VIETNAM, CAMBODIA AND THAILAND

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VIETNAM, CAMBODIA AND THAILAND

SEPTEMBER 2012

PART ONE VIETNAM

19^TH SEPTEMBER

The adventure starts here….

Not too early a start, we catch the 10.55 train to Manchester airport. By 1.15 we had checked in and I was sat in burger king having a burger and fries. After my lunch I went to Café Nero for a coffee and a palmine.

The flight QR46 departed from gate 202 and started boarding at 13.30.

We departed on time at 14.50. During the flight I started off with a vodka and coke with a bag of Bombay mix. Lunch was chickpea and parsley salad, fish in caper sauce with potatoes and spinach, cheese with a bread roll, a bar of chocolate, a glass of orange juice and coffee. I watched a film “London, Paris, New York.” I liked it so much I am buying it for Hannah for her birthday. I also watched everybody loves Raymond, Frazier, Two and a half men (with Ashton Kutcher) and a documentary on the Serengeti. For a snack before landing in Doha we had a slice of pizza, a glass of orange juice and a chocolate biscuit.

3631 miles from Manchester to Doha.

We had a 1 hour stopover at Doha airport where I spent $20 on souvenirs

Departing from gate 21 at 1.15 we flew to Ho Chi Minh on QR616.

On the flight I had quite a bit of sleep. I watched a great documentary on the building of the London 2012 Olympic stadium. To eat I had a chicken wray with pak choi and a few glasses of orange juice before breakfast which was egg, sausage, potatoes with bread roll, croissant, fruit and orange juice.

At Bangkok we stopped and most of the passengers got off as well as a sick man on a stretcher. We sat on the plane as the cleaners tidied up then we flew on with only about 50 passengers. It only took 1 hour to get to Ho Chi Minh. I had a spicy pastry slice and a orange juice.

Arriving at Ho Chi Minh I was excited “I’m in Nam”



20^TH SEPTEMBER

We found our transfer and he took us to the hotel Ho Sen. I found the people really friendly as soon as I got here.

The hotel was very clean. Emma and I quickly unpacked then headed out into the humid city. First impressions were that although quite dirty the people were friendly and relaxed. We walked for a while before finding a KFC where we had a snack. I just had a piece of chicken and a coke.

We then walked to Ben Than market, it took us a while because I thought the hotel was in a different place so we were walking in the wrong direction. We did find a highland coffee where I had a latte and Emma had a caramel crème (114 dong = @£4)

When we eventually found the market I bought a Vietnam coffee t-shirt in Starbucks style. I also bought a Ho Chi Minh t-shirt for Hannah, both were 100 dong each (£7.50). We stopped at Oktoberfest for a drink on the way back as I thought it might have been a bit German, It was nice but not German we both had a tiger beer.

Back at the hotel we had a shower and an early night as we had been travelling for two days.













21^st SEPTEMBER

The alarm went off at 8.00 but I was already up and showered.

Our first day in Vietnam and I am loving it here. After breakfast in the hotel, there wasn’t much choice for breakfast a bit of western food and a bit of Asian food. I had spring rolls, fried egg and toast. The food was very nice but the coffee was too sweet. we walked the short distance to the Vincom centre. First thing I did was have a coffee in Highland coffee whilst Emma went for a walk around the shops.

We found a little supermarket (there was a Circle K near out hotel for our snacks) where I bought some cute paper cups and some really bendy straws for Katie.

We arrived at the War Remnants Museum at 12.30 just as it was closing for lunch. As usual the Tuk Tuk drivers called out to us to tell us where they could take us but we had already passed a nice coffee shop. At Gloria Jeans Emma and I went upstairs onto the balcony, I had a latte and Emma had a fruit cooler.

We sat on the balcony watching the traffic. There were hundreds of motorbikes amongst the traffic. Opposite the café was a bike with 6 little puppies in a wire basket that were being sold for food.

We went back to the Museum at 1.30 and paid 15 dong to enter. I bought a book from a guy who had been born deformed due to the USA using Agent Orange during the Vietnam war. Inside the museum we walked around looking at the various photographs and images from the war. The museum wasn’t as one sided as I was led to believe, all the negative things said about the US army has also been dealt with in films such as Platoon.

On the way back to our hotel I changed $50 into Vietnam Dong (1,041). W e then went to Carl Jrs for a burger.

At 6pm we met Pauline our GEO (chief experience officer) and a couple of the other travellers….Craig and Laura (Nottingham), Simon and Kevin (a gay couple from Australia) and Peter (another gay guy from Australia) and Mel (an Australian friend of Peter who lives in Hong Kong).

After filling in some forms for Pauline (insurance details, next of kin etc…) we went with Pauline to a local restaurant called Pho 2000 next to Ben Than market. Pho 2000 was an excellent choice for our first night with the group. The restaurant is famous locally for Pho which is a classic Vietnamese dish of white noodles in a rich broth with chicken or beef, I had beef Pho. President Clinton ate here in 2000, he was the first President of the USA to visit Vietnam after the Vietnam war. He visited with his daughter Chelsea. They sat at a table with a red tablecloth which is still used in the restaurant. His menu is displayed under a glass top on the table and pictures of him are displayed on the walls. The food was delicious and very cheap.

After dinner we had a short walk around the night market which had popped up outside the Ban Than market. The night market was bust with rows of stalls selling T-shirts, clothes, souvenirs and sweet sticky rice

Emma and I were tired so we headed back to the hotel for an early night.

























22^st SEPTEMBER

The alarm woke me up, I had a lovely sleep and the bed was so comfy.

After breakfast we got on the coach for a day on the Mekong delta.

Our guide was called Mr Hi, he was a really nice and interesting man. Mr Hi was a soldier in the South Vietnamese army during the war. He once got lost in the delta and ended up amongst the Viet Cong, because he looked and sounded similar to them he pretended to be one of them until he could make his escape and go back to his own troops.

“chuc quy khach thuong lo binh an hen gap lai” roughly translates as

Peace, take care and we will see you again.

We started our day getting on a boat and sailing through the floating market which consisted of small boats with poles displaying what they were selling. Some of the goods on sale were turnips, pumpkins, onions, potatoes, flowers and fruit.

The boat ride was really nice, there was fruit on board for us to try. I had a Rambutan which was a bit sour and hairy on the outside. I also tried a coconut with milk in it, I didn’t like it because it was too sweet, Emma didn’t like it either.

Our first stop was at a craft centre that made rice and coconut products. We saw rice wine, rice paper wraps andpopping rice being made as well as sweet and cakes being made.

The shop was full of the products made here as well as local handicrafts and snake wine (snakes in bottles for you to try).

Back on the boat we went to a small side river where people were waiting to take us on a small sampan. Each sampan held three passengers with the rower standing at the back. The journey was very restful as all that could be heard was the swishing of the water and the birds in the trees.



Back on the larger boat we went to Hoa Ninh village where we had elephant fish for lunch.

The elephant ear fish was amazing. They looked menacing with their mouths wide open and staring eyes. We got one each, Emma and I both ordered one. The lady came and showed us how to take the fish from the bone and wrap it in the rice paper, it was delicious although I didn’t like the chilli dip it came with. Emma enjoyed hers even though she wouldn’t normally eat something like that. After lunch the boat took us back to the coach and we made our way back to Ho Chi Minh.

Back at the hotel Emma and I decided to spend our last night in Saigon on our own.

We went to the Vincom centre and back to Carl Jrs for a burger for tea. I had a coffee in Highland coffee whilst Emma went for a walk around the centre before we headed back to our hotel to pack for our departure to Cambodia in the morning.

VIETNAM

I loved Vietnam. I found the people friendly, happy and open. The war 1967-1975 is talked about often and although a communist country military presence is not noticeable and the people are friendly and at ease.

Motorcycles and bikes are everywhere and everybody seems to have one. People use the motorbikes for everything including moving large and heavy goods and travelling about in whole families, we have seen a couple of bikes with 5 people aboard. It was not unusual to see a high chair strapped to a bike with a baby in it. Despite the large amount of vehicles on the roads we only saw 1 accident and nobody was hurt….thank god.

I hope to return to Vietnam in the next couple of years as there is so much of the country that I would like to see.

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