Luxury Travel Advisor - August 2007 - (Page 21) ADVISOR INSIGHT: Mary DeForest Cardoza, president and CEO of CardozaBungey Travel in Palo Alto, CA, is passionate about selling Cambodia. “Just outside Siem Reap in the midst of jungle are Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm and Bantaey Srei. I feel these are the most important temples to see first,” Cardoza says. “You’ll want to experience sunset at Angkor Wat, the perfect time for catching photos with the golden light on the temple. But sunrise is magical too. You just need to be willing to get up very early. The temple complex is so extensive I like to encourage my clients to take a helicopter ride to view its vastness and its symmetry.” “I like to recommend a visit to Phnom Penh, the capital city. Angkor shows Cambodia’s past, while Phnom Penh shows its present and future. This city, built along the Mekong River, has a boardwalk filled with outdoor cafés, lots of people and bustling traffic. You might try an exhilarating ride in a cyclo (a chair built on the front of a bicycle). Touring in a cyclo, you experience the city so much better than from inside a car. Only a few hours’ drive south and west from Phnom Penh is the coast.” “If you like to visit beaches before they have been discovered by the tourist mainstream, then the Cambodian beaches on the Gulf of Thailand are for you. On the cusp of development, the towns, shops and hotels are still a bit funky, but the natural beaches are beautiful. Fresh fish and seafood are plentiful and well prepared at many small restaurants nearby. Moderate and deluxe hotels are taking shape, service skills are in their learning phase, but the charming and eager Cambodians are sure to surprise and delight you.” AMANSARA POOL SUITES open up to private, placid pools, which are framed by sleek patios and chic, simple furnishings. RAFFLES HOTEL LE ROYAL’s swimming pool is the centerpiece of a tree-lined courtyard (left). PERSONALITY SUITES at Raffles Hotel Le Royal are named after notable figures like Jackie Kennedy (below). showers with wide rain-style heads and bathtubs (some suites’ tubs are on a lower level at the end of the bed). Tip: The hotel’s 25-meter lap pool, set behind a high bambooshaded wall, provides more of the ultimate privacy that is de rigeur at the Amansara. Reservations Manager Faith Famoso-Ramos (amansara@ amansararesorts.com; 855-63760-333), who is also the wedding coordinator, says it is necessary to book six months in advance for reservations between December 23 and January 5. Dining options feature international and Royal Khmer cuisine under the pergola beside the pool and on the rooftop terrace, which is very atmospheric in the evenings and is a favorite for cocktails at sundown. In the elegant, circular main dining room (reservations aren’t required), which was once King Sihanouk’s movie screening room, young Cambodian musicians perform for guests. Also popular is the nearby Sugar Palm restaurant, run by a New ZealandKhmer couple, which specializes in Khmer home-style cooking, including amok (fish cooked in coconut milk) and a range of soups and flavorful, but not overly spicy, curries. The Amansara Spa, which is overseen by Spa Manager Miki Kamimura (aman@amansara resorts.com; 855-63-760-333), has three single treatment rooms and one double, each with private relaxation areas. Therapist Kim Choup specializes in the Touch of the East treatment, while Sophea is a favorite for the Scents of Cambodia treatment. Guest assistants are assigned to each suite to ensure that every visitor’s stay is hassle-free. For kids, they can organize elephant rides, jungle walks and crocodile farm visits. They can also arrange airport transfers in the former king’s classic stretch 1960s Mercedes, as well as hot-air-balloon rides over Angkor Wat and helicopter sunset picnics in the jungle. We think the ultimate romantic evening has to be a private candlelit dinner in an exclusive Angkor temple with traditional music and dancing. Perhaps our favorite feature, www.luxuryta.com August 2007 | LUXURY TRAVEL ADVISOR 21 http://www.luxuryta.com
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