Posts By Laura
Only 10 days?
Laura:
It honestly feels like we’ve been away for month, not 10 days. We’ve already seen so much and experienced a side to Vietnam I really didn’t think we would be able to. We’ve met quite a few people who seem to have been rushing from one place to another, eager to get to the next place but I’m glad we’ve taken it (the teeny bit of Vietnam we’ve seen) slowly because it’s allowed us time to take everything in and has made it much more enjoyable.
Although I enjoyed Ho Chi Minh, I’ve found the Mekong region to be much more interesting and would encourage anyone to come here, regardless of how much time they’ve got. The slow pace of life here really appeals to both of us and we have loved how relaxed it all is. All three places that we’ve been to have been well out of the towns that we were dropped in and it was definitely worth the extra time taken to reach them. Each one has required several transport swaps and trying to communicate to people who speak very little English by pointing to a map. No disasters so far though!
Yesterday we arrived in Chau Doc, on the border of Vietnam and Cambodia, and immediately left the town, which seems kind of so so, to travel up to the top of the sacred Sam Mountain (take a wild guess at who this place appealed to.) We are staying in a beautiful lodge, with amazing views stretching well into Cambodia.
This morning, we went on a fantastic bike ride down to the base of the mountain, around it and then back up to the lodge. We then walked upto a shrine at the very tip of the mountain and saw the most breathtaking views. Tomorrow we take the boat for 4 hours up the Mekong, across the border into Cambodia, to Phnom Penh. Very excited.
My highlights from Vietnam:
- Xe Om (literally translated means big hug)- motorbike taxis. So fun.
- Floating markets on the Mekong- if you have time, spend a few mornings doing them.
- Amazing food. Nom nom nom.
- Vietnamese coffee- despite giving up tea and coffee (or attempting to) in January, the sheer deliciousness of the coffee here has tempted me back. Who knew condensed milk could work so well?
- Stunning homestays and hotels tucked away out of towns and cities.
- Where we’ve been going, very few tourists.
The only downsides:
- Didn’t see enough. We could’ve easily done the whole 7 weeks here. We met an Irish family who adopted a Vietnamese baby 6 years ago and have come back every Summer since- each time they do 4 weeks in a different part of Vietnam. They think they’ve got another 2/3 trips before they see all they want to see- that’s how awesome this country is.
- Bloody mosquitos. Everywhere.
Organized Chaos
Laura:
So Ho Chi Minh has turned out to be nothing at all like I thought it would be- in a way, it reminds me of Bali and the craziness on the roads, although this place ups the ante somewhat. Crossing the road is taking your life into your own hands, although, touch wood, nothing bad seems to have happened to us yet. The traffic never stops and often there are no lights to tell anyone when to go/stop. My advice (and every travel article on this matter:) walk purposefully- no dilly dallying (which a surprising number of westerners haven’t seemed to grasp.) It’s strange, but everything just works. We were on scooters last night and it was amazing to see just how polite everyone actually is- in UK, beeping a horn usually signals aggression, but here it’s just a ‘hi, jus tot let you know, I’m here!’ Organised chaos indeed.
I’ve had plenty of ‘Vietnamese’ food before but nothing compares to how amazing it is here. Even a basic Pho (noodle soup) is so yummy and costs only about 35,000. So so cheap. Last night we went on an ‘XO foodie tour-‘ can’t recommend this enough. The food we ate was so far off the beaten track and so delicious,although when they brought out the duck embryo, it was time to call it a night.
We’re here!
Laura:
FINALLY. It feels like so so so long since we started thinking about maybe planning this trip and now it’s actually here. Leaving HK wasn’t actually hard at all, I thought I’d be sad to leave my friends, my home, but it turned out to be just like going away for a weekend. Maybe it’ll feel real once it sinks in that we’re not actually going back? I was saying to a friend in a taxi on the way to the airport, that I won’t fully appreciate the fact that we don’t need to work until everyone goes back to work in August and we’re just……not.
First impressions of Ho Chi Minh:
1. Motorbikes and scooters. EVERYWHERE.
2. A distinct lack of that lovely HK humidity we’ve all come to hate.
3. I have no idea about the currency- it’s something like 37,000 to 1. That will be one of Sam’s jobs.