Blogs from Chau Doc, An Giang, Mekong River Delta, Vietnam, Asia - page 2

Later start for us today, so leisurely packing and headed down to the ferry port. The 12 pm ferry was of course not due to leave until 1pm, but hey this is Cambodia its to be expected! Lovely journey to Vietnam, down the Mekong River, instantly convinced that although more expensive, this was the right way to reach the border! Got to see lots of beautiful countryside and villages on the side of the river, the boat was really quiet, with only 8 people on it, so we could move around. The border was great, no queues, just a shack to stamp out of Cambodia, and a floating office to get you into Vietnam, stark contrast to getting in to Cambodia! We arrived in Chau Doc at around 5.30pm and headed blindly for the ... read more

Arrived in HCM about 4pm. Very, very busy. Bus stopped in the main backpacker district so there were no shortages of hotels. Eventually paid $18 but later found quieter ones down some of the alleys running parallel to the main street. Lots of choice for bars and places to eat and types of cuisine. Mostly Vietnames food has been delicious. Next day we followed the Lonely Planet walking tour of the city. We first walked down a shady park with people doing Tai Chi and playing chess and swing dancing. This led to a major intersection with cars and bikes wizzing from all directions. It really was a matter of taking your life in your hands to cross the road. The secret is to just walk at a steady pace and let the vehicles avoid you..OK ... read more

Hello everyone, Thank you so much for my lovely birthday messages, it´s been really nice to hear from you all and to have your well wishes. :) Yesterday I slept in late as I was actually sleeping well and then I went for a walk around Ho Chi Minh City. I went to the war museum and the reunification palace. After wandering back through the market and the parks, I went to the hotel where my tour was starting, met my room mate and had the welcome meeting. After that I went out for dinner with some friends I had made the day before and then we went swimming in the pool of a five star hotel (We weren´t staying there but no one stopped us!!). I then went for some drinks and had a very ... read more

I know it has been a while and i have flown through Vietnam, everyday there was something to do and then once we were done with the days activities it was back on a night bus. I have now become 1 of 6 we all met up on the overnight bus from Kunming to the border and we have just stuck together ever since. So I will keep all this very brief, first stop was Hanoi and HaLong Bay, we ended up on a 3 day two night stay, 1 night on Cat Ba Island & the second night on the boat in the bay , with a few caves and some Kyaking as well and of course the floating villages. I will be totally honest it all looks fantastic on the pictures but at least ... read more

We crossed the border to Vietnam where we actually had to cross the border by foot. Cue more stamps, arrival cards, forms and visa’s. The border crossing broke up the bus ride a bit and it took about an hour more to get to our hotel. We stayed the night in Chau Doc, which is a town on the Mekong Delta to break up the journey to Ho Chi Minh City a little. However, we had an awesome evening in Chau Doc! We all got motorbikes (don’t worry, we had a driver each and just sat on the back) and rode up Sam Mountain to sit in hammocks, drink beer and watch the sun set. It took 40 minutes each way so we had a great time on the bikes. On the way we saw loads ... read more