We had dinner last night at the lobby restaurant which is huge, and we were the only ones there. We both had a fried rice dish, me with chicken and Ross with seafood, and they were delicious. Accompanied by a couple of cocktails and it was a pleasant meal. The staff were very attentive. They are quietly spoken and very respectful, even backing away from you before turning.
There are several restaurants at the hotel, so we will try a different one tomorrow night.
After dinner we went out to look at the pool. It is enormous, almost the size of a football field and bigger than our house block.
There is a rooftop bar and restaurant, so we went up there to have a look at the city lights and have another cocktail. The view was very impressive, and I thought, even better than Ho Chi Minh City.
It was beautiful with all the little dinner cruising ships, all lit up and crawling around the river like brightly coloured snails. Just stunning!
The carpark that was pretty empty last night is filling up with lots of expensive black SUV’s this morning.
I think there must be some sort of conference on at the hotel as all the staff were buzzing around when we went to breakfast.
It is very hot today and we nearly melted when we went down for a swim in the giant pool. There was nobody else there and I am wondering if there are not many people staying here at all as there were very few at breakfast. I guess they might all be going out on early tours though.
We declined the ‘killing fields’ tour. I know what went on here during the reign of Pol Pot, but I really don’t want to see the evidence. Also it would be punishingly hot walking around there and the Russian markets.
We declined the ‘killing fields’ tour. I know what went on here during the reign of Pol Pot, but I really don’t want to see the evidence. Also it would be punishingly hot walking around there and the Russian markets.
I just went down to change some money into the local currency and was told that it really doesn’t exist and they use U.S. dollars all over Cambodia. Well, there won’t be too many tips thrown around here then!
I used up a lot of my U.S. cash paying the visa which was a lot more than was expected. It did say online that the price seems to vary from day to day and depending on where you enter the country. Go figure!!
They won’t change my Vietnamese currency either, possibly because the two countries dislike each other. $50 Australian was only worth $30 American! Australian dollars suck!
We went down to the pool this afternoon when the shadow of the hotel caused part of it to be in shade. The water was still very warm but at least we didn’t get cooked in the blazing sun. It was very pleasant having the whole pool to ourselves for a while. It is so big that you do laps from side to side instead of up the length, and a couple of men turned up after we’d been there a while to do exactly that.
This evening we went up to the restaurant at the top floor to have dinner. It was pretty windy but we managed to have a nice meal of beef and noodles for me and seafood rice again for Ross. I had an enormous glass of sangria which was full of apple and was very tasty, then we had dessert of cheesecake and raspberry mousse cake.
I managed to get some photos of the skyline and river, but you may want to watch the video with the sound off as the kid at the next table was having a bit of a meltdown as I filmed it. Groan!
I managed to get some photos of the skyline and river, but you may want to watch the video with the sound off as the kid at the next table was having a bit of a meltdown as I filmed it. Groan!
Bus again tomorrow, and off to Siem Reap for the highlight of the trip, Angkor Wat temple.
Jill D
2023-04-05
That is one fancy hotel! Finally found your 5 star. Enjoy the luxury.