Blogs from Mekong River Delta, Vietnam, Asia - page 6

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Asia » Vietnam » Mekong River Delta » Can Tho April 4th 2016

Nous revoilà! Il est difficile de mettre le blog à jour vu que nous sommes soit partis en vadrouille soit nous dormons! Donc nous avons décidé de quitter OCM sa pollution, son bruit et des scooters pour le Delta du Mékong! Nous avons réservé un tour via notre hôtel pour 2 jours et une nuit. Enfin, heureusement que Christophe a vérifié car notre hôtesse à l'hôtel est charmante mais son anglais est limité comme la plupart des gens ici, ce qui limite les discussions et les échanges. Et elle nous avait réservé la mauvaise excursion. Nous avons donc pris le bus pour le Delta du Mékong : nous avons un bateau pour toutes les personnes de notre groupe et avons visite deux des principales îles du delta : l île de la licorne et l ile ... read more
ballade en pirogue
Bonbons a la noix de coco
Dejeuner

Asia » Vietnam » Mekong River Delta » Kien Giang » Phu Quoc Island February 29th 2016

if you want bahn mi, there are plenty of stalls along the main road into town in the morning, with the usual scary, grey-looking pate basking in the heat, and some where you can have omelette inside, cooked there and then. By lunchtime they have trundled off. In the evening there are some local pho places which spring up from nowhere, plastic stools and all, for example outside the petrol station when it closes for the night. Mostly local young people, the occasional adventurous traveller on a budget. Otherwise you have to choose between the beach, the night market or the main road. The main road is cheaper, but there are some big big restaurants which have tour buses outside, and some smarter places, including a Spanish tapas one. Err....... A good alternative is to go ... read more
Lang Chia Hostel. Very good Tripadvisor reviews, great location and says it has a pool
Cheap option
Mini-Asbo

Asia » Vietnam » Mekong River Delta » Kien Giang » Phu Quoc Island February 28th 2016

After much deliberation we decided against hiring a scooter. Sad face :0( Although Gill has a full bike license and is super careful, and both of our insurances cover us for bikes up to 50cc if wearing helmets (flipflops and shorts not mentioned!) we know that we'd be illegal as we have no Vietnamese license, therefore our insurance would be invalid! The road we wanted to go on was paved and quiet for most of the way, then probabably a track, and we have seen loads of farangs riding about, but the locals are just too unpredictable and we couldn't risk the worst happening. Oh, the wisdom of age! How dull...... We had new and if anything, even noisier neighbours. We have not been lucky with the peace and tranquillity aspect. Last night it was Ridiculous ... read more
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Motorised bucket behind, washing his catch in the sea
Cao Dai Temple

Asia » Vietnam » Mekong River Delta » Kien Giang » Phu Quoc Island February 27th 2016

Yesterday was the day for a snorkel trip. We were picked up at 8.15 by John's Tours after a very parsimonious breakfast, just in case! There were going to be 20 of us but there were only about 11 on the minibus. The others wer picked up from the beaches to the north of the harbour, en route, using a long-tailed boat pulled behind us. Except that at one stop the people weren't there (not their fault, I'm sure!) so we had to wait, bobbing up and down, for about 20 minutes. Neither of us are fans of bobbing up and down! In the minibus we were given a safety card with info on what not to touch when snorkelling, and the penalty for losing their equipment. Turned out to be relevant to one couple later. ... read more
The lighthouse temple we went in last night
Floating houses, some with dogs!
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Asia » Vietnam » Mekong River Delta » Kien Giang » Phu Quoc Island February 24th 2016

A surprisingly good night's sleep, given that the mattress is like a table top and the pillow the size of a small postage stamp and filled with sand! Gill and I managed to acquire 2 mozzie bites each. Expecting more. And last night our neighbours, of some sort of Scandinavian origin, had a pile of screeching kids round outside on their veranda. It was fairly early but when they started jumping up and down on the furniture my love of small children temporarily left me and I banged hard in the window. It quietened down soon after. As breakfast finished at the ridiculously early hour of 9am and we were keen for things not to have run out, we were there at 8. The resort isn't anything like full, so there are lots of places to ... read more
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Not all of it looks pretty.....

Asia » Vietnam » Mekong River Delta » Kien Giang » Phu Quoc Island February 24th 2016

After last night's fruitless yomping, we just couldnt make ourselves go on a snorkel trip, so planned to do very little and then go into town for the night market. Russell, the Canadian who'd recommended Phuong Binh, also had a good place to eat in town, although we were by this time seriously doubting his distances. He'd also slightly put us off hiring a scooter with tales of illegality, police, insurance claims, so I posted on the TA Vietnam forum to ask if anyone had any information about how much we would pay as a bribe if stopped by the police. Grief! Did I really just do that? Then wish I hadn't, as I got a VERY arsy reply, would I think of mentioning bribes to someone visiting Bournemouth? Replied of course not (you tosser!) - ... read more
The main road at the end of our lane - work in progress....
There's a good bit of pavement, then it isn't quite finished off
Frogs and eels, alive, alive-o!

Asia » Vietnam » Mekong River Delta » Kien Giang February 23rd 2016

What can I say? The fliget was on time, our pickup was there with my name on a board, our beach bungalow was ready for us as soon as we arrived and despite my worries that the island would have changed completely, Seastar Resort is just great. There is a whole new block and swimming pool, but there are enough beds outside our room and it is quiet. Gill spotted a poster for a full moon party, but luckily that seems to have been last night, as they were taking down the lights. Doubt they would have had many takers - we are the average age here! Our room in the beach, literally, has a fair few mozzies so I plugged the machine in straight away. May need 2! The bed has nets too, and the ... read more
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Asia » Vietnam » Mekong River Delta » Can Tho February 22nd 2016

What a wonderful day boating in the Mekong Delta! To get there we drove for about an hour and a half. My first impression about all the businesses being on the street wasn’t too far off; Thuy explained that the family business is on the ground floor and the family lives above. Great grandparents are given the most respect so they live on the second floor, since climbing stairs would be difficult, and the Buddhist shrine is there also. The one to three floors above are for all the other generations. This helps explain why most of the newer houses are tall but not very wide. The best of these have great gardens on about half of the top floor, with a canopy roof providing shade and protection. Thuy said that in some of the houses, ... read more
Life on the Mekong Delta
Cutting Popped Rice candy
Snake Liquour

Asia » Vietnam » Mekong River Delta » Vinh Long January 31st 2016

I woke up with the telephone buzzing on my bed side table. My wake up call. I looked at the clock, its 6:00 am. Usually I am up by this time without any wake up call. Last night I was tired. It’s more than 10 days now, and I have been always on the go from the morning until sundown. My body needs a break. I suddenly remembered, today is my last full day in Vietnam…I’m leaving tomorrow. I felt sad. In the past 10 days or so, I traveled many places from the North to the Central to the South of Vietnam. I fell in love with this country and the people. I lied down on the bed for five more minutes, just relaxing and thinking about my journey to Vietnam. Slowly, I glanced at ... read more
Mighty Mekong River
A relaxing afternoon
Han near the house where we had our lunch

Asia » Vietnam » Mekong River Delta January 24th 2016

Ho Chi Minh City (still referred to as Saigon) is certainly the busiest place we have visited so far. On the first morning we booked a guided tour of some of the historic highlights. The temperature is in the mid 30's here so it was worth being taken from one place to another in an air conditioned mini bus! We visited the Reunification Palace, the original had been built in an elegant french colonial style but was replaced by a very utilitarian building and a lot of the rooms have a typical 1970's style. We were also taken to the war remnants museum which provided quite a powerful record of the Vietnam War, or the American war as they call it here, using images taken by American war journalists accompanied by some very biased labelling. The ... read more
Inside the Jade Temple
Jade Temple
St Mary's Cathedral




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