Mekong Travel - Newsletter March 2004

March 2004

Important Travel Information

Vietnam:
Visa updates: Visa on arrival now available at overland checkpoints. Vietnam has further opened its visa policy, establishing visa-on-arrival facilities at the overland border crossings of Vinh Xuong (near Chau Doc) and Lao Cai. Now, visitors travelling by river between Phnom Penh and Chau Doc can get visa on arrival. However, for the time being, we still recommend that clients obtain visas from the embassy, as the fastest and most trouble-free method for crossing into Vietnam. We'll continue to keep you posted as these checkpoints streamline their procedures for visa on arrival.

Cambodia:
Mekong Express Boat suspends services for low season. The Mekong Express has temporarily suspended their boat service between Phnom Penh to Siem Reap due to low water levels in the Tonlé Sap lake and river. Starting from 20 March 2004, they will offer a bus service between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, using modern of 45 seat buses. For more information, please contact your sales manager.

Myanmar:
Balloon over Bagan suspends operation. Balloons over Bagan will not operate over the summer season, from 01 April until 04 October 2004.

Photography

Cambodia:
Product Watch: Masters-in-Residence. The newly-opened Shinta Mani (Siem Reap) is promoting its Masters-in-Residence program, this month featuring the internationally exhibited photographer John McDermott. This ongoing series aims to bring together hotel guests with specialists from various fields; past guests include health and lifestyle author Daniel Reid and Shiatsu Master Terry Liew.

Travel

Vietnam:
New boat: Bai Tho Boat. We are pleased to offer you a new boat product in the Halong Bay. Bai Tho Boat offers a 2 and 3 day excursions abroad traditional Chinese junks. For more information, please contact us.

Cambodia:
Cambodia boasts a new airline. A new airline has entered the field in Cambodia. Cambodian First Airlines celebrated its inaugural flight between Singapore and Phnom Penh on 25 February 2004. They are starting by offering regular flights between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, on their Airbus 320. Eventually, they plan to include Ho Chi Minh and Beijing in their routing. We'll keep you informed of their progress and any new developments in the airline sector in Indochina. For schedule information, please contact your sales manager.

Bokor Mountain Retreat
Standing on the Bokor Mountain hilltop, the distant strains of jazz seems to float through the air. Once a retreat for wealthy colonials, this mountaintop resort was left to weather away for the last thirty years and is now a faded but compelling reminder of bygone days. The deserted Bokor Palace Casino tells stories of decadent parties during the twenties and thirties; its battered exteriors still bear testament to the heated conflict when the Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge fought over its commanding views.
The newly opened Bokor Mountain Club is a boutique product, situated on the riverfront in Kampot, within easy distance of Bokor Mountain. Conceived and run by the management of the landmark FCC Phnom Penh and its sister FCC in Siem Reap, this simple but charming retreat evokes a colonial past.
Excursion options include trekking in the nearby mountains. Dombrey National Park is home to over 100 wild Asian elephants, though rarely sighted due to their reclusive nature. Also within reach are the coastal stretches of Kampot Province, which stretches from Sihanoukville to the Vietnamese border. Visitors can explore the relaxed seaside retreat of Kep, before renting a boat for an afternoon of island hopping. Popular during both the colonial-era and in the Sangkham Era under then Prince Sihanouk, Kep's architechture is a surprising mixture of colonial and art deco.
Indochina Services is pleased to offer two new extensions featuring Kampot Province. Our six-day "sand and sea" extension (Phnom Penh - Kep - Bokor - Sihanoukville - Phnom Penh) features the beach resorts of Southern Cambodia

For those who are more interested in cultural expeditions, we've put together a two day module, which explores life along the river (Phnom Penh - Kampot - Bokor - Sihanoukville). After arriving in Kampot, visitors travel upriver to visit nearby Cham villages before their overnight in at the Bokor Mountain club. The next day, they can tour the hill station and nearby waterfall before proceeding onwards to Sihanoukville.
For more information about the extensions or about the Bokor Mountain Club, please contact your sales manager

Social

Mekong Club

Address: P O BOX 820, HP9 2JG, England
Tel: +(44) (0)973 231 446,
http://www.mekongclub.net

The Mekong Club is an informal, non-political, non-commercial association, primarily concerned with promotion of the cultures of the "Mekong Region" (i.e. Viet Nam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and adjacent regions) in the UK. The Club will act as a forum for exchange of information and experience by:

The promotion of social and cultural events, tutorial groups and other meetings
Maintenance of a world wide web page and an address list for circulars on 'events and ideas'.

Membership is open to all, but it is envisaged that the club will be of particular interest to:

Expatriates from the Mekong Region living in the UK, with particular encouragement given to 2nd and 3rd generation family members.
British (and other European) citizens wishing to maintain in contact with people and issues in the Mekong Region.
Visitors from the Region needing temporary support whilst in the UK.
Citizens in the Mekong Region, wishing to develop contacts in the UK.

The Club will be organised by a chairperson, secretariat and webmaster, with a single, annual business meeting combined with a social event. The secretariat will be responsible for financial stewardship, with a "minimal" fund consisting of contributions for individual events and newsletters. An annual membership fee of £5 is envisaged per adult. For further details, please write or telephone the above number.

Mekong Club Application:

I/We ��.. would like to join the Mekong Club

My/Our address is: .......................................................................................................

.........................................................................................................................................

Please find enclosed the payment for membership of £5 and my/our voluntary contribution of £� Total: £�. (Cash or cheque payable to Mekong Club)

Posting Address: P.O. BOX 820, HP9 2JG.