Our home away from home for two nights while in Siem Reap, Cambodia surprised us with a wonderful nature vibe. The River Garden was the accommodation provided for me by Roomorama months before my trip. I remember while planning my trip to Siem Reap, I told myself I would not mind sleeping on benches in a park just to visit the place at all cost. Though sometimes, surprises comes in great package and I was able to book this place courtesy of Roomorama, which is the leading online provider of "quality accommodations for the curious travelers"
Our tuk-tuk driver had a hard time locating this place because of the wrong address I had written on my note. Where I got that incorrect address, I had no idea. But, when you actually write down the correct one, the place is very easy to locate, as it is conveniently nestled just a mere 2 kilometers away from the vast Angkor complex and across the road of the popular Le Meridien Hotel.
We finally located the place at around mid-afternoon and the friendly receptionist showed me and my brother to our room, which was called the "Khmer Garden Cottage & Bungalow" which comes perfectly with a double sized bed and a traditional Khmer architecture made of woods with hand crafted and woven furniture. The cottages are surrounded by lush garden with tall trees.
Traveling most of the time on a deprived budget, I had grown used to sleeping in dingy quarters but this time it was a welcome change. I was like wanting to jump into the bed and just sleep through the next day. Due to the long travel from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap and the day before that, coming from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, the urge to just relax was discussed thoroughly by the membranes inside my brain. However, after settling for a few moments we proceeded right away to the Angkor Wat ticketing outpost and got us a day's pass the next day.
After purchasing our tickets we then went to Phnom Bakheng to catch the magnificent sunset. The River Garden is a boutique type of hotel that also offers an in-house cooking lessons, massages and a spacious swimming pool. A bar and restaurant serves authentic Khmer cuisine such as "amok fish". They also provide trustworthy Tuk-tuk drivers whom visitors could rent for a day or two in touring the vast Angkor complex. We had our dinner during our first night here and was able to have an interesting conversation with two of their restaurant staff namely Awesome Anne and Nimol who speaks fluent English that is even better than mine.
