Vietnam - North to South
Dec 31st, 2011, 04:49 PM
#41
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Yestravel, unfortunately, we found that most of the ice cream was just ok, Fanny's included. Not nearly as good as we get here. The one exception was a place in Hong Kong, but I don't remember the name off-hand.
Jan 1st, 2012, 11:13 AM
#42
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I would have to agree that when I say "good" it probably means more just OK.
So I had to abruptly end the last update as they were calling for my plane to board. I am now back in Chicago and getting ready to head to Florida for the winter. I guess when we called ourselves the "King and Queen of the wandering hippie tribe" we weren't just kidding!
Day Nineteen (cont.:
As we traveled down the Mekong River, the one surprise we had was how built up and industrialized it is. We had sort of expected it to be like the Rio Negro part of the Amazon that we cruised several years ago. Instead there are huge tankers and barges, fairly large cities, and lots of brick factories.
Our first stop was to visit one of the brick factories. It was interesting to see how they make the bricks and tiles. They use the discarded rice husks to fire the kiln which seems like a great way to get rid of them. As always, I was very impressed with how hard the people were working (including a boy who looked to be about 10). But yet they were full of smiles. One woman had great fun with me showing off for pictures.
The next stop was an "ancient house" (from the late 1800's). It is owned by the family of a Marguerite Duras. Apparently there was a movie made about her life (I think it might be called "Lover"). From there we wandered through the market and I bought some VERY sweet little bananas and some oranges.
Back on our little shuttle boat and we went to a Cao Dai temple that was much smaller than the one outside HCMC, but it was lovely and we could go into the sanctuary and see the elaborate carvings up close. Our final stop was a flower farm. Apparently this entire village (1,000 families) specializes in growing flowers and creating bonsai.
Back on the boat we were greeted with cold wash clothes and a lovely fruit drink. Then we got a wonderful surprise - part of our package was a foot massage. I decided to do mine tonight and it was a wonderful way to end the day. Dinner was preceded by a complimentary cocktail of rice wine and fruit juice. I certainly cannot fault the service! And the food was fabulous!
Day Twenty:
We were unfortunately waked up at 6:30 by the crew walking around overhead and going up and down the stairs. If you take this cruise - try to get a cabin more in the front of the boat. We also began to hear the fishing and transport boats starting their day. The river is basically the highway system for the area.
Breakfast was OK - they tried to do a western breakfast and had trouble with the eggs. For me, I would prefer Pho every morning, but I think DH would have objected.
A local boat came and took us to the floating market in Cai Be which is fairly small. DH decided to try going with as the boat was easier to get on and off than the one yesterday. We headed for a different ancient house which had wonderful fruit gardens and served us excellent fruit and tea. The custom in Vietnam is that if you visit someone's home they will serve you tea and either local fruits or small snacks. What a nice custom!
Our next stop was a handicraft village which was very interesting. We watched as they made coconut candy (OK - very sticky salt water taffy texture), rice paper (fresh rice paper is WONDERFUL), and pop rice. We ran into our kiwi friends whose boat was also visiting the same village. At the end we had more tea and some of the pop rice treats they had made (yummy!) and I bought some lotus tea. I haven't tried it yet - maybe tonight for the New Year.
In the afternoon we relaxed on deck as the boat cruised through the various canals and small rivers. It was a very pleasant way to pass the time after a wonderful lunch (I feel like we are on a non-stop eating cruise!).
At about 4 we stopped to ride bikes through the countryside. DH passed on that activity, but he got to watch us from the boat as it followed along our route. The ride was beautiful - lots of rice and lemongrass fields and kids waving to us. At one point I stopped at a local elementary school to take a picture of some of the kids out front and when the ones in the playground saw this they ALL came running out to get in the picture yelling "Hello, hello!" We also stopped at a secondary school and watched a group of girls playing volleyball. I could have kept riding much longer, but an hour was all we had (at least I feel like I worked off some of my lunch!). DH had his foot massage on the upper deck as we watched the sun go down. Another fabulous day!
Day Twenty One (final full day in Vietnam):
Up early for a 7:00 breakfast. We are in Can Tho and we got on a local tour boat to go visit the floating market (the biggest one). It is basically a wholesale market where larger boats come in and sell fruits and vegetables to smaller boats who act as the retail stores by going into the smaller tributaries. Each wholesale boat has a large pole with the fruit or veggie they are selling displayed on it (some have several).
Our next stop was a fruit farm and we got to see how all of the wonderful fruit we have been eating is grown. Then the usual tea and fruit snack. It was, of course, so fresh and fabulous! Then back to the boat and we had to check out of our cabin. A local boat took us to the dock and we said farewell to our new friends.
After a 3 1/2 hour drive back to the city, we went to find some lunch. DH needed western food, so we found a great French patisserie (I will see if I can find the name) and had some wonderful sandwiches and fabulous chocolate cake. We also bought some croissants for tomorrow since we had a VERY early flight. We the relaxed at the hotel (Sanouva again) and then met up with our friends for a final night in HCMC.
Decided to go to the Barbecue Garden which was a lot of fun (you cook your food at the table). It was packed and noisy and good. One word of caution though - stick to the beef, chicken and pork. I tried the wild boar and goat and it was very tough and gristly. After dinner we went to the Rex Hotel to the bar on the 5th floor that was the officer's hangout during the war. There was a great band playing a lot of American classic rock and I had an excellent Passion Fruit Caipirinha. Then said good by to our friends and went back to the hotel for our last night. We had a 6:00am flight the next morning to Hong Kong. Look on that board in a few days and I will try to get a trip report posted.
All in all it was a fabulous trip and I am very glad we went. We learned so much and saw so much it is still hard to wrap my head around all of it. But as I go through our thousands of pictures, I get transported back to a country filled with beautiful sights, wonderful food, and the friendliest people you could ever want to meet. And best of all - I ate like a little piggie for 3 weeks and didn't gain a pound! Maybe it was all that walking, but I think it is just that they eat such healthy food. I am going to try to incorporate some of that style of eating if I can in this new year!
So I had to abruptly end the last update as they were calling for my plane to board. I am now back in Chicago and getting ready to head to Florida for the winter. I guess when we called ourselves the "King and Queen of the wandering hippie tribe" we weren't just kidding!
Day Nineteen (cont.:
As we traveled down the Mekong River, the one surprise we had was how built up and industrialized it is. We had sort of expected it to be like the Rio Negro part of the Amazon that we cruised several years ago. Instead there are huge tankers and barges, fairly large cities, and lots of brick factories.
Our first stop was to visit one of the brick factories. It was interesting to see how they make the bricks and tiles. They use the discarded rice husks to fire the kiln which seems like a great way to get rid of them. As always, I was very impressed with how hard the people were working (including a boy who looked to be about 10). But yet they were full of smiles. One woman had great fun with me showing off for pictures.
The next stop was an "ancient house" (from the late 1800's). It is owned by the family of a Marguerite Duras. Apparently there was a movie made about her life (I think it might be called "Lover"). From there we wandered through the market and I bought some VERY sweet little bananas and some oranges.
Back on our little shuttle boat and we went to a Cao Dai temple that was much smaller than the one outside HCMC, but it was lovely and we could go into the sanctuary and see the elaborate carvings up close. Our final stop was a flower farm. Apparently this entire village (1,000 families) specializes in growing flowers and creating bonsai.
Back on the boat we were greeted with cold wash clothes and a lovely fruit drink. Then we got a wonderful surprise - part of our package was a foot massage. I decided to do mine tonight and it was a wonderful way to end the day. Dinner was preceded by a complimentary cocktail of rice wine and fruit juice. I certainly cannot fault the service! And the food was fabulous!
Day Twenty:
We were unfortunately waked up at 6:30 by the crew walking around overhead and going up and down the stairs. If you take this cruise - try to get a cabin more in the front of the boat. We also began to hear the fishing and transport boats starting their day. The river is basically the highway system for the area.
Breakfast was OK - they tried to do a western breakfast and had trouble with the eggs. For me, I would prefer Pho every morning, but I think DH would have objected.
A local boat came and took us to the floating market in Cai Be which is fairly small. DH decided to try going with as the boat was easier to get on and off than the one yesterday. We headed for a different ancient house which had wonderful fruit gardens and served us excellent fruit and tea. The custom in Vietnam is that if you visit someone's home they will serve you tea and either local fruits or small snacks. What a nice custom!
Our next stop was a handicraft village which was very interesting. We watched as they made coconut candy (OK - very sticky salt water taffy texture), rice paper (fresh rice paper is WONDERFUL), and pop rice. We ran into our kiwi friends whose boat was also visiting the same village. At the end we had more tea and some of the pop rice treats they had made (yummy!) and I bought some lotus tea. I haven't tried it yet - maybe tonight for the New Year.
In the afternoon we relaxed on deck as the boat cruised through the various canals and small rivers. It was a very pleasant way to pass the time after a wonderful lunch (I feel like we are on a non-stop eating cruise!).
At about 4 we stopped to ride bikes through the countryside. DH passed on that activity, but he got to watch us from the boat as it followed along our route. The ride was beautiful - lots of rice and lemongrass fields and kids waving to us. At one point I stopped at a local elementary school to take a picture of some of the kids out front and when the ones in the playground saw this they ALL came running out to get in the picture yelling "Hello, hello!" We also stopped at a secondary school and watched a group of girls playing volleyball. I could have kept riding much longer, but an hour was all we had (at least I feel like I worked off some of my lunch!). DH had his foot massage on the upper deck as we watched the sun go down. Another fabulous day!
Day Twenty One (final full day in Vietnam):
Up early for a 7:00 breakfast. We are in Can Tho and we got on a local tour boat to go visit the floating market (the biggest one). It is basically a wholesale market where larger boats come in and sell fruits and vegetables to smaller boats who act as the retail stores by going into the smaller tributaries. Each wholesale boat has a large pole with the fruit or veggie they are selling displayed on it (some have several).
Our next stop was a fruit farm and we got to see how all of the wonderful fruit we have been eating is grown. Then the usual tea and fruit snack. It was, of course, so fresh and fabulous! Then back to the boat and we had to check out of our cabin. A local boat took us to the dock and we said farewell to our new friends.
After a 3 1/2 hour drive back to the city, we went to find some lunch. DH needed western food, so we found a great French patisserie (I will see if I can find the name) and had some wonderful sandwiches and fabulous chocolate cake. We also bought some croissants for tomorrow since we had a VERY early flight. We the relaxed at the hotel (Sanouva again) and then met up with our friends for a final night in HCMC.
Decided to go to the Barbecue Garden which was a lot of fun (you cook your food at the table). It was packed and noisy and good. One word of caution though - stick to the beef, chicken and pork. I tried the wild boar and goat and it was very tough and gristly. After dinner we went to the Rex Hotel to the bar on the 5th floor that was the officer's hangout during the war. There was a great band playing a lot of American classic rock and I had an excellent Passion Fruit Caipirinha. Then said good by to our friends and went back to the hotel for our last night. We had a 6:00am flight the next morning to Hong Kong. Look on that board in a few days and I will try to get a trip report posted.
All in all it was a fabulous trip and I am very glad we went. We learned so much and saw so much it is still hard to wrap my head around all of it. But as I go through our thousands of pictures, I get transported back to a country filled with beautiful sights, wonderful food, and the friendliest people you could ever want to meet. And best of all - I ate like a little piggie for 3 weeks and didn't gain a pound! Maybe it was all that walking, but I think it is just that they eat such healthy food. I am going to try to incorporate some of that style of eating if I can in this new year!
Jan 4th, 2012, 09:15 AM
#43
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Thanks so much for your wonderful report. My husband and I are going to Vietnam in November of 2012. Unfortunately, we are still working, so have only two weeks. We have gotten a quote from Tonkin Tours and it seems quite good. They have also been very responsive to all my emails. I am guessing you were pleased with their service, right? Is there anything you would have done or not done that you can share? Thanks!
Jan 23rd, 2012, 04:27 PM
#48
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MaryJan - we were very pleased with Tonkin Tours. The guides they sent us were great and their prices were excellent. We tried to do everything possible and I think we pretty much did that. If you are short on time, you would probably want to just do one night on the Mekong, but I would still recommend two on Halong Bay. The five days up north to Ba Be Lake and Ban Gioc Waterfall were a big investment of time that I loved, but with only two weeks you probably won't be able to get there.
Regarding the Sheraton Bar, I don't thing we could see the Opera House from the bar, but the Sheraton is next to the Opera House.
Aussiedreamer, enjoy your trip. You will have a fabulous time.
Regarding the Sheraton Bar, I don't thing we could see the Opera House from the bar, but the Sheraton is next to the Opera House.
Aussiedreamer, enjoy your trip. You will have a fabulous time.
