We left Phnom Penh and headed into Vietnam at 5am. It was a trend on the river to cruise until 11pm and get a rude wake up when the anchor dropped and another rude wake up at 5am when they pulled the anchor back up to continue the journey. Being in the room nearest to the anchor didn't help any. Pretty sure I didn't sleep more than 4 consecutive hours the entire 7 days on board, in hind sight I should have sorted out some ear plugs. Entering Vietnam it was hard to tell that we were in a new country because this part of the Mekong Detla used to be part of Cambodia before the French seperated it to Vietnam. It's still home to many families of Cambodian decent. Our first stop in Vietnam was a bird sanctuary. This is easliy one of the most amazing places we visited. It's a section of swamp protected by the government where hundreds of birds call home. We were taken through the park first in a long motor boat then transfered to a small canoe. The scenery was increidble and very peaceful. The birds were squaking and flying around us all over the place. Very cool experience! We had a really exotic lunch here. It's not fare to say it wasn't good it just isn't anything we're used to. Aside from this meal everything we ate in Cambodia and Vietnam was excellent! We spent the next few days cruising towards Siagon (aka Ho Chi Mihn City) with stops at several markets and pagodas. They were all amazing but I have to admit after a while they start to look alike! The markets had everything you can think of. The meat and fish sections were questionable and a little off putting however. A memorable lunch took us to a small island where they farm crocodile, procupines, frogs and snakes for eating. Chris was brave to try the crocodile turned out it tastes similar to chicken! I stuck with a veggie noddle dish, the market turned me off of meat for a bit I have to admit. On this Island they also produce popped rice and coconut candy. The popped rice was super neat to watch. They put rice in a large pot and stir it over a fire until it pops like pop corn. It only takes a few seconds for this to happen then they mix it with sugar and fruit flavours to create some truly excellent snacks. Even better Chris can eat them despite his allergies! After a few more restless nights on board we made it to Saigon! It's a remarkable city with a lot of French influence and about 8 million motor bikes. We stayed at the Continental Saigon hotel dating back to the 1880 which claims to be the first hotel in Vietnam, located in the heart of the city. Our G guide to us to a well know Pho place near the Binh Tay Market called Pho 2000. Bill Clinton graced this place in 2000 during his visit to the city and they've used this to popularize the restaurant. On top of photos of the former US president scattered around the restaurant they have what he ate listed at each table. Chicken Soup Pho with a Mango Smoothie. If it's good enough for Bill Clinton it's good enough for me, and it was! Highly recommend Pho 2000. That afternoon we took a 4 hour bus ride out to the Cu Chi Tunnels. It's an immense serious of underground tunnels used by Viet Cong sodiers as hiding during the Vietnam War. They would set up boobie traps and land mines to keep from being caught by American soldiers. They'd hide the dirt from the tunnels in bomb craters and use dirt mounds to hide air holes. For cooking they had a serious of chimneys filled with cotton so the smoke would be absorbed and spill out of small openings several meters away so low it looked like fog in the morning. It's extermely impressive what they accomplished here. They also used old tires to make backwards shoes so when you walked one way it appeared you had walked the other direction. These shoes were tell tale signs of what side you were on and if you didn't wear this who you'd be shot by the Viet Cong Soldiers. Most of the tunnels are off limits to visitors due to saftey concerns but some tunnels have been created so visitors can get a sense of what it was like. We went through a few meters of tunnel and it wasn't comfortable to say the least. The Cu Chi site also has a gun range so as you're going through the tunnels you hear gun fire going off giving the whole place a very erie feeling. Chris and a few other of the boys shot off some rounds during our visit with the big guns. Our second day in Saigon we explored the markets, a local art gallery and went out for one last dinner with some of our new friends we met on the G tour. The over all experience with G Adventures was exceptional and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a unique and easy way to explore Cambodia and South Vietnam! We took off for Hanoi after this and met up with Chris' parents for 4 days in Halong Bay.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Nicole & ChrisWe've left our jobs to travel the world! Categories
All
Archives
March 2017
|