HK Independent Traveller Blog

Angkor Wat is a 'must see' monument of the Angkor Archeological Park .  We did visit it but not on our first or second day.  Rather, it's on the second last day.   It is enormous.  It has miles long relief describing the various wars.   Beautiful but after some time it's difficult to appreciate the art intensively.   There are many literature about the momument and its art.  Instead of extracting bits and pieces of information, I prefer to show it from far to close. The first day of visit, we passed by the monument in the evening.  Families clustered at the lawn outside to enjoy the precious time together. A view of Angkor Wat from a hill for sunset.   You have to start walking up before a certain time and queue up to enter into the premise of temples to wait for the sunset view.   There were crowds.  So, be early.  The weather on the day we visited was not ideal for sunset view.  We ...

Feb 2014 I feel that Blossom Cafe must be featured at this section about Siem Reap. It is a cupcake boutique, not-for-profit organisation offering training and opportunities to Cambodian women to earn their independent living with superb cake skills. Not only you can sample delicious cakes, but relax and appreciate every corner in cake art form.  It provides ample space with transquity and beauty.   Blue glass tables reflecting spot lights within white colour space soothes your nerves.  Cakes are not only pieces of art but mouth-watering.  It's difficult to resist of not ordering more.  Cherry Hype Cheesecake Lemon and Raspberry Cake Cookies n Cream Cheesecake Chocolate Hazelnut Sacher Torte There were 48 choices of individual cupcakes.  You can also have a platter or tower to multiply your happiness level.  If cupcake does not satisfy your appetite, you can order their signature Chocolate Sacher Torte Cake or a tai...

Feb 2014 Fish Filet on Chili Ginger Sauce Morning Glory Soup We were 7 nights in Siem Reap and can give you tips on which restaurants to go and which not.   Our most favourite was Haven Training Restaurant .  At time it was ranked as the number 1 restaurant at TripAdvisor . The owner is a Swiss couple.  The husband managed all guests at the restaurant entrance.  If you were very lucky you could get a table without reservation.  But most of the time, you will be unlucky. Fish Filet with Green Mango Haven is running for a good cause . It provides a 1-year training programme to orphans or underprivileged young people from very poor rural areas. They were equipped with work, life skills, English and computer skills. The owner will assist them finding permanent position after the programme. We passed by there on our first night, 11 Feb.  The earliest we could get a table for 2 would be 15 Feb. We had high expectation.  Food was f...