On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
UncleEbeneezer
Our final day in Saigon we decided to simply laze about by the pool, since we had an afternoon/evening flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia. As much as Vietnam felt like another world, it was when we reached the airport in Siem Reap when we really felt like we had left the developed world. The airport is tiny and in the middle of nowhere. When we exited the airport we saw a couple charming tuk-tuks waiting out front. We had no idea that one of them was actually our ride to Palm Village Resort, where we would be staying for 3 nights. To give you an idea of how remote this area is, I looked at the Google Map to find some street names and realized that the vast majority of the streets around Siem Reap don’t have any names.
After about a mile or two of tuk-tuking along Charles Degualle Highway (a simple 2-lane road) we turned down this dirt road that led to our Hotel. There were stray dogs, water buffalo and local Khmer families here and there. The sky was hazy from the early evening, nightly spraying of pesticides to help control the mosquito population. This was also the time when many people burn their trash. Our immediate thought was “what have we gotten ourselves into?” Fortunately the pesticides and smoke both clear fairly fast.
My wife found Palm Village while researching places to stay in or near Siem Reap. It was about 15-20 minute tuk-tuk drive from the downtown (not much bigger than a small US town) and was absolutely lovely. PV features traditional teak huts on stilts and has a wonderful grounds, filled with incredible trees and flora. The moment we arrived, we were in love.
It was dark when we arrived, and we were exhausted from the heat so we simply retired to our room and ordered some food from the kitchen. When our meal arrived it was one of the most delicious meals I have ever had. Our main dish was Fried Noodle Chili Pork along with some fresh fruit. We loved the noodles so much that I actually reached out to the resort once we were back in the US and they were kind enough to share the recipe with me. I was surprised that one of the main ingredients was regular old, ketchup.
Anyways, in the morning we finally got to see the grounds in daylight, and we were thrilled. Here is the dining room/lounge of the main entrance, with an open air approach that lets everyone enjoy the amazing jungle vibe.
The food at Palm Village was spectacular. We had incredible banana pancakes and cafe sua da (iced coffee with sweet/condensed milk- a staple of SE Asia) for breakfast and yummy stir fries for lunch/dinners. They also made a mean Gin & Tonic! Here is a lemongrass chicken dish that blew us away. To give you an idea of how inexpensive food/drinks are in Cambodia, by the time we left, our tab for probably 6-8 meals including lots of drinks was only $80. Note: I will probably do a “food” post at the end since we had some amazing food and some commenters have expressed interest.
Here is a better look at our charming, temporary abode.
The pool at Palm Village was simple but lovely, especially with 95 degree temps and high humidity.
We never got around to actually ordering drinks here, but we loved the look of this poolside bar.
My wife, particularly appreciated all the exotic plants and flowers around the resort grounds.
More lovely vegetation.
Another look at the main lounge and pool table (that we admired but never actually used) at Palm Village. If you ever visit Siem Reap, definitely consider staying there. Really wonderful and inexpensive place. We would go back there in a heartbeat.
Next Up: Angkor Watt!
JR
I went to Siem Reap some 16 years ago. Amazing place, wished I’d stayed longer.
eclare
Looks like a wonderful place! I’ve wanted to go to Vietnam and Cambodia for years, but now with covid, who knows?
Laura Too
Beautiful, thank you for sharing. I would love to see your food pics and comments! It is always such a fun insight into how people live.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Wow. How beautiful. It’s amazing what you find if you get off the more well worn tourist path.
Jerry
Just looked up the price for staying in Palm Village and is something like $30 to $40 a night. We stayed at a place sort of like this in the Monteverde area of Costa Rica with the same prices. Good food in the middle of a beautiful, natural area and a cheap place to stay, what more do you need?
JanieM
Love that first picture, of the path enticing us to such a nice place. And the reports on the food are making me hungry! This is a part of the world I never would have thought of traveling to without your pictures and stories. I still probably never will, given Covid and my age, but now I think of it as at least a possibility.
UncleEbeneezer
@Jerry: Yeah, I think they’ve lowered prices due to Covid. In general, in Vietnam/Cambodia you could always find something pretty great for $25-75/night. This place just happened to be extra special.
UncleEbeneezer
@Laura Too: I plan to do a post at the end of just food pix since so much of it was amazing and pretty!
Jerry
Since I do not expect to ever be able to make it to that part of our world, more photos and stories are appreciated. And food, yes, food! More food!
way2blue
Thanks for sharing this glimpse into a far-flung part of our world. Were there other people staying at the resort? If so, where did they hail from? Europe? U.S.? Australia? Just curious… (We met few Americans when traveling in Palawan a few years back, mostly Danes for some reason.) Also. Is a ‘tuk-tuk’ a motorcycle taxi with a sidecar & canopy?
UncleEbeneezer
@JanieM: It was amazing how just turning down one dirt road and it suddenly felt like we were really far away from everything, in the middle of nowhere. Combined with the trash burning, setting sun, heat and jungle vegetation, it was quite the experience.
UncleEbeneezer
@way2blue: From what I remember, the other guests were European or American. We didn’t really talk much to them (we just usually wanted privacy or didn’t happen to see them).
On the tour of Angkor Wat (next series of pix) it was all Westerners in our group. Around Siem Reap it seemed like mostly Westerners whereas in Vietnam there were way more Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese tourists in the mix as well.
J R in WV
Good photos of an obviously special place. Would love to visit SE Asia, and India, to see the antique remnants of older culture as well, but now have big trouble dealing with hot weather. 95 would be miserable for me. On well, better to know that than to discover it over there.
Thanks for sharing this trip with us!
Rich
Siem Reap has loads of tourists in normal times. Yes, a small airport on the edge of town, but the town has a busy market and a sprawl of its own. It’s also not very remote. I’ve been to Cambodia several times since 1995—remote requires an hour or so drive from Siem Reap and even there the roads are much better than they once were.
UncleEbeneezer
@Rich: The only place we saw loads of people was at Angkor Wat. We were there in February and the downtown was fairly quiet. But we were also just coming from Saigon so I’m sure the extreme contrast effected our perception substantially. Compared to HCMC/Saigon, SR felt like it was the boonies.