Category: Travel

Koh Mak: Pure Bliss

Thailand is a beautiful country but unfortunately most of its tropical beaches and islands have been over saturated with tourists and tourists facilities.

Almost everywhere, there are now many resorts, tons of restaurants and bar and lots of party places.

A couple weeks ago, I found a place I did not think would still exist in Thailand. It is a small almost virgin island in the Gulf of Thailand, only few kilometers away from the crowded Koh Chang.

Koh Mak is one of the few places still untouched by mass tourism. It is the perfect place for those who are looking for some relaxing time, away from the crowds and surrounded by nature.

The island is predominantly flat land with vast plantations of coconut and rubber trees. It is a beautiful sight.

There are few small roads and very few vehicles circulating on the island. The transports of choice are motorbikes and bicycles. There are of course few cars as well but the number is kept to a minimum. The locals want to keep the island green with a low level of carbon.

The island is privately owned by two local families. They want to try keep it as natural as they can. They don’t want it to get one of those crowded tourists destinations.

There are 24 resorts at the moment, ranging from basic beach bungalows to high end modern resorts. There will probably more to be built in the near future, but the owners want to keep only 20% of the land for tourism businesses and the rest for agriculture.

Every resort has a bar and restaurant. Outside the resorts, there are very few restaurants that offer mainly local food and some Western options. There are very few bars around. Koh Mak is not a party place, so if you are looking for late nights and hard parties, this is not the island for you. You’d better visiting the neighboring Koh Chang.

The beaches are beautiful and almost deserted.

Electricity is generally good on the island even if some frequent power cuts should be expected. The power station is basically few large trucks with generators inside! Wifi is available at the resorts and 3G also works well almost everywhere on the island.

Accommodation

We stayed at Island Hut on Ao Khao Beach. It is a beautiful budget resort set among a lush tropical garden. They have beach front bungalows and garden bungalows. We stayed in a garden bungalows at 350 Baht a night.

Simple wooden structure with own private bathroom, fan, mosquito net and a porch with hammock, two deck chairs and a small table. We were only few steps away from the beach.

The restaurant area is very appealing and it is favoured by a gentle cool sea breeze all day and night. The kitchen is open from 7.30am to 4.00pm and from 6.00pm to 9.00pm.

We had most of our meals here. The food was always fresh and very tasty. They offer a wide range of Thai dishes starting at as little as 40 Baht and also some western dishes starting from 150 Baht.

Some days they also have fresh fish of the day for dinner, fried or steamed with different sauces.Prices between 150-350 Baht depending on size.

We stayed here for 10 days and had a very good relaxing time.

Activities

You can rent a motorbike or bicycle to explore the island. The roads are small and there is very limited traffic so it is easy to get around.

Snorkeling and Scuba Diving are the other most popular activities.

You can get in contact with Koh Mak Divers to arrange your trips. Steve the owner is a very friendly and knowledgeable man in his field. He’s been on the island for almost 20 years.

Alternative Foods

The few times we had dinner outside the resort, we ate at Koh Mak Rooftop .

They make one of the best Pizza away from Italy. Crispy and fluffy base and delicious topping without using tons of cheese like many places abroad always do.

Prices are very reasonable too starting from 170 Baht for a simple tomato and cheese pizza. Extra meat is 3o Baht per item and extra vegetable 20 Baht per item. Definitely must try.

30/03/2015
4 Best Eateries in Siem Reap
Siem Reap is not just the gateway to Angkor Wat. It is also a great place for foodies.

That’s it if you love food Siem Reap offers a wide choice of food and cuisines for every taste and budget. From local Cambodian specialities to pizza, French Cuisine, Indian, Grill, Sushi etc….

There are thousands of restaurants and bars located in the central area of the Old Market and the new Night Market. Every street and every small alley is covered with restaurants.

While we were in Siem Reap, we visited several of these restaurants. I like to eat different foods, variety is very important. I am indeed a foodie, I love food.

Here are 4 great restaurants in Siem Reap.

1. New Leaf Book Cafe

This is not just a great cafe where you can enjoy a great breakfast (including bacon, eggs and hash browns) and deliciously tasty local Cambodian food. It is also a bookshop and event space.

It is a great concept because it is a non-profit restaurant. They invest their profits on educational programs in Siem Reap Province. You are dining for a good cause. I recommend the full Breakfast (2 eggs any style, crispy bacon, hash brown, mushrooms, grilled tomato and homemade toast) or one of the local fresh salads.

Dom loved the full breakfast, I tried the Mango Salad and the Minced Pork Salad. They were both very delicious, fresh and a mix of flavoursome local herbs.

Prices are very reasonable. Every time the bill came to a total of approx $10 for two people. They have a good variety of vegetarian options.

2. Tangram Garden

This is a great spot away from the tourist area. They have private dining gazebos set in beautiful tropical gardens. The menu offers a selection of Khmer dishes and a selection of Western Grill dishes. They also have vegetarian options.

We opted for the Grilled New Zealand Beef Fillet with red wine sauce, mash potato, crunchy vegetables and garden salad. It was absolutely superb. The meat was grilled to perfection, tender and juicy. The mash potato was fluffy and delicate on the palate and the vegetable and garden salad added a touch of freshness to the richness of the red wine sauce.

The meal was accompanied by a glass of rich red wine. It was a great dining experience, a little bit over our budget but totally worth it. The bill was approx $22 for two people.

3. The Indian

This is a great Indian restaurant in the heart of bursting Siem Reap Tourist area, near the Old Market. The menu is extensive offering a wide choice of curries and other favourite Indian delicacies. Plenty of vegetarian choices as well.

We visited this restaurant three times during our stay, we loved the food so much. Twice we opted for two vegetarian options to share (Lentil Curry and Spinach & Potato in creamy sauce one time and Chick Peas curry and Spinach & Potato in a creamy sauce the other time), steamed Basmati rice, plain Naan Bread. One time we chose the Mutton set menu with Mutton curry, fried vegetables, yoghurt and mint sauce, steamed rice and Naan Bread.

We enjoyed every time but the vegetarian options were tastier. Prices are very reasonable and they have cheap drought beer. The bill came to approx $12 for two people every time.

4. Lim Kim Cheng

This restaurant is as local as it gets. It is right in the Old Market and it offers local Khmer dishes at a cheap price. The menu is basically a book with pictures of the dishes they offer.

Try the Khmer curry or the fresh mango salad with shrimps. The waiting time can be a little long at dinner since it is one of the cheapest places to dine in the tourist area, but if you go after 8pm most of the people have already eaten. No problem at lunchtime.

We ate here twice and both times the bill was less than $10 for two people.

Related articles across the web

Related articles across the web
- Siem Reap: Markets & Museums
29/03/2015
Tomb Rider in Angkor Wat
The world’s largest archaeological Religious site.

It is pretty incredible that it was built over a thousand years ago. It is all made of huge, heavy blocks of sandstone.

It attracts about 2.5 million visitors a year which makes it on average about 5,000 people a day coming from all over the world! These are impressive numbers indeed.

A couple weeks ago we were among those thousand visitors trooping up to the lost city of Angkor Wat. Our dedicated tuk tuk driver picked us up at 5 am so that we could see the sunrise.

The whole visit was magical. We only visited the main temples: Bayon, Ta Prohm and Angkor Wat.

Finally I made it through the over 200 pictures I took. I was taking shots of everything, from every angle. I could have competed with one of the eager Japanese tourist. I manage to pick about sixty photos that were really worth it. However, these photos do not do justice to the majesty of the temples of Angkor Wat.

Interesting facts on the building https://www.ehow.com/about_5381819_angkor-wat-made-out.html

Related articles across the web
- Angkor launches website
21/03/2015
Photo of The Day: Fresh Juice Stalls in Siem Reap

One of the many juice stalls scattered along the Old Market area in Siem Reap.

You can keep cool under the sun with delicious juices/shakes at only $1 a pot. And at night they magically transform in Cocktail stalls, selling delicious cocktails at $1.50. Double Bargain!

13/03/2015
Photo Of The Day: Rose Petals

Baskets of rose petals drying in the sunshine along the banks of Siem Reap River.

They will be used for different purposes, one of them is for colourful pout-pourris. We love colours!

07/03/2015
Angkor Wat: planning our visit

Siem Reap gateway to Angkor Wat, the largest religious archaeological site in the world or at least in South East Asia.

I had wanted to visit this place for years. It was finally happening.

Siem Reap, a central Cambodian town. Quite chilled and laid back but incredibly hot and dusty.

We had been there for few days and because of our laziness or because of the exhausting heath, we delayed arranging our visit to Angkor Wat. We also had no tight schedule – or more likely no schedule at all – so we just took it easy.

We had looked around researching how people normally visit the site.
Hostels/hotels can help you arrange the trip with a tuk tuk driver to take you around from temple to temple.

Prices start from approx $15 onwards depending on the length of the circuit you want to do and how many hours you want to spend at the temples. Tuk tuk can fit max 4 people so it is a good idea to find someone willing to share the transport to reduce costs.

The site is about 7 Km from the town center and it covers a square area of several kilometers.

We also considered riding bicycles to, from and around Angkor Wat. Some people do that. We thought it would have been fun and a little bit of exercise would have not hurt. However, we did not take in real consideration the vast distances and the scorching heath.

You can choose to visit Angkor Wat in one day, 2/3 days or several days over a week. One day passes cost $20 per person, 3 days $40 and one week $60. Since passes are non transferable, a photo is required for all passes. The ticket officers will take the photo at the ticket office.

The 3 days pass does not have to be used in consecutive days but it needs to be used within a week.

There is a lot to see. If you are a temple lover it is definitely worth visiting over few days.

The site opens at 5:30am for sunrise and it closes after sunset. It is possible to see sunset from Angkor Wat for free if you get there after 5:00pm they will let you in to watch the sun setting on the beautiful temple.

Now we had to decide how we wanted to do our visit. Dom had already been to Angkor Wat few times but for me was the first time.

One of our lazy days we were sitting at one of the shady tables of a bar trying to cool down with one of the cheap Angkor pints when we were approached by two young ladies, Lea and Anna two sisters from Vienna.

They were looking for a couple of people to share a tuk tuk to the Temples for the following two days.

We had a chat with the girls, they were going to do a two days visit to the temples.

I found out that the best temples can be seen in one visit so Dom and I were only going to do one day and I definitely wanted to see the sunrise.

Lucky enough, Lea and Anna were planning exactly the same tour I wanted to do on their second day to Angkor Wat.

We had known them for 10 minutes, they seemed very cool and fun girls to be with so we accepted their offer to join them in two days.

This is one of the beauties of traveling. The ability to make friends in the space of no time. It seems also that you meet the right people at the right moment.

Our visit to Angkor Wat was happening.

One has to remember Angkor Wat is a religious site. Even though it is very hot, it is good custom and respect to wear proper clothing. Keep your shoulders covered, a short sleeve t-shirt is good. Do not wear shorts above your knees for both men and women. No short skirts for women.

Be respectful and bring plenty water.

Click here to find out more about Angkor Wat.

06/03/2015