Re: New 2015 Holiday Thread : Fri Mar 13, 2015 4:21 am  

Mike Oxlong wrote: If I can find some cheap guest houses to stay in, then I think Cambodia could defo be next on my list then - just one of those places I have always fancied seeing. Mother home Inn in Siem Reap (http://www.motherhomehotel.com) I stayed in 2012 and hotel was class. $100 for two of us for 5 nights. Plus they organised our trips to Angkor Wat for us

Mike Oxlong wrote: If I can find some cheap guest houses to stay in, then I think Cambodia could defo be next on my list then - just one of those places I have always fancied seeing. Mother home Inn in Siem Reap (http://www.motherhomehotel.com) I stayed in 2012 and hotel was class. $100 for two of us for 5 nights. Plus they organised our trips to Angkor Wat for us

[TimperleySaint]

Re: New 2015 Holiday Thread : Fri Mar 13, 2015 8:57 am  

Lawrie L wrote: Mother home Inn in Siem Reap (http://www.motherhomehotel.com) I stayed in 2012 and hotel was class. $100 for two of us for 5 nights. Plus they organised our trips to Angkor Wat for us Cheers, duly noted and appreciated! Just hope I remember about it in a few months when coming to book! What time of year did you go? I've been to Thailand (Koh Samui) at the end of April/early May and the weather was pretty much perfect - temperature-wise, and avoiding any heavy rainfall, so would like to get the same for Cambodia.

Lawrie L wrote: Mother home Inn in Siem Reap (http://www.motherhomehotel.com) I stayed in 2012 and hotel was class. $100 for two of us for 5 nights. Plus they organised our trips to Angkor Wat for us Cheers, duly noted and appreciated! Just hope I remember about it in a few months when coming to book! What time of year did you go? I've been to Thailand (Koh Samui) at the end of April/early May and the weather was pretty much perfect - temperature-wise, and avoiding any heavy rainfall, so would like to get the same for Cambodia.

Re: New 2015 Holiday Thread : Fri Mar 13, 2015 9:30 am  

Mike Oxlong wrote:

Cheers, duly noted and appreciated! Just hope I remember about it in a few months when coming to book!

What time of year did you go? I've been to Thailand (Koh Samui) at the end of April/early May and the weather was pretty much perfect - temperature-wise, and avoiding any heavy rainfall, so would like to get the same for Cambodia.

I was in Cambodia in June time which is round about rainy season. It was about 30c and humid but apart from a few showers it was class!

Ill try find hotel we went to in Phnom Penh for you. It was like a modern business man's hotel but for 2 of us cost around £100 for three nights

Hotels were cheap as chips over there and food,drink etc was mental. We went to a restaurant in Siem Reap in which two courses (friend had steak as a main) and two big mojitoes cost $24. Food was out of this world

[TimperleySaint]

Re: New 2015 Holiday Thread : Fri Mar 13, 2015 10:55 am  

Lawrie L wrote:

I was in Cambodia in June time which is round about rainy season. It was about 30c and humid but apart from a few showers it was class!

Ill try find hotel we went to in Phnom Penh for you. It was like a modern business man's hotel but for 2 of us cost around £100 for three nights

Hotels were cheap as chips over there and food,drink etc was mental. We went to a restaurant in Siem Reap in which two courses (friend had steak as a main) and two big mojitoes cost $24. Food was out of this world

Had a quick look this morning and dry season seems to run October to April, so should be bang on for when I'm thinking.

Cheers again for the hotel info, and any/all tips. Did you do 2 weeks there or were you travelling around SE Asia?

Sounds a lot like Thailand, price and food wise - I came back with loads of money and was surprised as how cheap it was to eat & drink there!

Re: New 2015 Holiday Thread : Fri Mar 13, 2015 11:01 am  

Lawrie L wrote:

I was in Cambodia in June time which is round about rainy season. It was about 30c and humid but apart from a few showers it was class!

Ill try find hotel we went to in Phnom Penh for you. It was like a modern business man's hotel but for 2 of us cost around £100 for three nights

Hotels were cheap as chips over there and food,drink etc was mental. We went to a restaurant in Siem Reap in which two courses (friend had steak as a main) and two big mojitoes cost $24. Food was out of this world

Weather is pretty similar to Thailand, although only really 2 "seasons" as such rather than 3 in the Land of Smiles: dry (October to late April) and wet (May to late September). Temps vary in the season, but March, April, May and June are the hottest of the year with temps in excess of 35°C. Very Humid in March and April, coolest between October and December (if 24 degrees is cool!)

Re: New 2015 Holiday Thread : Fri Mar 13, 2015 11:13 am  

Mike Oxlong wrote:

Had a quick look this morning and dry season seems to run October to April, so should be bang on for when I'm thinking.

Cheers again for the hotel info, and any/all tips. Did you do 2 weeks there or were you travelling around SE Asia?

Sounds a lot like Thailand, price and food wise - I came back with loads of money and was surprised as how cheap it was to eat & drink there!

My friend was working in Ho Chi Minh City and she was leaving her job so we decided to travel, I got to her place about 10pm at night jetlagged and amazed by the craziness of HCMC.

Following morning at 8am we ended setting off on an 14 hour coach journey to Siem Reap with a coach change in Phnom Penh. I had made a monumental co-k up as I didn't do any research about Cambodia at all (I knew about the evil regimes of past) so the whole country was an amazing shock! Spent a week in Cambodia, few days back in HCMC helping my friend move out of her flat then I had an eventful trip home which involved Mozambique men's football team

[TimperleySaint]

Re: New 2015 Holiday Thread : Fri Mar 13, 2015 12:08 pm  

Lawrie L wrote:

My friend was working in Ho Chi Minh City and she was leaving her job so we decided to travel, I got to her place about 10pm at night jetlagged and amazed by the craziness of HCMC.

Following morning at 8am we ended setting off on an 14 hour coach journey to Siem Reap with a coach change in Phnom Penh. I had made a monumental co-k up as I didn't do any research about Cambodia at all (I knew about the evil regimes of past) so the whole country was an amazing shock! Spent a week in Cambodia, few days back in HCMC helping my friend move out of her flat then I had an eventful trip home which involved Mozambique men's football team

Sounds like you've seen a fair bit of SE Asia then, and have seen some sights & plenty of stories to tell.

I know a little about Cambodia, but I kind of like the idea of going to somewhere and not knowing what to expect - or it being completely different to expectations.

Re: New 2015 Holiday Thread : Thu Mar 19, 2015 5:58 pm  

Cronus wrote:

Pretty much matches my experience. NYC is an amazing place and you could spend a lifetime exploring, but the tourist traps are just that.

Been several times on leisure, and unfortunately had to do the Statue of Liberty twice and Empire State twice (the express tickets were worth skipping the queues ), amongst others, and I have fond memories of a brass band tour which took us to the top of the Twin Towers in about 1990 and to the UN, which was an amazing experience not least because we met Bill Clinton.

What you say about having a walk is spot on. The last 2 times I've stayed with a family member working on Broadway, which meant I had plenty of time to myself. One of my favourite walks was Upper West, past the Intrepid, up through Hell's Kitchen, through Theatre District and probably on to either Little Italy or the Village, stopping for a few slurps and nibbles on the way. The backstreet places are the best by far, I'll never forget an Irish bar in Hell's Kitchen where the locals made me very welcome apart from a loudmouth prick who got all "Ireland for the Irish" aggressive because I was English. That is until I told him not only was I part Irish, I had relatives over there and had visited many times - unlike him, who had never left the USA. He got shouted down. That was a great night.

Philly is worth a visit, as is Boston, but NYC is a unique beast.

Me and 2 pals did this as a trip in 2013 and included Washington (interesting but not always in the best way). We used trains/buses etc, staying in hostels and it was a great trip and one i'd recommend for sure.

This year I'll be off back to Paris in November and also planning on sneaking a trip to Dubai in amongst the proposed weekends in Dublin, Scotland and Cornwall!
Anyone with a nice place to stay in any of those locations would be greatly appreciated!