During my stay in Ho Chi Minh City, I did a fair amount of shopping, for grocery, clothing and souvenirs. I found the experience to be exactly what I had anticipated: A bit disorienting and frustrating, but filled with interest, awe and a myriad of…Read More

During my stay in Ho Chi Minh City, I did a fair amount of shopping, for grocery, clothing and souvenirs. I found the experience to be exactly what I had anticipated: A bit disorienting and frustrating, but filled with interest, awe and a myriad of prices for indentical items.

The very first lesson I learned while in Vietnam was to wear a convincing poker face at all times. I am positive that the vendors can smell fear, and once they do, it is near impossible to negotiate a lower price. After learning the hard way, and almost being scammed into paying double for a banh mi sandwich, I had much better luck thereafter.

The trick is to appear unaffected and be prepared to walk away. The very instant you display unbridled joy at having discovered something wonderful, whether it be that perfect beach wrap or an amazing work of art, its price would have been raised exponentially without you even realizing it.

Street Vendors
The food vendors walk around with baskets attached to a pole which is carried on their shoulder, or some push around small carts filled with everything imagineable. They are usually easy to bargain with, and I never felt ripped off.

Whether this is due to competition, or the fact that street food is not geared toward tourists, I found great value buying my meals this way. Large sandwiches cost me less than $1 USD, and the portions were decent and bursting with flavour.

Ben Thanh Market
This centralized shopping mecca in downtown Ho Chi Minh City is a complex maze to manouever. It is packed with merchants selling everything you would expect, and a few things you wouldn't. I bought several different fruits including dragon fruit and rambutan berries.

These fruits look somewhat bizarre on the outside, but are actually quite sweet and tasty. The prices being quoted varied dramatically, so all I can advise is to ask around for the best deal. Don't pay more that $2 to $3 unless it's a large portion you're receiving.

Further in the market, there are areas where local meals are being served. I had a bowl of Pho Bo, which is the equivalent of beef noodle soup and it was quite delicious. I paid approximately $1.50 for a large bowl accompanied by a small plate of fresh greens.

Souvenir Shopping
Sadly, I left my souvenir shopping until the very last minute, so I had to utilize the very touristy shops along Pham Ngu Lao street, and it wasn't my greatest shopping experience. The shops were not only unreasonably expensive at $3 for a keyring, but the vendors were rather unfriendly while others were borderline aggressive. Note: Souvenirs can be bought for far lower prices within the Ben Thanh Market.

Saigon may not be known for being a shopping destination, but if you need to buy anything while in the city, I recommend checking out the large markets first. The products will most likely be knock-offs, but the prices generally suit the quality. Close

During one of my free days in Ho Chi Minh City, I decided to attempt a self guided tour. I left my room and went downstairs to speak with one of the staff members at Saigon Backpackers. The lady at the front desk gave me…Read More

During one of my free days in Ho Chi Minh City, I decided to attempt a self guided tour. I left my room and went downstairs to speak with one of the staff members at Saigon Backpackers. The lady at the front desk gave me a general idea of the city, and mentioned a few things that were worth visiting. She also gave me a free city map so that I would be able to find my way back.

Walking around in Ho Chi Minh City was no easy feat. Motorbikes zipped up and down the streets with no semblance of order whatsoever. They didn't pause at all for the worried pedestrians who needed to cross the street. The only way to get across, was to pray and place one foot infront of the other until you arrived and the other side! Clearly, road safety was not a major concern in this country.

The first attraction which I went looking for was the Notre Dame Cathedral of Ho Chi Minh City. It was built by the French between 1863 and 1880 and most offical city tours included a stop there. After navigating my way through crazy drivers and busy intersections with no stop lights, I arrived at the basilica.

I walked around the entire cathedral, admiring the features of the old building. The aspect of the cathedral which I loved the most, was the pair of bell towers which flanked the building on either side. They were massive, topped by gothic looking spires and stood tall at 190 feet.

In the front yard of the Notre Dame Cathedral was a beautiful front garden. The lawn was perfectly manicured and the abundance of flowers added a splash of colour to the premises. Right in the middle of the garden was a tall statue of the Virgin Mary, and large numbers of tourists gathered around to take photos. These crowds apparently made the front garden a hot spot for vendors, as there were several fruit hawkers and even a balloon vendor walking around in search of prospective customers.

After a while, I continued along my way in search of the Ho Chi Minh City Hall. I spotted it from quite a distance off, as it was quite a massive building with a national flag waving from the highest point on the roof. Along the roof of the city hall were stone statues of gargoyles, whose sightless glares gave the building a somewhat hostile appearance. I didn't attempt to get too close, but I took a few photographs from across the street. Near to the front of the city hall was a giant statue of Ho Chi Minh himself, as a gentle reminder of the national hero.

While walking around in the city, I found the locals to be very lively. There were people exercising in the many parks, children were playing soccer in open spaces, and I enjoyed watching a father teaching his daughter how to ride her bicycle. I was a bit tired after walking for two hours, so I decided to grab a cup of coffee at a cafe called Highlands Coffee This seemed to be the 'Starbucks' of Vietnam, as I saw many branches throughout the city. The coffee was pretty decent, but nothing to write home about.

After spending the next half an hour just watching life go by, I noticed that it was approaching sunset. This city was hard enough to navigate during the day, so I really didn't want to run the risk of getting lost after nightfall. After several wrong turns, I found my way back to Saigon Backpackers, feeling more than a little victorious. Walking around on your own in Ho Chi Minh City is not for the faint hearted, however if you thrive on a bit of adrenaline, a self guided tour is a great way to spend an afternoon!Close

The Sinh Tourist is the most famous tour company for independent travelers in Vietnam. Their branch in Ho Chi Minh City was located right in the middle of Pham Ngu Lao, which is the largest backpacker area in the city. Many travelers use the agency…Read More

The Sinh Tourist is the most famous tour company for independent travelers in Vietnam. Their branch in Ho Chi Minh City was located right in the middle of Pham Ngu Lao, which is the largest backpacker area in the city. Many travelers use the agency to book everything from local and international bus trips, to tours throughout the entire country.

I visited The Sinh Tourist in search of a bus from Ho Chi Minh City to Siem Reap, Cambodia for the following day. It was already 8pm, and I wasn't sure if they would still have tickets remaining for the early bus, but I still decided to give it a try. After walking through the door, I was immediately greeted with a smile, and given a complimentary bottle of water which even featured their name and logo!

After such a nice greeting, I was already feeling quite comfortable so I had a seat in the office while I waited for one of the agents to wave me forward. Their office was quite large, spacious and air conditioned and with free pamphlets for their various tours on display everywhere. Some of the other travelers seemed to be waiting to speak with an agent, while others were sitting on their luggage while awaiting the arrival of a night bus.

After waiting for about ten minutes, it was finally my turn so I approached the desk. I explained to the lady there that I needed a bus to take me to Siem Reap in the morning. She clicked on her computer for a bit, before telling me that they actually had seats left! Giddy with joy, I asked her for the price, and she told me a total of US$12.

The trip was split into two parts. The first bus would take me to the capital city of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, where I would wait at their office for a second bus which would take me to Siem Reap, in the northern part of the country. Altogether, the journey was estimated to take a full 12 hours. The bus would leave Ho Chi Minh City at 6am, and arrive at Siem Reap at approximately 6pm.

The agent then proceeded to print my tickets and a copy of my full itinerary. I paid the US$12 in cash and I was given a customized envelope with all my documents inside. The agent then told me that while the bus would leave at 6am, I was required to be outside of The Sinh Tourist by 5am. This ensures that everyone and their luggage are boarded in time, in an effort to avoid delays.

The next morning, I arrived a little after 5am, and there was already quite a crowd outside. The boarding process was efficient, and everyone's ticket had a seat number which they were assigned to. I was happy to find that I was given the window seat which I asked the agent for, and sat down to await our departure. I was traveling with a very small backpack, so while others with giant packs had to store their bags in the luggage compartment underneath of the bus, I was allowed to keep mine between my feet for the journey.

After the driver introduced himself and started the engine, his assistant passed through the aisle, handing out bottles of water and packets of face wipes. After every one received their complimentary items, we started off. On arriving at the border patrol, the bus assistant collected all our passports and the process went through without any issues. Twenty minutes after stopping at the border, everyone was back onboard and we continued towards Phnom Penh.

The second bus arrived on time and we actually arrived in Siem Reap a few minutes early. I found The Sinh Tourist to be reliable and their service was top notch. If there is anyone who needs to use a bus to travel within or out of Vietnam, I recommend The Sinh Tourist. They will get you there on time and in comfort.Close

Ho Chi Minh City is one of those cities which backpackers flock to in South East Asia. It's possible to live there on a meagre budget of $20 a day, while maintaining a rather decent life. So, if this number seems ridiculously low, I'll break…Read More

Ho Chi Minh City is one of those cities which backpackers flock to in South East Asia. It's possible to live there on a meagre budget of $20 a day, while maintaining a rather decent life. So, if this number seems ridiculously low, I'll break it down a bit more. I didn't spend $20 every day, but that was my approximate daily cost of living.

After removing $7 for my accomodation at Saigon Backpackers, I would have $13 left to spend during the course of the day. This would cover three full meals and a snack, and any transportation costs which may come up. Here's how I ate cheaply while in Ho Chi Minh City:

Small Roadside Restaurants

These small restaurants are usually owned by small local families, and there are many of them located all around the Pham Ngu Lao Street area. On my first day in Ho Chi Minh, I was rather hungry after a long day of traveling from Singapore, so I went into the first roadside restaurant that looked decent enough. I ordered a bowl of Pho Bo, which is basically beef noodle soup, and a can of coke. The waiter even brought me a free side order of fresh greens. The Pho Bo cost $1.25, and my coke came up to $0.75, which tallied up to a grand sum of $2 for a filling meal.

Street Vendors

It's my personal opinion that some of the best local foods in a country can be purchased from these folks with their makeshift stalls on the roadside. In Vietnam, the food that can be bought here is generally pretty good and safe to consume. For dinner, I once bought a banh mi sandwich from a vendor who was pushing her stall on wheels. Banh Mi is a large sandwich which has lots of things stuffed in such as fried egg, chicken, vegetables and even fried rice! This dinner only cost me $1 or 20,000 Vietnamese dong.


Ben Thanh Market

This market has an abundance of cheap eats. Everything from fresh fruits, nuts and locally made sweets to large plates of chicken fried rice can be bought here for very low prices. If you like cooking your own food while you travel, this is the best place to go shopping for groceries in Ho Chi Minh City. I bought a large bag of lychees at the market, and paid less than a dollar!

Once you actually take the time out to look for great deals, staying in Vietnam doesn't have to cost you an arm and a leg. The country is actually one of the cheapest places to visit in the entire world! Eating on budget in Vietnam is really easy, and you definitely won't go hungry!Close

The market in Hoi Ann is an interesting place to explore as it’s much more than a place for tourists to go and buy their souvenirs. Indeed I’d suggest that’s only a small percentage of the market as the vast majority seems to be responding…Read More

The market in Hoi Ann is an interesting place to explore as it’s much more than a place for tourists to go and buy their souvenirs. Indeed I’d suggest that’s only a small percentage of the market as the vast majority seems to be responding to the needs of the local community rather than pandering to the whims of the tourist trade. The main walk through seems mainly to be for the visitor to the town as it’s here that you can buy wooden boxes, silk, and lacquer. Turn off the main trek through and you’ll be in touch with where the locals buy their fruit and vegetables, their meat and fish.

There are two good times to visit this part of the market. Around mid day is good because this is when the stall holders are taking a few minutes to recover from their long day. At this time you’ll find many of them asleep on top of their stalls, lying close slabs of fish or their heads resting on top of piles of fruit or vegetables. It makes for an interesting scene. Earlier in the day, at around 6.00am you can watch them bartering with the local fishermen who have landed the night’s catch and are wanting to sell it on to the stall holders. This is a frantic time of day and a real contrast to the peace and serenity of noon.

This market is open for well over 12 hours so if you can’t make the times I’m suggesting you’ll still be able to appreciate the smells and colours that make up the fish and fruit and vegetable market. We saw food-stuffs that we’ve never seen before and some sights that we wouldn’t want to see again. I have to say that the low-point was when we saw a bowl of skinned frogs. I know the hardy ones of you out there will think nothing of that but these had been skinned but were still jumping around the bowl.

But the fruit and vegetables are real fresh and the colours bright and rich, but it does help if you have a local expert who can help you identify the many strange looking items that you’ll see on the stalls. At some points the scents were fresh and enticing, but to be polite they were "more interesting" as we got into the fish market area. The hubbub echoed around and "through us" as traders screeched for attention and then a few more stalls away the sound softened as stall holders chatted gently to each other.

If you get chance to visit the market at different times in the day I’d recommend that you do that as you will then see the variety of "sides" to this busy place. You can be sure that at some point, whether it be early morning or towards the end of the day, someone will say "please buy - you’re my lucky first customer".

Believe that and you’re probably the most gullible person in the universe!Close

Our hotel was right at the end of Phan Boi Chau Street and the road was full of shops with a few restaurants interspersed. As we walked slowly towards town I stopped to look at a shop selling a variety of clothes and was greeted…Read More

Our hotel was right at the end of Phan Boi Chau Street and the road was full of shops with a few restaurants interspersed. As we walked slowly towards town I stopped to look at a shop selling a variety of clothes and was greeted by the broad smile of what we presumed was the proprietor. If she wasn’t the owner she spoke as if she was, so I’ll refer to her as such for the rest of this review.

Unlike other places she was accepting that we were just looking and we chatted about her products and exchanged names before we headed off to the market. We’d got the price she was charging for t-shirts and she was clear that she gave a good price and didn’t, therefore, negotiate. Mindful of that I checked out other stalls and it seemed that her prices would stand up well against the market traders.

When we returned, after running the gauntlet of the market stalls and a few "serious negotiations" she waved to us and asked if we would visit her shop another day. We signalled that we would and the next morning, as walked close to the shop we heard "hello Michael". I responded with a smile and, as we intended went to examine her wares more closely.

I wanted to buy some Polo shirts and my wife was interested in a table runner. We looked and I tried on a shirt and then another and then another. The sizing must be wrong over here, I thought to myself, as I tried on a shirt that should have been huge on me. It was just right and the proprietor, Sung, grinned broadly at me. Now I just needed to choose colour and design.

That done we turned our attention to the table runners and very quickly my wife had found exactly what she was looking for. Another broad smile and the item was placed with my shirts. "I don’t suppose that you have table cloths?" I asked tentatively. "Of course" came back the reply. We explained the size we needed and she said that she would need to collect it from another shop and would have it for us "at noon". The price was agreed based on what we’d seen and we left the shop with a cheery "bye" from Sung.

When we returned I got chatting to an Australian guide who told me that she always visits "Ty Bo" when she’s in Hoi An and that her holiday makers are always happy with their purchases. It seems that the shops being trading for many years and Sung has 7 family members who are trained tailors. You can get clothes made to measure her and, as we’d found, also buy them off the peg.

Just as we were going to check out the table cloth my wife spotted a pashmina that she liked so, price agreed, it was added to the pile. We liked the table cloth and in total bought 6 items from Sung at less than £5 an item. We were happy and so it seemed was she.

We liked our shopping experience at "Ty Bo" because there was no hassle. Sung seemed to understand the way us "Brits" like to view before we commit to shop. She clearly wanted the sale but we didn’t feel any pressure to buy until we were ready.

Now that’s a unique experience in Vietnam.
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The market in Hoi Ann was only a five minute walk away from the hotel and so my wife and I decided to venture out and investigate. Now I’m a bit of a sucker for markets and just love the whole deal. I enjoy the…Read More

The market in Hoi Ann was only a five minute walk away from the hotel and so my wife and I decided to venture out and investigate. Now I’m a bit of a sucker for markets and just love the whole deal. I enjoy the hustle and bustle, the negotiations and bartering, the variety of goods, and the colours from natural produce and man-made products. My wife, however, has a less romantic view of things and will comment on the noise, the predatory nature of the stall-holders, the sameness of the stalls and the smells of the decaying fruit and meat juices. I guess we’re seeing exactly the same scene but through different glasses.

My wife had seen some wooden boxes for chopsticks and had convinced me that I would be a good idea to buy one so that we’d get better use out of them. I’m sure the logic is flawed but I bought in to the argument and set out to find one. It wasn’t going to be difficult and soon we were examining a row of boxes on a stall. Now it’ important to remember that some cultures, including Vietnam fail to recognise the English trend to "just look" and soon we were in dialogue with the young women on the stall.

We soon gave up the idea of telling her that we did not intend to buy tonight as she showed us her wide choice of boxes. Momentarily I was distracted as I saw a box that might be ideal for my Bridge Cards and when I found that they sold a box for two packs I was sold on the idea. I was led off this stall on to another and soon was being showed a great card box at an unrealistic price of $24. I smiled politely and said that it was too expensive at which point she reduced the price to $22 and offered me the calculator to enter my "bid". I usually start at a third of the asking price so enter $7 into the machine. She replied with "my God" but promptly reduced the price to $20. I shrugged and smiled and reached for the calculator and re-entered $7. She was un-phased and again entered her price by a couple of dollars. At this point I recalled that I was not carrying dollars so entered into the spirit of the bidding war by suggesting that I’d only pay 100,000 dongs for the box. That clearly was unacceptable.

At this point both my wife and I had forgotten about the chopsticks box and we set off from the stall with the stallholder pursuing us. Now we were bidding in Dongs and 100,000 (about £3.00) was the maximum I’d pay for the box. I finally said that we would not trade and she came down to 130,000, but my now I was playing hard ball and had the scent of victory. "No" I said firmly "I will only pay 100,000". Another few steps and I heard those words "OK, I do business. Come back to my stall".

We headed back and completed the trade and just as we were heading off the woman from the chop stick box stall re-appeared (almost from nowhere) clutching the box. "You buy from me, sir" she said pleadingly.
I now recalled my original objective and we started the interchange of offers. Once again she started at high $20’s and I, convinced that the box was worth no more than my card box converted rapidly to Dongs after the opening sortie of dollars and the price headed rapidly down (a little like the recent crash of the FTSE) until we agreed 100,000 Dongs.
She seemed happy with the deal and I certainly was. The box was checked over and I reached for my wallet. I didn’t have enough Dongs and needed the ATM. I could see the disbelief on the young girl’s face when I said that I’d return.

Off we headed for the ATM, which was only around the corner. Card in, pin number entered, amount typed in and then ... Card returned but no money. We waited and waited and waited. But still no cash! Guess I must have hit the wrong button (I hope I did). This has happened to me once before so I decided to have another go with the machine next to it. Same process, but this time I got cash and a receipt. I’ll just need to keep an eye on my account when I get back home.

The money was safely placed in my wallet and we headed back to collect the chopstick box. Admittedly she didn’t look too surprised and I gave the box the once over before handing over my 100,000 Dong note. Three happy people – the trader, my wife and I.

Aren’t markets wonderful places?

Where else could I have such great entertainment for only £6.00Close

We’d stayed in Hanoi for two nights and were about to leave the Moevenpick Hotel (see separate review) to stay overnight on a boat, before returning to the Moevenpick for a final night in Hanoi. We knew that we were in for a long drive…Read More

We’d stayed in Hanoi for two nights and were about to leave the Moevenpick Hotel (see separate review) to stay overnight on a boat, before returning to the Moevenpick for a final night in Hanoi. We knew that we were in for a long drive to Halong bay from Hanoi but hoped it would be interesting and give us a fair glimpse of the Vietnamese countryside.

Although we made good progress for the first part of the journey we were to discover that the majority of the journey would be on narrower roads that were extremely bumpy. So much so that we all felt physically assaulted by the time we arrived at Halong Bay.

We fought through the waves of motorbikes that dominate the roads in Hanoi and that challenge all the rules of driving etiquette. Cyclists would drive the wrong way down the one-way streets, cut right across the route of traffic, disregard traffic lights and surround cars almost to the point of intimidation. We even saw them driving the wrong on dual carriageways.

Foolhardy? Well they didn’t seem to think so and we didn’t see a single accident nor any evidence of bumps and dents to cars. Perhaps this apparent chaotic style of driving actually has rules that aren’t immediately evident.

After the chaos of the city we were soon in to the countryside and enjoying the sight of workers in the Paddy fields completing the second rice harvest of the year. We saw Water Buffalo pulling carts and a couple of people riding buffalo across the field. The scene was certainly evocative of what we had stereo-typicalised life in Vietnam. There were women carrying baskets on yokes slung over their shoulders.

On the dual carriageways alongside large new factory developments we saw women selling bread at the side of the road, groups of youngsters who’ve decided to park up their motorcycles and have a chat with their mates. It wasn’t unusual to see rice drying on the road side (or even on the road) with tyre marks through the rice. At one point the rice had a water buffalo trampling over it and it takes no imagination to know what happened next! But as our guide explained where else could they dry the rice!

We saw countless weddings being held in makeshift marquees in small villages and were able to enjoy mile after mile of authentic Vietnamese life. At one place our guide stopped so that we could take photos of the rice pickers in the paddy fields.

We were surprised at the range of different businesses that sat cheek by jowl with one another. There could be a food shop next to a small welding business, a motorbike spares shop next to an open air butchers. They seem to sit comfortably next to each other, but our western expectation would be that food shops are separate to industrialised units. For several miles the railway line ran alongside the main road almost touching distance from houses and when we had to stop at the crossing we were amazed at how the oncoming traffic formed a phalanx in front of us. As soon as the train had passed and the gate manually opened by the railway employee the revving traffic edged to each other with "nerve" being the only reason to give way. What a bizarre process.

One feature of travelling by road is the "stack ‘m high" principle that motorbikes, vans and lorries seem to adopt. We narrowly missed a shower of bricks from a lorry, saw a motorbike swerve to avoid a bombardment of melons that had spilled out of a large pannier on another bike and narrowly missed the wreckage of the "coming together" of a motorcyclist and a cyclist. The riders had "escaped" but the carnage had been left behind.

However, incidents as these do not phase the intrepid drivers as they continue to recklessly overtake, and lean on their horns to give themselves protection (in their own mind) from the oncoming traffic.

We saw motorcycles laden up with hundreds of cartons of eggs (and make no mistake I am not exaggerating), mattresses, wardrobes, baskets of live animals (including ducks, dogs, chickens) all heading for market and slaughter. There were bikes pulling trailers of pigs and cows and of course some were loaded with up to four riders. The sight of the vehicles on the road is indeed truly remarkable.

You need to be made of stern stuff to survive the rigours of the Vietnamese roads, the severe breaking, the last minute "body swerves" and the incessant horn pipping.

We have lived to tell the tale and fight another day.
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Our journey from Hanoi airport to the centre of town and our hotel couldn’t have been any different to the journey in Laos. In Laos the road trip was tranquil and without incident. The main Laos Road was narrow and fairly free of traffic and…Read More

Our journey from Hanoi airport to the centre of town and our hotel couldn’t have been any different to the journey in Laos. In Laos the road trip was tranquil and without incident. The main Laos Road was narrow and fairly free of traffic and the airport layback and free of unnecessary administration. Indeed we were checked in and passed through immigration in less than 10 minutes. By contrast, even with our pre-arranged letter of entry we had to be processed.

We were directed to one end of a long office where we had to present our letter of entry (visa approval) to the official alongside our passports and photographs. Each official had their own clearly defined task – so the first one took the passport and letter from us, then they were handed over to another who checked the passport and photos before printing off a visa. This bundle of papers was then given to another who stuck the visa into the passport and stamped and dated the visa before passing the whole lot across to the next person in the chain who entered the information on to the computer data base. The final step was for another official to check the complete passport and visa photograph against our "true likeness", collect our $25 a person and then present the passport back to us. What a time consuming process!

Next we head off to immigration control where our passport is again checked and stamped. We’re then home and dry, through baggage reclaim and customs where we are met by the guide who will look after us for our whole stay in Hanoi and the surrounding area. Efficiently we are guided towards the awaiting people carrier and settle down for the 50 minute ride to our hotel.

It was warm but the rain was persistent so we were able to appreciate or indeed see much of the countryside. Our guide told us that the rice in the Paddy fields on this stretch of the road had been recently harvested. This was the second harvest of the year and the fields would now remain dormant until next year’s planting.

We had now had a glimpse of the simple farming existence of many Vietnamese but soon our senses would be bombarded with brash advertising hoardings.

Signs of the world of capitalism. Now we were beginning to understand the contradictions that a "People’s republic" offers to its people. Once the free economy was introduced then people’s wealth varied dependent on how hard they worked. The country was available to offer manufacturing services to the wealthier world and business came the way to many Vietnamese people. But the country is still governed by communist party members.

Vietnam offers that interesting insight into two contradictions working alongside each other. It’s up to you to decide what you think about that!

The traffic congestion was horrendous and this was emphasised by drivers recklessly ignoring traffic lights, disregarding one way systems and generally lacking in driving courtesy or protocol. Or perhaps the protocol is that you just do your best to avoid others!
After our 2 hour journey we couldn’t help but admire and respect the driving skills of our driver who had got us, unscathed into the centre of Hanoi in driving rain.

What an interesting start to our stay in Vietnam.Close

Meandering down the MekongOn our trip to Vietnam and Cambodia we moved between the two countries by boat along the Mekong River. This river has always had rather romantic, exotic images, a bit like Constantinople, Casablanca , the Yangtze River and Other places that just…Read More

Meandering down the Mekong

On our trip to Vietnam and Cambodia we moved between the two countries by boat along the Mekong River. This river has always had rather romantic, exotic images, a bit like Constantinople, Casablanca , the Yangtze River and Other places that just sound so exciting that you must go and see.

We stayed the night in Chau Doc in Vietnam in a lovely hotel right on the river. We had had a great day exploring this part of Vietnam, watching a family make rice wrappers for spring rolls, we had eaten some rather strange food local to the area, satay frog legs and an ell dish; neither of which I asked the recipe for to emulate at home but it was interesting none the less.

We boarded the boat and took our rather hard seats for the journey. The boat was a river launch a bit like a hovercraft so all closed in and it went very fast along the river creating a huge wash behind it.

After about forty five minutes we reached the border. We all had to get out with our luggage and go through border formalities. We then got back in and stopped a few minutes further down the river to enter Cambodia and once again we all got out and so did our luggage. It was sent through a very primitive scanner in a hut with a grass roof that was open on all sides. We sat on wooden benches under a grass roofed hut and waited for our turn at the passport and visa window. Around us were several scraggy looking dogs with some little children and a few hens scratting around for food.

Once you had your turn at the window the passport was stamped and visa sorted then once everyone had been through the system we got back on the boat again. The luggage was also loaded back on and off we went.

We stupidly had no realised quite what a long journey this was and after a few hours the scenery alongside hadn’t changed. Lots of trees and a few huts and cows grazing but nothing really much changed hour after hour.

The journey was five hours in total and that sitting on a hard wooden seat in a stuffy boat racing along a river with scenery much the same. I am really glad we did the journey but I wouldn’t rush to do it again.

When we arrived at Phnom Penn we had to climb out of the boat along a very narrow ledge and also get our case off the boat too. This required so pretty athletic manoeuvring and quite considerable strengthen and having watched some young back packers really struggle with their ruck sacks we opted for the paying a nice tip to the young local boat men as neither of us fancied a dip in the river.

I had envisaged us chugging up river on a nice open boat and being able to watch local people getting on with their day to day activities but instead we were inside a stuffy boat with steamed up windows. There was no option of outside as all there was outside was the ledge around the edge that we had to balance on to disembark and a small front part in front of the driver.

It was an experience but not one that I am in a hurry to repeat. We had another boat trip to come three days later as we went from Phnom Penn to Siem Reap on a boat too. This was a similar experience and not one I would recommend for scenery and a nice boat ride.
This was another few hours and a lot of this was crossing a huge lake so that all you could see was muddy brown water for hours.

On arrival at Siem Reap the boat just pushed into the mud at the front and then they let down a ladder that you had to climb down. Even the young back packers were looking slightly concerned as the boat was moving and the mud bank was wet and slippery. To cap it all we had to get our luggage off too and walk across the mud carrying it to the transport, car, bike, truck, bus or whatever.

Once again I am afraid we took the cowards option and paid a nice young local chap a good tip to bring ours down. He made it look very easy but having watched the other Europeans attempting the task I am glad that we didn’t bother as one poor girl ended up on her bottom.

You can choose to take a bus from Phnom Penn to Siem Reap which is cheaper and equally luxurious or you can fly. I think I would suggest flying if you have the money and this is coming from someone who would always prefer to travel on land as you see more of the country that way but in this case I would fly!

So what did I think of my mighty Mekong experience? Well, I am glad I have done it and it gave us some interesting memories but it isn’t something I would rush to do again. I tried not to think about what might have happened if the boat had had a problem in the middle of the huge lake as I am sure health and safety was not paramount.
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