See trip index here, Cambodia index here, and more photos from Cambodia here

Our positive view of Cambodia and Phnom Penh continued after going out for a beer at 50p a glass and then to the local night market for tea.  You can’t get more authentic than joining pretty much all locals sitting on rugs in the centre of the food stalls.  Some of the stalls had English translations, and some had someone who spoke English to explain what everything was. Superb!  We both had Cambodian noodles, and I had one of those duck-chick-eggs – which is a duck egg which is just pre-hatch…  Tasted fine, but we did get into the “is it an Egg, or is it Meat” debate!  A fine meal for about £1 each.

The next day we went on a quad bike tour for the day, so we got picked up at 7:15 in a tuktuk (100cc moped with a 4+ seater trailer, though we’ve seen 8 in one!), and got to the company where 5 of us (3 quads) went out with 2 guides around the countryside outside of Phnom Penh.  Sadly it absolutely chucked it down first thing and we got covered in mud – all part of the fun. Just like quadding in England!  Mel did her share of driving, only hitting the guide once, and falling off the road once, but overall did pretty well.  The villages were so genuine, poor but not poverty, with loads of kids in school uniform which bodes well for Cambodias future.  So many kids coming out to wave and give high-5s, and all with genuine smiles – and only lookup upset if you didn’t wave at them!  No ulterior motive, just wanting a wave.  Hope it doesn’t turn into some places where Westerners are “kind” to kids, and the kids then associate Westerners with freebies. 

The tour took in Phnom Tamao Wildlife Sanctuary which had rescued tigers, bears, elephants and some other animals, and then a chilled lunch on Tonle Bati lake.  Finally after loads of riding (100km?), we headed to the Khmer Rouge Killing Fields near Phnom Penh.  The audio guide is necessary and it gives a very informative history of events that we were unaware of.  A moving place and very much worth a visit despite its sad past, though we would say its more informative and factual than emotional.

After an excellent meal we left Phnom Penh and headed by bus to Sihanoukville – a small coastal town 4 (make that 5.5!) hours away where there are supposed to be nice beaches and where we booked a better-than-normal hotel  for a romantic break.  The bus is weird – they have Kymer Karaoke on loud for the entire journey – and our seat was below a speaker.  Doh.   On arrival we found our hotel was a bit over sold and over priced, not the romantic place we hoped.  We then went to the beach and were almost horrified…  Serendipity beach is awful – litter everywhere, too many tuktuk/taxi sellers, beggers (including an American in a bar asking us to sub him a dollar or two!), child-gift-sellers, and bar/cafe hawkers that made any walk on the beach unbearable.

The beach itself is only 5-10m wide, full of chairs from the cafes, and not really worth a look.  Maybe we’ve been spoilt of recent, but this is a bit of a hole.  Only come here if you are 18-25 and like cheap parties, or you like the company of “friendly local girls” who were everywhere.  Otres beach is supposed to be better, but research showed no decent accommodation; most placed bulldozed last year; dodgy security to/from there, and as such we decided to carry on our journey and pick a better beach when we get back to Thailand.

A real shame that so quickly a clearly nice part of Cambodia can be turned into a dump just to satisfy a particular type of tourist.  With respect to the children in Cambodia, we are repeatedly reminded not to buy/give anything to them as it encourages them/their parents to avoid school as they can make a living by scrounging – not good.  And whilst there are many homeless children and orphanages, we keep seeing adverts saying “Orphanages are not tourist attractions – do not go”….  Many actually are fake ones set up to get tourist money….  So we’ll be avoiding kids here.

 Due to the lack of tarmac roads (as we found on the quads), the way to continue our journey is back to Phnom Penh and then on from there.  So another 5.5hrs back to our old guesthouse, where the owner said we were the second set of people to return back from Sihanoukville quickly – so its not just us who hated it.  The other people returned the same day!!!

See trip index here, Cambodia index here, and more photos from Cambodia here

On day 63 we entered our fourth country on this trip – Cambodia. We have to admit, prior to this trip we knew nothing about Cambodia except the infamous Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, and perhaps we had heard of Ankor Wat.  Chatting to people along our route, Cambodia got mixed feelings – some people hated it and wanted to get out quickly.  There were also travellers tales of corruption and necessary bribes…

And so from Vietnam on the Mekong, we paid $22 for our Visa – which was actually $20 plus $2 beer fund to get us in.  Everyone had to pay $22.  The Sinhtourist trip worked well till our last minibus where we had to get out overcrowded van and walk when the road was rough, and then dropped everyone in the middle of nowhere except a load of expensive TukTuks…

With my Android phone and GPS maps, it wasn’t actually a big issue as we knew where we were and where to go – so when quoted $8 to get there we laughed, said we have GPS and its not that far to walk, and as we walked off he agreed to the $2 price which in truth was fair.  Oh dear…  Is this what it is going to be like…?

Our guesthouse was basic but clean and as expected, and very friendly, and we went wandering…

And what a very pleasant surprise!  The only annoyance is the constant “Hello – TukTuk?” – but apart from that it is a great place to visit. Instantly we were very happy buying food off the street for genuine prices, and happily surprised we can read road signs and menus etc.  French and English are in most places and its very easy to get by, and there is no feeling of being scammed as there was in Hanoi.  I even had a lovely street burger with local touches, and made with so much effort it was like the scene out of Love Actually where Roan Atkinson was wrapping the Christmas present.  Superb and fresh for about 80p.

The only real negative is that many of the bars are for the many sex-pats who live or holiday here, where “friendly girls” are always good company.  Seems fairly open and one of the local magazines has a 2-page article on how to choose them!  Weird, but harmless and non aggressive, and there are plenty of other bars.

Great positives are decent coffee and cappuccino sorely missed in ‘Nam; lovely ice-cream; and even a Euro-standard supermarket with everything you can find in the UK – even Cheddar cheese!  As well as the familiar feeling, you do get the chaos and adventure feel as you do in Hanoi – just on a lower stress setting.

Phnom Penh has many large open spaces, and walking around is easily done.  The S21 prison is the first insight into the Khmer Rouge regime – where a primary school was used as a prison and a torture area for pretty much everyone the regime didn’t like.  During their reign the cities were evacuated and like ghost towns.  Some quite horrifying bits in there, but a bit dated. 

The Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda were also worth a visit, with a huge similarity with the Bangkok Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew – even down to the model of Ankor Wat.  The Bangkok palace is more colourful and restored, but the Palace in Phnom Penh is still very much a must see and mightily impressive.

After a couple of markets and monuments Mel decided to have a hair cut, so for $2 someone cut it but were too scared to take it as short as she wanted.  Still a vast improvement and no longer resembles a birds nest.  From the new shopping centre you can climb to the top, through a restaurant, and right to a walkway with impressive city views – and a good view over the central market where Mel tried to get some new underwear.   Now Mel isn’t the biggest of girls, but she struggled to get anything that wasn’t Bridget-Jones sizes!

More walking took us to the never-really-used Olympic stadium – bet it cost a lot less than the ones we’re building in London!  And then on to Wat Phnom – which means Hill Temple.  Hence Phnom Penh is so called because a lady called Penh founded the temple – hence Penh’s Hill – Phnom Penh.  Which is pronounced in Cambodia as “p-nom pen”.

A rather pleasant start to Cambodia, and if it continues like this we’re amazed it isn’t on everyones holiday radar yet…

Next installment here

Vietnam Costs and Review

See our general tip page here.  Note the costs here do not include external flights, vaccines and insurance etc – this will be detailed at the end of the trip.

Overall

Vietnam was a bit of a culture shock than Thailand or Malaysia, and getting to Hanoi first was jumping in the deep end!  Vietnam grew on us, and the Mekong area was beautiful.  We had no real issues though we didn’t take many cheap or public transport options as we did here some horror stories.  Whereas we spent a bit more, and cheated a bit, but had a chilled time.

We liked Vietnam – a lot – but not as much as Southern Thailand.  We think this is because Vietnam is harder than Thailand – buying food can be harder; transport can be harder; and you are always afraid of a scam.  That said, nothing was impossible and we made it through and enjoyed it unscathed. 

Budget

Our daily spend of £46 is surprisingly good – especially when we took 2 internal flights; always had pretty good (but budget) hotels; and went on a fair few organised trips.  On this amount it is possible to do things well and avoid the hassles. 

With trains/busses and DIY you could do it cheaper, and there is also much cheaper accommodation than we bought, but too much less than we paid and it gets dire quickly! 

Security

We were concerned about security in Vietnam and the internet is full of horror stories, scams, theft etc.  And to be fair, it is true – we’ve heard first hand stories about such problems.  We were also (almost) scammed in Hannoi by a street vendor but nothing serious and all was fine.

We would also suggest you sort out airport pickup via your hotel for stress free airport travel – we were picked up easily, even when flight late, and as pre-paid it was perfect. 

Keeping small change (notes) loose is a good idea so you don’t get you wallet out.  Be wary of having “stuff” on display, or things dangling, as there are so many mopeds snatch-crime would be easy to do and hard to catch.

For us, we’d say we had no security issues – though we stayed alert throughout.

Useful facts:-

• ATMS:  ATMs everywhere, but best to use something like ANZ bank as many banks restrict you to 2,00,000 VND at a time – ANZ allows up to 20,000,000 (pending your card). 
• Currency:  Most things priced in VND, but tourist things like hotels and trips in USD.  You can pay these in VND (21,000 per $) or USD.  Everything else is VND. No USD needed at all.
• Landry:  Harder to come by, but all hotels did it for around 15,000-30,000 per kg
• 7/11:  None – local shops only, but water etc similar price everywhere.
• Transport:  We heard horror stories about public busses:  Breakdowns; long delays waiting to fill; stopping before destination etc.  So we didn’t use them.  We didn’t use train either.  We used:  Sinhtourist bus; taxi; tuktuk; boat; ferry; rowing boat
• Chemists:  Few and far between – best to stock up on essentials before you get there.
• Food:  Street food more of a challenge – not much in English.  Cafes etc vary but in tourest areas all OK
• Language:  Knowing Yes, No helps – but English ok for normal stuff. 
• Power:  mains plugs everywhere so charging stuff is trivial (socket adapter may be needed, and of course make sure charger is 110/240v!). 
• Internet:  Wifi available in every guesthouse we used and in many bars/cafes.  Internet cafes and PCs to borrow also available free/cheap.
• Toilets:  Western style in all guest houses and in most “good” public places, there may only be one in a row so look.  Worth carrying toilet paper though seldom needed.

Stuff we took and didn’t use

(see our packing list here)

• Towels – they were provided by every guesthouse, even special beach towels
• Mozzie net – only needed in one place, and it was already provided.
• Loads of clothes – you only need 4-5 sets of undies – laundry is so trivial to do you do not need to carry as much as us.
• Spare batteries for stuff – power so available we kept things charged
• Main padlock – all guest houses had normal locks

Things we’d change

We’d possibly spend some time in Sapa which we skipped due to weather/season, and we should have gone to Dalat and Nha Trang.  We should have looked at Sinhtourist night bus from Hue/Hoi An rather than flying.   Possibly more time in Mekong area, but no regrets there.

See trip index here,Vietnam index here and additional Vietnam photos here

After new year we carried on exploring Ho Chi Minh – but just as the , most things are closed at new year.  So sadly, for 2 days most of the shops were closed and the typically buzzing atmosphere wasn’t here.  We did manage to have some nice long walks through dark alleys and along the river in relative calm though!  And fortunately there were open restaurants near us where we did have a couple of superb meals.  We managed to buy some stuff from the markets and negotiated hard for a change!  For us, HCMC didn’t really have as much to do or see as Hanoi and seemed to lack a bit of the rough character that made Hanoi unique. 

From Ho Chi Minh you really need to go on a trip to the Mekong Delta, and considering our next stop is Cambodia, it is possible to get up the Mekong direct to Phnom Penh in about 3 days or so, slightly less if you get a bus and cut some out.  “REAL” backpackers will tell you how it can be done in a DIY style, getting public busses, negotiating direct with a boatsman, then finding places to stay if/when you get to your hotel.  Sounds exciting, but so does an organised trip where all the links are managed for you – so similar without the stress.  Yes we’ll be herded like animals, and we’ll be taken to tourist tacky shops where we’ll be encouraged to by tat, but also we’ll be seeing and being taken to places we’d never find.  After googling, reading poor reviews of everyone, we settled for the 3 day Mekong tour with exit in Phnom Penh with SinhTourist.  Not the cheapest option at $84 each, but hardly expensive and they do have a reasonable reputation.

So with low expectations, we get packed, get a goodie-bag of sweets and keep our fingers crossed…

We arrived at the SinhTourist office in HCMC at about 7:15 to find chaos with hundreds of people milling around, but somehow we got herded onto the right bus, and to be fair it was AC and fairly comfortable.  For the next few days we’d resigned ourselves to just do as we’re told and see what happens, so were fairly relaxed about the itinerary.

After a bus stint, then boat we went to our first stop – a bee (honey) farm where we had honey tea which was lovely even though I hate both honey and tea!  Some locals then entertained with some very relaxing Mekong style music which may be touristy, but then some people on the trip who were local started to sing as well – made it really quite good and validated the authenticity.  After another little boat ride we visited a coconut candy workshop where the locals made some lovely sweets which we bought (of course!) and at reasonable prices.  Then on to an excellent included lunch which far exceeded expectations with fair priced drinks.  So far, no hassle, no encouraged tips, and no forced sales.  Wow!

The hotel for the night in Can Tho was, it has to be said, pretty naff.  List price was $13 a night and no doubt the tour company pay less, but it was a clean bed and working AC, and a hot shower – though the shower was shared with a cockroach.  As “backpackers” we found it acceptable for one night, but can imagine why travellers used to better hotels may moan.  Our quick tour for an evening meal didn’t excite us to Can Tho – looked like it may be okay but not a destination for fun.

After an early start and another bus/boat we headed towards Cai Rang Floating Market which was very quiet due to Tet, enough to give you an idea, but not as chaotic and exciting as it otherwise would have been.  Further up a feeder river by rowing boat we visited a fruit garden where all the tropical fruit is grown, and thereafter a taste of the produce which introduced some new fruits to us.  Again, surprisingly, no sales pitches and a very chilled insight into local sustenance.  A visit to Vinh Long market showed all the produce for sale (along with some living and not-so-living food!) – but sadly not in a position to buy the lovely looking fresh stuff. 

We then realised only the 2 of us from our group were heading to Cambodia, so we got dumped off and told someone else will pick us up!  Which they did!  So another bus to Chau Doc for the night, this time in a budget but better hotel, and including a nice local meal in town.  Chau Doc looked and felt a lot more exciting than Can Tho, with a lively local scene.

In the morning, we then had a lovely rowing boat trip along the Mekong at Chau Doc, to see some floating villages, fish farms and a Cham village.  Only the latter was rushed and the old lady rowers were the first to wave money for tips – a shame as we had a tip ready to give – and its nicer to give than be demanded.  Funny their only English is “Hello” and “I’m tired” and “This is hard work”.  Bless.

We then found out only 4 people from that group were going to Cambodia, so we got passed off again via a rowing boat to a motorboat to take us the 3 hours to the Cambodia border.  We were very surprised indeed to find our rucksacks were on the motorboat along with some other people – so regardless of how chaotic it looked, there clearly is method in the chaos!  The lady on the motorboat looks and acts very similar to one of our UK Vietnamese friends which was sweet, and she took care of all the passports and visa forms leaving us to enjoy the views.  Though she did vanish mid way with everyones passports and visa money!

Just before the Cambodia border there seems to be a floating border post (Vietnam exit?) – but apart from getting our passports returned and a drink not much happened, though we did change boats and headed further up the river to the Cambodian immigration where our Visa ($22) was validated and we were allowed in.

After another hour or two we swapped to a bus for the last leg to Phnom Penh.  I say bus, it was more like a 10 seater minibus with 17 people and baggage…. The view out of the winder was incredibly interesting, and eventually we made it to Phnom Penh – but not where we were supposed to be…  Thus a load of tuk-tuks were ready to take us on, and one wanted $4 each – but we gave him jip and paid the correct rate of $2 total to our guest house.  Good to know the expected rate before you arrive!

So our view of this trip to Cambodia up the Mekong is 100% positive – and can’t think of a nicer way to get to and cross a border.  Really very chilled, and yes some minor agro (and I mean minor) and whist there is some dull bus links, the majority of the sites are interesting and beautiful.  We wondered if 3 days was too many, but in hindsight 4 or 5 days would probably be okay.  Yes some things are budget, but the rest of the trip makes up for it.  We reckon you could DIY getting from HCMC to Phnom Penh, but with the extra interesting and hassle free excursions, the bus/boat/rowing boat links that just work, then I think the tour is by far the best option.

So on a hugely positive note, we end our eventful and interesting trip to Vietnam – and the Mekong is the icing on the rather tasty cake.

See HERE for summary, costs and review of Vietnam

See HERE for next installment for Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Well we’ve made it to the half way point, 60 days out of 120.  Sadly this means we’re slowly heading back home I guess.

As this is our first ever backpacking trip we thought we’d summarise how things are so far.

Places

We love Southern Thailand and are really looking forward to seeing the northern parts.  We weren’t too fussed about Malaysia.  And we like Vietnam but not as much as Thailand.

What we have learned is that regardless how much time you have you can’t do everything. We have missed bits off we shouldn’t, and no doubt spent time in places that didn’t justify it, but that is the joys of being able to get around and see what you want.

Accommodation

So far, 9/10 places we’ve stayed have been good.  None have been horrific and all safe and clean.  We have always arranged a room before we arrive which may not be the traditional way, but for us its been stress free and due to being able to research on line (e.g. tripadvisor), probably accounts for the rooms being pretty good.  We may well be paying slightly more than we need as we don’t barter for a room rate, but if we’re happy with what we’ve agreed in advance then we’re happy.  For £10-14 a night for double en-suite then is it really worth barganinng any more?

It would be easy to spend 1/2 of what we have on accommodation – but the cost we are paying is okay.  We like clean private rooms, aircon and ensuite.  I know I know….  If you want shared bathroom or dodgy places, or fan-room sweat boxes you can save money.

Real Backpackers?

Before we left we didn’t know how many people were doing similar, but on our travels we’ve bumped into the same people numerous times in different places.  So pretty much there are loads of people of all ages and types all going to the same destinations – its a well trodden route.  “Real” backpackers would frown at this and say we should be getting off the backpack trail, but really we’re going where we want and its not our fault that everyone follows us!  There is also a reason why some places are on the trail, and why others are not.

Getting Around

For our travel, we’ve sometimes taken the easy options - like flights, tourist busses, or arranged trips from A to B.  Again, the “real” backpackers would argue we should make our own way on local transport otherwise you don’t get the real local experience.  We agree with this to a point, but sometimes we can’t be bothered to get a tuk-tuk from hotel to bus station; get bus from A to B.  Then wait an hour or 3 and get bus from B to C on a bus that may or may not turn up, then get to a hotel if you can find one.  Sometimes its easier to get a tourist bus that collects you from hotel, chilled journey, and dumps you where you want to go.  Authentic? No – but why make things difficult just so you can claim bragging rights?

Amazingly we’ve always got from A to B.  Now yesterday, booking a train ticket back from LONDON to SUFFOLK for when we get back in March, and we find the railway is closed and we need 3 busses and 3 trains and 5 hours for a normal journey of 1.5hrs!  And no easy bus or any other way.  Only in England eh?  (PS – Thanks M&D for the to-be-arranged London Pickup!) 

Health

We are generally healthy people, but we’ve both been ill with gut problems, and this is despite eating cautiously and using hand gels.  I was very ill for just over a week, and Mel has been ill 2-3 times but not as bad.  More an annoyance but I guess if we get ill being very careful, then its probably a dead cert.

Meeting People

We have been fortunate to meet some nice people so far, and some more than once.  But due to us being a “close” couple and happy in each others company, and the fact we stay in hotels/guesthouses rather than Hostels, means we’ve not really been in the full “scene”.  Thats fine for us, but if you are younger or single/travelling with friends, then you would need to consider more Hostel places just for socialising.

We have met the people the guidebook told us about:  The Doom and Gloom people who say how bad a place is that we’re heading to (never has been).  The Know it all who typically doesn’t.  And the Old Timer who tells you how much better it was 10 years ago when he had to buy his own donkey.  They all try and ruin your adventure, but don’t let them.  Fortuanltey they are the minority!

Finance

So far, we’re well under expectations.  At our current rate of spend we are forecast to spend under £7,000 for everything for us both for 120 days which considering we’re doing all we want and aren’t skimping, we think is quite impressive.

It would probably be possible for under £5k (£2.5k each) if you eat out less, don’t do too much, and have more budget rooms; and it could easily be 2-3x what we are paying if you like it a bit posher!

Safety/Security

Before we left, and when we’ve been here, we’ve heard stories about problems, theft, scams etc.  Enough to scare you about coming. 

So far, we have never felt threatened or “unsafe” with respect to ourselves.  (With the exception of crossing the road in Hanoi or HCMC!!).  We’ve not head any stories of actual violence or problems.

However, we have felt that it is possible to have stuff stolen or pick pocketed and indeed have heard stories about stuff being stolen.  To be fair, most “stolen” items had some blame to the owner, either leaving on a table; or next to them when they slept; or had things dangling in bags.  Being ultra cautious is necessary over here, and reduing temptation will reduce the chance of problems.

Scams and over charging are common, and even we got over charged/under changed though we did get our money back!  Bit of naivety on our behalf – and easily controllable if you aren’t as silly:  Know what something should cost; and if you need change (especially from a street vendor) – don’t let them take your money till you see/get the change.  Also – with taxi/tuk tuk/cyclo ensure you are 100% clear on the cost – we are aware of quite a few who have been scammed…

We have always got the hotel to arrange airport pickup for us – hassle free and avoids the very common airport scams.

We have seen 4 moped accidents, though none major.

Fun Factor

We’re having fun!  Really enjoying it, and we know the second half will be different than to the first half and in many ways more challenging.  But so far so good, and an excellent trip to take.

Things we’ve really enjoyed

• The adventure!  Yeah – its not unique; we’re not alone; and its not that difficult.  But for us, it is an adventure
• Seeing new things
• Meeting new people
• The challenge of getting around, eating, and finding somewhere to sleep
• Each others company
• Staying in great locations that wouldn’t look out of place in a top-end holiday brochure.
• New and different food

Things we’ve not liked

• The constant “hellos” from shop keepers, where any response puts you under pressue to get in.  And the lookng over your shoulder, so you can’t browse.  And no prices.  Grrr
• Many white men (mainly overweight/gray/old) with young asian women.  S’pose at least it is women.
• The fact 9/10 people who speak to you want something; or are trying to direct you to another place; or are trying to scam you.  This is a shame as you then don’t trust the 1/10 who is genuinely friendly.  This is really really sad and probably our biggest hate.  It is not in our nature to ignore people saying hello, but you really have to.  Anyone that says otherwise is still in their first town…

Thanks that have surprised us

• Prices of “cheap” clothes aren’t mega cheap.  Good brands are UK prices, and whilst cheap clothes can be bought, they aren’t much cheaper than UK market/Matalan/Peacock prices and probably same quality. 
• Wifi is available anywhere – much more open wifi than Europe
• Not had to use a squat loo yet, though that is sure to change in the second half!
• Not had any of our own horror stories to tell
• How pretty some ladyboys are
• Availability of GOOD clothes we like (e.g. branded quality walking clothes, e.g. Berghaus, Northface etc) are nowhere to be seen – except fake jackets.
• The age range and type of people travelling.  From typical gap years; to retired people, to families with teenagers and young families with babies!  In other words, everyone.
• And pretty much, how easy it has been overall so far.  OK its a lot tougher than a package holiday, but it is well within most peoples grasp.  Why don’t more do it?

See trip index here,Vietnam index here and additional Vietnam photos here

For our last full day in Hoi An we decided to go to the Marble Mountains which are about 30km away.  We were told the only way to get there was via a private taxi ($25) and then get a guide, but we found an organised tour for $10 each with a guide and so we booked this.  When the minibus turned up we found we were the only two people, so ended up with a superb private tour of the mountains with an excellent guide who gave us interesting history with the Cham people and with the more recent usage by the Viet Cong.

The caves are like many others we’ve seen on this trip, but are probably top pick easily beating Batu caves in Malaysia.  Good views, lovely natural caves, and of course a couple of Temples and Pegodas.  Having a private guide also meant no hawking or sales pressure which was good. There were some lovely marble sculptures but none that would fit in our backpack.

Leaving Hoi An is probably our first real “mistake” of the trip, caused by both the weather and the Tet New Year holidays.  In Hanoi and Hue the weather was quite poor, and we were also told that hotels places get booked up over the new year period.  So we booked in advance in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) – bypassing the beach resort of Nha Trang and the mountainous French-esque town of Dalat – both of which are typically visited in Vietnam. However, in Hoi An the weather improved and we now know the long distance Sinhtourist night bus is good, meaning that Nha Trang and Dalat were easily accessible and the weather was ideal, but we could not change.    Damn.  Interestingly, Winter and Summer occur at different times in Vietnam – the North is still in Winter, whereas they say the south is in Summer (more tropical climate)…

Instead we took an easy flight from Danang to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) for £34 each and will try not to plan too far ahead in future!

We say easy flight, but our plane (Boeing 777 – bizarre choice for an hours’ flight) had a technical problem – we could actually see a load of guys on ladders fiddling with an engine.  After over an hour late we boarded and took off, and as soon as we landed the engine was in bits again.  Hmmm.  100% record of technical malfunction on Vietnamese airlines for us…

Our pre booked taxi picked us up from the airport so we avoided the scams, and got to our hotel which is in the backpacker ghetto.  Every shop is a hotel, travel agent, or bar – and some very dodgy bars (busy!) charging 4x the going rate for a bottle of beer.  We met some French people we met in Hanoi for a drink and they chose the rip-off bar!  DOH!

HCMC is a bit quieter than Hanoi (though still very busy), the streets slightly wider, and still an adventure to cross the road.  Doing our usual walking spree, we visited the Reunification Palace which was clearly an ultra-modern 1960s building, but now just an impressive out-of-date building.   Not much to see, and not many facts and much history being told. 

Then we went to the War Remnants museum dedicated to the Vietnam/American war.  We were warned this was highly biased and full of propaganda, but actually we found it reasonably factual albeit telling just one side of the story.  Most photos/quote were backed up with “facts”, and learning about some of the things the Americans did, along with recorded quotes from the American politicians – you have to wonder what on earth the yanks were doing….  Some very very sad and distressing pictures, especially regarding Agent Orange, but worth a visit to learn some more about the recent troubles.

After a rather nice meal and some good random company of a couple moving UK to OZ, we headed into town to see some dodgy live music, then the busy flower streets down to the river for the 2012 lunar new year (Tet) celebrations.  1000’s of people, though very orderly, and bizarrely everyone just sits on the floor!   The midnight fireworks were impressive (though not mega-wow) – and they had some we hadn’t seen before.  Afterwards, there was a fairly orderly getaway – until that is they all got on their mopeds…

1000s of mopeds and people and it was grid lock – the only way to cross the road was by forcing your way through and even tilting handlebars to squeeze through! Even the pavements aren’t safe havens!  We lost 20 years of life getting back but it was nice to see in another new year in a different way.

See our last stint in Vietnam here

See trip index here,Vietnam index here and additional Vietnam photos here

Our fiftieth day started early for a 6am tour to the DMZ.  Yeah – I know we hate organised tours, but there is very little alternative to see the DMZ.  Annoyingly, we got picked up at 6am, driven around for a bit, had a crap breakfast, then at 7:45am drove back past our hotel!  What a waste as we could’ve had an extra hour in bed and a decent breakfast. 

The tour of the DMZ took us to part of the Ho Chi Minh trail (Hiel Luong Bridge), and the bit we saw was just a modern bridge from Korea.  Then on to an old US airbase Khe Kanh with some old US equipment and then on to the Vinh Moc tunnels – a network of tunnels buried to avoid US bombs.

The tunnels are worth seeing and the history is interesting, but the rest of the items on the tour were not.  With 7 hours on a bus to see them you really need to be keen – or see the trip as more of a way of seeing the countryside and real villages and towns with a few DMZ bits thrown in. 

When we were back in the UK, we (and I’m sure some family and friends) thought we were going where no man had gone before – but as we’ve found its not the case – it really is a well trodden path.  Wandering round Hue in the evening we bumped into some more people we met in Ha Long bay and had a good night with.  They were just leaving Hue, but due to the standard route we all seem to follow, we have arranged a night out in Hoi An in a couple of days.  The French couple we met on the same trip and bumped into a few days ago – we will be meeting in Ho Chi Minh in a week or so!  Such a small world, and clearly such an unadventurous and standard route we use!

For our last day in Hue we used a walking map provided free from the Mandarin Cafe (cheap good food and beer) and explored the town a bit more – nice to be free of tours!  Had my hair cut and probably had the most care ever taken.  Took two guys to do it, one with clippers and one with a cut throat razor, and cost 50,000 dong (£1.60) which is cheap but probably Western rates.  We had hoped to get to our next stop in Hoi An by train and public bus, but due to the upcoming Tet holidays the public busses are packed to the brim and not really suitable.  So a comfortable tourist bus has been booked for the 3-4 hour journey.

As it turned out, the bus was the SinhTourist sleeping bus, which was a bizarre 3-row, 2 high and about 8 long arrangement with seats that reclined almost flat and really very comfortable.  Ifyou consider an overnight bus trip then use them.  Great views along the way, but we didn’t go over the pass and instead used the tunnel.  Made no difference due to the mist anyway.

Hoi An turns out to be a rather pleasant and chilled town though slightly tourist orientated.  But easy to walk around, nice shops, and lots of UNESCO sites to see, such as temples and the covered Japanese Bridge.  Restaurants are easy to find and menus easy to read, and the food rather good.    We had a nice meal in one which was rated at 71/144 – so thats at least 70 other good places. 

From our hotel we can walk about 3km interesting walk and get to the beach and sea, which again was rather pleasant – lovely quiet sandy beaches with good views.  And we are now fortunate the cloudy weather that has dogged us since getting into Vietnam has cleared.

One of the typical trips from here is to My Son – a UNESCO temple (ruin) complex.  Very nice to look at, and interesting, but only an hour or so needed.  Seeing  My Son is so typical we saw 2 people we’ve met previously!

All in all, a rather interesting few days in Vietnam

Next installment is here

See trip index here,Vietnam index here and additional Vietnam photos here

Hanoi is still a city of chaos – not a place to come if you want a relaxing time.  For new westerners street eating isn’t easy, most places don’t have menus or speak English and as Mel doesn’t eat meat  or speak Vietnamese its a bit tough. Also its a bit cold and sitting outside isn’t ideal especially on tiny plastic chairs that are meant for primary schools.  But, we found a nice restaurant with street-type food (and more) for only a little extra – and you can sit inside with a beer!  Our new Hanoi regular haunt.

We booked a trip to Ha Long bay which to be fair is a must see, even if (like us) you’ve already visited multiple limestone lakes/sea/caves in recent weeks.  After looking into a DIY trip we opted for a cheapish ($84) overnight trip, which included the 3.5hr minibus ride to Ha Long town (an adventure in itself!) and an overnight stay on a “junk” boat.  We were expecting a dire boat, but the cabin was a double en-suite room with AC which was actually pretty good. Food was good and we were lucky with a nice group on the boat too, French, German, Isreali, Brazilian, Polish and more, and a guy from Slough! 

The limestone cave was a bit standard, and the walk up a hill for the view was pretty good.  Kayaking was okay but, again, fairly standard, and as the sun was behind cloud it wasn’t really the weather to max out the watersports.  Overall though a pretty good trip and superb if you’ve not been to similar places recently.

Our final Hanoi day saw us take in the Women Museum; Ho Chi Minh museum and the Literature temple.  All good sites but some of them a bit lost on us I’m afraid!

Our next stop is Hue (pronounced hway), and the travel options include overnight train journey, overnight bus, or fly.  After seeing a French couple have to get a taxi-bike (3 people and 3 rucksacks on a Moped), and after the 3.5hr bus ride to Ha Long bay we’re glad we took the safe and quick chicken route and opted for a quick flight – £56pp.  I know….. 

However….  when we were taxiing the plane had a problem with a “flight control system” so we had to return to the gate.  Obviously with a hammer and gaffa tape they fixed it, but then said “its now air worthy but we can’t land in the wet – and its raining in Hue” – so they tried to find another plane.  But then they got approval from Airbus that we could land in the rain so we left about 90 minutes late.

We got to our hotel in Hue and went for a walk, and low and behold we met the French couple who took the bus and they said the bus was excellent!  Damn.  Small world…

For our first day in Hue we went on a typical ”city tour”.  Whilst we generally hate being herded around, a few of the must-see tombs are miles away and the only way (bar expensive taxi) is via a tourist bus.   So after a quick dash around the Citadel (more time needed) plus a few other okay ish bits n bobs we went to the 3 tombs – Minh Mang; Khai Dinh and Tu Doc.  All different emperor tombs ages and styles and all impressive in their own way – either location, build, or natural beauty.  Well worth it – though the dragon boat bit back wasn’t really exciting!

On our return we ventured to the Citadel side of the river, rather busier and more local than our side, with a manic market.  But generally, Hue is more chilled than Hanoi in a nice sort of way but is still exciting – more Thai like.  Maybe the reason is the amount of cannabis we keep getting offered…

see next installment here

See trip index here Vietnam index here and additional Vietnam photos here

After an early start we got our bus to KL, quite a posh coach.  Yet despite all the naff busses we’ve used, it was this posh one that kept breaking down…  We did make the airport on time though and arrived OK in Hanoi, and got to our hotel without problem.  OK – we arranged a prebooked taxi to avoid all the airport scams.  Annoyingly, after 31’C and sunny for many weeks, Hanoi is cloudy and about 15’C which feels freezing!  Bring back the beach!

Completely knackered we went for a quick scout around Hanoi old town.  Blimey.  Makes Bangkok look like a quiet village, bikes everywhere, traffic lights, roundabouts and one-way streets ignored, and action and entertainment everywhere.  Quite a laugh to watch!  After getting some cash and finding our feet, we bought some food without issue, but then almost fell to a short-changing scam with a street seller.  I was just highlighting the incorrect money when a tourist policeman ran over and smacked her over the head and gave her a bollocking.  Oops.  Got my change but probably paid over the odds anyway.  Then the next supermarket where we got water tried to short change us and we think we were fake banknote somewhere along the line (worth 3p!)

Despite this early warning, Vietnam has the buzz and excitement lacking in Malaysia, but with much more care needed…

After a good nights sleep we were a bit more alert as we continued to see Hanoi.  The traffic and bikes remain chaotic but organised, and you can easily cross the road by walking across and just have belief everyone will avoid you.  They do, and its quite normal – though if we end up run over then you know we got it wrong….  Apart from the usual 4 people or 3 crates on a moped, we’ve seen a dead pig, a living pig, an orange tree, and 20 goldfish in their own bags.  Never a dull moment!

The Army museum is interesting showing downed and captured American planes, and the tone of some of the exhibits saying how they defeated the French is quite amusing!  Worth the 30,000 entry fee (£1) just for that.  The two lakes are worth wandering around, but sadly it is quite chilly in Hanoi in December so the lakes and parks weren’t at their best.

 With Tet coming up the Hanoi market was an absolute zoo – no idea how it works but money was changing hands everywhere and boxes/bags moving anywhere and everywhere.  Complete chaos to a westerner!  We popped into the infamous Hanoi Hilton prison (Hoa Lo) which the French built to house Vietnamese prisoners, but later used to hold American pilots caught in the Vietnam war.  The propaganda was immense saying how well the US prisoners were looked after – not quite how the US saw it…

One must see in Hanoi is the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre.  We had no idea what to expect, and were expecting it to be dire, but it was actually a superb bit of entertainment.  Very clever indeed and well worth the visit.

With poor weather, the idea of going trekking to Sapa was forgotten – at 1500m it can cold and foggy, and not lush and green as it would be in the summer.  Instead we are going to head to Halong bay for an overnight trip on a Junk – and just got our fingers crossed on the weather!  We’ll return to Hanoi after as there is still much more to see.

See next installment here

Malaysia Costs and Review

See our general tip page here.  Note the costs here do not include international  flights, vaccines and insurance etc – this will be detailed at the end of the trip.

Overall

Malaysia only appeared on our trip as a convenient way to get from southern Thailand to Hanoi.  Because we have been on islands & beaches in Thailand, and expect to in Vietnam, we didn’t want to see Malay beaches and islands, and also Borneo just didn’t fit in to our main plan.  As such, our views are just based on Kuala Lumpur and Melaka.

Sadly, what we saw didn’t meet expectations.  The places were okay but nothing of a “wow factor” stood out.  Pleasant enough, but not special.  KL especially was filthy, rubbish and food waste everywhere (bar main tourist drags), so rats everywhere.  Street food stalls we so loved in Thailand didn’t appeal – they looked dirtier, dimly lit, and just weren’t exciting.  The ones we did try were okay but not outstanding.

The lack of photos we took were due to not being able to find much that impressed…  So KL as a couple of day stop over is okay, but don’t expect too much.  Of course, if you are after islands and Borneo – then you will see much more than we did and may well have a different view.

I guess we just weren’t very excited by anything in Malysia, felt more of a holiday destination than an adventure trip. 

Budget

We didn’t spend too much as there wasn’t much to buy.  Accommodation was cheap and food reasonable, beer very expensive. Hardly any trips or interesting things to spend money on – even the tourist info didn’t have any leaflets on typical excursions. Museums and cinema/bowling dirt cheap.

Shopping for “stuff” is UK standard and prices and thus we didn’t buy anything.

Our spend is probably the lower end of what is doable in Malaysia.  If you go out and about more or see islands then expect to pay a lot more

Security

Never once did we hear any dodgy stories about Malaysia, nor did we feel unsafe at any time.  We always got the correct change back.   So in our view, very safe indeed.

Useful facts:-

• ATMS:  Everywhere for VISA and Mastercard.  Easy to get cash at airport. Only Malaysian Ringgits are dispensed
• Currency:  Everything is priced and paid for in Ringgits (RM).
• Landary: Not that common but doable, 6RM/kg
• 7/11:  Some places, but so are local shops – convenient for water but 2.5RM a bottle of water – and most is non-mineral.
• Transport:  Easy to use and busses/trains very cheap.  Not great links though.  Didn’t see any tourist mini busses so public transport only.
• Chemists:  Everywhere
• Food:  Street food stalls not great, try food courts in big malls for interesting and cheap local choices
• Language:  English everywhre. 
• Power:  UK plug and 240v -no issue.
• Internet:  Wifi available in every guesthouse we used and in many bars/cafes.  Internet cafes and PCs to borrow also available free/cheap.
• Toilets:  Western style in all guest houses and in most “good” public places, there may only be one in a row so look.  Worth carrying toilet paper though seldom needed.

Stuff we took and didn’t use

(see our packing list here)

• Towels – they were provided by every guesthouse, even special beach towels
• Mozzie net – not needed.
• Loads of clothes – you only need 4-5 sets of undies – laundry is so trivial to do you do not need to carry as much as us.
• Spare batteries for stuff – power so available we kept things charged
• Main padlock – all guest houses had normal locks

Things we’d change

Less time in KL and Melaka.  Our timing was fixed due to getting Vietnam Visa and flights sorted.  Didn’t see anything else near that seemed worth visiting.  Using Malaysia as a stop off is fine but not great, but of couse if you are doing islands/beaches or Borneo then its a different kettle of fish.