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The Sacromento Bee Travel Section
Living the dream: A new life and a new business amid ancient sites
By Judy Green, Bee Staff Writer
July 11, 2004
When you head out on your own to an exotic destination, it helps to have a friend in the castle, so to speak. If Angkor Wat, the complex of sacred temples in northern Cambodia, is your goal, your castlekeepers may be Andrea and Brandon Ross, a California couple with Sacramento ties. They have opened a tour company and bed-and-breakfast in Siem Reap, the city closest to the ancient wonders.
Well-traveled for a pair of 25-year-olds, the newlyweds decided to chuck the Western rat race for an unpredictable life in Cambodia, a country they have loved since their first visit two years ago. Brandon's father is Toby Ross, city manager of West Sacramento. He and his wife, Jo, plan to visit for the first time in September.
Andrea and Brandon married six months ago in Phuket, Thailand, and opened Journeys Within Tour Co. and Bed & Breakfast to meet what they see as a growing wave of travelers wanting to see Angkor Wat. According to Andrea, it's the first business of its kind in Cambodia to be owned and run by Americans.
From their insider perch, they create tour packages and independent itineraries for Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. They live and work from their three-bedroom B&B, which is about 10 minutes from the entrance of the Angkor Wat complex.
Among their recent guests is Steve Bartmasser of Berkeley. By e-mail from Vietnam, he writes that his visit to Journeys Within was a four-star experience.
"Their B&B is especially nice for the independent traveler. ... They have a great cook ... the accommodations were really nice. ... great tour guide, spoke great English and was knowledgeable."
Operating a new business is a daring venture for anyone, but for Andrea and Brandon, both graduates of Chapman University in Southern California, the added challenge is the Khmer language.
"We're getting better at speaking, but we are not attempting to write it; it's so difficult!" Andrea writes in an e-mail interview.
"When we first arrived, the language was the most challenging part. I would go to the market every day and perform a charades game. Getting a pillow made included charading with the pillow stuffer, struggling with the couple that sells fabric and with the seamstress. It was exhausting, but when I got the perfect pillow, I was very proud of it."
Such experiences left Andrea and Brandon drained but laughing at the end of many days. Her comments about how things are going and the kind of advice she offers travelers paint a spirited picture of life in one of the world's wondrous locales.
Q: How did you decide to call your company Journeys Within?
A: It's a funny story, and it demonstrates the challenges we face. We had come up with a list of names. We took them to the government for approval. No luck. There were many reasons. from "It doesn't translate well," to "I do not like."
We kept giving the minister more and more names. I was starting to go a little crazy. Finally, Journeys Within just popped into my head, and we got the nod.
Looking back, I love the name. I think it makes people think about what they're doing.
Q: Do you feel isolated?
A: Sometimes we do. We miss our friends and family and the simplicities of life in America - going to a movie, shopping at a grocery store. We are lucky we really enjoy each other's company, and with guests coming and going, we have people to talk to.
Q: How many days do you recommend for someone to see the best in Angkor Wat?
A: The highlights can be seen in three full days. This includes not just the "must-see" temples but also glimpses into Cambodian life that we feel are so valuable to a trip here.
We encourage guests to stay an extra day and head out to the remote temples to get away from the crowds.
Q: What time of year do you recommend for visiting?
A: Now is actually really nice. I had expected the summers to be very hot, but June and July seem to be great months here. There is rain most evenings, but the weather is relatively cool and the countryside is beautiful and green.
The official high season is from October to February, when the rains stop and it starts to get dry. My favorite month is November. Things are still green, but you can get to the more outlying temples. January is the coolest month. March, April and May are the worst time, when the country gets very hot and dry.
Q: How do you select your guides?
A: The guide selection was hard. They are all great men and women, and they really need the work.
We met with many of them to see how good their English was and how they felt about guiding and the temples. In the beginning, we thought we would just pick the guides that spoke the best English, but in the end, the guides we work with are the ones that not only speak fairly good English but also have a passion for Angkor Wat and Cambodia. All the feedback we have gotten is that this enthusiasm is what makes the days in the temples great.
Q: Have you made any changes as a result of customer feedback?
A: Some little things - water in each guest room, restaurants list and a full menu here - and some bigger things, such as naps in our tours. Our itineraries were so packed, we were exhausting our guests.
We have also included more glimpses into Cambodian life. We send guests to the Land Mine Museum in Siem Reap, on a boat ride on the Tonle Sap (lake), and in Phnom Penh (capital of Cambodia), we take them to the Apsara Arts Association, a nonprofit company that teaches street children the arts of Cambodia so they can get jobs.
Q: What Cambodian foods do you like to eat?
A: Brandon tried deep-fried tarantula the other day, but we tend to not be too exotic in our taste. It's fascinating to see the staff eat crickets, snakes and spiders, but I steer clear. A guest we had tried the crickets and said they weren't half bad; I'm not convinced. We do eat a lot of rice, and the curries here are great.
Our breakfasts here are great, too - both Western and Cambodian.
Q: What are the hard parts of running a B&B in a foreign land?
A: The No. 1 difficulty is the language. We're learning.
The other struggle has been the difference in standards. It takes a lot of time to teach our staff our standards. Their background is so different from ours. They have no concept of setting a table or serving food.
Another challenge is the lack of infrastructure. We have a phone line, but it is supported by twigs, so every time there's a strong storm, the phone goes out.
Q: What are the pleasures of what you're doing?
A: They speak for themselves. We live in a fascinating and developing place, and we are doing what we want to do. We work long hours, but we work for ourselves, for our dream, for our life.
We live in a beautiful house with a staff that goes above and beyond to ensure the guests' and our happiness.
We are also able to help people. Our cook can send her child to school because of us. Our house cleaner had never made money before; now she sends most of it back to help her family in the village.
We are able to not only show guests the beauty and spirit of Cambodia, but through them we are helping the Cambodian people. It is so rewarding.
Brandon chimes in, "We are doing what we love. It doesn't get much better than that."
Rosses offer Southeast Asia tour packages
Journeys Within Tour Co. maintains an excellent Web site, www.journeys-within.com. There are pictures of the bed-and-breakfast rooms and of the staff, tour options and comments and pictures from previous guests.
The company maintains a toll-free line - (877) 454-3672 - based in Southern California, which erases the problem of calling across the international date line. Andrea and Brandon Ross also can be reached at P.O. Box 93155, GPO Siem Reap, Kingdom of Cambodia.
The bed-and-breakfast has three air-conditioned rooms, one single and two doubles, all with bathrooms. Room rates are $50 for a single and $95 for a double. Rates include airport transfers.
Although the company makes individual tours, it has seven established tours, including its signature 13-day, all bed-and-breakfast trip to Thailand, Laos and Cambodia; it starts in Bangkok at $3,950 a couple. Another trip, called Give-and-Take, is a 14-day adventure that gets travelers involved as volunteers.
About the Writer
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The Bee's Judy Green can be reached at (916) 321-1138 or jgreen@sacbee.com.
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