Travel blogs - a source of indecision

Have booked the tickets for Cambodia and can't wait until fly out date in January. Loved IndoChina a couple of years ago when travelling through Vietnam and Laos. My wife is coming along this time just to make sure I don't get into any trouble. We will definitely be staying a few nights in Phnomh Penh and several in Siem Reap which is the city close to Angkor Wat but in between we'll be flexible.

Lots to read up about before we go and I have discovered that travel blogs are extremely useful for this. Have already used them for learning about good places to stay. Sometimes, however, after reading too many you can become totally confused about your plans. A couple of years ago prior to travelling through Laos I read many blogs about the two day longboat trip from the Laos - Thai border to the beautiful city of Luang Prabang. Blogs ranged from describing the joys of meandering up the Mekong on a slightly over populated boat getting glimpses of Laos village life and staying over night in the quiet pretty village of Pak Beng ; to surviving the ordeal of travelling on a boat with twice the passenger capacity, half of them sick from the booze and the sun, your backside sore from the wooden seats (if you're lucky enough to get one) and then when you get to Pak Beng a sleepless night in a godforsaken dirty room.

 In the end I took the boat and both of the above versions had some truth. The boat for the first day was terribly overcrowded and the engine was incredibly noisy and it did seem at times that we wouldn't make it. I brought a cushion thanks to a blog, and enjoyed the trip while others struggled with the uncomfortable seats. I also got to the boat early thus avoiding having to camp on the floor around the engine or toilets. Didn't get much sleep in Pak Beng woken by drug deals outside my window in the early hours of the morning. Two boats instead of one were used on the second day and it ended up being a lovely trip. I learnt that blogs can be very useful but don't believe everything you read.