Day 26: Siem Reap to Bangkok to Singapore to Home, Wednesday 3rd July 2024 ( and home on Thursday 4th July )
July 3, 2024
Weather was warm, other than that we were inside most of the day.
NZ$1 = THB22
THB1 = NZ$0.04
NZ$1 = S$0.8
S$1=NZ$1.20 ( Singapore Dollar )
( Apologies for the brief nature of this blog; I often forget to update the travel diary on the last days of a trip, so a lot of this is from memory ).
Up at 7:30am, down for breakfast. We had booked a car to take us to the airport through the hotel (US$35 ) which arrived at 9am. Checked out etc and then to the airport ( Siam Reap Angkor Airport ). We arrived 10am. The airport was pretty quiet with only a few flights due out / in this morning.
We checked in ( Thai Air Asia, Siem Reap to Bangkok to Singapore, $741 for 2 people ), talked briefly to a New Zealander who lived in Siem Reap and taught English for a living, grabbed a coffee at the only cafe in the building, looked through the 3 other shops, and waited. The terminal is very nice but a little sparse at the moment.
Wandered down to the gate at 11:00am, through security etc and out to the plane
Flight was due to leave 11:55am, but as its often the case in Asia we left early at 11:40am.
Bumpy flight, with the usual thunderstorms to avoid. Landed at Don Meung Airport at 12:45pm, went through the transfer desk for AirAsia ( didn’t need our bags, just a passport and cabin bag scan ( this one seemed to find things that the other scans haven’t, so we were there a while ).
Waited in the terminal, had lunch at Subway ( 500THB/$25! ), waited, afternoon tea at Starbuck (500thb / $25!), waited
Downstairs to the bus gate, and waited. Our plane was delayed from 4:45pm now 5:15pm, but was later than that leaving ( about 6pm ).
Good flight, landed at 8:45pm (Singapore time ), changed some money, ordered a Grab to Boss hotel ( S$22/NZ$26 ) at 9:15pm. We have used this hotel before and it worked out well for a short stay and was close to an MRT station to get back to the airport.
Checked in ( 1 night, no breakfast, $NZ193 , room 5-99 ( there are 100 rooms per floor and 15 floors )). Room was small but fine for the price.
Out for tea, just as far as the restaurant under the hotel ( Chapter One, 2 entrees S$35 ), then to a 7eleven then bed at 10:30pm. A long day of travel.
July 4, 2024
Weather was warm but less humid ( 40% ) so felt very pleasant.
NZ$1 = S$0.8
S$1=NZ$1.20 ( Singapore Dollar )
Up at 8am, out at 9am for some breakfast down the road at a cafe ( Tolido’s Espresso Nook ). I wasn’t feeling great again; probably picked up something on the flights yesterday.
Back to the hotel, checked out and left at 11am ( no ruish today as our flight home is at 6:40pm ). Walked to Lavendar MRT and caught the train to Changi Airport. Left our bags at the same left luggage place we used on the way into Singapore and walked to the Jewel.
Looked around, took some photos, had lunch at a cafe downstairs at the base of the falls.
Back to T3, grabbed our bags. Checked in with Air NZ, and through security and immigration. Went to the butterfly garden which is inside ( or more accurately in an enclosed space outside the building ) the departure lounge. There are a lot of butterflies!.
And then waited at the gate. Our plane arrived a bit late from NZ so we were late boarding and left at 7:15pm. Flights home at the end of a long trip are never fun, but this one more so because I wasn’t feeling well. Not much sleep was had.
Arrived at 8am, through bag collection, immigration etc and bus to Auckland domestic terminal and then waited at domestic for our 11:50am flight. I struggled to stay awake / concious for the 3 hours, then onto our flight back to Napier ( I was asleep before we left the ground ), and home at 1:30pm.
Another enjoyable trip completed. And whilst we visited places we had been before ( Bangkok and Siem Reap ) we experienced them in a different way to last time. Bangkok we saw different parts of the city and got an appreciation for the diversity that exists.
And with Siem Reap it was like putting on a comfortable old shoe; we like this town and it has a good feel for us. It is busy and a bit touristy, but to a tolerable amount. And the temples…. We got off the beaten track and enjoyed the quieter side of temple tourism, which was much more up our ally.
And we went to a lot of new places. Malayasia was new for us and Georgetown was a definite highlight. And getting to southern Thailand, the beaches at Hua Hin and out to Kanchanaburi was also worth the effort.
I will put together a final blog with the total costs of the trip.