After an “Ask your editor” thread containing 185 posts and 9,730 views forum users were probably glad to see the back of the 6th November departure to “Untold Cambodia and Laos”! There were a lot of changes to this trip from the originally published timings and itinerary but this review is confined to the tour that actually occurred and does not ponder what might have happened had changes not occurred. Changes were, generally, as a result of previous customer feedback.
With a nice sized group of 18 (9 of whom did the add on to Hanoi) there was a mix of those, like myself, who had visited Cambodia previously and who wished to explore the country in more detail and those visiting for the first time. JY advertise this as a holiday but it is much more of an adventure. There is a certain amount of down time but a tour does involve a certain amount of moving around but we were fortunate, on the final itinerary, to have 5 nights in the same hotel in Siem Reap and 4 nights in the same hotel in Luang Prabang in Laos. There were 2 pre-dawn starts (followed by a return to the hotel for breakfast so you could drop out if you wished but why you might want to miss out on these is beyond me) firstly in Angkor Wat to see the dawn over the Temple and then in Luang Prabang to partake in alms giving to the monks.
On the subject of food then on the main tour there were included (I think I have worked this out correctly but it gives the overview) 11 breakfasts, 9 lunches and 4 dinners whilst on the add on there were 3 breakfasts and 2 lunches. Eating meals together has been the subject of recent forum discussions and my personal view is that subject to the country and the accessibility of restaurants then eating out is all a part of the wider travel experience. There were also, compared to other tours I have been on, a larger than usual percentage of people with special dietary requirements. These ranged from allergies such as gluten free to those who were vegetarian although some would eat permutations of fish, chicken etc etc. (That is an observation and not a criticism!). Personally I fall into neither camp but it seemed to me that whilst everyone got fed the waiters sometimes got a bit confused with the wide range of would (not) eats. If anyone affected has specific comments I leave it to them to add their own observations. In Cambodia and Laos there were a wide range of restaurants a short tuk tuk ride away whilst in Hanoi days were full on so it tended to be bar snacks in the hotel in the evening.
As to the group itself it was good to finally put faces to forum names and, on another forum subject, 6 out of the 18 (a group of 2 and a group of 4) knew each other before travelling but there were no cliques and everyone mixed well.
In the past, tours involving Cambodia tended to be part of a longer Vietnam trip when you simply got a taster visiting the main sights and then to the temples at Siem Reap. The attraction of this tour was that having done that this tour went on to explore Cambodia in much more depth with the added bonus of visiting Laos which I had not been to previously. I, and many I spoke to, were not disappointed. Previously I flew between Phnom Pehn and Siem Reap but this time we travelled by road giving an opportunity to see real village life away from the towns. Once we were in Siem Reap the excursions there also took us into the real Cambodia. In Phnom Penh I enquired about visiting the Killing Fields which are important to understanding Cambodia’s history and which I had not previously been to. I was expecting to go on my own via a tuk tuk but when our TM asked if anyone else was interested the final tally was 16 (out of 18) using the coach so perhaps JY should consider making this very moving place a part of the tour or as an optional excursion.
Laos was also delightful and the trip to the living land farm taught a lot about country living, bareback bullock riding and sticky rice whilst the stop at the elephant sanctuary on the way back was a real treat as you got to feed the elephants.
The US$ is the currency of choice in Cambodia & Laos although you might get (part of) your change in local currency. It was easy enough though to spend this and most places would accept a combination of local currency and dollars on a transaction if you wanted to get rid of local money. In Hanoi the hotel took US$ at the bar but most other places wanted local money only however there were plenty of money changing places.
Separate local guides were engaged in each country. We used the vox boxes in Cambodia & Laos which I rather like as you can hover at the edge of the group as I do looking for photographs whilst still hearing the commentary. The guides in Cambodia and Hanoi were excellent in their commentary and their insights into their country. However in Laos if I said the guide was as much use as a chocolate teapot I would be insulting chocolate teapots. You know you are in trouble when the local guide is asking directions and commentary was non-existent. Our TM is well aware of group thoughts on this issue and feedback forms will also reflect the group member’s individual views.
On a practical point then in the first hotel in Phnom Penh I did not need to use adaptors for charging but thereafter the hotels used European round 2 pin sockets. However, connections could be loose and you had to watch that with the weight of a plug and adaptor these did not slip out of the socket. All hotels were clean and comfortable but the boutique Sanctuary Hotel in Laos was a real treat with a small number of rooms in small blocks set around a large pond with well-tended gardens.
Flights were with Vietnam Airlines throughout and as all flights were international there was a 30k weight allowance on all flights, very useful for some of the prolific shoppers as there were many markets and opportunities to assist the local economies. We had an aborted landing coming into Laos due to a bad storm but rather than being a matter of concern this, to me, demonstrated that the airline/pilot was safety conscious and not prepared to take risks.
We even had occasional brushes with fame and/or importance. In Hanoi we missed out on the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum as our visit co-incided with a visit to the site by the Indian premier although we were able to see the visiting ceremony. I had been in the mausoleum on a previous visit and no-one else seemed concerned at passing on that one. However, earlier in the trip we were in Cambodia on Independence Day and some found it difficult to contain their excitement on discovering that we were in the same bar in Raffles as the “Kings, father’s daughter!”
All in all this was one of the best trips I have had with a chance to explore and learn about the countries visited and this holiday/adventure comes highly recommended.
There are some prolific forum users amongst the travellers on this trip and I am sure they will have input to the thread. Also to my fellow travellers thank you for your company, the good times shared and the many laughs along the way.
Ian
