Vacation Plans

I have been meaning to go to Bali ever since I came to Korea, but for one reason or another, it hasn't happened yet. I had planned to go this winter vacation, but again, it fell through. It took too long for my boss to get back to me about our vacation time, and by then the flights from Busan had been booked, and it would be nearly a million won to fly from Seoul, plus the cost and time of a bus ride to and from. Not worth it. Maybe in July for summer vacation. It might be cheaper then, anyway, since Decemberish is peak season, I believe.

I asked the travel agency I use to look into flights to the Philippines, Malaysia, other parts of Indonesia, or any other place in Southeast Asia that would give me a nice beach vacation for between 7 and 800,000 won for a ticket. The agent got back to me with three choices: Saipan, Guam, and Cambodia, all of which use the American dollar, I think. I was surprised that Cambodia does, actually. I looked at hotels and things to do in all three options, and found Cambodia far superior in terms of price and entertainment, so there I will go.

I've booked and paid for my flight already. At 785,000 won, it's the priciest flight I've taken for vacation so far, but not by much, and I may be able to make up some money while I'm there, since things are supposedly wildly cheap.

My first night I'm staying right in Phnom Penh, since I won't arrive at the airport until 7:20pm, and the coast is a few hours away. It seems like there's a lot to do in the city, anyway, so I'll probably wish I had an extra day there. But I prefer the beach. I decided to stay in hostels for most of my trip to save some money, and because they seem almost as good as a budget hotel in many cases, sometimes better. The place I'm staying at in the city is called Hostel Nomads. I booked it online through Lonely Planet, and I chose to stay in the seven-bed dormitory for a whopping $4 a night (plus $2 Lonely Planet charged me for booking online--but I got a free 47-page guidebook chapter emailed to me as a special they're doing this month). I could have gotten my own room for $10, but I figured the money I save could go a long way there, and it's just one night, anyway. I might meet some interesting people.

Here's the website for the hostel:

www.becambodia.com/nomadshome.htm

Let me know if that doesn't work, because this thing isn't letting me paste a copy of the URL in for some reason.

It's kind of laughable the difference between the first place I'm going to stay and the second. After Phnom Penh, I'm going to travel a few hours to the coast in Koh Kong province, and go out to Koh Andet Island. There, I will stay at the newly-opened posh 4 Rivers Floating Ecolodge, for about a hundred dollars a night. This is my splurge item. It looks really awesome. I get my own big room (40 sqm) this time, a floating pool--not my own, of course--and lots of places in nature to see nearby. It's on a river, with the Cardamom Mountains right outside, plus jungles, mangrove forests, etc. The pictures of all the animals on the website are cool.

www.ecolodges.asia/

After three days there, I'll continue on to Sihanoukville, one of the most popular areas in Cambodia, I've read, for some nice beach time. There, I'll be at Orchidee Guesthouse in the midrange, at $22 a night. This place gives me my own room right by the pool, which I'll be glad to have. The place isn't right on the beach, of course, but the little map on the website puts it pretty close, so I'm sure it'll be fine. The beaches are supposed to be really nice, with white sand and all that, so I'm looking forward to that.

www.orchidee-guesthouse.com/engels.htm

This will be my first major vacation without a traveling companion, so I'm a little nervous about that. I usually prefer to have a lot of time alone, but when traveling, it's a lot more fun to share the experiences (and the costs). I'm hoping I'll meet some other tourists along the way, since it's peak season, to go on excursions with and whatnot.