Vietnam & Angkor Wat (Nov 2013) - Part 5

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Siem Reap, Cambodia - November 3, 2013

After my bicycling tour ended, I returned to the hotel, and left to Da Nang airport to catch my flight to Cambodia, and although I wanted to spend more time in Hoi An, I was also excited and ready to visit the temples of Angkor Wat.

First of all, unlike Vietnam you do not need to get a visa prior your arrival, and do not waste your time by printing those visa forms from the internet. It seems Cambodia has changed their forms and now you need to fill out a small one they hand out at the airport upon arrival.  Make sure to bring a passport size photo with you and patiently wait for you passport to be checked by 8 different people until you are called and hand it back.  Talk about bureaucracy and employing your people right?  I didn't have to wait too long so I'm not complaining.

Edit: at the same time if you are planing to go back to Vietnam, make sure to get a multi-entrance visa for Vietnam, it will cost you more (CDN 133.00 for Canadians if I'm not mistaken).  The Embassy is very efficient and fast to send your passport back - in my case I sent it to them on a Monday and by Friday I had my passport with the visa in my hands.

Arrived after 7pm and my  hotel had sent someone to pick me up.  I could tell this driver was better suited and used to drive the little Tuk Tuk than the classic car he used to pick me up, but we made it to the Terrasse des Elephants.   If you really want to feel like Indianan Jones make sure to stay at this place.  I still don't know what to say about my hotel room, seriously it's something different and exciting at first, not sure about afterwards.  It was my vacation dammit and I wanted to stay in a different type of place, plus I loved the swimming pool in the top floor, and the elephants decoration pretty much everywhere thus their name.   Another plus was the location, close to Pub Street and the market, but not on Pub Street or the market.

You can see more poverty in Siem Reap compared to what I had seen so far in Vietnam, and I saw more beggars in my first night in the city than in my entire first week in Vietnam. The first impression I had of the city after haven't spent some time in Pub Street was like they had combined the wild west with Louisiana and splashed with an Asian flavour.  Obviously I couldn't create my entire view of this place just by visiting one street, and it was fun to see so many foreigners together in one street.  One more thing, don't worry about exchanging your money for local currency, the economy of this place run almost entirely in American dollars.

I had thought about waking up super early to see the sunrise at the Angkor World Heritage park, but I decided I really didn't want to do it.  The concierge booked me a Tuk Tuk for USD 15.00/day and by 8:30am I was on my way to the temples.  In case you are wondering, you need to book a driver to take you around this massive archeological park, and yes, you will be doing a lot of walk as well.  If staying for more than one day, just buy the Angkor pass - 3 days visit valid for one week at the cost of USD 40.

Thanks to the French, whom defined two circuit to visit the temples, you can start with the small circuit (18 km/11 miles) and continue with the great circuit (27 km/17 miles).  Guys, I'm not going to write all the names of the different temples, but I can tell you those temples are impressive, specially the Angkor Thom and Ta Prohm.  Your driver already have experience and they will take you to the temples you really want to see. If in your research you found one you don't want to miss, write the name down and show it to your guide.

Remember those tree roots covering the temples that you saw in Angelina Jolie's movie Lara Croft Tomb Raider?  You will see it and hopefully there won't be too many people at the same time.  You really need at least 3 full days in Siem Reap in order to see what you need to explore.

By your third day you might start feeling a bit templed out, and probably won't be taking that many pictures anymore, nevertheless those religious monuments are just majestic and imposing, and they won't stop wowing you.

Pay attention on the details and you will find incredible carving on the walls, on the floor, ceiling, you name it, they are everywhere.  Smiling faces in some of the towers, hey those ancients were happy people so why not smile right?  If you are lucky you will see as well some monks dressed in their orange attires walking around, and yes you will feel the urge to take a picture, just make sure to do it respectfully alright?

37 km from the main Angkor temples, you will find the Banteay Srei (Citadel of Women), although they are not as enormous as the rest, these are the only temples carved in hard pink sandstone in the region, and also unlike the rest the Citadel of Women is not a royal temple.  If you have the time make sure to visit this area as well, and the drive to this temple is also beautiful.  Around this area it seems you can test your skills with AK47, my driver asked me if I wanted to go but I don't really like guns.

what about Siem Reap? At night time most of the foreigners will flock to Pub street, and I actually ended up meeting some cool people in this place.  In my last day I walked around the city and did some shopping at the market.  Listen, if you need a scarf then this is the place to get it, and also make sure to take advantage of the cheap massages, and trust me more than one will offer you a happy ending.

When I was in Vietnam you could feel more Chinese influence in their Buddhistic kind of life, while in Cambodia you can sense more a Hindu side.  Very friendly people in Cambodia, and less crazy drivers compared to Vietnam.

After spending 3 nights in Siem Reap it was time to fly to Saigon.

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Vietnam & Angkor Wat (Nov 2013) - Part 4

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Hue - November 1, 2013

Happy with my visit to the caves,  I woke up early and left to the Dong Hoi train station to catch my Reunification Express to Hue, and surprise surprise, the train was 60 minutes late. Not a big problem since this is my vacation and I'm not in a rush to get anywhere as long as I get there right?

After a couple of hours of traveling I was checking into the Serene Palace Hotel in Hue, and man I was happy I booked this place because it is just beautiful, top of the line and it didn't cost me that much either. You are treated as royalty from the moment you set foot in their sidewalk.

There are many place to visit in Hue, some north and others south or along the Perfume River. In the map you can see the biggest attraction of all is the Citadel, where the Forbidden city and the Royal palaces are located. On my way to the Citadel I met this Californian guy and we decided to visit the place together.

The Citadel is big and you can spend the whole day visiting, and there are many restoration works happening in the Imperial City.  Sometimes I felt I was in a maze because some building were similar, and I had to look twice just to make sure I hadn't been there already.  Pay attention to the details, you never know when you are going to see very interesting drawing or designs in the walls.

Some people recommended a trip in the Perfume River to visit different pagodas in Royal Tombs, but after a whole day of walking around I decided I had enough and would leave early next day to Hoi An. If you have time, make sure to do the Perfume River boat tour, and if you have even more time there are more areas to explore in the region. I also recommend the Hue Beer, it was actually refreshing and tasty, to tell you the truth I think each city has their own beer name after them, and I think I tried them all.

In the evening I met these Australian girls that were staying at the same hotel, and we had just booked separately two cars to take us to Hoi An, if we had know we would have done it together. I thought about the bus, which was only USD 10.00 I think, but I didn't want to spend too much time traveling, I really just wanted to get to Hoi An and agreed to hire the car for USD 60.00. In the morning I saw the girls again and I told the concierge to cancel my car because I was going on a road trip with the girls.

Hoi An - November 2, 2013

There are 2 paths to Hoi An, one via the tunnel which reduces your traveling time by one hour, and via the Hai Van Pass (Ocean Cloud Pass), where you basically touch the clouds. It is only 21km long but the curves, ups and downs through the mountains make you wish you had a red convertible, and the girls probably would had felt as if they were Thelma and Louise.

Speed limits in Vietnam are a bit lower compared to what I'm used, and most of the time our driver couldn't go over 50km/hr, which was okay I guess because I was there to enjoy the view and relax. After a couple of hours of traveling, and stopping at a local marble shop, we arrived in Hoi An.  They dropped me off at the hotel and continue to the temple of My Son. I was leaving to Cambodia the next day so I had no interest to see these temples, and I'm sure they are also beautiful.

If you ask me what is the city that comes first to my mind when I think of Vietnam, my answer for sure will be Hoi An.  As soon as we entered the city I felt super relaxed, time slowed down and I could smell the tranquility of the city in the air.  Yes, it is a very touristic city, but somehow this city of 120,000 people has been able to blend different influences into something unique, making this city a very special place. I could easily spend a whole week in Hoi An, and it doesn't matter the place is small, you just feel happy here.

Once again I stayed at one of the Essence hotels, the Essence Hoi An Hotel & Spa, and oh my gosh, it was just beautiful and they treated my like a movie start.  If this place is in your price range, do not look for anything else because you will want to stay at this place forever.

There are tons of business and sooner or later you will be asked if you need a tailor to make your clothes at spec.  There are brand bag names been sold in the street, and I still don't know if they are legit or not.  Anything related to clothing this is the place you want to do your shopping, but most specially this is where you are going to relax and enjoy the slow pace of life.

During the day you see those handcrafted lanterns everywhere, and at night time they are light up turning the city as if they were in a permanent light festival, just beautiful.

I ended up meeting the girls from Australia again, and we decided to have dinner together at this little place with a weird waitress.  I don't think she liked us because she was been ultra friendly with an Argentinean and German group beside us, but not too much teeth for us.  Anyway, great food in this little town and then we say our goodbyes.

The next morning I took one of the bicycles from the hotel and went crazy.  I rode the bicycle for probably 5 hours and I finally made it to the beach by taking the Cua Dai road and I think I almost made to the end of the peninsula.  Hoi An is a beautiful city and this is one of the reasons I wouldn't stay in the beach resorts in the peninsula.  Plus the hotel had shuttle buses to the beach if I wanted to go, but it was more fun by bicycle.

If you have time, please make sure to spend more than one night in this place, you will not regret it and finally you will understand why almost everyone is raving about this city.

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Vietnam & Angkor Wat (Oct 2013) - Part 3

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Three nights in Hanoi already, in reality I had 3 nights and 2 full days in the city, and I was ready for my next planned destination, the famous Ha Long Bay area.

Ha Long Bay - October 29, 2013

I did a lot of research regarding the tour operator for my Ha Long Bay trip, and on top of that my best friend had suggested a day trip instead.  3.5 hours driving down to Ha Long Bay, and the multiple beautiful pictures I had seen so far about this place convinced me I had to stay overnight.

Indochina Junk was the winner in my case, more in the luxury category but not that more expensive compared to other companies, and it was worth it.  I actually wished I had done the 2 night tour instead, because this place is just incredibly beautiful, and the tour operator did a fantastic job in everything, from the organization, the food quality, cabins, I even had 2 silk robes in my cabin closet, and yes I did try those robes and they felt so good.



It doesn't matter whom you book your trip with, the weather is the wild card. I was there at the end of October and when I arrived it was gray and misty.  2 hours later it was sunny and beautiful, then a bit gray again, and the next day was sunny as what I had ordered in the catalog.

Nothing prepared to the fact this place was so massive and impressive. Yes, I had seen pictures before and read so many people talk about this place, and one thing is to hear about it and another is to be there and see it yourself.  I stopped counting how many times I said Wow and wow and more wow.  Yes, Ha Long Bay is that impressive.

The place is popular and there are several different companies operating in the area, and pretty much all of them take you thru a similar itinerary, where you sail around those incredible limestone karsts and island of different sizes. I believe they told us only 700 out of the almost 3000 (?) island have been named so far.  Some native population used to live in the caves found in island, and one day the government decided to move them to floating villages - according to the government they are happy now, I do not have confirmation from the locals, but it is interesting to see those fishing floating villages. More impressive is to see dozens of tourists walking around and taking pictures, including me, while the kids are at school and not once they turn to see you.

The location of the those floating villages protect them from the dangerous typhoons that hit sometimes the area. Some of those villages have population over 1000 people.




Very romantic place, and I met up interesting people in my junk, I spent good time with 2 Australians and a Brit.  After returning to mainland I had to head back to Hanoi to catch my train to my next destination.  Out of all the experience, the only thing I could had done without was the stop over to see the water poppets on our way back to Hanoi - I'm sure the tour operator means well by letting the travelers stretch their legs while watching something very Vietnamese, and the guys did a good job with what they had available to them, but I this point I just wanted to return to Hanoi.

Returned to the hotel, which had offered a room for a quick shower before leaving to the train station, went for a quick dinner down the street, then picked up my backpack and left to the train station to get on my 7:30pm overnight train to Dong Hoi, the famous Reunification Express than runs from Hanoi all the way down to Saigon.

You can ask your hotel to book your train, and they will give you the schedule and prices. If you want to check the schedules visit Seat 61.  Another way to travel around Vietnam is by flying, and it is not expensive.  It only costed me around USD 70.00 to fly from Saigon to Hanoi via Vietnam Airlines, I could have done it cheaper with the low cost airline but I did not want to risk the usual cancellations or delays that I heard happens very often.  Actually my fights with Vietnam Airlines were changed twice, and cancelled once, but nothing that affected negatively my travels.


Dong Hoi - October 31, 2013.

Happy Halloween people, after 12 hours of traveling by train I arrived in Dong Hoi.  The train was alright the only problem was I didn't sleep that much because I was worried I was going to miss my stop, all messages were in Vietnamese, but I shouldn't have worried, what you should do is put your alarm for 30 minutes before your schedule arrival and then wait for another extra hour because your train will most likely be late. Twice I took the Reunification Express train in Vietnam and twice the train was late for more or less one hour.

Why Dong Hoi? It is very simple guys, while researching for my trip I came across some postings about this Paradise cave (Thien Duong Cave) and without been there I knew I had to go.  I checked the train schedule and there were 3 trains that would get me there at early morning hours (SE1, SE19 and SE3).  I wanted to arrive super early because I had read the Phong Nha Farmstay offer the 7km long trek inside the cave, which must be with a guided tour otherwise because you are only allowed up to a 1km inside this huge place.

I exchange some emails with the Farmstay people, and they were very helpful unfortunately there was a 2 days minimum stay requirement, and I only wanted to stay one day. To go in the 7km long trek there must be at least 2 people and because we couldn't confirm one more person I decided for alternative arrangements to visit this place.

Dong Hoi was bigger than what I thought, the books gives you the idea this city is in the middle of nowhere, and in reality is busy town with a striving business community. Is there something else to see? I have no clue and I believe the majority of visitors use the city as the base to visit the caves. Actually I did talk to several fellow travelers and I would say 50% of them didn't know anything about this city or why I was coming here. Nevertheless I expect this to change as more people learn about the existence of the caves, and more even with the opening of the newest and gigantic Son Doong Cave (Mountain River Cave).

I booked a room at the Nam Long Hotel via Agoda (USD 18.00 - would had been USD 12.00 if just show up at the door), and the place was good enough for me, I do have to say I ate the saddest looking omelet of my life in this place, but I didn't go there for the food right?

Arrived at around 7:30am to the hotel and by 8:00am I had already checked in (lots of travelers leave early to catch the train), and by 8:30am I was already in the mini-van on my way to the caves with another 4 souls. It costed me around 800,000 dongs, and the visit included a morning visit to the Phong Nha Cave (you enter the cave by boat and was a storage and hospital during the American War),  lunch and the visit to the Paradise cave in the afternoon.



It is a good thing you visit the Phong Nha cave first, and it is a nice boat ride to the location, sometimes I just felt like screaming "good morning Vietnam" but I didn't. The scenery is special and when you see the opening of the cave from the boat you realize this is a special place.  If you have never seen one of those caves you will find wowed from the beginning to the end of the trip. You do get out of the boat and walk into the cave, which is lighted up everywhere, and sometimes you wonder how much damage is happening because people like me want to see this place.

Then after a good lunch you are on your way to see the cave everyone is talking about, and get physically read to get to the top, and take the stairs otherwise you are not allowed to brag you made it to the top.

Guys, there is no way to describe how big and beautiful this cave is - seriously I understand now why they call it the Paradise Cave.  Mother Nature has really done an incredible creation in this place.  You can fit a small city inside this cave, and even though I did not do the 7km long trek I'm telling I have never seen something like this in my life.  I don't care how long you are going to be in Vietnam, but if you are going to visit make sure to add this place to your itinerary.

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