CAMBODIA - Phnom Pen - a different kettle of fish!

 Very interesting trip to Phnom Pen. On a bus that was allowed over the border without our bags being searched, however when we boarded there were lots of packages stowed away in the luggage racks and under seats. Not sure what they contained but someone was sneaking stuff over the border!

It was about 2 hours south of Saigon, and swing inland to the border. We had to hand over our passports (not happy) and money (US) to get a Cambodian visa. I am sure someone was on the take! Our guide was with us and sorted things out, so actually rather painless. Apparently casinos, gambling, banned in Vietnam, but allowed in Cambodia, so over the border were miles and miles of dodgy looking casinos! Vietnamese can go across the border freely and hop over for a day gambling.

All in all, 7 plus hours to get to Phnom Pen.

One stop was at the Spider Village - pit stop for toilets (very gross - squatting, no toilet paper and fill up the bowl with a scoop of water from a bucket). Children were crowded around the bus door with huge tarantulas crawling all over them. If you let the spiders crawl over you and take a photo with the kid, you pay them  $1 US. A way of child labour I guess. the Aussies were fine, they are used to spiders, but us - no way. One little girl giggled and laughed when she saw my face (my OMG face, get them away from me face!) and followed me around just to tease me with spiders. What a cutie.

Our hotel in Phnom Pen was a skyscraper, two years old, brand new, infinity pool on the 6th floor, where you could swim to the edge and look out over the city. Heaven at sunset and evening with the lights. It was all beautifully designed and classy. I laughed because the light switches were so modern even Dave couldn't work out where they were for ages Had our own water filter and coffee maker machine. 

We ate and swam at the pool, cocktails at the pool, very relaxing.

KILLING FIELDS, DEAD PEOPLE

So, our one whole day in Phnom Pen, was spent in the heat visiting the Kings Palace, very large and glittery gold and gorgeous gardens.

After that was 40 mins to the Killing fields. A place that has become a monument to those killed in killing fields

SAIGON - AS THE LOCAS STILL CALL IT (otherwise Ho Chi Min city)

 Another flight on Vietnam Airlines, another plane with mist inside for cooling! Saigon, we are here!

A much more modern city, with skyscrapers, wider roads, still crazy traffic but will stop when crossing the road. Our hotel is a 1920's art deco type, beautifully done up inside. Lots of French influence still around in the buildings in Saigon. Our guide said most locals still call it that, signs call it that, and also quicker to say (his words!). We are right in the centre so able to walk places.

Our guide is called Hung, lovely lady with big smile. She got us some Vietnamese rolls to snack on - yummy small bread rolls. the French influence again with breads and pastries. That night we went on a walking tour (short - only an hour and half) to orientate us with the main places. Loved the old post office which has now a small tree lined street at the back of it with small shops that sell only books. Reminded me of the left bank of the Seine  in Paris. 

Military/War Day - Tunnels and Museum

Today was spent dealing with the American War (Vietnamese call it that - not Vietnam War). 

First up was the Chu Chi tunnels. A network of  kms of tunnels dug by the Vietcong in an area south of Saigon, where they would hide out from the Americans. The Ho Chi Min trail actually ran down the border of Cambodia and Vietnam, so the Vietcong would walk for 100's of km in the mountains on the trail and come out on missions to kill the local sth Vietnamese and Americans. The border was an hour from the tunnels so it was useful to them. Another scorcher of a day, but the tunnels are set in a forest like park, organised very well for the thousands of tourists who visit it.. Our guide, Hung, was excellent and was able to give us a great insight to how the tunnels were built, and how they used bamboo for air vents, and smoke chimneys etc. It was a quite sophisticated system with meeting rooms, etc. 

We went down one and it came out 20 or so meters away. I just bent over (got sore back from it) but Dave was on his hands and knees crawling. Tunnels weren't made for his size of person, only skinny little Vietcong. I didn't get claustrophobic, but did have a panic when we came to a fork in the tunnels and didn't know which way to go!

Next Stop - Museum of Rememberance.

This is in Saigon and basically a tribute to the war from the Vietnamese point of view. Very anti-American. They had old planes, tanks etc. Lots of old war photos of the horrible things the Americans did, Agent Orange, napalm, Me Lai  massacre and also photos of Vietcong being heroes. (Nothing said about their rather nasty antics towards the sth vietnamese.

All in all, a pretty sobering day. Not much gets mentioned about the war really

REST DAY - HOP ON, HOP OFF BUS

The four of us had a rest day today (the others went off to the Mekong Delta) so we decided to do the hop on, hop off bus. this was ideal because you got to see sights, air-con buses and not much walking! My idea of sightseeing! We saw different parts of the city outside the main area, and stopped off at the indoor markets. Dave managed to get fake golf shirts (titlelist) and shorts. Once again I was the hard nose bargainer, I think it appeals to my nasty side.

There was also a Chinatown (Vietnamese are not fond of the Chinese) with stalls and shacks. 

That night we went to a flash restaurant with yummy food, sat outside and enjoyed the night warm air and people watching. Then onto the night hop on bus, which took you around the city to look at the lights. Saigon has quite modern skyscrapers and bridges that light up, so rather a magical last night.

HOI AN - CALM AMONGST THE CHAOS

 Took a hour half flight to Hoi An, care of Vietnam Airlines. Very hot at domestic terminal in Hanoi. Luckily Q's job was to get us all checked in and through security, so the language barrier wasn't a problem. Hilarious getting on the plane tho, There was mist being pumped out through the ceilings and sides by the luggage racks. Supposedly to cool us down, which it did. Just looked like a sci-fi movie walking into it! Very clever way of dealing with the heat.

Hoi An is south below Da Nang (below the nth/sth line, American air base in war, by the beach). So we flew into Da Nang - beautiful tourist like beaches with board walks- and 30 mins to Hoi An. It is also by the beach, tho we never saw it. Our hotel was resort-like,  palm trees, 4 swimming pools, swim up bars, gorgeous rooms. Everything you could want. Naturally it was into the pool with cocktails before food at the hotel. Next day was a walking tour around the old town, lots of history with the Chinese. There is a river through it with boats on it. Also went to a culture show with musicians, dancing and singing.

We passed lots of markets, tailors selling clothes, ready made or make for you in a day or so. Although there were scooters and cars, it wasn't as crazy or silly on the roads. They had electric tuktuks that looked like oversize golf carts and could fit 6 or more so good value. We had a lunch which included how to make rice paper spring rolls, which were very yummy. That night was by the pool again! Then five of us went into town in the evening and had dinner at this most amazing restaurant that the guide recommended. Beautiful food - Dave discovered a new yum. Stuffed baby squid, stuffed with pork and spices. Looked gross! After that we walked around the night market and I got fake ray ban sunglasses, dresses and magnets etc. hot, but not half as hot as Hanoi. On the way home, in the dark, a bloody scooter rolled over my foot with the rider on it! Not at speed thank god, but left wheel marks over my foot. I whacked the scooter and yelled at the woman, all I got was 'so sorry, so sorry'. Damn sore for 2 days. Stupid scooters.

The next day all the others on the tour went on an optional tour, but Dave  and I decided we would chill out on our own. We took a taxi for 5 min to this pottery village (which you paid $1 to enter) and walked around there and bought some stuff. Everyone in the village makes pottery at their homes and sell it. some special pieces and lovely place. Our taxi waited for us - an hour - and then back to the pool to read and swim for the rest of the day. Bliss.

That night, after the others returned, we all went into town for dinner then a river boat cruise with lanterns all over it. The whole river was lit up with boats and lanterns and twinkly lights so rather magical.

GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!!! Hanoi first up

 Well ........ soon. Firstly Auckland airport - way to early for the midnight flight. Dave is almost running to international to get through departures early (zoom, zoom) so we could make it to a bar near duty free with a big screen and spare tables to watch .. yep the All Blacks! glad we won or else it would've made for a very painful flight! On to Singapore. We sat next to this lovely old Asian lady who was going to Singapore to visit family. Started by climbing on the seat next to me try to get her bag in the overhead locker, would not let Dave help and then chatted away to us. Kept putting my seatbelt on me and sorting out my tray. Dave and I kept looking at each other and trying not to laugh. Then she gets up every hour during the flight and does Tai Chi by the toilet! gave me exercises to do for stretching (they were quite good too). A very interesting experience and made the time go quickly.

So .. Singapore Changi Airport. Cool place to spend time. They have a new Dreamscape exhibit in the middle of Terminal 2 Which is scenes projected onto the ceiling above the fishpond. I was just awe-struck! 

Hanoi Airport - shell-shock. Very hot and sticky and lining up in long lines for customs and security. Very tired and not in the mood. Lines out the door literally! The customs were very serious and I got almost a smile when I had to go on tippy-toes to get a camera shot of my head. 

Luckily no problems with being picked up and taken to hotel. But the traffic! I will say this every day, so bear with me, but the scooters, cars everywhere. No rules, just going for it. scary stuff to encounter on your first trip in the city! The hotel was amazing. 5 star, on the banks of a lake, overlooking parks and temples, Ho Chi Min mauseluem (where he is buried).

After settling in, we went for a walk by the lake along a path with bench seats. It was about 6pm and slightly cooler. First thing that hit me was the smell, rotten rubbish spilling out of rubbish bags, plastic everywhere. Interestingly, I went to sit on a bench seat to admire the view, and a Vietnamese older lady pushed past me and sat down. I was quite stunned as I thought politeness was a given in this county, so continued walking. After a few seconds a younger lady got up off her bench seat and offered it to me as she had seen what had happened. My faith was restored.

We went up to the roof top bar on sunset, and the views were incredible - all over the city. Nice way to spend the first night.

NEXT DAY- MEET AND GREET AND HALONG BAY

So yummy buffet breakfast and meet our Aussie friends Stuart and Annie. What a joy to see them. All of the Aussies had arrived late the night before. Dave went down to greet them, but I was sound asleep in my luxurious huge bed!

There are 15 in our small group tour - all Aussies except us. Our tour guide was called Q, who was very good and organised. Basically by 8am we were off on a minibus for 3 hour trip to Halong Bay. Nice to see the bus was air-conditioned, comfy and lots of water bottles on ice. 

Our first stop on the way was a Silk embroidery painting place, where disabled adults work on these large 'paintings' made of silk threads embroidered on canvas. Honestly, the art work was incredible. It would take them months and months to finish one piece. Obviously there was the hard sell to buy from the overseers, but I really wanted one. Forgot you had to bargain till the last minute, and then started to play hardball. Came away with lovely piece of art, made by this man. I think he gets a percentage of the money.

Halong Bay was very interesting. I thought we were going onto a small boat with enough accommodation for just us. However, approaching the area you could tell money had been spent on new bridges, roads, hotels for the tourists. There were big boats moored up everywhere - lots of.  We get off our bus and discover we were with many others (mainly Chinese). I would guess there were over 50 on the boat, which had 3 stories. We were greeted with a Dragon dance on the pier, which was rather confusing, and so hot for those inside the costumes! The boat was very big, with a bar drinking area on the top deck. We set off cruising the bay (which is huge, not just the little bay you see in photos). Our room had a balcony but really it was too hot to go out on it.

Our group all met up on the top for a cocktail or two with sunset happening. Very magical!

HALONG BAY

Huge cliffs jutting out of the water randomly - which gives an eerie feeling in the first light. the daylight also shows the rubbish floating by and the dirty brown water. Sigh! I didn't realise it would be so bad, tho I was warned. There are millions and trillions of boats everywhere, of all different shapes and sizes, including super yachts with their own speed boats. (only speedboat racing around which is good). The first option of the day was to go swimming. It was at this tiny, man-made sandy beach with hundreds of people and a roped -off area you cant go past. Our 4 said no thanks - mainly due to the state of the water and rubbish floating around. It was actually well-organised with little tender boats coming alongside to transport to a jetty at one end. We just sat on the boat and laughed!

 Afterwards we got in the tender and we all went to a kayaking place for tourists, which again was well-organised with hundreds of kayaks coming and going. Dave and I went in one, where you go under this open hole in the rock though to a lovely calm bay around the jutting cliffs and back again. Naturally Dave did all the work, and I lay back and enjoyed the ride. He did try to teach me to paddle, but apparently I am too slow!

Afterwards it was back in the tenders again, back to the boat. How they know which boat to go to, when there are hundreds out there, is still beyond me. One of our tenders broke down, so we had to go back and tie it alongside ours to tow it back. Very interesting to watch the process.

Cocktails at Sunset - on the top deck. Now this was more like it! Happy hour, cheap drinks, magical vista, lovely people. Good times.

NEXT MORNING - CAVE CLIMB OF A THOUSAND STEPS

so .... it was a visit to a cave as outlined in the itinerary. I was excited, as who doesn't like a good cave, however the more the guide talked about it, the more anxious I got. I assumed (silly me) that it was at ground level, at the bottom of one of those cliffs. But no ---- it was half-way up a cliff, and yes you had to climb to get to it. In 35C heat, and 90% humidity at 8am in the morning! 200 steps straight up1 Oh god, and that was the start. Our friend Annie and I were the slow ones, so Dave and Stuart were behind to encourage us. At the top, lots of heavy breathing and heart racing, water drunk, you could see into this magnificent cave structure, which was actually about 5 different caves all joined up. So off we go, walk up and down, more steps and down. Grandeur vista, and up steps! the hard part was that it was so hot in there, and no breeze coming through. Like being in a sauna. 

Right at the end it was up a lot more steps to get to the exit, with a wonderful view overlooking the bay I might add. I was gasping for breath, lots of water, and actually felt dizzy and faint! It was nice to have fresh air, so then down, down, down to the bottom where the tender was waiting to take you back to the boat. Not a lot of people, which was a god-send, as I could not have done it with heaps of people behind me. Annie and I were very proud of ourselves I have to say.

HANOI

Once more, back on the bus, and back to Hanoi. Lots of haze of pollution as we entered the city. We went past the rich areas, which are so different to the poor shacks  with rubbish piled up outside. More cocktails on the rooftop bar (could get used to this!)

Set off at 8am for walking tour of the city. Straight into peak time traffic, which is crazy anyway, and the heat! My god - even after an hour I was sweating like a pig, had the fan out, water bottle drunk. Our guide Q was a power walker, marched across roads with confidence, and not once checked behind him for stragglers. (us). We went gorgeous leafy green streets with the French influence houses, and a grand cathedral in the middle. FACT - 10% Vietnamese are Catholic, due to the French.  Then marching on to this remarkable place called Train Street. Dave had heard about it, but it is where a train track goes through narrow spaces between shops and markets, really close to people. the local govt had just banned tour groups from going there to see the train come through, as too dangerous. So not sure why we were allowed but we all sat down on chairs place about a foot away from the train track, and were given cold drinks and in the shade under shop awnings. Then you here a loud whistle, and the local shop keepers come running out to push you and your chair back, and then the train comes past! Really close to you - and at a reasonable speed. Quite the experience, and apparently at night it is even better!

After that it was power walk to a narrow side street selling food and upstairs for an egg coffee demonstration. In the air-conditioning! Yay.. this was 3 eggs beaten with a mixer with a dash of rum, coconut syryp and honey for sweetness. After a few minutes it turns into a kind of thick mousse, which gets dolloped onto the top of hot, strong black coffee. Actually really nice! Even with the rum in it!

Then onto bycycle tuk tuks for a ride across town, past lakes, statues (lots of statues of Ho Chi Min) and into the old town. Our driver kept trying for the shade of trees, so now and again we would swerve across the road into the shade. Very nerve-wracking when you think we are competing with hundreds of cars and scooters for space. THEN - just as we were about to turn into a narrow street for our lunch restauarant, CRASH! A stupid scooter driver tried to pass on the inside, by me, and clipped the edge of the tuktuk as it went across in front. Down he, and the scooter went onto the road, right in front of us. Dave gets to get off to help him, but our driver yells at him to stay, and then he goes and starts yelling with all sorts of rude gestures to this guy spread out on the road. The guy is trying to get up, retrieve his shoe, which had come off. A lovely old lady came over and picked up his scooter, put his bag back on, and the guy got back on and drove off! We were in shock as it happened so fast! A good story to tell the others at lunch tho. So the only crash we saw in all this traffic mayhem involved us!

After walking some more through the old town markets, narrow streets, no footpath, avoiding parked scooters and zooming scooters, and rubbish, it was back on the bus and back to hotel. What a long, hot day! My feet were so hot and swollen I had to soak them in a cold bath. 

After a rest it was out to a cultural show, which was actually a water puppet show with musicians playing old Vietnamese instruments. I loved it, as big puppets came up out of the water to tell a story. At the side there was an outline of the story being told in Vietnamese, English and French! so you could follow what was happening very well. Very clever and unusual. Then back onto the bus for a special dinner which was a Vietnamese feast, Very yummy with different dishes to try.

Very long and full day in the heat. Quite knackered and a bit over-whelmed to be honest.