TRAVEL
254
October14
SilkAir and Jetstar fly direct from
Singapore to Siem Reap, though
the schedules aren’t daily.
For Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor
reservations, call +855 63 963 888
or visit raffles.com/siem-reap.
Tours can be booked through the
hotel or through Country Holidays
in Singapore (countryholidays.
com.sg).
in the Killing Fields. This time, I bought
the follow-up,
The Lucky Child
, which
surrounds her reunion years later with
the few members of her family that had
survived. It’s fascinating and kind of
scary that things like this are still going
on in the world. You’d think we would
have learnt by now!
This part of the world witnessed all
kinds of things over the last century:
with the Japanese military presence
in the late 1930s and early 1940s,
tourism went on hold; but there was
a recovery, and the years between
1955 to 1965 witnessed huge growth
and modernisation – Jacqueline
Kennedy and Princess Margaret were
amongst the visitors then. The 1970s
and 1980s saw prospects dive again,
but since the mid-1990s the region –
and the hotel – have been on the up.
Raffles International Ltd took over the
property in 1996, and Raffles Grand
Hotel d’Angkor opened at the end of
1997 with 131 rooms, about twice the
original number.
The hotel has seen lots of interesting
guests in its history – will it end up
seeing you, too? This is a great place
for a break – a short break, that is: two
or three nights will do. And if you enjoy
it, you can always go back again – like
me.
High Tea at the Conservatory, Raffles
The Royal Gardens in front of the hotel