Cambodia & Vietnam, a life changing journey.
May 1st, 2012, 02:48 PM
#42
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 116
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
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.
May 1st, 2012, 10:52 PM
#43
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,187
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
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.
evelyne13, we saw the Amalotus, another lovely boat, you will love it. I had a quick look and the itinarary is nearly identical.
May 2nd, 2012, 07:09 AM
#44
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 116
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
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
May 2nd, 2012, 02:36 PM
#45
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,187
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thats great evelyn13, glad its of some help.
<b> HCMC</b>
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.
<b>Next Cu Chi Tunnels, Xu and a Typhoon hits HCMC</b>
<b> HCMC</b>
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.
<b>Next Cu Chi Tunnels, Xu and a Typhoon hits HCMC</b>
May 2nd, 2012, 07:00 PM
#46
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,187
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
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.
May 3rd, 2012, 05:53 AM
#48
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.
Looking forward to hearing about your meal at XU -- we had a fabulous meal there.
May 3rd, 2012, 09:28 AM
#49
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 9,367
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
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...
May 3rd, 2012, 01:57 PM
#51
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,187
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
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'.
An interesting aside, I did wonder how Americans feel when visiting this museum? I did comment that I would feel 'uncomfortable'.
May 3rd, 2012, 02:20 PM
#53
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.
May 3rd, 2012, 07:22 PM
#54
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,187
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
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.
<b>Cu Chi Tunnels, Xu and a Typhoon</b>
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.
<b>Cu Chi Tunnels, Xu and a Typhoon</b>
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.
May 3rd, 2012, 08:39 PM
#55
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 26,243
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
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.
May 4th, 2012, 07:39 AM
#56
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 99
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
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.
May 4th, 2012, 06:20 PM
#58
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 2,187
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
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?
<b>Last full day in HCMC</b>
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
<b>Last full day in HCMC</b>
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
