At large in 'Nam!

We're on our way!!!

As I write this, we’ve have just left Vietnam and are in a speedboat, heading up the Mekong to Cambodia and Phnom Phen.  Its exactly the half way point in our SE Asia adventure, so time for an update!

We flew out late Friday night on Asiana, connecting via Seoul.   I’d managed to accumulate enough airmiles to get us business class return flights (300,000!) so our journey out was very comfy.  ManpanionTM was a vision in green and matched the Asiana livery perfectly!  Because it was a midnight flight, the 13hrs went very quickly as we slept for most of the flight.  The food wasn’t great shakes (I opted for the traditional bimbimbap) but overall, the flight was good. 

Umm....OK.  I'll try to refrain from thinking while
on the plane.

Slightly bizarre relaxation zone in Seoul airport!

After connecting through Seoul (3hr layover from 3am – 6am) and a very short stop in the BizmouseTM class lounge, we were on our way to Saigon!  We arrived just after 11am and then had to wait an hour while we got our entry visas.  We’d got the approval letter beforehand, but you still had to wait at immigration to get the actual visa and stamp in your passport. 

 But, eventually, we got ours and made it through the other side, where our bags and driver were waiting for us.  I’d figured we’d be knackered by the time we arrived and not wanting to figure out the local taxi situation, so I’d booked us a private transfer to our hotel, the Reverie.  I’d picked it out of trip advisor where it was ranked the #1 hotel in Ho Chi Minh City and splurged on a suite with Lounge access privileges.  It was a bit pricey but, sod It, why not?

Main hotel lobby on the 6th floor

Anyway, after about 30mins driving through insane traffic and even crazier mopeds everywhere we finally arrived at the hotel, a bit stinky and rather disheveled, but in one piece. 

Holy cow.  This hotel was like a Donald Trump wet dream.

 

 It was crazy OTT with marble and crystal chandeliers and incredible intricate mosaics everywhere!  The doors were opened for us as we stepped into the palatial lobby by this impeccable lady in traditional dress and we were greeted by name as they took our suitcases and escorted us up to the 38^th floor where we would be checked in.  We were ushered to the Lounge and seated in some luxurious cream leather chairs while a waiter brought us cool towels to freshen up with, while yet another brought us two perfectly chilled glasses of champagne.  I thought to myself – yes, think I’m going to like it here.

Perfect spot for ManpanionTM to take a nap....

View from the Lounge

More Murials...

And another one!!

The understated entrance to our hotel

Peacock!!

Modest ground floor entrance

Anyway, after checking us in we were then escorted up to our suite where the crazy opulence continued.  It was gorgeous with separate rooms for the bathroom, a little foyer office and a huge walk-in closet.  But one of the best things were the views – we were on the 31^st floor and the floor to ceiling windows gave us an incredible vista of the city below.  Right in front of us was the tallest building in Saigon, basically described (rather snarkily) in our guidebook as a having the appearance of a CD tower rack, with a Frisbee (ie helipad) jammed into the top!  At night it was all lit up and, as you’d imagine, some of the upper floors were taken up by a Skybar with lots of green neon lights pulsing out into the night.  The helipad had a Vietnamese flag on it which, from a distance, kept reminding me of Superman!  

Intricate mosaic patterns were everywhere.  Each
one done by hand.

Fancy pants bed - and who doesn't want a massive
silver tiled border round their bed, right?

His and hers sinks in the ornate bathroom

The foyer to our room, complete with freebie
welcome wine and macaroons - winner!!

Another impossibly ornate moo-riel

Sure...we fit right in here...right?
Riiighht????

The Waaaaaaaall.
I developed an unhealthy obsession with the
interior of the hotel's elevators...



Spa

By this time, it was after lunchtime and time for a well needed nap!  I also figured that the best way to unwind from a 12hr flight was with 3hrs of pampering in the hotel spa (the Journey of Love package – ooOOOooo!!) which encompassed a body scrub, foot massage, facial, body massage and head massage followed by champagne and caviar and a beautiful bouquet of flowers for me and choccies for Matt (also for me).  It was profoundly relaxing and ManpanionTM was zzz’ing like a champ the whole way through his head massage.  Ah, bless.



After spa-time, we just had enough energy to stagger up to bed and crash out.   8pm on a Sunday and lights out!

Champagne and nibbles post-spa time!

Flowers for the lady!

Beautiful chandelier in the spa stairwell

 

Amazingly, we actually ate the fish that was plucked
from this tank....

Our cycling trip was due to start on Wednesday so we spent the next 3 days in Saigon, sightseeing and generally recovering from the journey and the jetlag.  I had booked us a few tours through the hotel’s concierge so that we’d have a mix of activities and time off.  On Day  1, we didn’t have anything until 6pm when I’d booked us a Jeep Nighttime food tour, so during the day we wandered round the city, starting with the Ben Than covered market where you could buy any flavor of t-shirt, handbag or enamel lacquered dish you could think of.  It was as crazy as I remembered it (“lady! Want a bag?”) and, after about half an hour of wandering around, we were done. 

We walked through town a bit more, ManpanionTM critiquing the sidewalks as we went, before returning back to the hotel (located in District 1) and for a quick nap.  We’d made reservations at a restaurant recommended by the hotel called Vietnam House (which, funnily enough, was also reviewed in the local English-language newspaper I’d been reading earlier) and so headed there for a delicious, light lunch.  You could tell it was affiliated with the hotel as it was also lavishly decorated, with big fan-shaped panes of colored glass lining each dining booth.

The stylish Vietnam House, our lunch spot for
the day

Yummy summer rolls

After lunch, we headed back to the hotel again, as we were still feeling quite tired so we could rest up before our tour.   We were picked up by an open-top Jeep around 6.30pm and it was just the two of us and a young guy as our tour guide.  His English was OK, but not great, but it was good enough as he took us round the city, giving us a great feel and flavor for the town by night.  Billed as a food tour, we made several stops at local restaurants to try the authentic cuisine. 

Unfortunately, I was feeling a bit green and queasy and – without going into too much detail – things were a little upset due to my anti-malarials!  So while it was fun, for me it was more of an endurance tour than a food tour!  As well as going to a couple of roadside cafes, our guide also took us to another Skybar at the top of this hotel, which gave us a great view over the city. 

Smiling through the quease....

ManpanionTM taking one for the team....

Smiling...not a rictus of fear.... honest

Our chariot in front of the Notre Dame cathedral

View from the Skybar rooftop

Oh god.  So... many....eyeballs.....

The staring continues.....

Finally, after a swing through the super-touristy walking street (“we’re in a jeep – coming through – douche pass!”) we got back to the hotel just before 10pm.  Thanking our guide, I headed straight to bed and hoped my street-food experience wouldn’t finish me off by the morning.

Home, sweet home - and the TV has been magically transformed
into a roaring log fireplace....

Vietnamese electrical wiring system

The next day had us up early, at 6am, ready for our first day trip to the Chu Chi tunnels.  This was going to be a new experience for me, as I hadn’t had time to do it on my previous visit to Saigon.  We headed to breakfast first and the delicious buffet in yet another well-appointed dining space serviced by stylish, yet modest, waitresses.  There was a mix of local cuisine as well as a range of more Western choices – the bread, in particular, was delicious – a glorious remnant of when Vietnam was occupied by France.  Thanks, France! 

After breakfast, we met our tour guide at 7am for the short transfer to the dock and a 2hr speedboat ride up the Mekong to the Chu Chi tunnels.  The reason this area is so well-known is that it played a major part in the Vietnam war and the resistance of local fighters to the US army.   The whole area is basically riddled with an underground network of tunnels and chambers, affording the locals both somewhere to shelter and hide from attack, as well as then allowing them to ambush the hapless GI’s before disappearing back into the lush undergrowth. 

Pit with spikes

It was a pretty sombering visit, especially as our guide told us his stories and that his father suffered throat cancer as a direct result of the millions of gallons of Agent Orange that was dropped in this area in an attempt to defoliate the whole forest.  He also showed us the different types of traps and snares the locals used – a barbaric collection of spikes and rust, that could stab and maim and kill.  Most of the tour was overground, with the tiny entrances to the tunnels pointed out.  However, there was once section that we could go into – only 20m long – to experience what it was like.  The tunnel had been enlarged to about twice its original size, so that large Western butts could fit through it – but it was still cramped, dark and claustrophobic.  I can only imagine how uncomfortable, hot and scary it must have been – especially when under the constant threat of bombardment and collapse from above.  So, all in all, it was an interesting – if unsettling – visit.  I think it was even more unsettling for ManpanionTM, so we were in a reflective mood on the boat back to the city.

Tiny entrance to the underground network of tunnels

And another one...

Examples of the traps laid by the VC for unwitting GI's

Ouch

Milling rice to make thin pancakes

Flip flops carved from car tyres

I'm going in!  Crawling through one of the tunnels
that have been specially enlarged for Western-sized
tourist arses. 

For the rest of the day, we chilled out at the hotel and took it easy.   In the evening, we enjoyed a couple of glasses of Laurent Perrier at the happy hour in the Lounge, before our dinner reservation at 8pm at the hotel’s flagship Chinese restaurant, the Royal Palace. 

Still in blissful ignorance of the horrors that
lurked within

Holy Cow again.  The entrance to the restaurant was a vision in gold, with crazy gold embossed dragons and decorations everywhere!  The restaurant itself was actually slightly more understated (not difficult, to be honest) and we were the only people in it!!!  That was probably due to the fact that it was a) crazy expensive and b) very authentic with only a handful of dishes we either recognized or could stomach. 

This was not your Panda Express. 


We had no collective idea what in gods name
this actually was.  Other than part of the
dish was bird spit and fungus.

Good to know if I ever start coughing up blood.

Bypassing various internal organs, bird’s nest soup with extra fungus and gynecologically looking abalone at astronomic prices we settled on a some fried taro and pork ribs for appetizers, then a pork dish and beef dishes for main.  The beef dish was hot as hell, so we eventually broke and asked for some milk to take the heat out!  The food was OK but not all that great – but the bill was ridiculously expensive!  Ah well, at least I guess we kept the entire restaurant gainfully employed that night and supported the local economy!!

I dunno... .reckon its safe to eat it??

Our last day at the Reverie, and we’d booked a half day tour of the city.  Our guide today was a 60-something lady who spoke great English and who, in the 80’s after the Vietnam war had finished – fled the city as one of the Vietnamese boat people.  She told us stories of how she had to drink a mixture of water and diesel during the crossing, as there wasn’t enough water for everyone and how a lot of people died during the trip.  She was 21 when she left and she then spent months in a refugee camp, before finally being accepted into Canada where she eventually became a citizen.  She’s now back in Vietnam for a few years as a tour guide and she also gave us a very balanced view of the war, and of people’s opinions of the Americans, during the time that Saigon feel and the country was reunited back into one.  I think that was good to hear and that – for all the atrocities on both sides – there were acts of kindness and heroism, trying to help people flee the city.

Local market, anyone?

 

Fortunately this blog is not scratch'n'sniff.....

An abundance of fluffy green stuff

Yes.  Those are tongues.

Where your old phones and calculators go to die....

Hmmm.... ManpanionTM continues to realize
he is at least 1ft taller than your average Saigonese...



Old temple with fake horses and lots of incense

She took us round all the various sights, including a Buddhist temple, the old Post Office and the Reunification palace.  We didn’t get to go inside the Palace (if you’re interested, check out my blog posts from my previous visit back in 2009) or the Notre Dame cathedral, which was closed for renovation.  She also took us round a morning market, where again we could see local daily life up close, with all its noise and smell and abundance of fresh fruits, veggies, fish and meats.  We drove past this crazy shop full of second hand flip phones, old calculators and air conditioner remotes.  If you have ever wondered where your old iPhones go when you take and trade them in for the latest model – the answer is Vietnam!!

Exterior of Reunification Palace

Notre Dame cathedral by day - unfortunately
under renovation, so we couldn't look inside

The old Post Office

At the end of the tour, we finished up in a gift shop (hurray!) where we could pick up a few local souvenirs.  I didn’t buy too much as we’d need to be lugging it round for our whole trip, and also the shopping in Bangkok is nuts, so plenty of time for retail frenzy then!  So we said goodbye to our guide around midday and went and had lunch (banh mi and pizza) at the hotel’s Italian restaurant, before it was time for one last nap and then check-out time at 3pm.  It was time to leave the luxurious nest of the Reverie, say goodbye to the beautiful elevators inlaid with amber (“the wall”), have one last pot of afternoon tea and launch ourselves into our trip and a rather more modest experience! 



Lunch stop midway through 2nd day.  By this stage,
I hated cycling and wanted to die.

We took a taxi to our hotel, The Northern Hotel, where we were due to meet our guide at 6pm.  This was the same hotel I stayed in before (our itinerary is pretty much identical to what I did before, including even the stops for lunch and dinner!) so I knew it would be pretty basic.  Our first room was uninhabitable because of the disgustingly strong reek of tobacco (we should have known something was up when we were shown up to the room and the door was already open – to air out the stink), so after an hour of trying to acclimatize, we gave up and requested another room.  This one was much better so we had about an hour or so to rest before meeting our guide.



Buying fish to let go into the Mekong - apparently
brings good luck!  Well, at least for the fish - and
for the local chap who took our money!!

So if you are not familiar with my last trip, this is a cycling tour, over 8 days which takes us through Vietnam and finishes in Cambodia, with a visit to the incomparable Angkor Wat and Siem Reap.  Its run by a company called SpiceRoads and its fully supported with a guide and driver who oversee everything.  As there wasn’t a group tour leaving on the dates I wanted, we actually booked a private tour (at a very reasonable cost) so it was just ManpanionTM and me and our guide.   Our guide was a chap called Phat and our driver (who deserves a medal for navigating through the maze of cars, trucks, cyclists, mopeds and chickens that is standard Vietnamese traffic) was called Zung.   It took a couple of days but we finally realized we were called Phat, Matt and Cat (due to the Simon’s cat cycling shirt I was wearing!).  Anyway, the holy trio having formed, Phat proceeded to take us for dinner at a restaurant a few streets away (called the Temple Club – old, atmospheric with excellent food) and brief us on the trip and for us to get to know each other a bit.  His English was excellent (though he did have a tendency to repeat himself quite a lot) and he was full of interesting information about the culture and history of Vietnam. 

After dinner, it was time for bed as we had a reasonably early start in the morning – and our first day of cycling – eek!!!

Those incense sticks have to come from somewhere..... here's
how they are made and dried!

To fast forward a bit, the next 3 days took us all through the Mekong Delta.  Our first day we did 65km, the second day 90km and yesterday 65km.  As I write this, the thumb, little finger and pad of my right hand are still numb from the ride – hopefully this doesn’t represent permanent nerve damage and I’ll get the feeling back eventually.  The rest of my fingers on my right hand are simply tingling, which I’m taking to be a good sign.

So here’s our route for each day and the tour description, so you can dig out a map and see where we were (if you like) and get a flavor of what we were riding through:

Machine for making incense sticks - apparently before this, they
were all rolled by hand!!  Eek!!

1^st day: Ho Chi Minh City to Tra Vinh:  After breakfast, transfer a couple of hours out of HCMC to Cai Be – the gateway to the Mekong Delta.  Today’s ride will take you right into the heart of rural Mekong, as you pedal down narrow roads and lanes, past banana plantations and fields of sugarcane.  A section of biking takes us off road onto gravel and dirt lanes, weaving through hamlets, across rivers and through quite thick vegetation, this makes for superb biking.  A final ferry crossing takes us to Tra Vinh – a pretty tree-lined town with many ethnic Khmers.  Stay at the Cuu Long hotel.  Total ride: 65km

Ladies hard at work sorting out coconut husks

2^nd day: Tra Vinh to Can Tho: The route today is peaceful and the road is scenic all the way to our destination of Can Tho.  There is plenty to see along the way from contrasting architectural styles of Khmer homes and temples to the rich and colorful river scenes when crossing many small bridges.  Stay at Ninh Kieu 2 Hotel. Total ride: 90km
 
3^rd day: Can Tho to Chau Doc: Visit Cai Rang floating market before transferring approximately one hour to the start of the ride.  Once more the scenery is completely different.  From Tri Ton, the cycling starts to gently undulate and the mountain begin to loom as you ride closer and closer to Chau Doc.  The presence of Thot Not trees indicate the growing proximity to Cambodia and the local people speak Vietnamese as a second language.  We cycle to the Killing Fields of Vietnam at Ba Chuc, where Pol Pot’s regime massacred over 3,000 Vietnamese in 1978.  We then loop around Ba Chuc along the border and ride the rest of the way to Chau Doc along incredible country roads.  Those with energy to spare can climb Sam Mountain for sunset!  Stay at Chau Po Hotel.  Total ride: 65km.

Today: Chau Doc to Phnom Penh.  Cruise up the Mekong River to Phnom Penh from our overnight stopping place Chau Doc.  We get a chance to rest our legs as we see many scenes of local daily life alongside one of Asia’s great rivers.  As we head into Cambodia, we stop at the capital Phnom Penh before heading north to cycle amount 1,000 years of Khmer history.  Stay at Frangipani Royal Palace Hotel. 

So, that was our itinerary.  And, though I can try and do my best to describe what it was like, some things just have to be experienced.  I’m not sure I could adequately describe the sheer insanity of cycling through multiple little villages during market time rush hour, where pedestrians, bikes and mopeds come at you from every angle – but somehow, incredibly, managing not to collide.  Or the sheer abundance of fresh produce spilling out from every stall, mangoes, green coconuts, plump oranges, persimmons, papaya, sweet potatoes, pineapples, lettuces of every shape and curl, baskets and baskets of fresh herbs.  It was a glorious riot of color and freshness.  Or the craziness of cycling along the tiny narrow paths that weaved their way through the delta and which served as the main highway for all – thus requiring you to squeeze past mopeds, bikes and trucks coming the other way hundreds of times!!  Matt taught me this good technique for how not to lose it and keep my balance as a moped approached – more often than not, they would zoom past you with literally no more than 2 inches on your left hand side!  The paths were sometimes slick with mud or moss and we also crossed hundreds of bridges as we criss-crossed our way through – some bridges were stone, some made of wood, some of metal, some flat, some steep and – entertainingly – some missing big sections from the middle part!  Fortunately we managed to spot the missing planks before attempting to cycle over them! 


Guard dogs to ward off bad luck

 

Pig lorry!!

 The scenery for the first couple of days was fairly similar – more coconut palm trees one day, more rice fields the next.  What was also the same was the friendliness of the people – mainly very excited little kids shouting “hello” as we passed by – requiring a hello and a wave back at them – no small feat when trying at the same time to go over a narrow slippy bridge while a moped barrels straight at you!  The third day’s cycling was the best – particularly the natural reserve near the Killing Fields.  This was the beautifully stunning scenery I remembered.  While the Delta was picturesque and very interesting, it wasn’t what you would call beautiful – lots of ramshackle huts and broken pavements with trash littering the countryside.  Phat was saying that the next generation is being taught to respect the earth a lot more (ie don’t through plastic into the river, for example) but, for the older generation, its hard. 

 

Hindu temple cycling out of Tra Vinh on day 2

 

And how did I fare with the cycling itself?  Well, not bad I think.  With the exception of not being able to fully feel my right hand, I seem to have held up remarkably well.  With the cycling, its not your legs that get tired (which you’d expect) – what goes first is your upper body – with the pressure on your wrists and with your back getting tired with hunching over.  The bikes themselves were great, really easy to ride, so that helped – as did some handlebar extenders that Phat lent me on the second day which helped me be able to move my hand position more, so as to relieve my wrists.  I won’t lie though – there were several times that I wondered “just what the hell am I doing?” – especially the second day, when the air was thick and heavy and humid.  But – we kept going and we did it.   Neither of us bailed and jumped in the bus, but we gritted our teeth and did it.   And it was a great feeling of accomplishment, especially on the last day.  That’s what made the hard work worthwhile.

Anyway, my battery is about to die, so its time to sign off for now.  I hope you’ve enjoyed the Vietnam chapter of our trip so far – next up, Cambodia and the incomparable Angkor Wat!!

Here's a link to a short vid of the highlights of our trip so far - taken by the awesome Phat!  Plus a ton of more pics - enjoy!! 

We rode through many, many tiny villages like this....  These
are pics from ManpanionTM's Go Pro - most of which have
Phat's arse up in front....

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cycling through the rice paddy fields in the Mekong..

And the banana palms

 

And the cow arses

 

 

The dual carriageway of the Mekong.  And sometimes it was
even narrower than this!!!

 

The long and non-winding road

 

One of thousands of bridges!

Cai Rang floating market.  The stuff on the pole tells
people what that boat is selling.

Starbucks, floating market style

Man - just check out those threads of this lady's customer!! 
The fashion in Vietnam is just awesome!!!

Our trusty steeds. 
And Oscar P. Lion

Pho???

 
https://youtu.be/P8-E5ssVR9w

Other highlights (to be continued):
Pig bucket
Hot tofu
Hot chicken
Indoor tree
Rice man