The border between Vietnam and Cambodia may be invisible but the difference was pretty clear. As part of our Mekong tour, our guide met us at the dock and the sight seeing began. We went to the Presidential Palace which was beautiful and reminded us of Thailand. We didn’t have too much time left so…
Month: November 2016
Mekong Delta
Our driver and English speaking guide picked us up in a really nice Toyota SUV; we felt like royalty! We listened to the history of Saigon and Vietnam, with dates and dynasties thrown in every direction! But overall, Dat was a very well informed guide and it was a good day. We drove about 2…
Saigon
A modern bustling city…somehow not what we imagined but Saigon has some very expensive shopping as well as everyday people shopping. The price on that LG TV practically floored me until I remember that it was in Vietnamese dong! (It is actually $1,812.88) The city’s traffic is crazy, like Hanoi, but maybe a bit crazier….
Hoi An
The loudspeaker starting blaring propaganda messages at 8am followed by over an hour of music and singing. Now this is not something you choose to listen to; this is something you are forced to listen to. Various messages came on several times during the day. Our hostess said they were reminding people to pay their…
Hue to Hoi An
So feeling pretty confident in our moto scootering skills, we booked with a company to ride scooter from Hue (say wheigh) to Hoi Ann, a 140 kilometer (86 miles) trip over the Hai Van Pass. It was a terrifying, exhilarating, tedious, mind numbing experience. We stopped at a fishing village and Elephant Springs to swim,…
Ninh Binh
The 2 hour train ride to Ninh Binh was very close to torture. A loudspeaker that was broken, of course, mumbled on and on very loudly. Then “Rail TV” came on and it was a comedy act and they ended up screaming and yelling. It was hot in there and not exactly comfortable. Then we…
Ha Long Bay
Another 3 hour bus ride to board our small cruise ship for a tour of Ha Long Bay. Our ship is a little aged but perfectly suitable with nice little staterooms and a great sun deck. The capacity is about 20 and we are full. We were served a delightful seafood lunch with prawns and…
Hanoi, Part 2
We had Dong (our home stay hostess) book us a tour to the Perfume Pagoda. We took a 90 minute bus ride and an hour boat ride to get there. You can walk up to the pagoda or you can ride the cable car. We had heard the walk is brutal so we opted for…
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