Best Vacation Advisor

Archive for October, 2009

Bokor Hill Station – A Reminder Of Cambodias Past

A collection of crumbling buildings thickly covered in red lichen and green moss sat on top the abandoned hill station of Bokor. In its heyday Bokor hill station was a secluded French colonial retreat with a casino hotel police station library post office and church. It was wrestled away in late 1940s by Vietnamese and Khmer Issarak Free Khmer forces who was fighting for independence against the French. In early 1970s Khmer Rouge forces took over the area and use the hill station as a base for operations. Vietnamese forces again took over the hill station in late 1970s when they invaded or if you prefer liberated Cambodia.

Sitting on top the 1000m Phnom Bokor Bokor hill station is constantly enveloped by passing drifts of mist. One moment you were admiring the colonial architectural design of Bokor hotel but in the next moment all that remained was a ghostly silhouette of the building. There is such an eerie feel to the place that many visitors have likened the Bokor hotel to be a scene out of The Shining. It is not surprising that horror and violent films such as Koreanmade RPoint have found their way to Bokor hill station. For reasons you may imagine a sign on the casino’s lobby warns “Do not sleep here”.

Battlescarred Bokor hill station may remain in ruins today but still see regular visits from both foreign travelers and local Cambodians. Visitors pay US5 for admission to Preah Monivong National park or commonly known as Bokor National Park. With most of the animals being nocturnal in nature and living in the more remote parks of the park the main attractions in Bokor National Park are the abandoned Bokor hill station and Popokvil waterfalls.

The road up Bokor National Park winds through thick jungle and unpaved roads. A motorcycle or a 4WD is recommended for the trip. Travelers hoping to make the journey can rent such a vehicle in Phnom Penh the capital of Cambodia. From Phnom Penh it is a 158km ride via Highway 3 to the entrance of Bokor National Park bottom of Bokor hill. A further 31km ride up Bokor hill brings you Bokor hill station.

If you intend to stay the night on Bokor Hill which I recommend look for the ranger station also called the training center located near the casino. There are three dormitories each with six beds and one room with a double and single bed. It cost US5 for a bed in the dormitories. The ranger station also sells basic food like instant noodles and CocaCola.

About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Atticus Fits is an avid traveler and the owner of Adventure Vacation Trip a website which chronicles his adventure travels in Vietnam Cambodia Laos China and other exotic locations.

Be sure to check out his Bokor Hill Station South Cambodia trip report for photos maps and road directions!

Barbados Sure As Hell Needs More Pavements

One thing that I really hate about Barbados is the island wide lack of pavements. It is a crazy situation; even on extremely busy fast moving roads there are no pavements.

I find the lack of pavements in Barbados an extremely dangerous situation and have felt like my life was in danger on many occasions when I have been forced to walk on certain roads. If you have to walk on busy roads after 6pm after it starts to get dark things get real scary.

I personally came close to being hit by a speeding crazy bus driver when I was forced to walk along a stretch of road past Oistins a few weeks ago and that was during the day. The picture above shows a woman with 2 kids trying to negotiate a stretch of road where there are no pavements and believe me there were lots of cars flying past her.

Something drastic needs to be done in Barbados to deal with this dangerous situation. The public in Barbados deserve much better and hopefully David Thomson who has the makings of one of becoming one of the best Prime Ministers of Barbados will start taking positive action in the near future.

Being forced to walk on the roads in Barbados because of the lack of pavements is almost like a death wish. I would love the Barbados Government to make it public knowledge as to how many innocent lifes have been lost because of this crazy situation.

About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Im Garry Wynters The Wandering Scotsman now living in Barbados and documenting my adventures via my blogs http://thebarbadosblog.com and http://barbadosphotoblog.com

Im also a director of two businesses in Barbados called http://awakenparadisepropertyconsultants.com and http://celebrationscaribee.com

Barbados As A Summer Holiday Destination

While Barbados is considered by many to be a winter destination and can see approximately seventyfive percent of its tourist arrivals during the winter months the island can also be a highly desirable summer travel destination.

The average daytime temperature on Barbados is between 28 30 degrees celsius throughout the year. There are two major differences in temperature between the winter and summer months and that is the nights of the winter are considerably cooler than the summer months as the cold fronts from the north pass over the island and although the official daytime temperatures throughout the year change little the summer months appear to be hotter because it is less breezy.

For those who have always dreamt of a Barbados holiday but always thought that it was out of their budget summer is the perfect time to fulfill that dream.

Summer travel to Barbados can be considerably cheaper starting with airfare as the airlines drop prices to fill flights. Hotels are greatly discounted at this time of year with some of them as much as fifty percent cheaper. While this may not apply to all many of the smaller holiday apartments and guest houses may sometimes even drop their low summer rates even further for large groups or longer holiday periods. Car rental companies also offer special deals either in the form of extra days thrown in or lower prices you can pay the same price for a five day rental in summer as you would have paid for a three day rental in winter.

Watersports and other activities companies do not officially drop their rates but like the small apartments and guest houses it is sometimes possible to negotiate cheaper rates for groups or booking multiple activities.

While the summer months are the official rainy season the island still averages 9 hours of sunshine per day even then. Rain showers tend to be heavy and brief giving way to blue skies as suddenly as the showers appeared. Making days that start of dismal turn out bright and beautiful.

The official start of hurricane season is in June and it runs through November. While the hurricanes invariably travel through the Caribbean on their way westward the individual chances of Barbados receiving a direct hit are small. Barbados has only suffered direct hits three times in over 170 years and has been brushed by the edges a few times. More often than not these brushes consist of heavy tropical showers and gusty winds all in all less intense than a Florida thunderstorm.
Barbados is so far east that most of the systems that pass through the Caribbean have not had time to develop into hurricanes and they are so far south that those systems that do develop tend to travel north of the island and the rotation tends to give the system a northward track. While they are exceptions these tend to be extremely rare.

To put your mind at ease you can check the satellite maps of the Atlantic before your trip as these can show storms or waves in the Atlantic days before before they even reach the Caribbean.
It is amazing that visitors fear the Caribbean in the summer months for fear of a hurricane but will flock to Florida and Mexico that have a higher chance of being hit.
As this period is the low or off season a far as tourist arrivals go the island is more peaceful and there is less chance of the activity or event that you are interested in being sold out with the exception of activities that facilitate smaller groups of people like surfing lessons and scuba trips which tend to have small groups and can also make for a more enjoyable holiday.
In terms of people looking for a family holiday destination choosing Barbados is ideal with the beaches swarming with kids on summer vacation from schools as well as a higher number of kids related activities being offered including more kids oriented movies in the cinema and at the Drive In.
The ocean tends to be calmer and warmer in the summer months and this translates to better conditions for many watersports activities including surfing for beginners as well as scuba diving and snorkeling.

About the writer:  Emmlee was born in Barbados and has spent over 20 years working in the tourism industry. For more information on Barbados visit http://www.barbadostravelholidays.com