This blog is made up of emails sent back from our Vietnam family travels, it wasn’t easy to find places to send them in 2006 and you had to type and send so no time for proof reading! It should give a flavour of our trip.
Trip was from the 23 September to 18th of October and the children were 6, 9 and 12. Very little of the trip was booked ahead – it went incredibly well but feels a little intrepid looking back.
Heading off via Singapore
We got away very safely and all on time yesterday – excellent flight over with Singapore Air girls were spoilt and time went quickly. Had fun with our accommodation when we arrived, you are not supposed to have a large family and while we were booked in as 5 into two rooms, we still only got 4 single beds and no room for any extra – good thing Lara is so small and could snuggle on the floor. Spent today wondering around getting use to the heat and hanging out at Sentosa Island – girls had a swim and photos with some wildlife so met all their expectations.
Off to Ho Chi Minh tomorrow – all very excited….. Stayed at : Quality Hotel Marlow, Singapore
Arriving in Hoi Chi Minh
Wow there is no doubt that we are in a very very different country – so the holiday so far has met all Cams important criteria. We arrived and caught a taxi to our hotel and could not stop ohhing and ahhing out the window as he weaved through the million motorbikes to one car on the road – to turn down a side street you literally turn and the traffic just has to cope with the turning car – it is a miracle to get anywhere and a wonder to be part of. I think we were just as interesting to the locals waving at us in the taxi as they were to us.
Made it safe to the hotel and it is really nice and comfortable – same bed issue but they happily sorted it this time. We have had some great experience already just watching the people in the street, school children exercising in the parks, amazing loads on cycles weaving through the traffic, amazing shops selling the most incredible things you wonder how they make any living. Crossing the road is all we expected it to be – hair raising and exciting and we have managed it pretty well but trying to get across a major intersection with no traffic lights a very kindly cyclo driver became our guide and protector.
All in all we are pretty exhausted with the bustle of it all but also incredibly excited to be part of such a holiday. We cooled off in the local water park this afternoon which was great for the kids though we managed to have Holly in the infirmary with a bump on the head, Lara saved by a life guard as she went under at the end of a ride and me with a cut eye after a ride – topped off with losing Lara in a second as she continued on when we all stopped after a ride so all in all pretty exciting and they won’t be looking for us to return soon.
Off to the Cu Chi tunnels tomorrow on a tour – full day tour for $5US each so can’t complain about that.
Right must go girls wanting their turn on the internet, thanks for all the messages from home keep them coming – and excuse the spelling and grammar!!!
Cu Chi tunnels and Cao Dai temples
You will probably get a lot fewer emails in a few days when we head off to the Mekong Delta and into Cambodia so may as well keep the news coming while we are in an easy internet spot.
Today was a full on tour with a bus full of backpackers – boy did we feel old and like the “mum and dad” of the group – travelling with all the essentials forgotten by those who were up all-night partying. Was a great group though and we headed out of town at 8:30 to go to Cia Dao temple an amazing religion – very new and mixture of many religions, you can visit the temple and then go in while they pray at lunch time and take as many pictures as you like – seems very odd to be looking down on people in such a religious place and to be acting as tourists, I found that a bit strange but also an amazing opportunity to see the temple and its followers. We also managed a tour by a wonderful old lady you could just imagine as your grandmother who had taught herself english out of a book. They just love Lara – we are teasing her that she will go home with misshapen cheeks as everyone wants to pinch them – she’s great about it and just stands still and smiles….
Next stop was the Cu Chi tunnels where the Cu Chi people who fought for the Viet Cong burrowed underground, we got to see some replicas of pretty horrid bobby traps, to crawl through the tunnels ( all except me who broke out in a cold sweat just looking at the size of them) – the girls loved it though and Anna and Cam also got to fire of a few bullets from an AK47 – so everyone happy with an awesome day and then back to hotel at around 6:30.
The girls are just amazing, Lara trying everything there is to eat and no grumps or tiredness. My highlight today was just watching the sights outside of the bus, all the street stalls, rice fields, cafes, amazing loads and also watching traffic pass with just inches to spare on what seem like single lane roads. Lara and I played the standard spotting game on the way home but what we looked for where quite different – a motor bike with 5 people on it, a push bike with 3 people, a cart full of pigs, a lady in national dress etc etc makes for interesting travelling.
right must go all tired and going to try and have a bit of a quieter day tomorrow – all keen to get on a cyclo….
Hoi Chi Minh
Today is a “quiet” day around the city – doing a bit of shopping so anna’s very happy now she has spent some money! we are about to book our trip to the Mekong Delta but wondering how Holly will go as she is feeling a bit average today – hopefully just a bit tired, I am still quite nauseous so hoping the will go soon so I can enjoy all the beautiful food.
We got from our hotel to the markets this morning on a cyclo in the pouring rain with Holly Lara and I in one – and usually they fit one person! and Cam and Anna in the other – the guys sure earned their 5 dollars – was a real hoot but not likely to be repeated in the near future as not very comfortable and not keen on being separated from the kids.
Ok onwards for us and back to the hotel for a quiet afternoon and then maybe explore the reunification palace and museum.
Have I told you yet about breakfast, if you have seen ‘the quiet american’ that is just what the restaurant setting is like, large french style windows, looking down on the street below it is quite beautiful.
Mekong Delta
Well what an amazing few days we have had, after a day cruising out – if such a thing is possible in Ho Chi Minh we are now on a Mekong Delta tour. Also just a short warning to all of you who have said you want to see the photos when we get back – start thinking up your excuses now as I am up to about 600 already – a photographers dream this country.
Before leaving Ho Chi we had another cyclo ride – which fits usually one but they managed to get Lara holly and I in one and cam and anna in the other in pouring rain – boy did they earn there $2:50 each – . Our mode of transport now is motorbike – if you can’t beat them then why not join them, cruising around in the immense traffic, no helmet (great public health) and huge smiles we cover lots of Ho Chi throughout the day. I might have told you some of this already as I think I sent the last email from the markets we did that day, anyhow we then booked out trip, had a beautiful indian meal out and then packed up ready to leave the luxury of our hotel for a 3 day trip to Phenom Phen (ops forgotten how to spell it).
A few hours by bus got us to the Mekong delta and then we spent the entire day on various boats from mid size to smaller to tiny rowing boats exploring the life on the delta – coconut candy making, honey wine, an opportunity for Anna and Cam to get up close and personal with a python and just watching the amazing life of the people on the Mekong, washing themselves, clothes and everything else in this brown water, houses right to the water edge, kids swimming, fishing etc etc etc just mind blowing. Actually at the end of the day we were exhausted from the stimulus of it all. The last part of the day we had to go on a ferry and we rushed off our bus among a throng of people and motorbikes wanting to board the ferry and lara got dragged into a shop by a local lady and was quite terrified, luckily we did not get far but this is just a constant hazard with her.
Today was more time on the Mekong looking at the floating markets and then onto the border town of Chau Doc, again a tired lot and not really in the mood for bargaining for food and a few essentials we need to will just have to make do.
All really having a ball and miles more I could say or describe but must get back off to the hotel and get some sleep.
Cambodia
Wow country number two after an amazing boat trip up the Mekong. We had another very early start so we could take in a fish farm and minority village, we were uming and ahing whether to go or not as had spent quite a lot of time on the Mekong but ended up being a highlight. The fish farms are amazing, homes above the fish are fenced in below. We were able to go onto one and meet the family and feed the fish – was just a torrent of fish, they must have starved them a week before we came. The minority village was floating home where they were doing tradition weaving and muslim attire, so our family was all dressed up for the obligatory photo – and could not resist buying a few of the beautiful scarves. Then a rush to catch our fast boat (believe me you would not have wanted to be on the slow one!) and headed up to the boarder, quite a job filling out all the forms as we had to get our visas at the boarder but luckily for us we were on the boat with an intrepid tours group and guide and he just added us to his group and filled out most of it for us – no issues over the border and then around 6 hours up the Mekong to Cambodia, was very agricultural with cattle being washed in the rives, children swimming, working the land with hoes etc – tiring but great.
Arrived at the dock in town to be meet by lots of hawkers for motor bike rides and hotel offers and amazing english spoken by them all – very polite as well, we wanted to eat so Cam brought the two guys a beer to have while we had lunch (steak and chips, pancakes, milkshakes!!! remind me where we are!) anyhow was good for settling a few stomachs then Cam went off with one of them to check out a few options, we found a mid-range place that is close to everything a very nice. So today is a quiet day, girls just having some time away from all the bustle and then out to see some sights this afternoon – probably head onto Siem Reap tomorrow and the Ankor Watt area.
right must off to the post office, just changed some money and then get the rest of the family. Still loving it all and no major illness yet.
A few questions some have asked, the heat is not a huge issue, we are sweaty and soaked all day but it does not yet seem to be overwhelming, the food is a huge range from that described above to local delicacies like snake, there are a few tourists around but not teeming with them – though could be different at the temples.
Siem Reap
Well a few days into Cambodia now and we just love the country, way more agricultural and spread out than Vietnam and the house set more off the main road so feels more peaceful, also seems a little cleaner so far – but we still have lots of Vietnam to go. What we don’t like is the hassling and not knowing who to do a deal with and who you have upset by doing something with someone else, it gets quite exhausting. So we decided to hire our tuk tuk driver for the day which was wonderful – he was our guide, brought our food for us locally including a cafe beautiful lunch where the whole menu was in Cambodian language, so you knew it was the real thing – lovely food. We went to the market and the museum where the prisoners where held and tortured, interesting to see but not very pleasant, and then finished the day off at the palace gardens – just amazing to see the ornateness of it all. One big tip though to pass on is never ever say ‘maybe later’ to a hawker – boy they can follow you for hours saying ‘maybe later madam’ they must do such a small amount of business each day….. so it was great saying to the other drivers that we had a tuk tuk. This was 10 fold important when the next day we took the express bus to siem reap and the hotel from PP had organised a friend to meet us and take us to a hotel to have a look at – we were a bit skeptical about this but it was worth it as we we were meet off the bus by about 30 tuk tuk drivers all holding up cards saying ”come with me – no hassle’ “good hotel I not hasle you “and once you got off the bus you were just crowed, one girls travelling alone was getting quite upset as 10 men just waving boards and calling out to her – we tried to rescue here but she got out of it ok – we were able to just say – we have one and went over to the guys with “Mr Cam” on a white board. The hotel was also really good and $35 US for two rooms with breakfast same as PP so we decided to just stay put. Went for a walk into town and it is just gorgeous, really small and markets galore so the spending has started now. organising a full massage to come to the hotel this afternoon as we are holed up for the day as Anna is really sick today (had to happen) we had a beautiful meal of local food all hot cooked but obviously something in it so no Ankor Watt today.
Best thing is that we have managed to organise a flight out of here on the Saturday direct to Danang just above Hoi An, otherwise we would need to have backtracked right back down the country so this is going to make the rest of the trip really relaxing for us and mean we get a lot more done.
The address of where we are staying is www.siemreapriverside.com if you want to look at what $35US for two rooms buys…..
It is quite nice to have a quiet day today and we have 4 days here so I am sure we will get to the temples, actually we all feel really refreshed now as we were all a bit down and hassled in PP so that would be the mid holiday drop which I suppose has to happen.
Ok time to head off and do some more exploring/shopping
Angkor Wat
Well we made it at last, everyone well enough to head out at sunset to the temples, you go around 5 the night before you want a day ticket, and you don’t pay extra for a sunset – at $20US each it is likely to be the most expensive thing we do but cheap cheap for what it is. We headed with the throng up the hill to see the sunset over Angkor Wat, boy the most amazing thing was the people just thick with people climbing over the temples. The sunset was nonexistent as it had been a wet day and the temple was very far away so we were pleased we had done this today and not at the end of a busy day at the temples. An incredible experience to just give us a taste of what we would see the next day.
Everyone woke feeling ok – so we headed off, we had a driver for the day to take us around a fairly set course so that we saw all the major temples, it is just impossible to describe the expanse of it, the amazing carvings in the wall, the way the trees grew through and over the walls, the height of the structures and they could possibly move the stone and create these immense structures. We got all the obligatory photos and once again everywhere was teeming with tourists, you could still get photos of just as everywhere which was great. The girls also got their elephant ride from one temple to another and that I think will remain the highlight of their holiday the smiles were just enormous and was amongst the forest rather than the throngs of people.
Out other highlight was the children hawkers, if you let them get to you it would be annoying but if you just go with it it was great fun – the girls brought a heap of flutes and I wish i had been able to get the video out quick enough to capture the chaos as the kids tried to sell them their own flutes.
I am keen to head back to the temples but after about 8 hours (which seemed to pass in just a few minutes) their yesterday in searing heat I can’t convince anyone to come back with me so we are hiring a car and heading off to a silk farm, mine museum, and snake farm to have a bit of an explore and maybe to find a hotel pool to have a swim in as ours does not have a pool – though all the local kids just swim in the river across the road which is pure brown mud. Holly and I went for a walk the other day to just watch the sights and kids are just swimming and laughing everywhere. School is split into two parts here with some kids going in the morning and some in the afternoon so you see kids around all the time.
Right time to go and get organised for the day – Lara the sick one today but with a quiet cuddle hopefully she will be fine for our day out – we have sure had a bit of bad luck around tummy upsets – thought we would be a bit more resilient and we are being very careful, but you just keep going as there is just too much to miss lying in bed feeling sorry for yourself!!!!
Hoi An: Vietnam
Well here we are in Hoi An, the tailor mecca of this area, boy it is just amazing, there is not a tailor on every corner but rather 4 plus another 6 squished in beside and believe me there are a lot of corners in Hoi An, how on earth you know who is any good I have not idea – so today we are just wondering around having a look.
It was with quite a bit of sadness that we left Cambodia, we all loved the place and just wanted to see more of it, will have to start planning the next trip soon. The hotel were very sad to see the girls leave, they really enjoyed them and tried hard to convince them to stay behind and just us two go….
We had a marvellous last day in Cambodia, cam had read the local information and organised a great itinery with a silk farm – where I just felt it was very important to help the local economy and buy a lovely silk bag!, Lara took really ill so we took her back to the hotel and they dropped Holly and I off for a foot reflexology massage – $8US for an hour – was heaps of fun and quite sore too… the next stop once Lara perked up was to a king cobra snake show where they did a great show in an amphitheater but only to our family – we all got to have a huge python draped over us, and watch cobras in action – it was quite a fascinating show actually and very cool being private for us! Next stop was an off the beaten track land mine museum, run by one of the organisations wanting to clean up landmines around the area, we were shown around by a young man injured when his family returned from Thailand after the war and at 7 found a land mine and picked it up not having any idea what it was about – his story of how his mother had to take him to 2km to the hospital carrying him and how scared she was really upset me as I could just imagine how she might have felt – was a real experience for the girls.
After that is was to a great Mexican restaurant for tea, we were followed by lots of beggars with babies asking for milk so instead of money Cam went and got them milk – funny how a few disappeared then, that has been the way we have managed with the begging – give them food not money and as we left Cambodia we passed out some shoes and toys from the plane we did not want, always gets a very grateful smile.
Great flight out and while not really cheap was a fantastic decision as means we have so much more time for our holiday than we would just sitting on a bus for 3 or 4 days.
Arrived in Danang around 5:30 and a taxi driver took us to a couple of hotels, one quite disgusting and not cheap and right next door the most amazing place with a pool, tennis court and right across the road from the beach for the same price – so after a much wanted swim we went in search of a restaurant. To get there we had to pass the devastation of the typhon, and believe me it does not take much to destroy many of the buildings but this was really extreme, anyhow the restaurant was fantastic right on the beach and a seafood restaurant, the menu almost entirely in Vietnamese and us the only eurpoeans there but we managed with a bit of pointing and by the end had half the staff watching us like monkeys in a zoo
Hoi An
So back to the beginning of my message and now we are in Hoi An, since I wrote the start of this over lunch we have ordered a new suit for Cam $60 US and togs for Holly as well as the local dress Aoi Di (can’t remember how to spell it) we have used two different shops and when we pick them up tomorrow we will decide whether to buy any more or not, I think we will hang around for a few days as the hotel here also amazing with rooms opening directly onto a beautiful pool and buffet breakfast included – we have splashed out here and it is $50US for our two rooms….. the website is down so I can’t show you how gorgeous it is.
Wow what an awesome day – had planned on sending a message this morning with our plans but then decided there may be too many anxious people waiting to see if we survived to send another messaged in a day or so!! We decided to join the local traffic and hire bikes for the day and bike out to the beach – only 5km on four lovely old bikes with trendy baskets on the front so I fitted in really well, Lara perched on the back of the 4th bike. Weaving through the traffic would have been hard enough if it was only the other side of the road we had to worry about but traffic rules of any sort (including helmets) are totally missing – just seem to be two rules we have worked out 1)big always gets right of way and 2) dress like a school child and you are given more room given we could do neither of these we just went along our merry way and made it safely to the beach and back and all around town for the rest of the day – by the time we picked up all our clothes the baskets were very full. It is a beautiful little town and very easy to get around, really quaint and just a million interesting shops. We ended up getting heaps of clothes made in 4 different shops, 2 suits for cam, trousers for Anna and I, Aoi Di for Holly and Lara, 3 tops for me, Long jacket for Holly and I, 2 dresses for the girls and a skirt and top for Holly so they did pretty well out of us. The best fun is just the whole process of getting the clothes, trying on some things in the shop then describing what you want, choosing the fabrics, looking at the detail of how they make it so you are happy, getting fitted then coming back that afternoon or early next day to try it on – if you like it great if not a wee man arrives on a bike to take it away and make the alterations arriving back in an hour for the next fitting. It is truly a hoot and we are pretty pleased with what we got made would not rave about the prices except for the jackets and suits which are really cheap but getting exactly what you want is a lot of fun.
So tomorrow it is off to Nga Trang and getting to the last bits of the holiday, feels like it has been a really good length but nowhere near ready to go. We are having quite a bit of trouble getting to Nga Trang as it is around about 500km but 12hrs overnight on the bus which I put my foot down for I am not that intrepid with 3 kids, but there are no daytime buses anymore – so they said how about a mini bus and driver for $140US ah no not so keen on that either as almost as cheap to fly, anyhow decided on the train so trying a few different varieties of travel and really looking forward to it.
Right time to go and cool off literally as I am red as a lobster (which actually Cam had for lunch today beside the beach) we spent far too long in the gorgeous sea and are all in quite a bit of pain but oh well them’s the breaks.
Nha Trang
Wow I just wish I had hours to write about all that has happened, it is just amazing and does not seem to be slowing down at all – we finished up a lovely time in Hoi An by purchasing an enormous pack to fit all our new clothes in – actually we have already filled two new packs but at $20US each you can fill as many as you like (big tramping packs this is). Anyhow the route out of Hoi An was a definite intrepid journey – we decided to go on the reunification express train – Cam being the ex-station master was not keen as he knew how unreliable trains can be and oh well I guess he was right – we were supposed to get in at 8:30 but due to an unplanned stop in the middle of nowhere we got in about 10:15 all just a little tired and weary given we set off around 11am. The train itself was amazing first event was getting some food from the vendors Cam decided he would get a can and as he headed off to do this another train came by and parked in front of ours separating our train from the station – I did a mini panic of carrying on without him when he reappeared full of grins, he had not got off the train but the lady dead keen to make the sale had appeared from under the other train with his drinks – no chance in this country is left where a $1 can be made.
The seats themselves were probably got from the Ark and the little tray tables in the side were all rusted and did not really move very well, the seats reclined but right onto the person behind and then good luck to getting them back up again, it really was a real hoot. We thought we were doing badly till our new friends (a dutch family that we have spent some time with) came through to visit us – their carriage also came complete with cockroaches and mice!! So we have travelled by foot, plane, car, minivan, cyclo, motorbike, tuk tuk, elephant, buffalo, bus, train and boats or all sizes so need to keep thinking if we can come up with something else.
Anyhow we have now arrived in Nha Trang which is said to be the surfers paradise of the area – well maybe 40 years ago! It is a fantastic beach area with lots of hotels a few hawkers on the beach and fantastic diving and snorkeling – that was our activity today. Cam and I are both Padi divers so we were keen to dive and the kids snorkle but I was a bit worried about how that would work. Cam found a place he was pretty keen on and happy about the safety, so we booked it yesterday and headed off early this morning. It is the off season so really quiet, so we had almost as many staff as people on the boat. So we had a quick reminder of diving and the kids were starting to panic a little so I was starting to panic a lot about going down with them under someone else’s care that I could not communicate well with but as soon as I was in the water and off the kids settled down and were snorkeling away before I had even descended. The diving was just great heaps to see – not anything like the great barrier reef but still really great and our dive master was great at finding things to see. Cam and I both managed really well which I was a bit nervous about as probably about 3 years ago we dived last, I had to abort the second dive early as I was getting quite tired but was a fantastic experience. The kids have put it right up there with elephant riding as a highlight of the holiday.
Back on shore we headed for our latest favourite place, an awesome restuarant with a pool – hung out there for ages having yet more banana and watermelon and mango smoothies – boy its a tough life.
Ok must head off we are buying an open bus ticket to head to Mui Ne beach and then onto Ho Chi Minh to fly out so a few more days of beach then a few days shopping before we fly out next Tuesday. It is not going too fast as we can’t believe all we have packed in but are certainly going to need to come home for a rest!!
Mui Nei to Ho Chi Min
Well here we are back in Ho Chi Min – wow what a holiday it has been, just spent the last 4 days at the beach some in Nha Trang where we did the snorkeling then down to Mui Nei which is just a huge stretch of beautiful beach with hotels and bungalows on the beach all the way along, sunsets and rises to die for. We just lazed around and swam (until anna got stung by a jelly fish – which kind of took the shine off it) but still was just beautiful and once again really really empty, hardly anyone at any of the restaurants which kind of makes you a bit wary – mind you we are taking a lot more chances with the food now than we did at the beginning and trusting the locals when they say the ice is made from mineral water! so far so good. We have spent about 11 hours on buses over the past few days getting back to HCM and everyone has travelled so well – thank goodness for Annas iPod though and with an adapter for a second set of ear phones we can have 2 or 3 listening at once – with only minor arguments about song choice – which usually goes something like “no way Holly we are not listening to High School Musical!!!”
Anyhow here we are for a last day and a half and it is all going to be SHOPPING SHOPPING SHOPPING we have almost run out of our budget but hey that is what a budget is for isn’t it. May well not get another message away and need to save some news for when we return. We leave after lunch tomorrow then have one night and a full day in Singapore leaving in the evening and flying over night to get back to New Zealand. So thanks again for all your emails and messages while we were travelling has made a huge difference to us. See you all soon
The sad Brinsdons
A few picks from the last day in Vietnam just soaking it all in. We also went to the main museum which was really interesting but maybe not on the last day of a three week holiday.
More family blogs here