Travelfish #340: Kompong Thom coming, Hotels doing it wrong

Everywhere is on the way to somewhere Hi all, This week I’m back in Cambodia, first in Phnom Penh, then a quick bounce around [Kompong Thom](. My update for there should be online in the next few days, but in the meantime I’ve added a few old pics from the province in this newsletter—just to get those feet itching. [Simple but beautiful. Photo: Nicky Sullivan] Simple but beautiful. Photo: Nicky Sullivan I’m now in Siem Reap and while yes there are now a bazillion people visiting Angkor, but yesterday afternoon I headed to Banteay Kdei and, save a couple of bush turkeys, had the site just about to myself. [You can see a short video of it here](. It hasn’t all been fun and games though and this week’s soapbox is about hotels doing it wrong. Yes, the post could be a lot longer! The Q&A meanwhile is with Joel and Elly—a mid-thirties Swedish German couple making their way through the region. Good travels, Stuart, Sam and the Travelfish crew Support Travelfish! If you'd like to chip in (if you haven’t already) for using the site, we'd love you to sign up for a year-long subscription for just A$35. [See more here](. Soapbox On hotels doing it wrong Arriving in Siem Reap yesterday, upon checking in, the staff walked me to a family room. When I said I had booked a double room, they said I had been upgraded. But I don't want a family room I said. Back to reception we go. Then as I pulled up my reservation, I realised they had upgraded me into a different hotel. What? [Take a spin on the river. Photo: Nicky Sullivan] Take a spin on the river. Photo: Nicky Sullivan I had booked a deluxe room with a view of the pool. The property they were trying to put me in didn't even have a pool. When I asked, I was told there were actually two pools, but in different properties—one across the road, the other down a laneway. That's not ok. Then I asked why had the property name been changed? Oh the owner is bankrupt, staff told me. He changed the name so he doesn't have to pay tax after having a falling out with his foreign business partner. Ok that might be interesting gossip if that is your thing, but why on earth are you telling me as a guest this, and why the hell did you try to “upgrade” me into a property I didn't even book. [Atmospheric Preah Khan. Photo: Nicky Sullivan] Atmospheric Preah Khan. Photo: Nicky Sullivan Once it was all sorted out and I was in the room I had actually booked, I realised the hot water didn't work. Making do with a cold shower (not totally unwelcome given the heat!), I returned to reception on the way to dinner and asked them to fix it. When I returned they explained I needed to let it run for two minutes before the water would get warm. The next morning I let it run for twenty minutes before having my cold shower. I can’t imagine why the owner has gone bankrupt. Good travels, Stuart Premium members only: Book a round the world with [roundtheworldflights.com]( (must travel from the UK via Asia, Australia, New Zealand AND the Americas) and get £30pp off your trip. Offer valid for departures to December 2019. Log in to the Member Centre on Travelfish now for your coupon code and [start designing your own round the world trip »]( Talking Travel Meet Joel & Elly Every week we publish a Q&A, this week with chatted with Joel and Elly—a mid-thirties Swedish German couple currently travelling Southeast Asia—follow their trip at [www.downtheroad.com.se](. Tell us about yourself please We’re about one month into our 6-month trip with our itinerary running through Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia, but it's all subject to change according to what we feel like we want to do. We are blogging/vlogging about our travels at [www.downtheroad.com.se](. You often here travellers say “the best part of the trip was getting there”—can you tell our readers an experience you’ve had that fits that bill? Oftentimes the actual "travel" parts of travelling you remember fondly afterwards are the experiences that at the moment are quite horrible. I still remember being very sick on a local bus between [Medan]( and [Bukit Lawang]( in Sumatra and starting to puke because an elderly person entered the bus eating some kind of dried squid thing that was super smelly. She then rode the bus for about 1 km and stepped off leaving me in a really bad state. And I'm sure Elly will always remember her first trip with a local minivan in Cambodia as well. [Stuart’s note, I managed to vomit on myself in a Cambodian minibus a couple of days ago, so I’m totally with Elly on this.] Travel breaks down barriers between different cultures. Agree or disagree? Why? Yes and no. While travel often creates an understanding of how different cultures interact and function sometimes it also really highlights and almost reinforces the differences. It's often about the quality of experiences and also about the personal chemistry with the locals you meet. For example, a typical on-rails shuttled tour experience might actually do more to reinforce differences between cultures than anything. While visiting a local village where people actually are happy and curious to see a stranger from somewhere else in the world it could be at the other end of the spectrum. Tell me about the best bit of travel gear you own that cost less than $50? Why is it awesome? Joel: A spare toilet roll. Because when you need it, you REALLY need it. Elly: The [Osprey]( daylight backpack: light and versatile. Do you think everyone should travel? Why or why not? A difficult question, we both think it's healthy for people to at some point in their lives experience a different culture and way of life. At the same time, we realise that we are privileged and that if literally everyone travelled across half the world it would not be sustainable. But in a perfect world yes, everyone who wanted to travel should be able to. Do you try and learn some local language when you travel? If so, can you tell us a little about what you found worked (and didn’t) for you? How do you feel it changed your travel experience? Amuse us with an amusing anecdote. Please :) Yes, we do try to learn some language. Obviously, when you travel to many different countries it's hard to learn a lot but we try to learn some basic phrases, and above all we try to learn what different kind of foods are called in the local language. Elly is vegetarian and I'm gluten intolerant, so that's quite important for us. Elly was super proud yesterday when she ordered her first veggie banh mi in Vietnamese and just a little bit of body language. [ Note: Gluten intolerant travellers should check out [Jodi’s flash cards for this]( While we’re not going to ask you to give up your travelling crown jewels, tell us about somewhere you’ve been (or an experience you’ve had) that left you thinking OMG could the travel experience get any better than this? Elly: When you explore [Angkor Wat]( by yourself and find the temples without any other tourists at all. Joel: Trekking in Kalinga province in the Philippines for two weeks and staying in local villages and getting indecent (in a humorous way) proposals from [old tattooed ladies](. Travel often highlights the chasm between the have– and have–nots. Can you tell us about some of the ways you try and give something back to the communities that you are travelling in? We try as much as possible to support local businesses instead of foreign-owned ones (easier when you are budget travellers such as we are). We often try to hire locals as guides (check for recommendations online and with fellow travellers) instead of going with big tour companies. There are also many things you can see or do that try to give back to the local community as part of their business model and different NGO's that do good things as well. In general, you should always think about where the money you spend ends up. We often try to highlight things that we like in our blog as well. I'm just about to write about the [Apopo Hero rat initiative]( in our blog for example. And even though we know it's not always a good thing to do, we sometimes give money to beggars. I have worked my whole life with elderly and handicapped people and sometimes I can't resist when I see someone in a bad position. However, we avoid giving money to kids so that they are not encouraged to beg as a career instead of school or work. Bad travel days. Everyone has had one (or many!) of these. Please share one of your “best bad days”. Again these are the kind of days that are horrible when you experience them but kinda funny when you reminiscence about them later on. The really bad travel days are usually spent mostly on the toilet. I (Joel) once had Salmonella in [Penang]( when I did a visa run from Sumatra. I was supposed to stay for a day but ended up staying for two weeks. I finished reading the [Lord of the Rings trilogy]( in two days because I didn't sleep or leave my room at all. At one point the guesthouse staff came to check on me, presumably to make sure that I hadn't died. If you could go anywhere in Southeast Asia tomorrow, budget be damned, where would you go and why? Elly: She would go to wherever you would have the best possibility to play beach volleyball. Joel: I would go to an expensive and remote dive spot such as [Tubbathba Reefs]( or [Raja Ampat](. Elly likes beach volleyball and I like diving. However, during this trip I'm hoping to ignite her interest in more water-based activities, I've already succeeded with having her kayaking in the Mekong River which we both enjoyed very much. One more plug for our blog [www.downtheroad.com.se](. Thank you very much Joel and Elly! Got a story to tell? Please drop me a line to be interviewed. Travelfish partners [Browse the internet safely]( When we travel we always use TunnelBear VPN to secure our browsing. This reduces the risk from dodgy WiFi networks and idiotic ISPs who inject ads into our browsers. Use the internet safely with TunnelBear. TunnelBear offer a free 7-day trial or use it selectively and enjoy [500meg of data per month for free](. Ten things worth reading Who says you should limit yourself to Southeast Asia? “In total, she said she sleeps six or seven hours a night, less than she normally does on Earth, but that's not due to any discomfort.” A really [inspiring piece]( about an astronaut who knew what she wanted to be when she was just five years old—and wrote a book about it. Why limit your travels to this planet? Indonesia: Oh Indonesia It is difficult not to read this piece regarding the funding Indonesia’s politicians are pulling in and not fret for the future of the environment. Sadly Indonesia is far from the only country whose politicians are in the thrall of donations from [vested interests](. Vietnam: Time to book that Mekong Delta trip As in another 50 years [half of it will be underwater.]( Bleak reading. Why do we look at art when we travel (and less so at home)? “It’s not just routine at home that keeps most of us from [bothering to admire art](. It’s also that we’re already so familiar with our home landscape, and its culture values.” So true. The Islamists Have Already Won With Indonesia’s elections nearing, this piece got a lot of mileage on social media. It mentions the increasing prevalence of the head scarf (which, it should be said, need not point exclusively to religious conservatism) along with a raft of other factors. [Worth a read](. Where Not to Travel in 2019, or Ever “Done well, tourism focused on local peoples can give them more control over their destiny and widen the hearts and minds of travellers to the wonders and complexities of the world. Done poorly, tribal tourism denies people the dignity of being left alone—denies them, even, recognition as people. Either way, [travel has a tendency to bring out the Chau in all of us]( Could not have said it better. A postcard from Cambodia in rainy season Can’t wait [for the rain to start]( Also off to see the Hero rats tomorrow. :) Eating and drinking in Luang Prabang A few [quick tips]( off the back of a recent visit. How to work out in a hotel room ... in pink I thought everyone started their day [doing this]( Ten reasons to visit Kerinci Yes, this is authored by a tour agency offering trips there, but regardless, the area [looks terrific](. What we’re reading (still) Moonwalking with Einstein From the United States Memory Championship to deep within the author's own mind, this is an electrifying work of journalism that reminds us that, in every way that matters, [we are the sum of our memories](. Travel shot [Big skies around Kompong Thom. Photo: Nicky Sullivan] Big skies around Kompong Thom. Photo: Nicky Sullivan Till next time [Sam and Stuart.] That’s it from us for now. As usual, enjoy the site’s new additions and drop us a line if there’s something in particular you’d like us to cover in Southeast Asia. Travel light! Stuart, Sam & the Travelfish team [( You're receiving the Travelfish newsletter because you signed up at Travelfish.org. Not interested anymore? [Unsubscribe Instantly](. Make sure you're getting our emails! If you're a Gmail user and would prefer your Travelfish newsletter in your Primary in-box rather than Promotions, just drag this email from the Promotions tab to the Primary tab, and click "yes" when it asks if you want to do that for all of our emails. Better still, [read this newsletter online.]( [Disclosure]( | [Privacy]( | [Unsubscribe]( We want travellers to love Southeast Asia as much as we do. 9 robinson close, hornsby heights, nsw 2077, AUSTRALIA [Unsubscribe]( | [Change Subscriber Options](