::Title: Southeast Asis Trip Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia March 2001 ::Author: Steve Engelhardt, steven_t_engelhardt ::

Singapore / Indonesia / Cambodia / laos / Malaysia trip 2001

March 14: Wendsday: Mpls - Seattle - Tokyo

I leave Mpls at 10AM for Seattle where I catch a 747 for Tokyo They are still doing repairs to the Airport after the earthquake.

March 15: Thursday: Tokyo - Singapore

We land at Tokyo Narita Airport about 4PM and have about 1 hour layover before boarding the flight to Singapore.

Chinese Gardens

March 16: Friday Singapore

We arraive at 12:30AM to Changi Airport rated as the finest Airport in the world, I dont disagee it is first class They have fine chairs for waiting, they have wide isles and plenty of space for people to meet. I take a taxi to my hotel, it is the only option at 2AM and they over-charge me I go to the Hotel Fragrance Ruby. In the morning I walk to the MRT and take a train to the Kranji War Memorial. I than take the MRT to the Chinese Garden and enjoy a walk around the park. On the way back to the hotel I stop on Orchard Rd and visit the Hard Rock Cafe. At the hotel I purchase air ticket on Silk Air for Phnom Penh

Batam Indonsia

March 17: Saturday: Singapore - Indonsia - Singapore

This morning I am taking a Day trip to the Island of Batam. I was going to overnight but because my fight to Cambodia leaves Sunday AM I will just spend the day. I take the MRT downtown and a taxi to the World Trade Center. From there there are all kinds of ferries. I catch the first one to Batam. We pass the QE2 in is dock on the way over. It takes about 40 min to cross to Waterfront port where I pass through Immigration. Waterfront is a deserted resort area with most places closed. I take a taxi to the other end of the island and the town of Norgoro where I shop and have lunch. I take taxi back to Waterfront and return to Singapore.

National Musuem Phnom Penh

Tuol Sleng S21 Death Camp Phnom Penh

Silver Pagoda

March 18: Sunday: Singapore - Phnom Penh Cambodia

My flight to Phnom Penh leaves at 8:40AM from Terminal2 with is even more impressive than Terminal1. It take 2 hours and after purchasing a Visa at the Airport I take A Motto Bike to City and the Hotel Indochina across from the Tonle Sap River. After checking in I rent a driver and motto and visit the city starting with the National Musuem and then the Tuol Sleng S21 Death Camp which is a pretty somber place. The displays are pretty terrifing. After lunch I than go to Wat Preah Keo or the Silver Pagoda. The buildings are a real treasure and are very impressive and comparable to some in Bangkok.

Shooting Range

March 19: Monday: Phnom Penh Cambodia

Today I have Mr Lee as my Moto driver who spent 20 years in the army and now that there is peace he is a motto driver. They attually make good money since the Per Capita Income is about $300USD and they can make $10 a day. First I stop and cash some travelers checks since I cannot even charge Airplane tickets on credit card and then we stop at Laos Aviation and find it closed. We then go 20K out of town to visit the Killing Field Memorial. The roads are rated as the worst in the world and again I dont disagree, the are terrible. The Killing Fields ia another very somber place where the show many mass graves and visit the Memorial Stupa where they have 17 stories of bones including 8000 heads. Both my guide and motto driver tell me that there entire familys were killed by the Khmer Rouge. Since the collape of the Khmer Rouge and general amnisty given Peace has returned to Cambodia. Some people describe the atmospere as like the wild west, well they have a lot of catching up after 30 years. My next stop is the shooting range where I fail my AK47 test exam. Next we return to town and stop by Laos Aviation and obtain a ticket and leave my passport to obtain a Visa.

Phnom Penh: Stupa

Vientiane Laos: Mekong

March 20: Tuesday: Phnom Penh - Vientiane Laos

At 10:00AM I go back and pick up my Visa at Laos Aviation and then I stop at Malasia Airlines and pick up my another ticket to Kula Lampur which I will need later. At the airport I cannot find my flight and it turns out it is attually on Vietnam Airlines which stops in Laos an its way to Hanoi. It is a short flight and we arraive at very nice and clean airport. I take a taxi into town and check into a hotel. Toward evening I walk along the Mekong and watch the fisherman. I find an excellent Indian place to eat which costed a total of $3USD.

Vientiane Laos: Phra That Luang

Vientiane Laos: Revolution Monument

Vientiane Laos: Buddist Park

March 21: Wendsday: Vientiane Laos

I hire a local Tuk driver and we visit the city, we visit many Wats's one Wat had over 10,000 Buddha images. We visit the Revolution monument and then we visit Phra That Luang a very impressive Supa and Laos most famous mounument. I then visit the History Musuem (Foramlly the Revolution Musuem) It was most interesting with many pictures and some good communist propaganda. Next I travel 20K to the Buddist Park which is just past the Friendship bridge to Thialand. There are many Buddist and Hindu statues here many quite strange. I return to town and have another excellent Indian Dinner.

Siagon Airport, Vietnam

March 22: Thursday: Vientiane Laos - Siagon - Pheom Penh - Siem Reap

I get up early this morning to catch a flight back to Cambodia. At 6;10 we leave on Laos Aviation ATR7 Turbo Prop for Phenom Penh via Siagon. It is a short flight and we have about a 40 min layover to let passengers get off and on. Siagon Airport still reminds me of the 70's with its old hangers. We leave Siagon passing over the Mekong on the way to Pheom Penh. At Pheom Penh I book a flight on Presidential Airlines for Siem Reap, it doesnt leave until the afternoon so I take a Motto into town and have lunch. I return to the airport and I am 1 of 3 passengers fon the Folker28 Jet. At Siem Reap there is a taxi waiting to take me to my hotel, the Golden Angkor Hotel. I check in and have dinner.

Angkor Phnom Kulen, Cambodia

Angkor , Cambodia

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

March 23: Friday: Ankor Wat, Cambodia

Today I hire a Motto Driver for the whole day. We make 9 stops Starting with the North Gate of Angkor Thom and the the central square of Angkor Thom (Bayon) We the traveled 31K to Phnom kulen it was a long way but the Wat was very impressive. We spent the rest of the day visiting 7 more Wat's finishing with Angkor Wat. After going inside I did manage to climb up top just to find out how bad it smells. through many of the Wat's you will find Buddist Shrines and a monk attending it. It is difficult to explain how impressive it all is and how vast and detailed it all is. Come nightfull we return to the hotel.

March 24: Saturday: Siam Reap - Phnom Penh

Early in the morning I check out of my hotel and a pickup truck picks me up and several other to take us to the ferry terminal The roads are so bad it takes over 1 hour to travel the 7K. When we get there we crowd onto a little boat and we snake through the collection of fishing boats. It turns out this is just a shuttle to the big boat. We tansfer to the Big Boat and we start our journey across Tonle Sap lake. After about 30min we here a big bang and our boat stops, we have broken our transmission. There is another boat ahead and it picks us up. So we all crowd into one boat and off we go again. The lake is quite large and takes quite a while to get across and then we continue down the river toward Phnom Penh. It takes 6 hours to get there and I take a motto to the Indochina Hotel for the night.

March 25: Sunday: Phnom Penh - Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

I leave Phnom Pehn at 11:10 on Malaysia Airlines 737-400. The flight takes 90Min KL Airport is very modern and impressive but kind of a metalic look about it. After immigration I take the shuttle bus into town, the Airport is a long ways out (50K). I decide to stayt at the Hotel Furama on the edge of Chinatown. Chinatown is fasinating with many small places to eat and a lot of hawker selling there wares most of which are copies of originals, this includes watches and music and software CD's. It is a very congested area.

Petronas Towers Kuala Lumur, Malaysia

March 26: Monday: Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

Today I explore Kuala Lumpur, first I take the LRT to the end of the line and back. I then stop at the Puduraya Bus Station and purchase a Bus Ticket to Singapore for tomorrow. I then take a taxi to the Kuala Lumpur Tower the 4th tallest telecomunications tower in the world where you can look down on the Petronas Towers the highest building (The Telcom Tower is on a hill) you get a very good view from on top. I then walk to the Petronas Towers, you can only take the observation elevator part way up so it is not worth it. I take a taxi back to the Hotel and visit Chinatown again for something to eat and shopping.

March 27: Tuesday: Kuala Lumpur - Singapore

At 9AM I check out and walk the short distance to the Bus station. It is very busy but I find my bus and we leave on time. It is very roomy and it is airconditioned. It is a 6 hour journey and we for lunch along the way. We cross the Straits of Johor and go through immigation on the Singapore side. I take a taxi from the bus stop to my hotel. Toward dinner time I take the MRT and visit Little India and have dinner there.

March 28: Wednsday: Singapore

Today i catch Bus #2 and i go the Changi Prison Musuem Which is next to the real prision. it is a tribute to the WW2 Allied Prisoners who had to spend the war there, it is well done. I next take the bus to the village of Changi a pleasent fishing village where I had lunch and visited the park.