timistravels

Overall last thoughts and tips:

• Bring lots of American cash in clean, ‘big headed’ bills that are as new as possible. I used a lot of $1 for tips and they were well received in both countries.
• If you are not a person that enjoys being hot, I’d go in Dec. when it is in the 90’s because it gets hotter other times of the year!
• Flying with in Vietnam and Cambodia was cost effective and much more comfortable than their slow trains or a bus. Funniest thing about flying was how they board. No calling by groups, or rows, nope… just a long line where people act as if the plane will take off without them.
• If you are wanting clothes made for you, do that in Hoi An, seems to be the best place for material and garments.
• Vietnam $1= 23,000 Dong
• Cambodia $1= 4000 Riel
  • HOWEVER Cambodia accepts American dollars and most prices are listed in dollars! Much easier to understand.
• Many places that we thought they’d offer tours, they did not, for example the Opera Houses, some of the Catholic Churches, and historical buildings.
• You probably could wait and find lodging upon arrival into cities, but for the most part VRBO and Bookings.com did not let us down. Only one time did we have troubles and that was fixed quickly.
• We got chewed out once by a lady selling books (in Vietnamese mind you) stating, “You never buy from me, You are mean, You need to buy from me.” We had variations of that statement while in markets etc. Just be prepared to walk away. As we were warned, ‘if you touch it for some reason they think you bought it.’
• Vietnamese food is significantly build around noodles, meat and broth, not often a lot of spices and certainly no curry. Once in Cambodia we at Indian food a lot as it was much more available.
• $10 room is just what you would think it would be, $20-25 typically pretty nice and $30> super nice. Usually at that rate breakfast was included. I’d recommend looking at the $25ish room rates.
• Sidewalks are NON existent.  They are either full of parked scooters OR scooters use them as another road.  Harry got hit on the sidewalk by a scooter (not going that fast but still).  It is insane.
• There is certainly a lot to learn about ‘recent’ history while in these countries. Cambodia and the ‘killing fields’ stuck such a cord in my heart and then of course all the history of the Vietnam War while in Vietnam. Surprisingly, they are very open armed to Americans and happy to see us visit.
• Lastly we’d spend more time in smaller communities and less time in bigger cities (HCMC or Phnon Penh), we are just small town folks at heart.
  

  this is how they grill most food on the street.  Who needs a grill?  

   

12/18-12/22

We flew to HCMC / Saigon arriving late in the afternoon. Took a Grab to our super nice apartment ($25/night) and simply walked around the area for dinner. Also found a pharmacy to get some medication because I was getting really sick (throat/sinus).

First full morning we took “Grab” into the city on the days we were in HCMC as we were out near airport in a more residential area. It was only 2-3 miles but took upwards of 30-45 minutes to get back and forth. Typically it took about $2-$4 for the ride.

I’d say if we had it to do over we would have stayed here less days and the rural areas more days. The city is just that a city. It is loud, it has a lot of eye pollution and just not that much worth seeing after a few days. We even took a day off and sat by the roof top pool at our apartment building.

In HCMC we visited:

1.    Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica of Saigon. It was under renovation so we could only see it from the area that was outside the gates. It was built in from 1863-1880 by the French colonists. About 10-15% of the population practices Catholicism.

2.    Saigon Central Post Office. It too was built by the French and was built between 1886-1891. It is directly across the street from the Basilica. It seemed much more like a building in Europe than something in Asia, even though the hallways are full of trinkets from this region.

3.    Gia Long Palace now the HCMC Museum. This is an overlooked museum by a lot of visitors (or so it seemed). Unlike the Independence Palace or the War Remnants Museum the foot traffic here is less. It actually is quite informative and covers a lot of the history of Saigon and how it’s growth to what is now a modern city.   The ground have a lot of greenery and some war remnants, such as fighter planes, anti aircraft gun, canons etc. There is a special charge for wedding parties to enter and indeed there was one in there during our time, we guess is it a great place for photos! 

4.    Ben Thanh Market is in District 1 and the most popular market in HCMC. It has been around since 1914 (and some of the trinkets may be that old too J). If you want something you can get it here. It is huge and when it closes down later in the day the streets take over and become the market.

5.    Ben Thanh Street Market was near the market mentioned above. It was such a nice relief with options to eat. It was a nice balance between street food and restaurant food. It caters to tourists and that’s okay! We had Vietnamese food, Indian food and Thai food, all were good. It was a bit more pricy than street food, but not bad at all. We stopped here 2 times and enjoyed the food both times. 

6.    Rex Hotel Roof Bar was where we had the most expensive drinks on the entire trip. I almost chocked when I saw the cost, but reminded myself it was about the experience NOT the bill! The drinks were okay and it was fun to sit atop the room of this historical hotel and look over the plaza. The hotel was built in 1927 for the French of course and was originally a car dealership and garage. It became a hotel in the late 50’s early 60’s. The hotel became most famous during the wary when it hosted the daily American news updates and the war correspondents stayed there. The rooftop bar was a favorite hangout for the correspondents.

12/17-12/18

Will only say that our flight got in late to DaNang and then the hotel was NOT a 9* as Bookings.com had indicated. We would have walked out if it had been earlier. DaNang was a let down as well, and though we had always planned to go to Hoi An we went sooner that planned and we were glad we did! DaNang is equivalent to Las Vegas. We work up early 6 a.m. and were on our way to Hoi An by 7 and in a new hotel there by 8:30 a.m.! Turning lemons into lemonade.

Hoi An was probably one of my favorite places on this trip (along with Siem Reap in Cambodia). Quaint little town with just over 100,000 people. In 1999 it was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Our hotel was near old town which is a well preserved area where there is little motorized traffic and a lot of foot traffic, yet it was a street or two off that area and was quite quiet.

Hoi An actually means a ‘peaceful meeting place’ and it holds true to that reputation. We met back up with the mother/son, Penny and Tom from our cruise and enjoyed dinner with them at a Mediterranean restaurant that was a nice diversion from Vietnamese food.

The lanterns hanging along the street, the carless roads (still scooters), and the cobble stone streets made our visit here so enjoyable. We walked through the market a number of times, we snacked on fresh fruit simply enjoyed our time in Hoi An.

IF on your visit you want to get some clothing made this is the town to do that in. We did not, but our new friends did and they loved the craftsmanship!