by 54 guardian statues....

Entrance to Angkor Thom

Part of the moat guarding the city walls

By now the sun was high and we were hungry and thirsty so Mr. Chin and our driver took us to a restaurant so we could rehydrate -- with Angkor beer and enjoy a delicious curry lunch.

Colorful restaurant at village near the Temples

Ahh, Cold Beer...

So after our lunch, it was on to our next temple, Ta Prohm -- made famous by Angelina Jolie -- we're going to have to get this one on Netflix to see how you turn an ancient temple into a movie set.

 

It is the trees that make Ta Phrom so iconic

As Hinduism and Buddhism struggled for supremacy, carvings like this one were recarved or edited to reflect the ascendant deities. 

So after 8 hours of touring three of the "5 Star" temples of Angkor, we headed back to the Shinta Mani.  Here we were greeted on arrival with scented, cold towels, and a cool drink.  Then it was off to the pool to chill out before getting ready for dinner and heading out to Phare which we'll cover in our next installment.

Cruise Planners on the Road - South East Asia Day #3 - Bangkok to Siem Reap, Cambodia

A day of discovery starting with our taxi ride from our hotel to the airport.  12km and 35 minutes later with a metered fare of 270 Baht ($7.70) with 30 Baht tip added to even it up at 300 Baht.  Taxi's in Bangkok are a fantastic bargain!

Our check-in for Bangkok Airways (PG) 913 took a bit - long line - but we were invited to the Bangkok Airways lounge for our 90 minute (planned) but 2.5 hour wait for boarding (delayed arrival of our aircraft).  Lounge was very nice - small, quiet, with some really yummy snacks - we both had thirds on the popcorn and hot tea...

When we got aboard - ATR-72 - for the short 60 minute flight to Siem Reap - we were very pleasantly surprised - quick departure and even quicker service - on a one hour flight we got a beer and lunch service - hmmm - maybe their marketing tag line of being a Boutique airline is more than puffery...

Arrival at Siem Reap airport was interesting.  We did not do a visa ahead of time having read about "Visa on Arrival".  We filled out the paperwork on the plane and had the required passport pictures so when a uniformed official waved us over to the side for special handling, we figured it was because we had done it right.  Turned out, I guess they know gray hairs are perfectly happy to part with a couple of bucks to avoid waiting in line for half and hour - which is what most of our fellow passengers ended up doing.  We ended up passing our "short cut" a $10 bill which elicited a very happy smile.  Didn't know this option going in - but then, that's why we're traveling - to learn these things and pass them on...

Travel Intelligence Tip - Money in Cambodia: I don't remember being in a country that uses US dollars throughout the tourist industry - everything is denominated and paid for in, USD.  This includes being able to get USD from ATM machines in the cities.  Was actually very convenient - no foreign conversion fees and you weren't trying to remember if it was 35 to 1 (Baht to $) or 4000 to 1 (Dong to dollars).

Our young and energetic host from the Shinta Mani was waiting to grab our bags as soon as we exited Customs. It was a short ride to the Shinta Mani but along the way we learned a lot about the property and Siem Reap from our young guide.

When we arrived we were greeted at the front door with cold, scented towels and ushered into the lobby where the General Manager, Christian, talked about the Shinta Mani and their efforts in the local community.  I mentioned that it sounded like their philosophy is one of sustainable stewardship -- happy guests and happy community.  Our experience over the past 24 hours has done nothing to change my mind...  While Christian said they strive to be a 4.5 star property, in fact they are a 5 Star plus property without the price or trappings. With a total of 39 rooms, this is an intimate property that makes you feel like you have truly arrived. 

We had proper turn down last night, then cold towels when we dropped into the upstairs bar for Happy Hour - 2 for 1 drinks with the "1" being a very nicely priced $5 glass of Chilean or South African red wine.

This afternoon when we returned from our tour to the local UNESCO sites - covered in our next blog entry - once again, more cool towels. Recovering from about 7 hours of heat and humidity demanded a trip to the pool - a beautiful disappearing edge lap pool with a staff of 6 attendants and a manager to keep pool going guests satisfied.  Satisfaction turns to a smile when they brought everyone around the pool a free cone with lemon custard - just a hint of lemon and quite delicious.

If it seems like I am going on about our hotel, I am -- haven't been to a property in the last few years that made me feel quite this special. If you are visiting Siem Reap to catch a Mekong River cruise or to see the Angkor temples, and appreciate value in excellence for your accommodations, you will not do better than Shinta Mani.

Shinta Mani Lobby

Disappearing Edge Pool

Happy Hour Lounge

Happy Kids

Fun Seating for your Dining

Evening meal

Delicious and Innovative - Curry Risotto

Included breakfast spread

Our beautiful bedroom

The pool at night

Heading to dinner

Travel Intelligence Tip - use online booking agencies for lowest hotel prices for your stay -- then call or write the hotel directly to see if they will match or beat the price you got.  Our GM at Shinta Mani told us he would not have been undercut -- this is the case for most non-chain hotels - so if you like booking super value, luxury botique hotels, give it a try.

Travel Intelligence Tip - if you want a very powerful tool for finding premium award (points or miles) air tickets -- and you fly International once or twice a year, try Award Nexus.   It cost me 59.95 for a one year subscription but after trying it myself to route a European trip on our mileage points, I was sold - business class both directions, on all legs,  in late spring - early summer.  It also allows you to choose which Alliance partners' frequent flier program to use for the booking.  We are Star Alliance fliers - but United charges you an arm and a leg in fees for upgrading to International business class - Air Canada's AeroPlan (what we used for Europe) and ANA are much better alternatives for Star Alliance award travel bookings.

My full Trip Advisor Review on Shinta Mani...

The Shinta Mani Club in Siem Reap has very solid Trip Advisor ratings - these ratings don't even begin to tell the story... Shinta Mani is hands down, possibly the best managed and best executed small hotel I have every stayed at. From our airport pickup, through check in, and into our room - grounds, staff and management were impeccable.

We made it a point to try everything the Club had to offer, happy hour in the bar, dinner on swinging seats and tables, and our daily, included breakfast. We also tried several of the recommended activities - hiring Mr Chen to do our full day Temple tour (outstanding) and going the the Phare performance (think Cirque de Soleil on a smaller scale or perhaps, America's Got Talent). Everything was flawless, even the things the hotel didn't directly control.

Our room was beautiful and tastefully furnished, airy, and directly next to the disappearing edge pool. Included wi-fi was reliable and plenty fast.

How do you know when a hotel and staff are one family? When the service and attention you receive from rotating shift managers - who all address you by name, know everything that you have been doing and the General Manager, Christian DeBoer, are all on the same page. Now, Christian's rationale for such cohesive teamwork is technology - everyone is on a common staff page with notes on each guest's evolving stay and experiences. But knowing and doing are two different things and in Shinta Mani's case -- it was how everything was done that sets this intimate property (37 rooms) apart from its peers world wide. 

I'd like to provide a concrete example of how things are done at Shinta Mani - which demographically, is a perfect honeymoon or romantic couple setting. During our stay, there were two families with kids -- and of course, the pool is a major draw for families with kids. The disappearing edge construction looked particularly unforgiving (slippery tile) and there isn't a shallow end or wading pool for younger guests. So as soon as one couple's son marched into the pool, the staff reacted immediately and provided one of their life rings for the young man's safety and helping him not run along the edge of the pool. They didn't make a big deal of this, didn't scold the young man nor his parents who were blissfully unaware for much of the time. So while this is going on and we are sharing our appreciation for how slickly the situation was handled by multiple staff members, another family with three kids came to the pool. Their Mom wasn't interested in the pool right away so she hustled them by the pool and up to their room directly above our lounge chairs. About 5 minutes later, water began pouring onto one of the poolside umbrellas from the 2nd floor breezeway. Guess the youngsters were unhappy they weren't at the pool yet. Anyway, once again, staff springs into action - quietly and efficiently stopping the new waterfall - without making a single disruption of anyone's afternoon poolside peace. The next day, the morning shift supervisor apologized for the previous afternoon - clearly they knew that we knew what had gone on and were apologizing for having been an issue.

If you are into collecting hotel experiences and are heading to Siem Reap - which is a lifetime, bucket list, destination - you need to stay at the Shinta Mani Club - you will be absolutely delighted.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g297390-d472278-r303898518-Shinta_Mani_Club_Siem_Reap-Siem_Reap_Siem_Reap_Province.html#