The Daft Sea

We decided to head to Sihanoukville on the fifth to spend 3 or 4 days for some nice beach relaxation. We had originally planned to stay on Sokha beach but we left our accomodation booking till the last minute so quickly booked a hotel from Phnom Penh before we hopped on the bus. We decided on The Cove Beach Bungalows, for $35 a night. Anyone wanting to stay on Serendipity Beach we would definitely recommend The Cove despite still being able to hear the booming music from the beach parties, you can still sleep well after a bit of getting used to the sound and have a great view of the bay from the northern end of the beach only 20 metres from your front door. The bar, run by a great Cambodian guy called Punya, ... read more

My blogs are getting later and later, and this one should have been up a week or two ago! Sorry about the lack of enthusiasm, been out and about a lot this last week. We ended up staying in Vang Vieng a few more days than originally anticipated for two reasons. One Ben was having a blast going to the bars at the river, and two I hurt my back on a rock tubing down the river on the first day. Im guessing the mix of alcohol and the cold water kept the pain at bay that first day, because the second day I could hardly walk. I wanted to go for a bike ride and see the caves outside of Vang Vieng so we figured we may as well wait it out. Ben had heard ... read more

We decided to book a tour to Sapa for the following day and ended up deciding on a 4 night 3 day tour. Our tour included all travel, meals, accomodation as well as the daytours for an average of $25 a day. We left Hanoi on Friday 1st January at 9pm on a sleeper bus to Lao Cai, which was due to arrive at around 5am the next morning. We were supposed to be in a higher class sleeper but due to our late booking we could only a seat in a lower class. However, being our first sleeper train ride it was fantastic, definately better than the sleeper buses we have taken all the way up the coast of Vietnam. We were placed in a cabin with another two older gentlemen who were also doing ... read more

The sleeper bus to Nha Trang left at 8:30pm from our handy travel agent in Ho Chi Minh City. It consists of two layers of beds with three rows extending down the bus. Each bed had a small storage space at the bottom that doubled for both carry on luggage items and leg and foot position. A blanket is provided (as is the customary bottle of water) which is just big enough to cover your exposed body. Despite the cramped cnditions it is actually possble to get quite comfortable and I spent most of the bus ride soundly asleep after tuning out the horns being used in traditional style. A seatbelt is also present but as far as I can determne is more for personal assurance that you won't fall out of the bed (something that ... read more

For our first day in Ho Chi Minh City we decided to wander around and see some of the sites. Needless to say we managed to get ourselves ripped off in our very first haggling situation. We came across two Vietnamese men, mid forties, who offered to take us around in their cyclo’s. We were planning on heading to the Jade Emperor Pagoda, and seeing as they had a list of tourist locations to visit on hand, it seemed easy to just point out where we were headed. However, we were unsure of what price would be considered fair. After they suggested 100,000 dong an hour, each, I suggested 50,000 each. Their shocked faces were answer enough, so we agreed on an 80,000 one way fare to the pagoda. The pagoda was fantastic! Not as ... read more