Sweltering in Saigon.
 

We are currently in our home from home of Ms Yangs Homestay in Saigon. This is our fourth stay here and it really does feel like home. Highly recommended for anyone seeking a budget option in Saigon location in District 3, 10 mins walk to the Reunification Palace and the War Remnants Museum, 20 mins to Notre Dame. Plenty of good eating places close by. The Giang sisters have become good friends over the years and it is really great to see them again.

As it is a low season (very hot, wet and humid) here at the moment, the sisters, have been whizzing us around the city on their motorbikes seeking out new places to eat. We have had some stunning meals! We all decide what we want to eat and go find the best places in which to eat it. We usually end up in small local restaurants that have been run by the same family for generations, often deep in the suburbs of the city. We would never have found these places on our own! The food has been incredible and Carolyn will be posting details on our blog in due course.

We are here until the weekend when we head up through the country by train to Hanoi. This time a new destination for us will be the caves of Phong Nha Khe Be, allegedly the largest in the world.

After Vietnam the plan is:

Borneo - mainly based in Kota Kinabalu and Kuching
Taiwan (1st time)
Malaysia - arrive in Kota Bahru, maybe dive in the Perhentians before getting the "Jungle Railway" down to Taman Negara NP for a few days trekking before another train ride to KL for a flight to..
Indonesia - Flores & Komodo or Sulawesi
Malaysia - train up the west coast to..
Thailand

We will spend a week in Bangkok, mainlyfor some intensive massage therapy at Wat Po, before flying to Oz to visit son and his wife in Sydney before spending a couple of months wandering the South and North Islands of New Zealand in a campervan.

We plan to return to Asia in mid October for a month - no ideas where yet, before returning home in mid November.

It is not my intention to post a trip report as such, just a few posts now and then, which I feel may be of interest. We will however be continuing our blog at https://accidentalnomads.com which now has a new look.

bon voyage

Sounds like a great trip. Don't miss Tainan and Taroko Gorge on Taiwan. I've been following this blog, which is currently covering Taiwan:

https://lovetravellingallaroundtheworld.wordpress.com/

Envy you the food in Saigon but not the heat and humidity (don't need to travel for that, alas).

Wow! That's a great itinerary with so many adventures planned.

We go to Oz in Dec. for a few days in Sydney and Brisbane before a cruise out of Sydney to NZ.

Will be following along here and on your website. Sounds amazing.

Have a great time. I appreciate periodic updates.

The sisters sound wonderful. I pity your "hot and humid" as I had a small dose of that in Singapore on the way home...made Flores seem pleasantly cool (which it was in the hills). I'll be following your blog.

Have a great time Crellstons...I'm interested to hear about Kuching when you get there, and will also be following bloggy.

The title of your post made me sweat with memories of hot humid northern Vietnam in Sept/October--which apparently was relatively "mild" to the local folks!

Have a fantastic trip over these months.

How does "intensive message" differ from standard massage?

Thank you all for your good wishes.

Bob, aren't you coming to Vietnam sometime this year?

Thanks for the link Thursdaysd. I will have a look at that blog. With only 7 days in Taiwan, I think we may limit ourselves to Taipei and Tainan. Taroko will maybe have to wait for another time.

JW - have been following your posts on the Aus. forum. You will love Sydney. Son lives in Manly which is definitely worth a quick visit if only for the ferry ride. NZ is possibly my favourite country in the world.

Sartoric - Kuching is a great little city. We hope to get out and about the surrounding area this time as we were suffering for a little "Travel fatigue " when we got there a couple of years ago and pretty much just crashed out in a nice hotel During our time there. Just found out that we will miss the Rainforest World Music festival there by a couple of days.

CaliN - re intensive massage - no different to standard massage, just more of them. One a day if I have my way! We are staying in two places in Bangkok one the river and one close to Khao San, both of which have easy access to the Wat po massage school

The last couple of days have seen clearer skies and no rain in Saigon but the temperature has risen along with the humidity, just as I thought I couldn't sweat anymore!!! Just checked the weather sites and it seems it is even hotter in Hanoi where we are headed in a couple of weeks. Thankfully, the next few places we are staying have pools :-)

Anyway, breakfast awaits. Bahn Mi or Pho Bo???

Have a wonderful and safe trip. But please stop torturing with mentions of Chinese food. I am hungry for dumplings right now.

I look forward to hearing about where you decided to go in Indonesia. Sulawesi, as well as the Komodo dragons, are high on my list.

Is your grandchild in GB, or in Australia? New Zealand tops my list as the most beautiful destination ever.

Thanks for explaining, Crellston. I feared "intensive" meant with--as a onetime post-er recently mentioned --a "happy ending!"(J/k!)

Pho Ba or Banh MI---oh you poor things!! One of my VN friends calls it "Pho baaaaahhhhh!"

Re: hopes for more comfortable weather...be careful what you wish for. You could be back in your native UK's climate!

i hope some day you consider an eventual first India trip. I expect you'd love it, despite being as opposite as one get to NZ in terms of neat/clean/organized!

Hi! You helped me with some of my recent Thailand queries and just wanted to share a recommendation from our visit: if you consider alternatives to Wat Po, try seeking out Ruen Nuad for massages. It's like a little oasis with very intense massages and a nice atmosphere, but still very basic prices. We went back in 2007 and again this year and nothing had changed. Happy travels!

CaliLady - Somewhat bizarrely, I came to a compromise for breakfast and found a stall just around the corner serving dumplings in a Banh Mi roll - delicious!

CaliNurse - just after I posted, I feared the "intensive" might be misconstrued:-) . Happy endings would doubtless be frowned upon in the open plan massage areas of the Wat Po massage school!

Our grandchild is in the UK where, apparently, they have just been experiencing the hottest days in 75years! In typically English fashion, apparently everyone is moaning about the weather..

We did seriously consider India on this trip, but the timing didn't work for us, mainly because of the weather. See what I did there? Still English after all this time travelling!

Alovesa - thanks for the recommendation, I have searched for Ruen Nuad and it does sound good. We will pay it a visit.

Crellston,
I'm so enjoying following your travels! It's just a pleasure to read about your adventures with Carolyn! Someday, I hope to get to Vietnam, as it's definitely high up on my list - though that list is too long to contemplate!

I had to laugh when you wrote about the hot days in the UK! My first very big trip overseas was to the UK and Ireland (too many years ago!). I left NYC in mid-June, when the weather was 90+ degrees & humid - arrived in Ireland, it was mid-70s, and everyone I met was groaning on about the heat wave!

Again, thanks so much for giving us a taste of your travels -

Paule

yes, we will be in Hanoi and phu quoc from nov 28 to dec dec 8. maybe our paths will cross?

Hey at least you are not in Delhi. 113 today

I should add this was not noted at random. My in-laws live there. :(.

Hi Clive and Carolyn, happy travels to you. If you end up in Japan in October, let me know. Maybe our paths will cross again.

Thank you Paule , glad you are enjoying hearing about our travels. 70 is indeed a major heatwave in Ireland. The Irish like to talk about the weather even mor Ethan the English. I can always remember my late Irish Grandfather always talking about the "soft rain" in Ireland you post prompted me to google it. I came up with this http://www.dailyedge.ie/irish-rain-s...75040-Jan2014/

Bob I thought you were on your way. Sadly our paths won't cross as we will be back home by then. I have yet to visit Phu Quoc, but am told it is the best place in Vietnam for seafood.

JW - 113!! one of the reasons I decided against India for this trip. Just heard that Hanoi, where we are headed in a week or two is experiencing a heatwave with similar temps.

Thanks, Claudia, we did briefly consider Japan but then quickly realised how expensive it had become for us brits post BREXIT. It would have been great to catch up. Still not sure where in October. Regards to Bill

I am sure you know that Delhi in the winter while cold for Delhiites is fine for us with temps in 60's roughly.

The only problem going there then is fog as if you flight arrives at night or in the wee hrs. you may get diverted. Once we had to spend 9 hrs. in Bombay for this reason. Most flights from the US arrive quite late so we got around that by flying trans Pacifiic route.

OK! I didn't realise that June, July and August are the school holidays in Vietnam. That was clearly the reason we had to queue for 90 mins at Saigon Train Station along with hundreds of others trying to buy tickets. We couldn't get the soft sleeper bottom bunks we craved so had to delay our departure for 4 days - good job we are flexible.

We got on the 10 pm overnight train to Da Nang, settled in with our companions a couple and their two small children, only to find that, joy of joys, the aircon wasn't working! After 15 hot , sweaty hours in this tin can on wheels we arrived in Da Nang station wondering why we enjoy train travel???

Our destination was Hoi An, not so much for the town, but to see My Son which we have always missed on previous visits. I will post separately on that.

Hoi An was even hotter than Saigon and seemed even more crowded. Apparently, they got 1.6 million visitors last year. This year it seemed like much of Korea and the rest of Vietnam had decided to visit at the same time as us. I have never seen so many tour groups anywhere. The edge of the old town was choked with tour buses, especially at night. I seriously wonder if the town, which is relatively small, can continue to cope with this level of visitors.

On the drive from Da Nang along the coast road the building of hotels continues for around 30 kms, almost to Hoi An itself! These are huge hotels for mile after mile. I can't imagine how many rooms are being built here. Can't help thinking that the Vietnamese authorities are making a big mistake here!

The temps were reach 40c (104f) thankfully our hotel had a pool of which we made full use. Supposed to be clear skies but we got heavy thunderstorms most nights (and Donald still tells the world that climate change isn't happening!).

For anyone planning to visit Hoi An, it is still quaint, still home to some excellent, if expensive food, but do plan your sightseeing carefully. The various Clan Houses and Temples were packed when the tour bus were in town which seemed mostly to be in the mornings and Evenings. Midday and early afternoon seemed much quieter, albeit much hotter.

You are making me very glad I have already been to Vietnam, three times. Sounds like the timing of any return visit could be critical.

Crellston...
Any Ideas for a nice budget serviced apt in BKK?
Wanting it for 4/5 months starting in Oct.
Will use it as a base.Love Sukhumvit area.
Anyone?
Thank you...

Wow! Too hot for us and that 15 hrs. In the train W/O AC had to be terrible.

Well it's 95F here in the burbs of Chicago so in sympathy I'll water the yard and garden now. Take care and have a 333 or two. :D.

What is your idea of "budget serviced apartment?" How much per night?

You would be better off making this question a separate thread. You will get more and better responses.

Wow, Crellston, I feel for you. A similar thing happened to us on a train in Morocco, aircon broke, windows locked shut, eventually a guard came with a key to save (somewhat) the drenched foreigners.

Like thursdaysd, I'm glad to have been before, and note to avoid school holidays. I'm interested to hear about your travels to less visited parts, that's where we'd be heading if we go again.

Sartoric, As for less visited parts, our plan was orginally to head for the highlands around Buon Ma Thot, Pleiku and Kon Tum, somewhere we had visited some twenty years ago. Still sees relatively few visitors and it is a fascinating place if you like minority people villages, trekking etc. Unfortunately the weather was too wet so we gave it a miss.

Depending on how much we like Taiwan, we will probably return to Vietnam for the last month of our trip to visit Ha Giang in the north and other places in the delta we have not seen (Tra Vinh comes highly recommended by our Vietnamese friends) we will possibly combine that with a different route into Cambodia than the last time.

JW - As a keen fan of the blues, Chicago has long been on my list of places to visit in the US. I have always wanted to check out the Mississippi Blues trail and head north to Chicago for the blues clubs, notably Buddy Guys Legends. May next year but I will make a note to avoid high summer!

Actually its quite unpredictable. We can get hot spells like the one we have now but then again it can cool off quickly even during the same day. A few days ago the temps dropped by about 20 degrees in one day. There is just no "normal" where you have hot stretches and the spring can be quite chilly and rainy too.

I used to work at Univ. of Ill. Medical Center which is a teaching hospital. I recall one of our residents who was from the south, Tennessee and he was bonkers over our weather, especially the winters.

If you ever get here try taking a Chicago river cruise which is 1-2 hrs. The architecture and history are amazing. There is even a building with a large column on its top which was built to anchor Zepplins,

Case in point today.. Daytime tempt 94F. Evening temp 74F.

I am never going to complain about the heat again! We are now in Hanoi's old quarter in the middle of a thunderstorm. Just tried to walk out of the hotel for dinner only to find a river, a foot deep, running down the street!

OMG! What an adventure. :S-.

It could always be worse. You could be in Palm Springs, CA.
http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/pal...orecast/331971

But, but, it's a dry heat (7%). Monsoons won't start out there for another month.

When are you leaving the monsoon zone crellston? Still considering Kalimantan or Flores?

I was sorting through my orangutan/proboscis photos and had to do a bit of research to supplement what we didn't get, and found this article. There is some pricing if you click through to orangutantour.id

https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-river...ans-1454605998

However low humidity notwithstanding the temps are hitting 120F! Thats dangerous.

I was actually in Palm Springs many moons ago in the month of July visiting relatives. Thank God they had a pool. :).

We went shopping one day and I'll never forget a t-shirt I saw. It depicted a skeleton riding a Harley and the caption read "yeah but its a dry heat." :D.

Just been chatting to some Vietnamese friends who tell us that last nights storm brought the worst rain he can remember in 20 years in Hanoi! Paddling to dinner was a new experience!

All back to normal today, streets are clear and dry, temps back down to 28c but still very humid. Good job too as, this morning we went to Ho Chi Minhs mausoleum and the queues were incredible - 1.7kms according to my iPhone. So glad it was relatively cool and not raining.

Bizarrely, back home in London they are in the midst of a 34c heatwave - and still Donald denies global warming and reneges on the Paris accord!

Anyway, tomorrow we leave for Sabah for hopefully clearer weather, before heading off to Taiwan, somewhere we have never been before.

Mlgb - thanks for the link, but have decided on Sulawesi for a couple of weeks at the end of July. Very keen to explore Tanah Toraja, maybe a quick dive trip up near Manado if we can fit it in.

Glad it's better now though to wait in such a long line when it's so humid seems daunting.

DT is in his own world.

Follwing!

Looking forward to those blog updates, crellston... eventually.

When Palm Springs is like that, it's like opening the door to an oven. Fortunate that they are getting overnight temps that drop by 30 degrees or more. So you get up early, spend the afternoon napping, and go out at night. Not a bad way to relax.

Forgot to mention, we had a wonderful time visiting the caves at Phong Nha Ke Be. E had planned to do a lot of hiking including the 7 km Paradise cave hike, but an ankle injury put paid to that! Instead we visited Paradise Cave without the hike which was absolutely stunning. The Vietnamese have done an incredible job of lighting the caves. It was very, very busy though, mostly with Vietnamese tourists.

We followed that with a relatively short jungle trek to Tra Ang cave, an undeveloped cave where, after a terrific BBQ we swam 300m into the cave with helmets and head torches and 300m back. A relief to be in 18c water rather than 35c air for a while!

Another day we took a bicycle ride into the Bong Hai valley with one of the guys from Phong Nha Farmstay to visit his family's duck farm we also stopped at the "Pub With Cold Beer" for lunch. The main item on the menu was "kill it yourself Chicken" a Dutch guy we were with made a hash of killing his chicken so we decided to stick with the beer!

His place is close to Dong Hoi, between Hue and Hanoi and is easily accessible by train and plane. I would highly recommend it and wish we could have done a little more cave exploration.

Sorry to hear of your ankle injury. I hope it's not serious but what a bummer to get sick or injured on vacation.

I'd stick with just the beer too. :S-.

Following!