Beyond the Mekong

“Would definitely recommend this trip even if you have been to South East Asia before. Well paced and an interesting varied itinerary in the time available. Wit is a great tour leader. Nothing was too much trouble and everything ran smoothly. It wasn't clear from the trip notes which of the meeting points (there are 6) at Bangkok Airport the Explore rep for the transfer to the Hotel would be waiting. We exited the baggage reclaim at meeting point 6. We ended up wandering up and down the arrivals hall for a while before meeting them by chance at meeting point 4. The hotel in Bangkok was in a good location for the main sites and close to restaurants, Khao San Road and a 7/11. Would recommend the Mango vegetarian restaurant near Khao San Road. Really enjoyed the overnight train. Food on the train was fine and delivered to one's seat. You might want to bring an eyemask/ear plugs/layers for the air con if susceptible to the cold. Chiang Mai hotel was good, slightly out of the centre and within walking distance. Really enjoyed eating at the Night Market and nice to wander around Chiang Mai centre at dusk visiting temples. Comfortable mini buses for the journey from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai: reasonable leg room even if 6 foot tall. Some twisty roads from Chiang Mai but manageable (also after lunch en route to Laos border). Fairly basic hotel in Chiang Rai, in nice setting, with good breakfast. Nice food in the Night Market with live entertainment. "Interesting" Cat Cafe near the Night Market, even if just to stand outside and admire. Journey to Laos border via viewpoint with nice views over the Mekong and border between Burma, Laos and Thailand and interesting hill tribe museum. Make sure that you have nice new crisp US Dollars ($35 for us) for the Laos border crossing. The boat trip down to Luang Prabang was fantastic. Really spacious boat; delicious food; relaxing pace and beautiful scenery. Stayed overnight at Pakbeng. In the morning at breakfast keep an eye out across the river as you may well see elephants being brought down to the river. You'll need a zoom lens for a good photo! Luang Prabang is atmospheric though you may not have the sunset viewpoint to yourself. Nice vegetarian food at the Bamboo Tree restaurant and then you can pop into the Joma bakery for fresh cakes (Also a nice Joma in Vientiane). Ground floor rooms in the Luang Prabang hotel were noisy due to water tanks/plumbing outside. Nice breakfast area. Vientiane was nice to wander around in the evening. New Rose hotel has nice rooms though a bit lacking on the breakfast front compared to other hotels on the trip e.g. policing of the amount of toast allowed! The Buddha Park is well worth a visit (optional trip). It's a great way to see everyday life in Vientiane on the drive there and the Buddha Park itself is unexpected. COPE visitor centre was interesting. Suggest buying snacks on the day of the flight to Cambodia (poor breakfast, limited airport options and small cold lunch- salad/meat- on plane). Loved Phnom Penh. It's noisy, polluted, gridlocked but has something about it that grabs you. The trip to the Killing Fields and S21 museum would benefit from being a three quarters/whole day. Half a day made it feel rushed particularly at S21 museum where without a guide we ended up touring the site in reverse. He showed us around a bit but didn't keep the group together. You'll be taken to meet a survivor of S21 with the chance to buy a book about his experiences. For books about that era in Cambodia's history I would recommend "First They Killed My Father" by Loung Ung and "River of Time" by Jon Swain. John Pilger has some good essays in "Distant Voices". The National Museum is interesting and a nice setting. Highly recommend the Friends restaurant and Romdeng restaurant, both of which are part of the TREE Alliance. Really delicious food. The Masala Dosa Street Kitchen cafe is a really great place to get....you guessed it...Masala Dosa. Hotel room in Phnom Penh were fine, although twin rather than double. Breakfast not great. Nice views of the Cambodian countryside on the bus journey from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. Pleasant hotel in Siem Reap (room safes in both Cambodian hotels) though good luck ordering eggs for breakfast. Best local guide in Siem Reap (except when hung over). Also no mention made of dawn visit so would need to make a point of mentioning it if interested. Need to specifically ask re cooking classes. Marum restaurant, another Tree Alliance operation, has delicious food and a nice courtyard setting. You'll get offered the Ancient Angkor guide book by Michael Freeman and Claude Jacques for $10 at all of the sites you will visit in Angkor. The same book is on sale at Siem Reap Airport for $14 which has "authentic version" on it so perhaps the ones on sale at the Angkor sites are bootleg versions..... Book the trip- you know you want to and you won't regret it! ”

“Has now put Explore on top of my list of preferred travel operators. Have already booked for next year. ”

“You have a gold mine in Wit. He is the best advertisement your company has. Do everything you can to retain him.”

“Excellent trip, with an exceptionally good leader, Wit.The local guides in Cambodia were also very good, and it was extremely powerful (and moving) to hear their personal recollections of the Pol Pot era”