







 



<rss version="2.0" xmlns:beenthere="http://ivebeenthere.co.uk/beenthere-rss">
    <channel>
        
                
        <title>Been there | Tips</title>
        
        <link>http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/</link>
        
        <description>
            Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love,
            live in or have just visited - are what make this guide.
        </description>
        
        
            <item>
                
                
                <title>Staying in Kirirom</title>
                
                <link>http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/10104</link>
                
                <description><![CDATA[As a destination, Kirirom is a bit off the tourist track and can be difficult to navigate without a motorbike or chartered taxi, both of which are easy to arrange from Phnom Penh or Sihanoukville. There is an uncommercial and small 'resort' with some rooms and a restaurant near the top of the mountain, but it is often booked on weekends. The staff are not the most warm-hearted, but you can tolerate them for the view and easy access to surrounding forest. <br><br>At the bottom of the mountain, you can find somewhat upscale accommodations and a restaurant at the Kirirom Hillside Resort. It is a beautiful place, with well-tended gardens, tennis courts, very nice cottages with air con and cable TV, horseback riding, and a playground for children. It's very nice, but clashes terribly with the living standards of the people living outside the compound (but not as bad as the luxury hotels in Siem Reap!). That said, it's often the only place with available rooms anywhere near the park. There is a waterfall and community-based ecotourism project about 10-15km down the road. A visit here might assuage the guilt of spending $100 per night at a resort, but it shouldn't! <br><br>I should also add that a visit could easily be arranged as a day trip diversion while in transit between the capital and the coast. As someone who has lived and worked in this province for about a year and a half, I hope that smart, sustainable tourism to Kirirom will help convince the government that forests are more valuable when they are left standing. The potential for unbridled development of this area is a distant prospect, but a prospect nonetheless. I hope that an increase in visits to this very accessible park will help promote awareness on the part of the government, convincing them to protect other forested areas in more remote parts of the country. Enjoy your travels!]]></description>
                
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/10104</guid>
            </item>
        
            <item>
                
                
                <title>Bokor (near Kampot)</title>
                
                <link>http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/10094</link>
                
                <description><![CDATA[Bokor is an abandoned hilltop town built by the French as a retreat from the heat of Kampot. It has all the buildings you might find in a French town; school, houses, doctors, hotel, casino that are all open to explore and often surrounded by a heavy mist/fog - its very "The Shining". It is also possible to stay overnight in the research centre (bring your own food and drink). There is no electricity after 9pm and you will have plenty of Cambodian ghost stories to send you to sleep.]]></description>
                
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/10094</guid>
            </item>
        
            <item>
                
                
                <title>Queens Hill Resort</title>
                
                <link>http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/10011</link>
                
                <description><![CDATA[We are staying in bungalow that is on a small cliff top overlooking the beach. As the locals say -this place is in the middle of no-where  (it is not in the Lonely Planet and it is far away from the tourist traps).<br><br>The beaches are empty and the sea is so clear that your reflection can be seen (cost - $15 per night for a double  but discounts can be negotiated!).]]></description>
                
                <guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/10011</guid>
            </item>
        
    </channel> 
</rss>
