I have been delinquent in keeping the Blog up to date but we have been busy our last few days in Hoi Ann gave us a day to ourselves so we headed to the beach to catch some waves and a cool breeze. A beautiful beach that wasn’t very busy a few beers and pizza with some of our fellow travel group made a great morning. After my skin turned into a nice pinkish hue it was time to head back into the market for Karens final dress fitting. Hoi Ann has at least 200 custom tailor shops and almost everyone we travelled with got a new custom made wardrobe and prices and quality is great. The food is very good with a bit more spice the further south we travel in Vietnam.
Bang Beach in Hoi Ann
We left Hoi Ann on the morning of March 13 to Ho ChI Minh City (Saigon) for three days. If we thought the traffic in Hanoi was busy it was nothing as compared to Saigon. A much more metropolitan modern city it's skyline is as modern as any city in the world. Rush hour is to to be avoided at all cost as grid lock sets in, I’ll never complain about waiting for the train to clear the crossings in Wetaskiwin. We experienced night life with loud music flashing lights and street performances it was a sight to see
We arrived early in the day so before checking into our hotel we had a couple of stops. We stopped at the war remnants museum they explained all the atrocities from the Vietnam war. The museum was previously called the American Atrocities museum but changed its name to appease the American Tourism industry. It was a very graphic 4 story museum with the Vietnamese point of view of the conflict. After the museum we went to the presidential palace that was occupied by the president of Vietnam prior to being surrendered to the North Vietnamese the building wasn’t all that presidential almost like a vintage municipal office building that could be found in any Canadian city, but nonetheless the Vietnamese that it was a big deal. We then checked into our hotel our for diner and it was the end of a long day.
Our second day we went to the Chu Chi Tunnels a couple hours outside of Saigon, this tunnel system consisted of over 200 kms of very narrow and small tunnels the the jungle that the Vietnamese army and Gorilla’s used to evade the American and French forces in Vietnam. We got to experience creeping through the tunnels I’m sure they enlarged the tunnels slightly for the larger size tourist, but they were quite snug. It was really amazing to see the facilities they had underground from kitchens to operating rooms. After trip to the tunnels it’s back to Saigon which was about 75kms away and took 2.5 hours to complete.
In the evening we when on a diner cruise along the Mekong river travelling through the city. Our last day in Saigon took us out to the countryside to do another river cruise through the jungles in small boats to see all the uses of the coconut and brick making industry. All tasks are done by hand and I think if automation were involved there would be massive unemployment. Another long bus ride back to Saigon then our guide took 6 of us out to visit the Saigon bar scene…..Wow! If this place wasn’t full sensory overload I don’t know what is. The place was packed with people, scooters and bar staff asking you to see there club with cheap drinks and dancing girls we stayed for a few drinks sitting at a street side bar watching humanity pass by us for a couple of hours.
Clubbing in Saigon
Food in Saigon is very good we went to another restaurant that was visited by Anthony Bourdain for some Pho and Bin Mai sandwiches. In the morning we head to Cambodia to see the temples of Angkor Watt one of the top Heritage sites in the world.
We’re getting near to the end of our tour of Vietnam and Cambodia but hadn’t mentioned much about our tour group. I (Karen) will take it from here This group of 30 was equivalent to a classroom . Some were high needs and required frequent reminders what the agenda was and what was required of them. There were those rushing to the front of the line to always get the front seat in the bus . A few keeners that asked way too many questions therefore monopolized the tour guide. Indeed this was a classroom at its finest. our local guide Dang was exceptional and took great care of us I gathered more patience and tolerance as the days went on and I’m a better person because of it. I shed a few tears saying goodbye to new friends this morning which was evident great friendships were formed.
Our Group
While I have command of the keyboard I must share an Amazing Rob situation. During one of our temple visits in the forest we were warned about the wild monkeys and to stay away from them. While we were waiting for our group to gather, Rob had his empty water bottle in his hand and an aggressive monkey wanted it so he/she he/her jumped at Rob to grab it. I screamed but with Robs quick thinking and agility he managed to ward it off with one quick smack and the monkey retreated with the look of defeat. Thank goodness is all I had to say. Rob was the talk of the tour as he would be game for almost anything. Eating crickets and juggling a live eel at the market and then dropping it on the floor and trying desperately to pick it up again and of course the monkey episode which was a minor incident which he was later embellishing the story about fighting off a troop of monkeys with only one arm still attached, after the other one was chewed off my the ravenous apes.
Now that I have the keyboard back (Rob) and my wounds have healed I must admit that the temples at Angkor Thom and Angkor Watt were spectacular built about 1200 years ago then abandoned for about 250 years these amazing structures were a testament of what people will do for their gods. There are about 72 temples in the area but these two are spectacular. The large stones temples are up to 180 feet high and are made by stacking stone with no mortar. Angkor Thom is being reconstructed and huge piles of stone are being put back together like a jigsaw puzzle. Angkor Watt is of the best condition and is still used by the Buddhists as a major religious site. Most definitely a must see in Cambodia. Our last night in Cambodia concluded with a nice diner with our new tour group friends and then a last stroll thought the markets district near our hotel. The vendors like to tease the tourists and would rub my belly and say “we have shirts that fit Baby Bear” Breakfast this morning and then off to the Airport outside of Siem Reap then onto Thailand for a more laidback week of sitting by the ocean and taking in the local scenes of Krabi Beach.
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