Insider: Didier Faraud
Frenchman DIDIER FARAUD has been living in Cambodia for 14 years with the exception of a few longer or shorter periods. His pet project is one of the loveliest accommodation venues in Siem Reap: the Heritage Suites Hotel (see "Where to Spend the Night"). Didier explains that his first visit to Cambodia was actually the result of a coincidence - he was travelling in Vietnam at the time and happened to meet some acquaintances who had previously worked in Cambodia; they decided to go there together. A couple of months after his return to France Didier heard of an opportunity to participate in a contest for the most extraordinary adventure project, supported by the French government. "The contestants had to be no more than 26 year old; the range of the possible adventures was practically unlimited, from rock climbing to diving." Didier and his friend won the contest with their idea of travelling around the lake Tonlé Sap, the largest freshwater body in Cambodia. They spent the prize money - USD 10 000 - to buy the necessary equipment, including everything needed for waterskiing in the river Mekong. The trip attracted quite an impressive publicity in the French media, and they were offered an opportunity to open a waterskiing club in Cambodia. "Sadly, 14 years ago there were no tourists in Cambodia, and the project met its end before it had actually started." The friends crisscrossed the country instead (their means of transportation were a 4 x 4 and a boat) and wrote a travel guide in French. Afterwards Didier spent some time working in Vietnam, Thailand, Burma and China - only to end up in Cambodia again where he was offered the post of the General Manager of Hotel Victoria, one of the first modern hotels in Cambodia. After that the idea of opening the Heritage Suites as well as the recently launched first tailor-made travel agency in Cambodia, Heritage Adventures (www.heritage-adventures.com, see "Things to Do"), was inevitable. Didier says that leaving Cambodia is not even an option for him. He describes Cambodia as a marvellous country which is also quite easy to get to know at the same time. "The nature is fantastic, and there are so many things you can engage in while living here." His future plans include a 10-room luxury seaside hotel and an idea of taking under his wing one of the most remote Cambodian villages - founding a school where the villagers would be trained for work in the hotel industry.
When asked about the perfect time to visit the temples of Angkor, Didier's first advice is to avoid overdoing: "If you are going to Angkor every morning and every evening of your stay in Siem Reap, it may become a somewhat overwhelming experience. The tourist numbers are constantly growing, so I would advise going very early in the morning at sunrise and coming back to the hotel at 10 am. That would leave you free to visit a more remote and less popular temple in the afternoon. A 20-minute walk is enough to reach a place where you can enjoy perfect solitude: the majority of tourists travel in large groups and mostly keep to the central routes. I would also suggest a sunset on lake Tonlé Sap as the ideal ending to the day, except - don't choose the central dock, do pick one of those not included in the traditional routes." Asked to name a few of his own favourite Siem Reap addresses, Didier comes up with three hangouts: Madame Butterfly (on the road to the airport, phone: 016 909 607) housed in an authentic Khmer building and serves a mixture of Khmer, Thai and French cuisines; the Abacus restaurant located in a charming mansion (Oum Khun Street, phone: 012 644 286) with its romantic lantern-lit garden, veranda and a fusion of French and Khmer cuisines; and finally the Laundry Bar in the Old Market area, a watering hole made special by excellent music.
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