Vietnam and Cambodia - July 2007
Sue and Kev Huphries enjoyed two wonderful weeks travelling through Vietnam and Cambodia with us in July. We're a little worried by some of the food (eel and frogs legs - at the same meal!) but they seem to have enjoyed it!
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July 26th 2007: Hanoi
We arrived in Hanoi and were met by our guide Thuy who was delightful and very willing to answer all kinds of questions about life since the war and how Vietnamese people feel about everything that happened.
In Hanoi we stayed at the Melia Hotel which was very central and comfortable – excellent breakfasts (which is how Kev measures hotel standards!) We had a tour of the city and visited Ho Chi Minhs’ house and mausoleum, the Temple of literature. We had a cyclo ride through old Hanoi and saw the wonderful Water puppet show – a true delight. After the puppet show we decided to stay in old Hanoi and wander around before finishing the day with another wonderful meal at Little Hanoi recommended by Selective Asia We were also treated to a lovely lunch at the Au Lac restaurant – the food in Vietnam is very special. Thuy recommended the Wild lotus restaurant one evening which was very special, beautiful surroundings and excellent meal. The traffic does take a little getting used to – looks like total chaos with bicycles, motorbikes and cars weaving between pedestrians but it seems to work most of the time!!
28th - 29th July : Halong Bay
Halong Bay was like being on a film set floating in a junk through spectacular scenery while enjoying seafood that would cost the earth back in U.K.
I would certainly recommend the trip – pure luxury although the cabin was small it had its own ensuite , air-conditioning and a window to enjoy the view.
30th - 31st July: Mai Chau Valley
Mai Chau was a long drive – about 4hours each way, the scenery was lovely but the homestay a little disappointing.
We did not eat with the family it was very hot and there was not really much to do there. The sleeping arrangements were basic. We had a mosquito net and small fan. The bed was a mat laid on the bamboo floor, pillows were solid and no pillow cases. The toilet was down ladder-like stairs and a walk away in the night was a bit tricky with no lights and we had no torch. I’m not sure that it was worth the trip all things considered.
31st July - 3rd August: Amazing Hoi An
We flew to Danang where we were met once again by our guide Anh who was very helpful although we saw less of him than we did of other guides.
Hoi An was my favourite place, unspoilt old town full of fascinating places to explore and so much to see and do – and spend your money on !!
We stayed at The Ancient House Hotel which was old, quaint and so friendly at the same time as providing excellent accommodation . Superb garden and pool and we had fruit and little bean cakes wrapped in banana leaf left in our room every day.
We had clothes made at Yaly tailors which were very good quality and such good value. My shoes to match my outfits were £2.50 each!! Kev had leather shoes made for £10.00 in another shop.
The Red Bridge Cooking School was such fun. First we had a boat trip down the river then we watched demonstrations by a chef with a sharp sense of humour and tried to do our own version in a kitchen beside the river … what a view!! We then enjoyed the fruits of our labour for lunch before we returned along the river to Hoi An - a great day and thoroughly recommended.
6th - 7th August : Summer in Saigon
We returned to Saigon and were treated to lunch at the Temple Club restaurant which was very good and we stayed at The Grand Hotel which was quite central to everything, an older hotel but once again the pool, the spa and the breakfasts were all excellent.
Saigon is another busy city which is full of French influence and there is a lot to see. It is very safe to wander round and there are plenty of places to eat.
The Cu Chi tunnel trip must be done. I cannot believe people lived down there for so many years being bombed constantly and survived. I didn’t even like crawling down the ‘enlarged for tourist’ section of the tunnel as it was very tiny!!
8th - 9th August: Through the Delta to Cambodia
We left Saigon to drive through the Mekong Delta to Chau Doc. Our guide Dung (pronounced yung) was quite an intellectual and we had some very interesting discussions about politics and religion during our time together. Dung pointed out many interesting sites en route and we stopped at a Cao Dai temple - a religion that infused many religions into their beliefs and intellectuals such as Churchill, Pasteur and Einstein are greatly respected. We also visited a small rice paper wrapper cottage industry and saw how they made these thin wrappers so expertly.
The food of the Mekong area is unique and we could try eel, frog’s legs, rice rats and other interesting options. We opted for satay frog’s legs and eel salad. Both were delicious but you had to be careful of the bones in the eel!!
We arrived at the Victoria Hotel in Chau Doc for our last night in Vietnam. We had a French meal in the restaurant at the hotel. Lovely old hotel with welcoming touches like sweets wrapped in banana leaf box on your pillow at night. The pool overlooking the Mekong river ..What more could you want?
9th - 10th August: arriving in Cambodia!
We left Vietnam from Chau Doc on the speed boat for the 4 hour journey to Phnom Penn. We went through passport, immigration and baggage scanning in wooden huts alongside the river. All very efficiently handled by the guide . We arrived in Phnom Penn to be met by our guide again and taken to our hotel – The Pavilion. Phnom Penn is very small and our hotel was perfectly located for most sites. The hotel was small and comfortable. We were so tired after our journey and sight seeing that we opted to stay and eat at the hotel we sat next to the pool and enjoyed excellent French food.
We visited the Royal palace - beautiful, the Genocide museum – harrowing and the killing fields – shocking. It will take many years for the people to fully recover from the horror of that time. Cambodia is very poor and there is a lot of corruption which means the people see little benefit from the money that goes into the country via tourism etc – most of the profits seems to end up in private pockets which is such a shame.
10th - 12th August
Once again we were off on a speed boat – much bigger this time and the journey took about 6 hours including crossing the huge Tonle Sap Lake which was quite rough at times!! Arriving at Siem Reap was fun!! The boat docked on the mud and they put a gang plank down to the ground that was about 8” wide. Nobody wanted to be the first to land head first in the mud with their luggage!! However our guide met us in our air-conditioned car and porters took the luggage off the boat for the fee of $1.00 each item which was well worth it!! We were treated to a very nice lunch then checked into our hotel The Day Inn Angkor which was delightful. Set around the garden and pool with every room overlooking the pool and a nice restaurant and bar beside the pool.
We spent the afternoon at Angkor Wat, the main temple which was a stunning site despite all the other tourists!!
The next day we spent touring a number of different temples and sites in the Angkor Park, including the Elephant terrace, Bayon Temple and Tra Prohm or Tomb Raider temple. Once again a stunning lunch was provided at Angkor before returning to our hotel to swim before the dance show in the evening.
The end....
A truly memorable holiday planned with precision. We
thoroughly recommend Selective Asia with absolute confidence. The guides without exception were excellent. The drivers made you feel quite comfortable even on the rather novel Vietnamese roads – rules very different to ours!! I particularly take my hat off to the driver in Saigon who had extremely long drives the whole time we were with him. Thank you everybody involved in our trip we will certainly recommend it to friends of ours who are hoping to do something like this next year.
Sue and Kev Humphries
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