Many travellers visit Siem Reap for one main reason – to visit the alluring and mesmerizing, Angkor Wat. I first visited Angkor Wat eight years ago, and in my opinion, this magnificent place and the surrounding temples are only getting better with age! Siem Reap itself is also one of the liveliest cities in South East Asia with a great nightlife, wonderful cuisines and enough markets to satisfy any shop-aholic!
For those wanting something a bit more special, there is even a Deluxe Rooftop Suite, with a sitting area and separate bedroom making it the largest room in the hotel. It’s also the only room on the rooftop, giving the lucky guests complete privacy!
The staff at Siem Reap Rooms were available morning, noon and night and all speak perfect English. The hotel offers a booking service for a variety of entertainment options in town as well as bus tickets, tuk tuk service and laundry. The hotel is roughly 10 minutes walk from town on a quiet street however there was always a tuk tuk driver out the front, ready to offer his services. Siem Reap Rooms offers everything you need for a short or long stay in Siem Reap which is perfect for a city where you just might find yourself staying longer than planned! For more reviews of bungalows, tree houses, guesthouses, hostels, hotels and more head to
Wade and Sarah's Accommodation Reviews page!
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Trekking from Kalaw to Inle Lake was one of the highlights of our time in Myanmar. The landscape, people and villages along the route make this an excellent journey to witness the "untouched" Myanmar. All treks through this beautiful part of Myanmar pass through some breathtaking scenery, ranging from colourful farmland, to pine forests and rolling green hills. Along the way, you will also be able to witness hill tribes and cultures that live, farm and dress traditionally and whom were some of the loveliest people we met during our trek.
CHOOSING A COMPANY: The majority of treks are either two or three days and each company has their own routes and series of villages where they stop for lunch and home stays. Most companies will charged based on how many people trek ie. The more people trekking, the cheaper it is. As we visited in the low season, many companies were only offering to take us on a private trek as they had no other interest. This was a big issue for us as we were hoping to meet some other people simply to make the trek more enjoyable, however we also didn't want to just go with the company that everyone else had chosen without knowing our options. We ended up speaking to three different companies all of whom gave us a good first impression and seemed knowledgeable about the area. The prices varied significantly as some of the smaller companies were happy to do a private tour very cheap simply because it was the low season, while others charged significantly more unless we could find more people. We found that Sam's Trekking fell in the middle of this price range. Sam was confident that he had at least two other people booked in and was hoping for one or two more. It was also important for us to know where the money was going as we had read that many companies take their discounts out of the small amount of money they pay to the villages visited along the way or from their guides wages rather than from the cut the company takes. We were guaranteed by Sam that the families who hosted us overnight were paid a flat rate per person. Many of the snacks provided for us were also purchased from villages that we passed during the trek.
DIFFICULTY: 3 out of 5 Trekking during and after the rain was quite difficult as the track became extremely muddy and slippery. However this can be avoided by visiting during the dry season. We knew that there was always a chance of rain during June when we visited. The longest uphill climb we would have done would have taken no longer than 45 minutes and our lovely guide was always happy to stop and have plenty of breaks after any tough sections or during the heat of the day.
OVERALL: While I'm sure there are many great trekking companies in Kalaw, many of whom are a smaller company than Sam's Family, I would 100% recommend Sam's to anyone visiting Kalaw. The staff were helpful, knowledgable and above all, friendly. They briefed us the night before our trek which also gave us the opportunity to meet the rest of our group. They all speak perfect English and were able to answer our many questions prior to leaving and their prices are comparable to other companies in town. Our luggage arrived safely and securely to our accommodation at Inle Lake – free of charge - which was very important to us and they were even able to assist us with the booking before leaving Kalaw. Overall they operate a well-run business with good information, excellent guides and appear to have good social awareness in regards to supporting the local hill tribe villages and fairly splitting their wages. We had a great experience with Sam's Family Trekking and would highly recommend them for your trek from Kalaw to Inle Lake in Myanmar. Want to see more from the incredible part of Myanmar? Click here to see our full Inle Lake Photo Album!
HAPPY ONE YEAR TRAVEL-VERSARY TO US!! To celebrate this milestone, we thought it was about time to release something special we've been working on throughout our time in South America. If you like it, let us know because there may just be more to come!! But only by popular demand! Have you ever needed a bit of travel inspiration? Well forget about work for a minute, turn your phone onto silent and just kick back because this video may force you to quit your job, pack your bags and get out into the World! We hope you enjoy this short clip of travel photos from Wade and Sarah's six months backpacking in South America. We traveled from the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, to the Galapagos Islands, to Chile and everywhere in between! We climbed mountains, walked on glaciers and visited ancient lost cities. THIS is South America! CREDITS:
Music: "On top of the world" By Imagine Dragons Photography: Wade Harris Each and every damn star jump: Sarah Harris Finding reasonably priced accommodation in Ao Nang during peak season was much more difficult than I originally anticipated. Many dorm beds were more expensive than we would normally pay for a private room and even then they were on the outskirts of town and quite far from the beach. Finding Laughing Gecko Bungalows was an absolute game changer to my time in Ao Nang and after a brief two night stay, I was disappointed I hadn't booked in for longer. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that within weeks I was back to stay again! Laughing Gecko is located one street back from the Northern end of Ao Nang, on Nopparathara Beach where there is much less hustle and bustle and more peace and serenity than busy Ao Nang Beach. While the beachfront road is still lined with shops, restaurants, bars and street food vendors, there are less tourists and considering it was peak season, the beach was relatively peaceful most days. To walk into the main centre of shopping and nightlife in Ao Nang takes approximately 15 minutes and is a pleasant stroll along the beach most of the way.
In the common area, there is also a fridge with cold drinks, beer and water all at very reasonable prices. While Laughing Gecko certainly isn’t a party hostel, the atmosphere was awesome, friendly and relaxed while still being close enough to plenty of bars and pubs if your quiet drinks in the common area, turn into a night out on the town. Laughing Gecko also offers a nightly communal buffet dinner and the one while I was there was delicious. The food was great tasting, home-cooked Thai food and was a good opportunity to meet other people and have a casual drink. If you're lucky enough, Nui might also whip out the guitar for some excellent live music! I couldn’t have been any happier with my choice of accommodation in Ao Nang and thoroughly enjoyed the peace and quiet of this property while still being in close proximity to all that Ao Nang has to offer. For more reviews of bungalows, tree houses, guesthouses, hostels, hotels and more head to Wade and Sarah's Accommodation Reviews page!
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AuthorEnthusiastic but Useless Traveler. Archives
July 2016
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