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Saturday 4 July 2009

Ten days in Indo-China

Stanley Johnson packs in the sites on a whirlwind tour of south-east Asia

The high point of our necessarily brief trip was undoubtedly Angkor Wat and the neighbouring temples. I had visited Angkor ten years earlier, but the second time was every bit as moving and awe-inspiring as the first. Nowadays health and safety considerations prevent the visitor climbing up to the very top of Mount Meru, Angkor Wat’s central tower, representing in Hindu mythology the home of the gods, but there are several other vantage points from which you can gain a view of the gigantic complex of temples which together make up one of the world’s most extraordinary cultural and architectural sights.

Every traveller to Siem Reap, Angkor’s nearby jumping-off town, will have a favourite temple: the majestic Angkor Wat itself, the magical Bayon, the tree-covered ruins of Ta Prohm. If you have time, go further afield to see — 15 miles north-east — the exquisite sandstone carvings at Banteay Srei, a small rose-pink temple rightly described as the jewel of Khmer art.

We arrived back in Bangkok on the morning of the tenth day, to say goodbye to Max, now heading back to Beijing, and to catch our onward flights. Would we ‘do Indo-China’ again in this fashion? Emphatically yes.

Ideally, of course, we would have spent more time in Vietnam. We would have liked, for example, to have taken a side-trip from Hanoi to Hanong Bay. And instead of flying south from Hanoi, we might have gone overland to HCMC, stopping in the ancient imperial city of Hue on the way. We would also have spent more time in Laos, visiting Vientiane and the countryside, not just Luang Prabang and spent at least a week, not just three days, at Angkor.

But if you’ve only got a week and a half to spare to ‘do Indo-China’, forget about the ‘ideal’ trip and go for what you can get. This is a tour worth every penny.

Kuoni Travel (01306 747002 Or Www.kuoni.co.uk) Offers A Ten-night Tailor-made Holiday To Indo-China Staying Two Nights At The Vangthong Hotel, Luang Prabang, Two Nights At The Sheraton Hanoi, Two Nights At The Park Hyatt Saigon, Two Nights At Hotel De La Paix, Siem Reap And Two Nights At The Sofitel Royal Angkor, Siem Reap, All With Breakfast, Including Flights With Thai Airways From Heathrow, Transfers To Resort And Excursions In Each City. Prices For 2008 From £2,356 Per Person Based On Two Sharing.

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