Looking forward to reading your TR.

ok, dreamer,that last sentence has me on edge of the seat...

Ha Ha CaliNurse, that was my intention.

I forgot to mention the formalities for entering Cambodia. I know from my research that there’s lots of questions regarding this. I'd been very diligent and downloaded a visa application form, filled it out and attached photos. Waste of time!

We got handed the relevant forms (which looked nothing like the ones I downloaded) before boarding the flight from Singapore to Siem Reap. There were 3 each, Arrival - Departure & Customs. All of which have 'exactly' the same info. So filling out 6 of these (dh leaves that up to me grrr) is very tedious.

Siem Reap Tuesday, March 20 - Friday March 23

On walking down the steps off the plane the heat hits you in the face like a slap, it takes your breath away. We live in sunny Queensland, where we all whinge and moan about the heat & humidity of an Australian summer. Never again, this was on a whole new level, my face was instantly red and my hair that I’d taken much time to straighten and smooth, immediately went into a spasm of frizz and curl that pretty much did not settle until Hanoi. I had anticipated this and reigned the unruly mop in with a big clip that was to be my best friend for the next two weeks (that and every cold face washer I was offered).

Being up the ‘front’ of the plane we were the first ones inside to begin the visa procedure. Easy but I wouldn’t say that it was clear what you needed to do. Once people started pouring in (another plane had also just landed) it became very confusing. We went to the beginning of a very long counter and handed over all our forms and photos, the customs forms were handed back. We really didn’t know what to do next but were waved back away from the desk, while our passports were added to a huge pile. These passports were then handed out in piles to the waiting officers sitting along this huge counter. After maybe 10-15 minutes we were waved over to the end of this counter and handed back our passports, with the departure card attached to one of the pages. We collected our bags and headed towards the exit passing a bench that said ‘Customs’, as no one was there we placed our cards in a basket (there were some cards already in it) and exited.

So lovely to see a smiling face holding a board with our names on it, this smiling face belonged to our Tuk Tuk driver for the remainder of our stay, Panyay. We were so excited when he took us to his Tuk Tuk; we’d presumed we would be transferred by car. What a wonderful way to arrive, we had grins from ear to ear. The ride was about 20minutes to our hotel and gave us a great first look at Siem Reap.

Our hotel was The Golden Temple www.goldentemplehotel.com and I really can’t say enough good things about this place. We were greeted so warmly with a lovely cool drink and the first of many cold towels, the reception area is open air beside the pool. Unfortunately we were too early for our room, so left our gear and headed off walking. The hotel is in a great location for walking, it’s only a short stroll to the river, then on to the markets, Pub St. etc. We walked around for a while, through the markets which were wonderful, we love food markets and there were some wonderful things see. As we were still in the same clothes we’d left home in and we were really feeling the heat, we headed back to the hotel. Checked in and headed to the pool, never before has a pool been so needed or appreciated. It was an oasis. We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and enjoying the really good food the restaurant offered, spring rolls, rice paper rolls and a couple of Angkor Beers each, went down very well and all for under $10!!! It was a lovely lazy afternoon so much so that we opted for dinner at the hotel as well. David & Sue were to arrive the next day, so we were saving our real exploring ‘till then.

Glad you enjoyed the Golden Temple Hotel -- it was one of the things that made our stay in Siem Reap special. That pool! Small but so inviting. We also loved the tuk-tuk ride in from the airport. Such a treat!

Agree the weather in SR takes heat and humidity to a whole new level. We live in DC which gets its share of heat and humidity but nothing like SR.

Try November next time. Mid-day was warm but the humidity was fairly low and the mornings and evenings were gorgeous. I'll never forget the awesome 45-minute tuk-tuk ride out to Bantei Srei in the early morning--perfect temperature, the breeze from the tuk-tuk, and a chance to wear my new Cambodian silk scarf as we rode through the awakening countryside. And the temple was fabulous to boot!

We will be staying at the Golden Temple in June, I am so glad to read your positive feedback on it!!

<<<I'll never forget the awesome 45-minute tuk-tuk ride out to Bantei Srei in the early morning--perfect temperature, the breeze from the tuk-tuk>>>

We did the same thing, but had lucked out with somewhat cooler (high 80s) weather in March of last year. (And then we took the tuk-tuk all the way to Beng Melea - a little long, but a great chance to see the country side "close up and personal")

Totally agree that the tuk tuk experience is a more up close personal feel. We enjoyed them even in may when the weather was hot hot hot.

Thanks for following along, I'll get to our time at temples etc next.

Sf7307
<<<We did the same thing, but had lucked out with somewhat cooler (high 80s) weather in March of last year. (And then we took the tuk-tuk all the way to Beng Melea - a little long, but a great chance to see the country side "close up and personal")>>>.

We also did the ride out to Beng Melea in ‘our’ Tuk Tuk, woh what an experience. I’m interested to know which ‘way’ you went. We went out what seemed a really long way through amazing villages and open paddocks of what I think were tapioca plantations but then on the way back we seemed to be on a main road. That’s was the hottest I think I’ve ever been and when we ran out of petrol……………………..

After a wonderful sleep in our lovely air-conditioned room we headed to the open air restaurant for breakfast, it overlooks the pool and is very relaxing, lots of overhead fans. But oh dear lord the coffee is dreadful, like really really bad. This was to be a common theme of the trip, me madly looking for a decent coffee but all bad coffee will forever be judged by the Golden Temple coffee, don’t worry Nokomis you will really enjoy this hotel, the staff are so lovely and the restaurant, pool & spa are wonderful. We headed off for a walk to find our restaurant for the night, Cuisine Wat Damnak as we’d been warned on booking that it can be difficult to find in the dark, due to lack of street lighting. It’s really close to the hotel about 5-700 metres and we found it no problem.

We decided we’d hang around the pool until the others arrived, I even managed a wonderful facial at the spa and can you believe it was only $9? Just amazing, I was to return before we left. David & Sue arrived and we all had lunch by the pool, they enjoyed just arriving and relaxing. We did head back into ‘town’ for a wander around and a much needed coffee for me!! Not too proud to say I actually got a bit sick, headache and quite nauseous from lack of caffeine quite surprised at how long it made me feel so bad. Sue also had left her glasses at the Siem Reap airport and after many phone calls it was clear she was not getting them back, so we went in search of an optometrist. Which we found and half an hour later she had a pair of prescription glasses for the grand sum of $35. David actually went back later and got two pairs.

I should have warned at the beginning that this TR will have a lot of food comments, I spent quite a bit of time researching restaurants and we had some wonderful meals. The walk in the dark to the restaurant was fun; we had small torches which were really useful. Cuisine Wat Damnak (wwwlcuisinewatdamnak.com) is a set menu place with two choices, 4 courses + amuse bouche for $17 or 5 courses + amuse bouche for $24. The guys had the 5 course and us ladies the 4, the meal was amazing and the setting is just wonderful, so nice to step inside that lovely air conditioned dining room.

The men ate:

Marinated maam (aquatic herb) with pineapple & pork shank confit c/w herbs, flowers & local crudités
Calamari salad with braised tofu, sweet potato & crispy vermicelli
Quail red curry with pumpkin & long bean
Pan fried Sanday fish & tiger eggplant, grilled long eggplant & peanut sauce
Steamed dark chocolate cake with caramelized cashew nuts, pandan crème anglaise

The ladies ate:

Tonle Sap croaker fish, pounded coconut with prahok (fish paste) & elephant ear taro stem
Clear prawn consommé with green mango, tamarind shot and lemon basil
Rice wine & wild honey roasted pork ribs with local cresson (watercress I think)
Kaffir lime panna cotta with mango salad & sorbet (devine)

Every plate was delivered with such grace and looked so beautiful and the flavours were just amazing. Could not believe we were eating this wonderful food at this price, just a fantastic way to begin our Cambodian adventure together.

Next we begin our Temple visits, Woh!

Just starting to look into a Vietnam trip and I am loving this so far!

Damn. We struck out in our poorly planned search for Wat Damnak Cuisine in December (the tuk-tuk drivers outside the GTH didn't know where it was, and we couldn't provide specific directions). Really regretting that we didn't try again, after seeing your menu. Sounds wonderful.

Funny about the coffee. I don't remember it as being horrible at the hotel. Breakfast was interesting, though--no matter how hard we tried to pick and choose from the set breakfast[s] and get them to bring us less, the staff couldn't seem to grasp that we REALLY didn't want that much! Delicious though, and the service was always good.

Looking forward to your next posts.

Hope its some help jamikins - where are you thinking of going?

aprillilacs what a shame it literally was turn right out of the hotel turn right down the first 'main' looking lane then left. We'd been warned that Tuk Tuk drivers don't know where it is and we may not have been so lucky had we not scouted in the daylight.

April lilacs, you wil just have to go back. I'd say it was one of my best meals anywhere. Well, two actually, as we went two weeks in a row!

I just love your detailed food notes and am really looking forward to your Vietnam sections as, like Jamikins, I am also considering this as a future destination now that their are direct flights from UK.

great report!

Glad you are enjoying

Two days, 5 Temples & another special meal

I had pretty much left the temple touring plan up to Sue as this really was a big part of why she wanted to travel to Cambodia. After another wonderful breakfast we met up with David & Sue’s Tuk Tuk & Panyay who had a map of the temple area and worked out a plan. It was decided we would leave Angkor Wat until dawn the next day, so headed towards Angkor Thom. What a great ride even if you’re not really ‘into’ temples go for a Tuk Tuk ride out of Siem Reap past the temples, it’s such a great way to see the local area. We stopped off to get the pass’s and what really surprised me here was that after all my research and being so prepared with our passport photos, they weren’t needed or even accepted. We had our photos taken there on the spot, didn’t seem to take long, very efficient, so not sure why all the miscommunication re taking photos with you.

We very excitedly went past Angkor Wat and madly snapped photos and continued on to the South Gate of Angkor Thom, where Panyay dropped us with instructions that he would meet us at the Victory Gate whenever we were ready. God he was lovely. Not sure how you describe your first view of an Angkor Temple, magnificent maybe? Panyay had dropped us a little short of the gate so we could walk towards it, breath taking. We walked, climbed and scrambled all over this wonderful temple in the stifling nearly midday heat. Then walked towards The Bayon past the Terrace of the Elephants, just wonderful, I really enjoyed this one with its tangled tree roots slowly taking over the magnificent temple. After more exploring and much photo taking we headed out to find Panyay, no mean feat I may add, there were hundreds of Tuk Tuks at the Victory Gate. But as was to happen quite a lot I think Panyay ‘found us’. We were very hot & hungry, so we stopped off at a road side café for lunch. It actually wasn’t very good and in reality I’m sure the Tuk Tuks get a kick back for taking tourist there but the beer was cold!

Next temple was Ta Prohm another great ride to get there, really feeling the heat. Had a good explore and then declined to see anymore temples for the day and headed back for a much needed swim and rest. We had a booking for Touich for dinner and were being picked up by the restaurant at 7. What a great service, when I emailed to book they suggested that it may be difficult to get Tuk Tuk there as it’s a ‘bit out of the way and would we like to be picked up and returned after dinner? Woh So the driver turned up right on time and off we went, another really great drive, we went along side the river for quite a while and got to see the locals going about their nightly routine, just fascinating. The drive there took about 10-15 mins and when we pulled up we did kinda wonder…..”where on earth are we” but not to fear we were welcomed like old friends and began our beautiful meal.

We ate;

Shared starters – Beef Salad ‘Lab’ Battambang & Beef Salad ‘Lab’ Battambang Thai (this one was HOT)

The men ate;

Beef Filet Marinated with Kompot Pepper

The ladies ate;

Red snapper on glowing Embers from Koh Kong YUM!!! (Basically snapper cooked in salt and expertly filleted for us at the table) This was a whole fish each and it was $8

Another wonderful special meal topped off by the chef coming out and saying hi. Slept liked babies this night knowing we had an early start for the pilgrimage to Angkor Wat at dawn.

Aussie, we loved it when we would exit a crowded temple and Mr. Tu would always be there waving to us within seconds. There must be an art to it!

sf7307 I think you may be right.

Up at 4.30am for our 5am pickup, it takes about 20minutes to get out to Angkor Wat from the Hotel, just awesome to be out and about at that time of day. Lovely time of day to be riding a Tuk Tuk, coolest we’d been the whole visit, I think that’s the key, don’t try and do temples in the middle of the day. Having said that, if you are only there a couple of days you really have to just go with it, heat and all. It was pitch black when we arrived and unfortunately we hadn’t thought to bring our small torches but used our phones for light. Followed the crowd to the edge of the lotus pond to jostle for our position, we did pay a couple of dollars for a mat and an undrinkable cup of coffee. Just awe-inspiring to watch the sun rise behind this magnificent temple, the photos are pretty amazing but probably still don’t do it justice. We spent about two hours wandering around, some of the best photos I have are of through a door way at the ‘back’ of the temple once the sun had actually risen, beautiful! We spent another 15-20 mins back at the lotus pond to take more photos, eat our small picnic that the hotel provided (pastries & fruit) and people watch for a while. It was really starting to warm up, sigh.

Met up with Panyay and started the very long ride out to Beng Mealea, in retrospect it really is too far In a Tuk Tuk but it sure was an experience. The ride out took about 2 hours, through numerous villages and past drying tapioca, it was so hot we were dipping face washers (borrowed from the hotel) into the ice water in the small esky that Panyay had and just continually wiping our faces and wrapping them around our necks. We had just passed through one small village when we heard the chug chug of a motor bike running out of petrol!! OH NO. We had passed so many stands selling soft drink bottles of fuel, we figured the walk wouldn’t be too long but once we’d stopped and there was no breeze generated by the moving tuk tuk it was incredibly hot. But not to panic, Panyay was on his trusty phone and called David & Sues Tuk Tuk which was ahead of us and they returned with fuel, much laughing and silliness. Beng Mealea really is pretty special and we were surprised how many people were out there but certainly not as many as the other temples. Spent about an hour wandering around and then we all decided it was time to head back to that wonderful swimming pool. The ride back was easier, we travelled on mostly paved roads and it took about 1.5hours. Can’t begin to describe how good that pool felt!

Sue & I spent the afternoon at the spa, firstly having our complimentary 30 minute foot and lower leg massage and then $9 facials. Felt really rejuvenated. Dinner was to be our complimentary meal at the hotel but by early evening David & I were both not well, long story short a couple of hours of vomiting was not how we planned to spend our last night in Siem Reap. Sue & Stephen went on to have the dinner but both said they weren’t feeling right either. Although worrying that it might drag on a bit and apart from feeling really washed out the next day that was really the only hiccup of the trip.

Next our really special Mekong Cruise begins.

Continuing to enjoy reading your TR. I was always amazed how our driver found us after visiting a temple or a site. Also found that the other drivers would know who our driver was and point out to us where he might be if there wasn't that instantaneous finding one another. From reading your report it sounds like we really missed some great restaurants in SR. Weren't the foot massages just fabulous. I got addicted to them.

The tuk tuk men will always find you! I find the Russian Market in Phnom Penh the worst. I always get lost in there and have to walk round the outside looking. There's always a friendly smile and wave as he comes to collect me.

Sorry to hear that you got sick but glad you enjoyed Siem Reap. Do you think it was dodgy food or the heat?

No I really don't think anything was dodgy, I think heat & for me a constant headache due to lack of caffeine!!

I've seen people get sick from not enough water. Surely you could find some good coffee in SR! However I wean myself completely from caffeine in Asia as I've found some pretty dodgy stuff.

I was also interested in your comments on the heat. I'm from Victoria and revel in the climate. However I go in June-July to see my daughter every year and she always says March April are the worst months in SR.

Glad you enjoyed Cambodia anyway.

I guess we knew it would be hot but this was the only time we could all go and once we got to Hanoi it was much better.

More soon, got caught up with trip planning for a friend.

7 Nights on the Mighty Mekong

Kampong Cham to Kampong Chhnang

We chose the Jahan, the booking of this cruise pretty much shaped the rest of the trip, we didn’t book ‘till January this year so were very limited with availability. We may not have gone quite so ‘upmarket’ if we’d had more choices but we are so glad we booked this cruise. For me, the absolute highlight of our trip!!

We bid farewell to the wonderful Golden Temple Hotel staff and were picked up and taken to the Angkor Victoria Hotel, the meeting place for the transfer to Kampong Cham where the boat was waiting for us. It’s a long drive, about 5 hours and this is due to the time of year, low water levels. We were told we’d be stopping at Skuon (Spiderville) village on the way and really still don’t know why we didn’t. We did stop off at a rubber plant plantation, which was interesting and somewhere for a ‘packed’ lunch/toilet break. Arriving at the boat really was exciting, we’ve never done any cruising or any organised travel and although I’m not converted to organised travel/tours this was really great. Boarding was interesting, down a steep embankment and across a gang plank, the staff took care of our luggage which is just as well. Welcome drinks and snack, meet and greet with the staff, a lovely little concert by a local orphanage/school and then shown to our really lovely rooms. All glass, so the views were wonderful, big comfy bed, sitting area and a good size bathroom. But oh dear the best bit…………………a coffee machine!! I was so happy; it really made a huge difference for me, a nice way to start the day. I was to learn the coffee I disliked so much at the Golden Temple was in fact ‘Vietnamese’ coffee, thick, strong and sweet and it was served on the boat as well.

The first excursion of the trip was to Wat Nokor, it had been a big day already and we had pretty much seen our share of ‘Wats’, so we opted to miss this one and just take some time to settle in and relax and we did take a walk around the busy town of Kampong Cham, except Dave who was still feeling unwell. Actually only about half of the 46 passengers took this excursion. One strange thing did happen: we were walking back to our cabins to get ready for dinner, when we noticed that quite a few rooms had shoes sitting outside. We were really puzzled; we wondered if we’d missed some instruction on shoe etiquette? Dinner was a really delicious Asian Buffet that was so lovely; we knew then that the food on this trip was going to be awesome. And the dining room was really great, everyone settled into little groups etc. quite funny to watch the dynamics. Each night there was the option of a film but we barely made it through dinner each night before collapsing into our comfy beds. I don’t think I ever got tired of just looking out the window at the ever changing scenery. We did have a balcony that we used a couple of times but it really was too hot and sticky for being out if you didn’t need to be.

After an absolutely delicious breakfast, Stephen & Dave liked the omelette station a lot and Sue loved the Phos, we headed out in the rain on our first excursion. Leaving the boat was always interesting, sometimes straight onto smaller boats, others the crew built make shift gang planks if we could get close enough to the bank. Only in Phnom Penh and again at the end in My Tho did we actually have a ‘proper’ dock but it was never a hassle and even the ‘oldies’ on board had no problems, the staff was always on hand to help if needed. Arriving back to the boat, the shoe thing became clear. Every time we went on an excursion, we were welcomed back on board by the crew, with cold water, hand sanitizer, cold face washer AND they took our shoes and washed them. How awesome, they would put a small peg with the room number on the shoes and by the time you’d showered and freshened up your shoes were at the door. Lovely little touch as we really did walk through some interesting places.

We visited Wat Hanchey, walking along the road side and up 303 steps well I must admit the others did that, I jumped on the back of a motor bike and had a great ride to the top. It wasn’t a difficult walk but it was such fun going up on a bike. The Wat was interesting enough but the views back to the river and the walk back down were great, especially as we ended up with quite a little crowd of kids. Back on board we were visited by two monks, who offered us a blessing and their chanting was amazing, followed by another great lunch and one of my favourite excursions to the village Angkor Ban. This is one of the few villages that were not destroyed by the Khmer Rouge, it was wonderful to see this working village and its people. There was a small market where the ladies were buying provisions for dinner, Oh dear, the things we saw!! Some I absolutely could not identify. They were so friendly and so happy to see us, it was an absolute joy.

When we got back on board, the boat moved to a small sand island where we all got off to have drinks and canapés on the ‘beach’ to watch the sun go down. The crew put on a dance presentation and then taught us all how to do some traditional dances. A really fun night, followed by an awesome dinner, this time a set menu.
Fish Tartar
Winter melon & pea soup
Mango sorget
Grilled fish, mash & snow peas
Crepe suzettes

While we were asleep this night the boat sailed from Agkor Ban to Kampong Chhnag, past Phnom Pehn.

Sounds like a great cruise. I looked at it when we were planning our trip. I think the ship had just launched in the Fall? Glad to hear a first hand report.

I was told that the money ( about $40 ) for entry to Angkor Wat is kept by a French company and not spent on maintaining the temple sites . Does anyone have different information ?

I believe it's a Vietnamese, Sok Kong, and his company Sokimex Corp. Coincidentally, he is a very good friend of Prime minister Hun Sen.

Apparently, they only sell tickets and have security guards to make sure no foreigners slip in without passes. Restoration & maintenance is done by other countries' NGOs. Apparently Sokimex paid the Cambodian something like $1 million out of the $75 million or so they collected in a recent year.

Same with the Phnom Bokor national park. Laws were passed to protect the site, but then the government gave a cheap 99 year lease to Sokimex to build a huge resort, bars, casino and hundreds of private villas.

It must be nice doing business like that!

Not sure witold. I do wish I had mentioned the dress code at the temples of Angkor. We were reminded often by the hotel staff that we would need to dress appropriately, covered shoulders and knees, which we did. But I don't know where this was being enforced, if it was. We saw many, mostly young women who we thought really were inappropriate.

Kampong Chhnag to Phnom Penh

After breakfast the next morning we boarded small boats to the very lively market town of Kampong Chhnag, past some amazing floating villages and markets. It’s funny how quickly you get used to seeing such amazing things. We boarded some small vans and drove about 20minutes into the country side to the pottery village of Aundaung Russey. Again despite the intense heat this village was a real highlight for me, we watched this lovely young girl of about 15 who was making these amazing earthen wear water jugs, by hand with no real tools and certainly no spinning pottery table. She was the prettiest, friendliest young girl with the most infectious smile; she had been doing this he whole life and made it look very easy. We were able to purchase smaller (miniature actually) pots to take with us, I bought a water jug and a pot c/w lid and it cost me $1. The young girl and her family happily posed for photos with their amazing work and then we got to walk around their village, it really was a privilege. We were also given a demonstration by an amazing lady on how they make ‘toffee’, they stir the palm sugar over heat for the longest time and it sets into what I can only describe as ‘toffee’. Nothing seemed ‘set up’; they were just going about their lives with us watching on. Then a man of 70+ proceeded to climb the palm trees, what an amazing man and so funny. Once he was at the top he was hanging on with one arm and waving and laughing at us.

When we arrived back in the village the vans stopped on one of the street and we were able to walk the full length of the market back to the waiting small boats. What fun, I don’t think there would be anything food or otherwise that you could not buy, simply amazing. Back to the ship via the floating villages, for another incredible lunch and a rest as we sailed towards Kampong Tralach for the afternoon excursion.


This one was really special, I know I keep saying it but they kept exceeding my expectations. We walked around the village for a while then we visited a local school. Just a joy but I have to admit I was a little emotional while we were there, I’m not really sure I know why. I just felt kinda sad, the heat in this small brick building was absolutely oppressive and they had ‘nothing’ but having said that, they all looked so happy. Then came the real treat, while we were at the village the boat had moved to a different location and we had to go about 3 or 4 km’s through rice paddies and beautiful lotus ponds and the best bit? We all got to ride in an Ox cart, so much fun, two to a cart so we looked like a convoy of Ox carts and all this while the sun was beginning to set on this really special part of the world.

I know we had a lovely dinner because I wrote “YUM” in my journal but I failed to write down what we ate. We stayed up for the movie as did most of the passenger, it was The Killing Fields. I had intended to watch it before we left home, so was pleased to be able to watch it as we would be visiting Phnom Penh the next day.

Phnom Pehn

This day was to be a full day in the city but we’d bought a suitcase full of clothes & toys and had organised a visit to a local hospital in the afternoon which meant we only missed the National Museum. The tour started with a 20 minute cyclo ride, what fun once you got used to the ‘traffic’, a great way to see the city. We then went to the Royal Palace & Silver Pagoda both really beautiful and I have some terrific photos. Before we knew it Percey (one of the awesome staff from the boat) came to tell us our car was there. He’d organised a driver to take us to the hospital, we drove back via the boat where one of the staff was waiting with our bag of goodies (such great service) and off we went. Sue is a nurse and was really interested in seeing either an orphanage or hospital with the view to maybe going back as a volunteer. I can’t seem to find the name of the hospital but we were met by a young American lady who has been there for 3 years. She showed us around the hospital and then took us into the physio building where we met some amazing children and their mums. That visit will forever be in my memory and is the reason this TR is called a Life Changing Journey. One little boy that stands out in my memory was in hospital for the countless time having more surgery on a cleft palate, I’m going to guess he was about 4 but could have been older. We’d found in our bag a very brightly coloured shirt and had given it to him, we noticed he went straight back to his mum and folded it neatly and sat there holding it in his lap with the biggest smile on his face. A little while later I noticed him tugging on his mums arm and asking something, I asked the American lady what it was he was after. He had asked if we may also have a pair of shorts that would fit him to go with his shirt. We found that pair of shorts in quick time I can tell you, he then folded them and put together with his shirt, we learned he was ‘saving’ them for the big festival that was to happen the next month, he’d never had ‘new’ clothes before.

One really sad/eye opening thing that happened at the hospital was, while we were waiting for our escort a van pulled in. In the back there were easily 10 people half of which were covered in bandages but had obvious terrible burns, each one had a minder who was carrying their intravenous drip for them. It was such a terrible scene and as we had guessed but hoped we were wrong, their injuries were due to a landmine. Call me naive but I had no idea that this was ‘still’ an issue; it really did break our hearts.

We then met back up with our fellow passengers for lunch, before the afternoon excursions to The Killing Fields & S21, it sure was a full but very moving day. Lunch was a set menu at the Malis restaurant and it was just lovely.
We ate;
Squid with mint salad
Sour fish Soup with Thnoeng leaves
Fried mixed vegetable
Fish Amok
Vegetables Fried rice
Stuffed roast pork fillet
Malis Signature mousse

And let me tell you, if we were in Phnom Penh independently we would’ve gone back, it was just delightful. We then took a bus to the Killing Fields stopping briefly at the Russian Markets which was fun. The Killing Fields were different to what I’d imagined, I’m not sure what that was exactly but a very moving place. Just to walk around reading the signs and trying to imagine how this terrible thing could happen. The monument housing all the skulls is just incredible to stand there and imagine what these poor people went through, the heat this day was very nearly unbearable but in comparison, no complaints. We found the small museum really interesting, to read some stories and see some items that have been and are still being uncovered.

We were then given the option of going back to the Russian Market or going on to S21 - Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocide, most people did come but a few opted out. This former high school was for me more intense than the Killing Fields, what a terrible terrible thing and so very good that it’s been kept. If you go, especially as part of a tour, break away from the group and wander through the rooms on your own. We did and found we covered more ground than the group who mostly missed out on the last building with photos and stories of individuals, so very moving. Plus walking through on your own, (we didn’t stay together as we were all stopping at different exhibits) gives you more time to really reflect. What an incredible place and I feel bad that we don’t really know enough of this time, when I think that I was a carefree young teenager when this happened.

Dinner was a beautiful Cambodian BBQ on the main deck, which was lovely with the backdrop of Phnom Penh’s city lights and an Apsara dance performance. We opted out of the lecture being offered by a local French professor on the history of Cambodia and instead took advantage of being at port and went for a great wander around the city. It was a huge day but gratifying and magical.

The next day was our border crossing day, so we couldn’t leave the boat. The crew took care of all formalities and we just had a relaxing day on board, with the highlight being sunset on the deck while we sailed along the narrow Tan Chau canal towards Chau Doc. Our arms were aching from all the waving to the local kids along the way, so great to be this close .

A great report, loving the detail! Phnom Penh is one of my favourite cities in Asia. Seems such a shame that many bypass it in favour of Siem Reap.

Like you, I too found Tuol Sleng and the Killing Fields extremely moving but in different ways. Tuol Sleng was a chilling place and the simple "passport style" photos of the victims with expressions varying from complete terror to complete hopelesness said more than words ever could and . The Killing fields seemed alomost peaceful by comparison.

Looking back to the 70s, it now seems incredible that the world largely ignored the terrible plight of the Cambodian people.

Thankfully the cambodian people now seem to have put this era in ther history behind them and are moving forward at last. lets hope the rest of teh world helps rather than takes advantage as is so often the case.

Thanks for following along crellston and I'm glad you are enjoying the detail, I try not to 'go' on but its hard when the place was so amazing.

Chau Doc – Sadec

After the border crossing formalities we sailed towards Chau Doc, on to Sampans nice and early the next morning and headed into the bustling market. I do love these markets and this was a particularly good one, we only had a brief glimpse before we hopped onto our rickshaws for a 20minute ride. So much fun, our drivers/riders were so funny and we have lots of awesome photos. Then it was back to the market for about 30 mins on our own and didn’t we make the most of it, the colours, sounds and smells were amazing. Back on to the sampans and off to a local fish farm, woh that was incredible, not sure how to describe it but what a hard life they seem to have, living with their fish, oh and the smell of the fish food was unforgettable!!

After lunch we sailed to Sadec stopping off at a local chilli farm to visit the family that run it. I know I keep saying it but it was just amazing. Spent time just wandering around, some folk walked across the ‘Monkey Bridge’ which was just a bridge made up of flimsy pieces of timber strung together, I passed, but the others all did it. We then got to have a cup of tea with the farmer and his family in their home. He’s a bit of a guitar player, so we got some entertainment, just terrific. The kids here were so much fun, no asking for anything, they just wanted to be with us. Another wonderful day.

Sadec – Cai Be

Another great sampan ride to Sadec this time on a really narrow part of the river, which made it so interesting, to be able to see into the houses and shops was just great. Had a walk through the village and listened to some amazing stories from an elderly man & woman, could’ve listened to them for hours. More wandering until Stephen noticed one of the guys from the cruise getting a haircut by a local. So in he went, it took over 30 minutes (he doesn’t have much hair!) and he had the best haircut and shave with a cut throat blade, he’s ever had and all for 50 cents. The crew said this had never happened before and said they will tell passengers from now on that they can get a good haircut. I must say it was a real highlight, so much laughing. We sailed back to the boat past a huge Hyacinth farm, it must look incredible when they are in bloom.

While having lunch we sailed to Cai Be for our final excursion a 40 minute cruise through an amazing floating market to the small village of Phu An, where we saw them making all manner of rice products. I even got to try my hand at making rice paper, not as easy as they made it look. Tasted some beautiful rice puffs mixed with a sticky toffee, very more-ish and of course rice wine.

This was our last night and the crew put on a fantastic farewell party, much dancing singing eating and drinking, just a great way to end a wonderful cruise. The next morning after breakfast we left the boat, it had been such a magnificent part of our holiday and I’m so happy we did it, did and saw things that we’d never have done on our own. The crew waved us off and we were on our way on coaches towards HCMC, about a 70km drive.

Next amazing HCMC and a really great hotel.

The age old question, should I keep going? I know there are usually readers but not always 'commenters'.

Of course!!!!

I'm also loving it. You travel at a different level to me (I'm very much an elderly backpacker) but appreciate a lot of the same things about Cambodia. Its a fantastic country. If you ever get back, try a few of the less touristy parts for a different experience. Battangbang springs to mind.

Yes, pls continue -- I'm enjoying your TR.

You simply must keep going, I am really enjoying this.

Enjoying your report also, my husband and i will be in siem reap in june for a few days and then cruising on the Amalotus for 7 days to HCM spending 5 day there, so please continue your report, want to read info on HCM.

Thanks for the encouragment, I will press on shortly.

evelyne13, we saw the Amalotus, another lovely boat, you will love it. I had a quick look and the itinarary is nearly identical.

yes that is why i love your trip report,I read a few reports on cruise critic but yours has all the details of the stops we are doing, that is what i was looking for. I printed ur report and taking it with me, good reading on long flights ahead.... thks again

Thats great evelyn13, glad its of some help.

HCMC

It took about an hour and a half to get to the city, the drive was interesting especially the closer we got, it appeared busy, chaotic but more orderly than I expected. We were dropped off at the Renaissance Hotel, said our goodbyes to fellow passengers and grabbed a taxi. We were staying at the Rex Hotel which really wasn’t very far but with luggage it was just easier, mind you the taxi driver was none too impressed with such a small fare but we did tip accordingly. What a great first impression of our hotel and the city in general, it’s in such a beautiful location, right by the Peoples Committee Building and it’s a great old hotel. Our rooms weren’t ready so we left our bags and headed out. What a great location for site seeing, we grabbed a street map from the hotel and we were off. Walking past the Peoples Committee Building (which looks just beautiful all lit up at night)to the Post Office, which is a really beautiful building and then Notre Dame. All surrounded by lovely parks, it’s a really pretty city. Walked on to the Reunification Palace and after paying our entreance fee of 30,000 Dong, which is barely $1.40 we had a great walk around the grounds and through the Palace. We had walked for quite a while and it was really hot, so we headed off for lunch.

This is probably the first time while away that my restaurant research really paid off, I’d taken googlemaps and a list of suggestions. Sometimes in other countries we don’t always get to try the restaurants I’ve researched, usually because we just find somewhere nice and decided to give it a go but in Vietnam I was really pleased I’d taken the time. So we headed to Nha Hang Ngon the much talked about place where you order from one menu but all the food comes from different stalls around the building. And what a menu it is, you need to grab a beer and spend 15 minutes reading it, which we did.
We ate:
Pork & Shrimp green papaya salad
Pork spring rolls c/w salad
Chilli prawns
Garlic greens
Fries
3x beers & 1 shake
There was so much food on our table and all for $32.

Next it was off to Bin Thanh Markets, WOH what fun, so much to look at and bargain for, we decided we would have to come back. Finnaly checked into the Rex, our rooms were just lovely, over looking the park and the Peoples Committee Building. This was the most expensive hotel of our stay at $160 (still quite reasonable I thought) but worth every cent for location, comfort and a great restaurant. Next it was on to the War Remnants Museum were we spent a couple of hours, although we all said you could spend days, reading all the stories. What a moving place, sad & a bit frightening and very confronting but I also found it really ‘educational’, I thought I knew some of what happened, how naive I was. I found myself not wanting to go into some of the exhibits but we all encouraged each other to keep going, again we wandered around here on our own, catching up occasionally to talk about what we’d seen. It had been a really full but great day, we were hot and tired so decided to give the hotel restaurant a try and as it happened it was great and really reasonably priced, we even ‘lashed’ out and had a few cocktails. Slept like babies.

Next Cu Chi Tunnels, Xu and a Typhoon hits HCMC

Oops forgot to mention about Earth Hour at the Rex. Our first night was March 31 and the night of Earth Hour we didn't give it much thought, until after dinner. The lobby area was dark except for 100's of candles, the manager put on a small cocktail party for the guests. There was a big screen showing some great environmental issues put to a great music track. The Rex does this every month, which we were pretty impressed with. Sue & I even got interviewed for local TV about what we thought of the whole thing, the Rex's commitment etc. It was a fun night.

Aussie, I found it impossible to go into the Agent Orange exhibit at the War Remnants Museum - just too difficult to look at the human devastation.

I thought that was a fantastic museum and also had trouble with the Agent Orange exhibit. One of our guides in VN told us that many Americans don't like the museum and they will go in and quickly come out. I thought that interesting.

Looking forward to hearing about your meal at XU -- we had a fabulous meal there.

I first visited that museum in the 80s and it was a lot more graphic then (agent orange and other stuff. We were shown into a room and for the first 20 mins or so were shown the most horrific B &W footage I have ever seen before we were allowed to view anything else. We visited again in 2008 an beleive me the exhibitswere far less graphic and horrifying. Unfortunately the world never seems to learn from events of the past...

Wow -- I can only imagine-must have been hard to watch. And yes, sadly & "Unfortunately the world never seems to learn from events of the past..."

I must admit I wasn't going to go in, Sue came out visibly upset and Stephen was just shaking his head but told me I really 'should' go in. I did but not for long and I was very 'selective'.

An interesting aside, I did wonder how Americans feel when visiting this museum? I did comment that I would feel 'uncomfortable'.

Hit sumbit to soon...........

I was also going to say, that as an Australian it was very confronting.

For me it brought back all the feelings from days of the War which I did not support. It made me angry for what the Americans did. Throughout our entire stay in VN I was constantly amazed that the Vietnamese appeared to harbor no anger toward Americans. We mostly talked with younger people and for them they said, the past is the past, we look to the future. Not sure Americans would be so generous if the situation were reversed. I thought the museum was very well done.

Your very right yestravel, I actually asked a couple of our Vietnamese guides how they feel now and they all said, that was then this is now. Just amazing people.

Cu Chi Tunnels, Xu and a Typhoon

We woke to rain the next day but we’d booked a car to take us to the Tunnels, booked at the tour desk at the hotel ($44ea), so off we went. Lovely big van c/w driver & a guide, from memory it was about an hour and a half drive, made really interesting by the info the guide shared on the history of Vietnam and also the time during the ‘American’ War. The walk through the tunnel site was awesome and we all think the gentle rain kind of added to the atmosphere and so glad to have a guide. Going down a short way into one of the tunnels was a little unnerving, just amazing what they did, so very clever. On the way back we made the ‘obligatory’ visit to a lacquer factory, although I must say we weren’t compelled to buy anything and it was interesting to see how it was done.

Had a quick bite of lunch at the hotel, really yummy club sandwiches if anyone needs a quick bite, I recommend. We all then went our separate ways, Stephen offered to take all our laundry to be washed, we were getting a little desperate and we’d found a place that does it for $1 per Kilo, fantastic. I went for a wander through the Tax Centre which is across the road from the hotel, not really a great shopping centre but I did enjoy the souvenir shops on the top floor. Be prepared to be hassled but I did buy a set of three lacquer pictures that I love, except we had to ‘haul’ them around for the next couple of weeks! The rain was getting really heavy and when we finally got back to our room and watched the news, we saw that there was a typhoon warning for parts of Asia ‘especially’ the HCMC area; great. But not to be deterred we braved going out for our much anticipated dinner at Xu, which is a really easy walk from the hotel, but not in a typhoon. So we cabbed it, the fare was 60cents! What a beautiful restaurant, great atmosphere and maybe the best staff we experienced, which is a big call as the service staff throughout were terrific.

We chose the chefs set menu;

Canh Chua (sweet & sour fish soup)
Tamarind beef salad
Pork spring rolls
Lemongrass skewed seabass (my favourite)
Chilli prawns
Mango salad c/w stir fried beef
Desert;
White chocolate panacotta
Fudge choc balls
Chocolate brownies

A perfect dinner, 2 bottles of wine, 2 bottles of water and the four tastings menu and the total was $295 our ‘splurge’ meal but absolutely fantastic.

Actually, I understood that most of the population of Vietnam was born after the war ended, so their attitude toward Americans isn't really all that surprising. After all, we went to Germany and Italy in 1972, which was quite a few fewer years following WWII than this is after the end of the "American War" as they call it. Memories are indeed short.

Thank you so much for your very detailed posting. I really enjoyed your report and it is helping me to redefine our trip to Cambodia in December. How did you make the connection to the hospital or did you not need one? We are health professionals & would very much like to take some supplies if they are needed. Thank you again for all of your information.

Good for you 'Fodors Moderators', thanks.

cjon; we ended up getting the cruise director to ring ahead the day before to a local hospital, Sue had the name of an agency that one of the doctors at her medical centre was affiliated with that worked out of this hospital. I can certainly find those details if you'd like me to?

Last full day in HCMC

This was to be a wandering the city day, started with the view from the look out on the 49th floor of the Bitexco Financial Tower, awesome views. Then more time at the markets and a look around the local shops, someone on this site suggested (while we were in HCMC) to go to L’Usine for lunch, so off we went. Unfortunately they were closing early for lunch this particular day and the kitchen was closed when we arrived at 1pm, so disappointed it looked fabulous. Had a great talk to an Aussie girl who was working there and got some yummy coffee and delicious cup cakes; red velvet and lemon meringue………YUM!!!! On our drive to the tunnels the day before the guide had pointed out ‘China Town’ which looked really interesting, so we jumped in a cab and headed out there, with no real plan in mind. Would you believe we spent over an hour standing on a traffic island/roundabout located in the centre of a very busy traffic circle (facing the post office) a short walk from the markets, taking photos? So much fun, it’s a small garden/grassed area with a statue of Phan Đình Phùng (a local revolutionary) but you get a great ‘safe’ look at the traffic chaos. We have got some amazing photos of what can be carried on small motorbikes, fridges, stair cases, a coffin and the list goes on. And we were tooted and waved to by so many locals, smiling widely while we took their photos, so funny.

To celebrate our last night in HCMC we dressed up and headed the very short walk to the Saigon Saigon bar at the Caravelle. I was really excited to do this as it gets great reviews regarding the views and the cocktails, we were a bit disappointed in the view but the cocktails were pretty awesome. Dinner was a return to the Nha Hang Ngon as we all felt like something different, it was really lovely at night, we had a terrific table but we did order way too much food, it was fun though especially when Stephen ordered the Hot Pot!!! It was bought to the table and assembled: a small burner with a large pot of broth, then the prawns, veg and noodles were added, it could easily feed four people. BUT we also ordered;

Vermicelli stir fry with sweet & sour chicken
Beef salad with onions & lemon
Fried rice
Greens
Spring rolls

So much food but all delicious and there wasn’t much left!

We headed to the Vincom shopping centre the next morning before we had to head to the airport, really nice shopping centre, lovely to see a Zara’s & a Debenhams along with a lot of other well known stores. Only trouble is they really only cater for the local sizes, neither Sue or I are very big and we struggled to find anything our size but fun to look. Taxi to the airport for our short flight to Hanoi with Jetstar, pretty boring airport. We had to take a bus out to the plane, the pushing and shoving to get on really surprised us, we all had allocated seats so I’m not sure what the rush was but everyone wanted to be the first one on, that’s for sure.

Next amazing Hanoi, Sapa, Bac Ha & Halong Bay

This is a terrific report, aussiedreamer! I am enjoying it very much -- we are considering a trip to Vietnam, and your writings are very helpful. Thanks for posting!

Aussie, when you said you stood on a traffic island for an hour, I though you were going to say you couldn't get across the street LOL!

me, too, sf7307!!

ha ha ha too funny, I just re read it and it does sound like that. We actually enjoyed 'crossing' the road in Vietnam, you just have to stick to that rule, Step out & keep walking, don't run, don't stop, works 'nearly' everytime.

So glad you are enjoying, I'll try not to 'drag' it out too much longer.

Yea, crossing the street in Hanoi and Saigon was a real adrenalin rush. In Aonang Beahc, Tahialnd a women told us its called a "leap of faith.". U go & have to have faith thatbu will make it! We're u at Caravelle at sunset? We thought the view then was lovely.
Looking forward to the rest.

Our son kept telling us.. "whatever you do, don't stop. They're watching you.. don't worry , but you'll really mess things up if you stop on them!!"

We did the "keep moving" thing too, but once in Saigon, I just "drafted" the young woman in front of me, which she fortunately thought was very amusing!

funnily though.. in your mind there is this voice praying it all turns out OK as you focus on survival.

"I think I can, I think I can"

Hanoi

After another push and shove getting off the plane (?) we waited about 10minutes for our driver to turn up. When he did he was really arrogant just took off and we guessed we were to follow, no offer of help with the bags or any niceties. This was organised through our hotel and we did mention it to them and they said he was a private contractor and they would not use him again.
It was about a 30-45minute drive into the hotel in the old town of Hanoi, so pleased we chose this location, just brilliant. We stayed at the Hanoi Diamond Elegance and it was wonderful, phew. We’d taken a bit of a chance here in that we’d got them to organise quite a few things for us, which we wouldn’t normally do. But they were terrific, so helpful and genuinely friendly and just really lovely. Our rooms were suites and woh they were really nice, talk about a lovely oasis to come back to after walking around this manic city. We pretty much just dropped our gear and took off walking towards the lake, unfortunately it was so foggy/misty/smoggy that it wasn’t great for taking photos and it was like that most of the time we were there.
Dinner was at the Green Tangerine and it was a beauty!! What a lovely restaurant and if you are staying in or near the Hanoi Elegance its really close.
We ate;
Starters -
Me - Crab, red & green peppers & tomato blazed in cognac on a Mille Teuille cake (the best entree at the table)
Stephen - Small bacon flowers & mushroom pistils (stems), 5 Vietnamese spices on a layer of sweet & sour tropical fruits (so pretty)
Sue – Tiramisu of duck liver mousse in cognac & grand marnier, layers of parmesan cheese mousse, grape & crumble in amaretto, onions in galangal & crusty bread. (just delicious)
Mains –
Me – Rack of lamb in couscous stew broth served with spicy surprise balls & a polenta made with tiny pellets of lotus seeds & raisins. (Outstanding)
The other 3 – all had the Australian imported steak with 3 kinds of butter, Jus of red & green pepper in rice alcohol and 3 kinds of mash. (They loved it)
Deserts -
We all tried a different desert with Stephen having the 5 tastes. We ate Passion fruit tart in meringue, Mousse cake with chocolate & blackcurrant shortbread biscuit, Hot mellow chocolate cake with ice cream and a chocolate conical hat.

Woh, what a meal and it was absolutely divine, but oh boy were we full.

The next day we walked to the Temple of Literature and had a good walk around, we did also go to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum only to find out it was too late to go in this day. Made our way back to the Temple of Literature and found the KOTO restaurant just across the road. We had lunch there, what a great concept, street kids learning how to cook & serve etc, the food was really nice.
Stephen had a duck breast on mash
Dave had a club sandwich
& Sue & I both had a delicious Bun bo Nam bo, yum.
We also shared some prawn cake starters and had a beer each and the total was $35, a really great experience.

The others all kept walking; I’d had enough and went back to the hotel. Dinner was at the Ly club, again a nice walking distance from hotel. I’d booked this restaurant before we’d left home, although I probably didn’t need to. It’s a lovely place, very ‘old world’ and the service was impeccable.
We ate;
Me – Asparagus Soup and the lamb rack
Stephen had the ‘5 tastes’ which was small bowls of interesting things to be wrapped in beetle leaves, very interesting.
The best part of this night was when they wheeled out a Nespresso machine and had the full selection for us to chose from, perfect end to a wonderful night.

Do you think your future travel plans will be shaped by this life changing journey that you enjoyed so much?

Steamed dark chocolate cake with caramelized cashew nuts, White chocolate panacotta, Fudge choc balls would change my life too.

"sf7307on May 5, 12 at 10:54am
Aussie, when you said you stood on a traffic island for an hour, I though you were going to say you couldn't get across the street LOL!"

That's what I thought because it happened to me once. Being too afraid to cross a street is a humbling experience.

I'm going to need my first pair of prescription glasses soon. It appears a trip to Cambodia may be a cost effective way to make this purchase. Thank you for the hint.

You mention photos of the items carried by motorbike. Will these or others be posted? And will you be cooking Cambodian and Vietnamese at home now?

Thanks for the report.

That's a great trip report, thanks

atravelynn, not sure if it will shape future plans, maybe. I haven't had a chance to organise photos but yes eventually. (I do wish it was easier to post photos on this site ) I was a little 'over' asian food when we got home and its Autumn/Fall here but I will certainly be making a lot more Vietnamese inspired salads next summer.

Hanoi Day 2

We were more organised this morning to go to the mausoleum, Sue & I headed off in a cab about 9am, so glad we did this. The line took about 40minutes to wind its way from the entrance to the mausoleum itself. I didn’t actually have this on my list of things to do but Sue really wanted to so I said I would go with her, one of the real highlights. I was pleasantly surprised about how tastefully it’s done, we were given very strict instructions on how to behave and we were watched very closely. Once you enter the mausoleum, you are really only in there for probably under one minute; they really keep the ‘procession’ moving. When we exited we hadn’t planned on visiting the Royal Palace or the Stilt House and gardens but as it happened, it was actually easier to exit that way. And we really enjoyed all of it, be aware though that the pushing in line and jostling for position can get a little tedious, both in the line and around the Stilt House.

We met the guys back at the main roundabout in the Old Quarter, which was a wonderful place for meeting, people watching and coffee/beer, spent the afternoon wandering around the wonderful shops. Dinner was at the Green Mango, which was one that was on the hotels recommended list and it was very good and again, a nice easy walk from the hotel. Walking to the restaurants each night was half the fun, I’m sure all of Hanoi cooks their dinner on the street, it’s amazing to watch. We were never ‘brave’ enough to try street food as the hygiene looked a little ‘suspect’ but oh dear the food looked and smelled amazing. The Green Mango is a really lovely restaurant, great staff, terrific menu and I must say they make a pretty mean “John Collins”!

We ate:
Me – the yummiest crab and grapefruit salad & Crisp skin chicken with a salad and a beautiful broth for dipping the chicken in.
Stephen & Sue both had Green curry and said it was delicious
Dave had fish.
All the food was presented beautifully and was absolutely YUM.

Halong Bay

To go or not to go seems to be the question, for me I felt we should go but in hindsight could’ve done without it. This was organised through our hotel and we got to leave most of our luggage there in storage, the car was there nice and early to collect us for the very long (3.5 hour) very boring drive to meet the boat. Again we stopped off for the obligatory souvenir shopping but again you kinda need a bathroom stop anyway, finally made it to the reception area for our boat, Paradise Luxury, and after a short time boarded. Lovely boat, really nice room c/w balcony, unfortunately it was cloudy/misty the whole time and I’m sure on a clear day it would be magnificent. We did a one night cruise which for us, was plenty but once on board its all very ‘rushed’, considering we didn’t board ‘till lunch time (ps, lunch was really nice) and we were off the boat again by 9am. We did three excursions, the first was to the Dau Go Caves which we all enjoyed, then to Ti Top Island which has a small Beach and a Pagoda at the top which you can climb too and the last excursion was before breakfast the next to a lovely grotto. So as you can see its pretty full on, we really enjoyed sitting on the deck with a cocktail watching the ‘sunset’ (what we could see through the clouds) and enjoying the view. It poured rain that second day and made for a pretty miserable time getting off the boat.

To top it off, our driver was 1.5hours late and one of our bags ‘disappeared’, so after much angst the driver turned up and the bag was found on one of the buses that had left over an hour ago. They ‘dropped’ our bag off at the souvenir stop and we collected it from there, needless to say we were very happy to arrive back at our hotel. We were leaving for Sapa this night so the hotel very kindly gave us a room at no charge to use ‘till it was time to leave, very handy for the repacking for the train journey and two nights in Sapa. We had room service for dinner and got ready for our first ever over night train trip!!

Continuing to enjoy your TR.

Did u also c the Ho Museum? The lines for the Mausoleum were always very long so we ended up skipping it, but thought the museum quite a trip.

Like u we couldn't decide about Halong Bay. In the end figured we would give it a try and I'm glad we did. We had it misty which wasn't perfect weather, but rain would have been awful. Did u arrive back at the shore at 9 am? Do you think that was due to the weather?

Nice of the Elegance Hotel to give u a room. I loved that Hotel -- the staff was wonderful.

Hi yestravel, we did go 'to' the museum but didn't end up going in. The lines were long for the Mausoleum but seemed to move quite quickly. As for Halong Bay we were back having breakfast after the short excursion , at 9am while we were sailing back to shore. Can't say enough nice things about the Elegance Hotel.
Thanks for following

Sapa & Bac Ha

We headed off to the train station in two cabs; there was the four of us, one other guest also catching the train and one of the lovely young doormen from the hotel. He came with us to organise the tickets and help us board, we were so impressed, he did it all really, then made sure we were in our correct cabins and even waited ‘till the train left and waved us off. How’s that for service?

I had been a bit apprehensive about the train, I’d read some really bad reviews so wasn’t expecting too much. I loved it, the cabins were small but just fine and we’d booked and paid for a four berth cabin each which I highly recommend. I couldn’t imagine sharing that space with two other adults especially if they were strangers. There was a lovely French woman in the cabin next to us who hadn’t ‘realized’ she’d be sharing, with two strapping lads from Melbourne and a local tour guide. She looked horrified, we tried to make light of it as it was really quite funny, but we think she sat on her bunk all night . So we stood by the windows for a while watching Hanoi disappear into the night, had a drink with the others then decided to try and sleep. For me the toilet was probably always going to be an issue but I’d figured as long as there ‘was’ a toilet I’d be right. Oh dear lord, it was fine when we first got on but on needing to visit it through the night, I was horrified. So much so that I couldn’t use it and walked to the other end of our carriage to see if that toilet was any better, it was, slightly better but still pretty horrific. I just don’t understand how mature adults, I must say our carriage appeared to mostly filled with Europeans, can make such a disgraceful mess in a shared toilet. It was so bad by the morning that we just held on ‘till we got there and as for using the basin opposite to clean our teeth, no way. We used bottled water and an empty beer can!!

Stephen and I slept surprisingly well, probably not a deep sleep but certainly not a bad one. David and Sue weren’t so lucky and were awake all night. The train seems to stop a lot during the night at small stations along the way; I’d love to do this trip during the day. Our hotel in Sapa, Chapa Gardens (more on that later) had organised a driver to meet us and take us up to Bac Ha for the market. To our lovely surprise we also had a guide, who was an absolute darling, her name was Thi (sp?) and she was about 30 years old with perfect English. She’d never been to school but had learnt English from tourists, just amazing. She took us to a local café for coffee and a bathroom stop and then we loaded into a van and off we went. It was a couple of hours up to Bac Ha and can I just say the driver was on a suicide mission, he was terrible, poor Thi was really frightened too, which didn’t help alleviate our fears. On the way back down we all asked him to slow down and be careful, we’re pretty sure this just made him worse.

The drive up to Bac Ha was pretty incredible, the scenery was beautiful, even through the cloud that was really thick. Unfortunately it was raining when we arrived but we still had a great look around the market. I have to say it’s the first market we’ve been too that was a little too overwhelming. We were okay in the craft section and even in the food part but when we got to the livestock section we’d had enough. Intensely confronting is the best way for me to describe it. I had known that we would see some things that culturally would be hard for us but I didn’t realise how upsetting it would be. Stephen & I opted to leave the market and wander around town; the others didn’t last much longer. But we have some amazing photos of the beautiful people and their amazing clothing.

As we’d left the markets a bit sooner than expected Thi asked if we’d like to go visit a local village on the way back. It was terrific, the weather had cleared as we arrived we had a great walk around and were invited into a couple of the homes. Just amazing so eye opening, someone at home asked me if there seemed to be a lot of poverty, I didn’t see it as poverty, I saw it as ‘primitive’, they seem to have everything they need and also seem incredibly happy and very welcoming. I managed to slip over on the way in, as it was incredibly muddy, which gave us all a laugh!!

When we arrived in Sapa it was so foggy, very eerie but wonderful, our hotel was in the main tourist street, up some steep stairs, what a haven, just a lovely small boutique hotel with a great little restaurant c/w an open fire and also a small lounge area. The rooms were a good size, we had a room with a small balcony which was nice, my only complaint is that the bed was nearly level to the floor; kind of futon like, the old knees struggled getting up in the morning . We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around this great town, there are some awesome markets and we were surprised to find NorthFace clothing everywhere, which came in handy later! We also discovered the wonderful Sapa Rooms, this was our favourite place in Sapa, the best coffee in Vietnam and the food was amazing, really beautiful food, cannot recommend this place enough and the free internet was handy too. Make sure you go to Sapa Rooms for at least one meal while in Sapa, and it was to be our coffee stop each day, more than once a day too. Dinner was back at our hotel by the open fire where our shoes were drying, and it was a really nice meal, very home cooked. We all had tomato soup for starters, Stephen & I both had Coq au Vin and the others had meatballs, very hearty food, not amazing but very adequate.

Next we walk to Cat Cat……….

The train ride was a trip. bathrooms were pretty bad. we had Vietnamese in our car. Interesting comments on the Bac Ha market. Good tomato soup at your hotel-had it for lunch one very chilly afternoon. and yes the food at Sapa rooms was wondeful. We ate there twice.

Your train description is pretty spot-on in terms of our experience, though the bathrooms weren't as bad in our car (Fanxipan express). We only did one way (Sapa to Hanoi) because we had done a 5-day driving trip through the Northwest to get to Sapa. I thought the train trip was really fun. And our drive down the mountain from Sapa to the train station was as hair-raising as you describe. The driver (a local) was going like the literal bat out of Hell around those corners. I contemplated how pleased our kids were going to be with their inheritance since we wouldn't have an opportunity to spend it all on travel as we had been planning to do.

We stayed near Sapa Rooms and kept meaning to stop in there but never did. Guess we missed out on a lovely experience! Didn't make it to Bac Ha market either but hit several markets in Sapa and of course were thronged by the women and girls selling their wares on the street. We'd visited a lot of markets already in our 3 months of traveling and kind of hit the market wall. Never thought that would happen!

I'm really enjoying your lengthy report.

Thanks aprillilacs........sorry for the delay.

My eldest daughter was in a terrible car accident, she's fine now but very shaken and bruised.

I'll get back to this asap, I'm too close to the end not to finish it.

Oh no!! I hope she is ok!! Loving your report!

Thanks jamikins, she is fine but very shaken up. They were coming home from a wedding, 5 of them in the car and a guy ran a red light. Could've been so much worse!

Last two days in Sapa


Started our day by heading to the Sapa Rooms for coffee, then back to hotel for breakfast, which was okay but not special. The day had cleared from rain on our walk to coffee to a lovely warm sunny day, so we headed off for Cat Cat. What a great walk, great views thoroughly enjoyed every second of it, lots of things to buy along the way and the waterfall and bridge were terrific. We got a little way up the hill on the way back and there was the option to jump on the back of a motor bike, so off I went. Such fun, the others walked all the way but I really enjoyed the ride up. Met back up at the Sapa Rooms (which is on the road to Cat Cat) and had a wonderful lunch of spring rolls and wontons and some of the yummiest juices. We spent the afternoon shopping for ski jackets, we are heading to Austria for Christmas this year and the bargains were too good to pass up on. We spent hours choosing and haggling it was a lot of fun, we’d decided the day before which shop we’d buy from and the lady was just lovely, we must’ve tried on every jacket in the store. But for $250 we got 4 ski jackets, 3 sets of thermals, 2 pairs of waterproof pants, 1 pair of ski pants and 1 pair of hiking boots. Couldn’t have been happier, we even went back the next day and got two more pairs of shoes! Dinner was at the steak place next door but doesn’t really deserve a mention, barely okay!

We decided that we would have breakfast back at the Sapa Rooms (told you it was good) as our hotel breakfast wasn’t great and we knew the coffee was great at Sapa Rooms and I have to say the breakfast was amazing!!!! We spent the day walking all over Sapa, in and out of shops and markets before our horrible drive back to Lao Cai for our train ride back to Hanoi. The guy was worse than the first one, this time going so slow and tapping his breaks every two seconds and got lost looking for the station, we were very happy to get out of that car. Filled in some time having a drink and bought some baguettes and fruit for dinner on the train, getting the tickets was very easy, just exchanged our vouchers at the office. Settled in on the train and although we didn’t sleep quite as well, it was still a great trip back. So lovely to see our friend from the hotel waiting for us when we arrived in Hanoi, unfortunately as it was only 5am our rooms were not ready. But the hotel gave us use of two spa rooms to shower and relax. Love this hotel, amazing service!

Nearly done, last day in Hanoi before the flights home.

Still enjoying your TR. we bought a jacket also. Do u think they r real North Face? I couldn't tell.

I'm thinking they're not yestravel...........

Farewell Vietnam

Well that’s it really, we spent the last day shopping and sightseeing, mostly shopping and of course packing! We went to the Vincom shopping centre but again a bit disappointing unless you are tiny. We had our last lunch at the Hanoi Nha Hang Ngon, Woh just fantastic. We sat right by some of the food stations, this time we had a terrific waiter, so helpful. He helped us choose some different things; my favourite was the Vietnamese pancakes, YUM. He took the time to show us 'how' to construct them and they were delicious. As were the Chicken & Veggie Salad, the Crab spring rolls, the chicken skewers, the stir fried beef, beef with greens and fried rice, phew. All that with two drinks each and the total was $40!!

So the bags were packed, how we got it all in I’ll never know, Stephen went a bit crazy buying alchol as it was so cheap and with all the North Face gear from Sapa and my pictures it was a tight squeeze! Thank goodness we went B/class We had dinner at the Green Mango again as we’d all really enjoyed it, and again it was really good.

Great night sleep in our wonderful hotel, we met David & Sue for an early breakfast as they were leaving first. The hotel arranged our transfer back to the airport, it takes about an hour. The airport is pretty boring and the lounge much the same, we were really pleased that we were on a really big plane from Hanoi; we had thought it may be a small one. So with an easy transfer through Singapore, (love that airport) and an easy flight to Brisbane we were home.

What a wonderful trip, Cambodia especially has a special place in my heart. This was a very different trip for us and I’m thrilled we did it. Thanks for ‘tagging’ along I’ll see you over in the Europe Forum for Christmas planning.
Deidre

Thanks for taking the time to write up your TR. Enjoyed hearing about your adventures and reliving mine.

Thanks for a great trip report which I really enjoyed and which has given me so many detailed and practical tips which I will follow up if we can get to visit area. I look forward to hearing about your next trip at end of year !

Thoroughly enjoyable report. Puts mine to shame.
Looking forward to reading other reports of yours.

<<<The airport is pretty boring and the lounge much the same.>>>

It's true, except that the day we were flying out of Hanoi airport was the day the tsunami hit Japan, and it was live on the big screen tv in the lounge, and many of the travelers waiting for planes were Japanese. So it was anything but boring that day!

When you come Saigon Vietnam,here they have many tours to Cambodia, it's cheaper than we go ourselves

Thanks all, TR's for me are part of my holiday now!
Thanks for help in planning and for the kind words.

Yes, this was a great report. Thank for taking the time!

Hi Aussiedreamer,
This is one of the very best trip reports I've ever read; thanx so much for writing it. I really enjoyed all your details and food descriptions! (I have planned trips to South America and Africa using the excellent advice of Fodor's, and I have always posted a TR). We are just beginning to plan a trip to SE Asia for January. Is that a good time to go there? Did you use an agent to book and organize all your plans? If so, which one? Again, many thanks for taking all the time to write such an outstanding TR of your very special journey!

Best wishes for your daughter's recovery. I hope that she is feeling well.

>>>we boarded our Singapore Airlines business class flight to Singapore at midnight. Love the ease of boarding with B/class no lines etc it’s a real treat. We tried to sleep most of the way 7ish hours to Singapore, not too hard after a nice meal, a glass of Champagne and a movie. Singapore is one of our favourite airports, so much to do, shopping, massages etc. etc.<<<


Belated congratulations on a truly magnificent trip report, aussiedreamer. So glad you enjoyed flying SQ business class and spending time at that cherished Changi airport in our fine home of Singapore. Kudos to your fine Art of Travel.

Do hope all is going well with your daughter's recovery.

Please return anytime to our sweet city-state of SIN; more than honoured to offer lodging, dining, recreation reccos. (And will add, this past March, we enjoyed an all-too-brief stay in your fine country at the Park Hyatt in Melbourne. Dual purpose of business meeting and getting in one last Singapore Airlines 'Megatop' (B747) F class ride before her retirement. I'm going to miss flying various sectors in certain classes on those big birds.)

Thanks again for the brilliant writing. Sending warm wishes to you and all from an early Saturday business travel flying day in Singapore. (Guess the airline.)

macintosh (robert)


... Singapore Girl, You're a Great Way to Fly ...

Thanks wkwb42a so glad you enjoyed it. Sorry I have no idea what the weather will be like in January. Apart from the cruise, we booked everything ourselves, using this site and tripadvisor. The cruise we booked through our local Flight Centre, purely as we were running out of options and didn't want to miss out completely.

Thank you, aussiedreamer.

I've finaly done my photo book for this trip. As always I apologise for the size, the
res no way to make it bigger..........I've tried. But you can get a bit of a look.
Hope you like it.

http://www.momento.com.au/gallery?cpid=981921&auth=5052b7597fa5f3.38546545#!prettyPhoto

Thanks for this report, aussiedreamer. Very helpful for those of us planning a similar trip. Couldn't get through to the photos.