Siem Reap

If it is at all possible, consider visiting in Summer. Particularly if you live in a hot climate anyway. With a little bit of planning you can avoid heatstroke (basically, don't walk around in the middle of the day) and the tourist numbers are WAY down. This means less people in hotels / restaurants, summer discounts on accommodation and less people in the temples, helping prevent damage by over crowding and making your visit better!



Favourite Temples

Bang Mealea
100% our favourite temple was Bang Mealea. While some work has been done to prevent too much destruction, mostly this Temple is steadily getting reclaimed by the jungle. Makes for a very scenic and different temple, as well as a testament to the jungle prevailing!
Bang Mealea is quite far away from the other temples and isn't included in your Ankor pass. I believe it was an extra $5 and about 1.5 - 2 hours by tuk tuk. We left Ankor after sunrise and headed out to Bang Mealea, this meant we got there very early and were able to look around with NO ONE ELSE. Seriously, no other tourists were anywhere in this complex. As we left (at about 9.30 or 10am) the buses were arriving and people started pouring in. But still significantly less people than the main Ankor temples.

 

 Sunrise at Ankor Wat

I have seen amazing images of sunrises at Ankor..... but this only holds true if the sunrise is indeed amazing. This varies with the seasons and weather - Our hotel did tell us that the sunrise was unlikely to be spectacular, we went anyway because we felt like we had to do it. I would recommend waiting for a day that is forecast to be good....  Or going out each morning at that time - but taking advantage
of everyone watching the sun to check out the temples. They get busy quickly, but in the time it takes the sun to rise you could see quite a bit of the most popular ones, with just about enough light to see by.

If you do want to take photos I would suggest getting there extra early, and getting very close to the water. When the early birds stood back from the waters edge to allow photos of the whole lake.... late comers simply stood in front of them to take their own photos.

Some of the crowd who turned out to watch the sunset. 

Hotels
There are a million hotels in Siem Reap - so as far as I can see they are very determined to make you happy and get good reviews! We stayed in one of the cheapest that we could find..... but that looked reasonably nice on the website.

I stayed at the golden temple villa www.goldentemplevilla.com . The hotel was set amongst nice gardens and down a fairly quiet street. It wasn't far from the centre of town (very easy walk) but was far enough to be out of the hustle and bustle a little bit.
The restaurant was nice, open plan and almost amongst the gardens and was a place to relax as well as just for meals. They had newspapers and magazines with padded bench seats along the side that were nice to relax on. They also had free tea/coffee/bananas down there all day.
The breakfast included had a number of options - plenty of food and was nice enough. They would even pack you a take away breakfast for early morning trips to the temples. That was good..... but consider carefully what you order for packability!

Their special also includes a free massage, and it was very nice and relaxing to be able to go take a massage before bed one night after walking around temples all day!

There were some issues with power going out at night (meaning no aircon) but this tended to come back on in about 15 minutes. Not sure if they had a generator to cover themselves or it was just luck, but I think power outages are fairly common - especially in summer with everyone using air conditioners!
When we left they also gave us a gift (a scarf) and took our photo with the reception staff. which they then emailed to us. It was an entertaining touch!


I have friends who stayed at petite villa. They said it was pretty much what they expected from the photos / description, though they did have some issues checking in, I think the hotel was full (even thought they had booked) and they had to go around the corner to another hotel. Restaurant was hit and miss and they decided that we probably got a better deal - because ours was a lot cheaper!


Restaurants
Haven
This is a training restaurant who source their trainees from the youth leaving orphanages with no skills or family to support them as well as youth from rural areas with very little opportunities for education or training.   Haven website   PLEASE BOOK AHEAD  we were very luckily able to get a table for two without booking. But only because it was the off season AND we went for dinner very early. I  am so glad we did manage it. The food was amazing, reasonably prices (many of the training restaurants take advantage of the "social good" status to up the price... a lot). Staff were very friendly and polite, even when explaining that if we wanted a table we had to be out before the next booking - easily managed as the food came out really fast!


Other than the temples:

Day in the life tour with Beyond unique escapes
http://www.beyonduniqueescapes.com/cambodia/small-group-tours/village-tours/day-in-a-life-tour.html

"Sewing" sheets of palm leaves
 for housing materials

We did a day in the life tour. This went to a small village just out of Siem Reap in which many of the families are living day to day and often don't have enough food. The tours go to a different family each day and help out - we made palm frond walls that they they can use for their walls and roof on the house. At other times you might be planting or picking rice or similar activities that these families do almost everyday. By going to a different house hold each day they are able to minimise impact on any one house, and allow each family to have the opportunity to supplement their income with some tourist money for looking after us.
They have trained some families in hygienic food preparation and so we got to have a traditional mean prepared by the local family while we watched and asked questions / joined in. The guides were really friendly and talkative, happy to discuss many aspects of Cambodian life.

Some of the family we spent the day with

It was a great way to have a day off from temples and see a much more traditional part of Cambodian life. When you buy the temple tickets they are valid any three days in a week period - so having a day off to do something different if a good way to spread them out!

We started with a buffalo cart ride through the village
to see the area. Each buffalo cart driver receives about $3 for
use of their carts - with a poverty line of $1 a day this is a massive
chance for them to save some money that wouldn't normally
be in the village at all. 

I wish we had more time and were able to do a cooking class or something here - I have no doubt that all their tours would be as good!
















Shadow puppet theatre
I can't for the life of me remember the name of the place we saw the puppet show. It was a hotel / restaurant where you got a buffet dinner and the show for about $15-20. The buffet wasn't too bad, average buffet style food.... the show was interesting, they had people on stage doing the voices of the puppet and and while they did give an English explanation of what was happening before each scene - it wasn't understandable at all. The show was kind of entertaining, in the what the heck are we watching kind of way.... especially once we started making up stories to go along with whatever was happening. They then did a number of short dances similar to the ones we saw in Phnom Penh at the museum - but not nearly as good.
Entertaining enough if you are willing to go with the flow and have a laugh..... but definitely not an amazing high class act.


Phare - the Cambodian Circus
Check out the Battambang post for more info on this circus. Their school is located at Battambang and they have shows running there with students (which were awesome!). The Siem Reap show though, it is a whole new level of amazing! This is an international level circus act, and I can guarantee you won't be seeing a circus this good anywhere else for $15! The ticket and merchandise costs go towards their school and social programs to help more kids get out of bad situations in back into school and learning skills.
As well as having a smaller selection of art works from the Battambang art school they had various items such as shirts, hats or bags that would make great gifts. There is also a bar and cafe with a number of small dishes perfect for a pre-show snack!

We were blown away by the show... I wish we had gone on our first night in town not our last night...... I would have gone again! They actually have a couple of different shows which regularly change, so if your lucky you might even stay over the transition and get to see a couple of shows!

I actually didn't take any photos here.... I was too engrossed in enjoying the show! But here are a couple from the other show in Battambang!

Mai Chau

Mai Chau,
About a 4 hour drive from Hanoi, with peaceful rolling green rice fields, slightly awkward traditional dance performances an abundance of scarves and bamboo products for purchase and plenty of peace and quiet.

I was afraid that Mai Chau would be a hectic, Disneyland-esk "minority village". Happily it seems to be a place that has learnt to supplement their farming incomes with the tourist dollar while avoiding the horrible, pushy sales tactics of some of the other tourist markets. In fact, while we walked through one of the villages in which every house has a shop below it we were able to browse within a number of stalls without being followed, questioned or told to "buy this" "very good price" "cheap for you" or any of the other cash cries that usually abound in tourist markets.

This post does read a little like an add for Mai Chau Nature Place (MCNP).... Not my intention, but that's where I stayed, ate and got entertained!

Getting there
Local buses - consult locals for up to date info, time tables and price. but know that these leave from a bus station a fair way outside of Hanoi, will take a lot longer and may be full of travel sick Vietnamese people. But, it will be cheaper!!!

Transfer bus.
These can be booked through virtually any hotel or tourist agency in the city. Our hotel quoted us 12usd each person each way. The transfers is in a mini bus with one of the tour groups.

Small group tours
Mai Chau nature place seemed to be the most common tour. All hotels and booking agencies offer tours, but many of them are the same itineraries. We opted for the $70 per person tour, which included a private room without aircon, all transfers, meals and activities. I think this worked out to be the cheapest option - I usually dislike group travel where you have to all trek around together, but this was actually really enjoyable, and people had the freedom to do their own thing.

Sleeping
There is an abundance of "home stays" available in Mai Chau and the surrounding villages. These looked more like dorms in stilt houses, I am not sure how involved the family actually are, if they stay in the same area and socialize or not. My understanding is that home stays can be arranged for around $10/night/person.

A few hotels are in the town itself, though I am told that cleanliness varies greatly.

Mai Chau nature place has a few bungalows and a dorm room outside of any of the villages.It is an easy walk into Mai Chau centre or the small minority villages and is on a tiny little lane that cars can't drive down. So peace and quiet from the traffic of Hanoi was one of our highlights.
The dorm at the Mai Chau nature place was clean looking, it featured mosquito nets over the beds and also curtains for privacy. They had single and double mattresses available in the dorm and there seemed to be reasonable space between beds. Because it is up on stilts and quite open it was cool at night, even in the summer. People who slept there told us they didn't even need to use their fan in mid August.
We stayed in the bungalow at Mai Chau nature place. We had booked the cheaper rooms, which we were told had fans only, but when we arrived were shown the room with aircon. Not sure if this was to keep our whole tour group together in one area, or if the other rooms were full. It wasn't too hot, but the room's had few opening windows, and is lower than the stilt house so it doesn't get the breeze... so we needed that aircon! The room was really large, had a queen and single bed, chairs, huge bathroom and balcony. Plus a great view. If you wanted somewhere to relax, slow down and have some privacy for a few days I would definitely recommend.

We also were entertained by a traditional dancing show, my understanding it that a lot of the home stays also put on these slightly awkward dance shows. They did get everyone up and joining in the bamboo ankle smashing dance, which had everyone laughing and clapping along!

Food
Our tour included all food, so life was easy! A couple of other people were staying in the dorm apart from the tour, I overheard them getting their bill and all lunches and dinners were 150K VND per meal. Not sure of the breakfast cost.
There were a couple of places BBQing up skewers of meat in the village, and a few local restaurants in Mai Chau itself, but don't be too disappointed if you cant find a western style restaurant!

Ok, I'm here.... now what can I do?
Bike riding
Mai Chau was beautiful to ride around in the late afternoon. Flat land and country lanes made cycling a breeze and the views were stunning! We went to a lake where locals swim (the water is pretty icy, but it looked beautiful. I didn't have swimmers as I assumed there wouldn't be anywhere to swim!). Where ever you decide to stay I am sure they will provide or draw maps to show you great places to cycle, and how to get back!

traditional clothes hire 
For a bit of a laugh, you can hire traditional outfits in the village. I believe it was a dollar per clothing item to hire them for the afternoon. a group of girls on our tour had a hilarious looking photo shoot in traditional clothing!

Climb up the 1000 step cave
We were told it was in fact 1200 steps... I didn't count, I was busy trying to breathe! It was a good, satisfying climb up those damn steps in a cave. The view at the top was actually blocked by the trees a lot. You get glimpses down into the valley, but avid photographers might expect a lot more after climbing 1200 steps!
The cave is.... cave-ish. really, nothing mazingly spectacular if you have been in many caves before. But head over to the back left, there is actually a path (complete with hand rail) that loops further back into cave. You will need some sort of light because it gets far enough from the entrance to be dark and the ground is slippery. Exploring this dark part of the cave was much more fun for us..... but for some reason that wasn't explained the guide from MCNP yelled at us to come back. So I dunno what that was about.

 I didn't partake of, but understand that you can also arrange treks to villages that are further out, rock climbing, motorbiking to a lake, and trips from here on to Cuc Phuong national park if you so desire.

Sapa

General Impressions
The scenery around Sapa is stunning. Terraced rice fields and mountains as far as the eye can see. Indigo clad women sitting on the side of the road selling peaches, buffalo, fabrics. Sapa is a great relief from the heat in summer (but on weekends in the summer Sapa will be very busy with local tourists).
Sapa is however a place that has become a tourist mecca. Every second building is a hotel and every person is a tourist guide or "original hand made" whatever saleswoman. (funnily enough they all have the same "original hand made bags", the same pattern, the same colours, the same exact design...... in fact, it looks just like something that would be made in a factory in China for very cheap.

Where I stayed
Kenpass hotel
I do not recommend! The room was clean, though the hot water was more... tepid rather than hot.
The main memory I have of this hotel was washing to yelling at 4.30am
It would seem they allow Vietnamese tourists to book one room for entire families. The family who for some reason were leaving at 4.30 in the morning had at least 4 adults and 3 kits in the one room. This leads to a major increase in noise levels! Now, normally I wouldn't blame a hotel floor other guests being noisy. But it is obviously due to the over stocking off rooms. Also, it took around 45 minutes of yelling for this family to finally get the hell out of the hotel. Their voices were echoing through the whole hotel. At no time did any staff come and tell them to keep it down.
Secondly, the rooms have large glass windows on the doors. They have made a half hearted attempt at privacy by putting some sheer curtains up. The hotel staff then disregard this privacy by looking at us through the gap in the curtain at 6.30am. I was lying in bed and looked up to see a man looking into our room. I have no idea what his deal was. But that is unacceptable, especially when I realized he was staff.
It is in a temptingly central location, and it is cheap.... but the location losses points because it is actually directly opposite the concert park..... and Vietnamese people like their concerts loud!

Trekking
If you go to sapa, doing some sort of trekking is pretty much mandatory. We trekked with Sapa OChau. I would say that your trekking experience is absolutely dependent on your guide. And to be honest, ours wasn't really all that talkative! Actually, just outside of town a young man (turns out he was her husband) met us and walked with us. He didn't speak any English and our guide spent most of the trek walking and talking with him.
Where we spent the night a group from Sapa Sisters was also staying. Next time I would trek with them! She was talkative, informative and social. Definitely more fun!

Bac ha markets
If you are around on a weekend, the Sunday Bac ha markets are worth the trip! To get there from Sapa you have to go back through Lai Chau so it is actually easier to get the train from Hanoi Saturday night and bus to Bac Ha as soon as you arrive, or get the train back from Sapa Sunday night and just ask the tour bus to drop you at the train station on their way back to Sapa. If that doesn't work for you though, you can do a day trip from Sapa to Bac Ha and back again. Every hotel and tour agency has a version of the tour, I am pretty sure that they are all the same (and prices do vary) so it might be worth asking around.

The markets here are a major event, people come from many surrounding villages to buy and sell. Most minority people are dressed in traditional costumes so you can even compare that different groups. Make sure to walk up the hill at the back to also see the animal market!
The Bac ha market is full of women trying to force Chinese made bags/souvenirs on you, which is a pity. But as soon as those markets are packed up you are free to walk around town or the country side totally harassment free! In fact we enjoyed walking around Bac Ha much much more than Sapa. While we walked we were totally ignored - except a few friendly people yelling hello!

There is a restaurant who organises treks and tours. And if I had my time again I would probably forgo Sapa and head straight to Bac Ha for trekking. Just for the sack of avoiding people constantly trying to sell us stuff! Plus, the trek near Bac Ha look like they would be much more devoid of tourists and touts!

Somehow, my friend and I seemed the have "No" pheromones. We got asked to buy things maybe twice while eating dinner, and when starting our trek a woman followed us for about 5 minutes. Then I said in Vietnamese. We will not buy anything, we are walking not buying. (I practices that line :P)
She then left.

We saw other tourists getting followed by groups of 6 or more women. Or getting asked repeatedly and harassed to buy things. Sometimes if you refuse they eventually start the sob stories.
Personally, I don't understand this technique. The more you follow me and get in my way, the more annoyed I am.... and the less likely to buy anything from you! But it must work or they wouldn't do it.
So Please don't give in and buy from a woman after 3 hours of being followed. If you want the bag either buy it straight away, or buy it from someone in a shop, or sitting down not harassing tourists. Don't encourage the following people to make a sale, or the disrupting people's meals.

Minority Villages

So, you've come to Vietnam.
You've spent time in cities and towns along the tourist trail and you think, I want to see what life is like in the minority villages.

This leads to a dilemma.....

Any traditional minority village is going to be hard to get to, no buses or tours go there. People won't speak English (and possibly not Vietnamese) and you wont find a range of hotels to suit all budgets and tastes.
If tours and buses did go there - chances are it will soon morph into a tourist trap. While it is unfortunate, my experience has been that once people in (SOME) minority villages learn that there is money to be had from tourists..... they stop farming, and set up a shop filled with the same mass produced scarfs, wooden carvings, and kid sized "traditional outfits"  that you can buy in Hanoi, HCMC, and Hoi an to your hearts content.

The bad.....

One such example is in the highlands near Buon Ma Thout. This area is a hot spot for minority villages, as they all tend to be in the highland areas. I believe it is called Ban Don Village (and famous for an elephant king who captured 100's of elephants during his life).
I was expecting a quiet little village with people going about their day. I was travelling with a group of Buon Ma thout locals - so hopeful that we could get talking to a villager and maybe even invited in for tea, I could do some photography.... all in all my imagined village was beautiful.
I found something more like disneyworld than a village.

The main street is lined with houses-turned-into-shops As you walk you are constantly called to look in this shop, that shop, buy this "local made" - no, it's not.
Then we bought an entrance ticket to walk along bamboo walkways (which were quite pleasant as they wound around through tree branches and over a wide cool river - but wasn't really minority village-y!). Which lead to an island with more shops, a restaurant, a stage with very loud music that seemed to vary from "traditional performances" to karaoke and elephant rides.

All in all it was a tourist trap!
So - absolutely do your research, and if it seems that multiple companies are doing tours to one place - be suspicious, if buses are turning up on regular occasions..... chances are the town has turned into a tourist machine.

The Good......

Lak Lake. About 1 hour from Buon Ma Thout and on the way to Dalat is beautiful.
You are able to stay overnight in long houses for about $5 per person (phone Mr Duc at the Cafe Duc Mai - right outside the village, on 0905371633). You house will have a basic mattress on the ground with moquito net. And toilets and showers are available at the cafe. They also do set menus for lunch and dinner at a very reasonable price. Breakfast is served.... but was basic eggs on bread style.

There are a couple of souvenir shops down near the lake, but for the most part the villagers are going about their everyday, ignoring tourists. It was a great chance to walk around the village and watch people doing everyday job (like chopping up banana trees to feed to the pigs, or walking the cows out to pasture) without being hassled to buy anything.

Plus, it is possible to get a bus from Dalat or Buon Ma Thout!

Anywhere else?

I will update as I find more places that are accessible and not tourist traps. But the otherway you can get to see minority villages is to take a private tour (car based if you are a group of people, easy riders for one or two are cheapest) and tell them you want to see villages and minority areas.