12/12/09 - Started my GAP Adventures Roam Cambodia and Vietnam 20 day tour. Left Bangkok at 8am for our full day journey to Siem Reap. We traveled in a very nice van that took us to the Thai border. Had lunch at a cafe near market area near border. We had to go through immigration leaving Thailand which took about an hour. Luckily we were able to have our luggage carted through to Cambodian border. After walking through the area between the borders to Poipet we passed a small cluster of casinos before coming to the Cambodian passport control booth. It seems that they love paper work. Took us almost another hour going through Cambodian immigration. Picked up another bus at border that took us into Sieam Reap and our hotel for 2 nights. Arrived around 5pm. Hotel was clean and basic with a/c, fridge. Location was near center within walking distance. I walked around to market and back before meeting group for dinner. Had dinner together at a local restaurant that Con recommended. Food was very good. Group is really great. After dinner we went for a few drinks. Tomorrow is a big day. Con arranged for guide to take us to major sites for visit.
Siem Reap was terrific! Temples and other sights were one of the highlights of the trip. Our Tour leader organized full day excursion so we covered a lot. Visited Ankor Wat, Ankor Thom,
12/15/09 - Usually start at 6-7am and go until 10-11pm. Tour has been wonderful. Best part about it are the members in our group (Picture above). There are 15 of us and everyone really gets along well. Picture was taken at Tuol Sleng Prison in Phnom Phen. Older gentlemen in center of photo was one of seven survivors of Pol Pot's massacre. Phenom Phen was bit of disappointment. Really run down, dirty town except for Palace. Saw the prison where victims of Pol Pot regime were held. Also visited Killing Fields.
12/17/09 - Sihanoukville was nice beach resort in Cambodia but somewhat run down. Beach near hotel not great and were constantly harassed by people trying to sell food and souvenirs. Took excursion to private beach with some basic snorkeling for a day which was highlight for this area. We all had great time.
12/19/09 - Got a pretty bad case of the revenge on day leaving for Vietnam. Had to take antibiotics and trip through border from Cambodia to Vietnam was very difficult for me. We had to carry our own bags and thanks to members of group I made it. We overnighted in Chau Doc, which is a small border town in Vietnam.
Our tour leader has organized great excursions (paid) and dinners almost every night for the group. We really get along wonderfully.
12/20/09 - Arrived in Ho Chi Min City (Saigon) after long bus ride. Great city!! Motorbikes are everywhere and crossing street is really a fun adventure. There is a huge market in center which was interesting. Several of the group visited the War Remnants Museum which was very well done except it really was slanted towards how the Americans ravaged the country. Afterwards we went to a temple on top of a hill. Also went with group to Caravelle Hotel located on main street for drink at night. Really nice view. Not much to see here but really like this city.
12/21/09 - From Saigon we took The Reunification Express overnight train to Nha Trang. What an experience. Four of us shared a compartment. Three lovely women and me. I slept about 3 hours. It was very rough. Not the most pleasant experience I've ever had. The train arrived early so we had to grab our stuff and get off the train fast. My cabin mates were kind enough to take some of my things otherwise I would not have gotten off in time and would probably have wound up in Hanoi. I wasn't happy before taking the train and my feeling haven't changed since.
Siem Reap was terrific! Temples and other sights were one of the highlights of the trip. Our Tour leader organized full day excursion so we covered a lot. Visited Ankor Wat, Ankor Thom,
12/15/09 - Usually start at 6-7am and go until 10-11pm. Tour has been wonderful. Best part about it are the members in our group (Picture above). There are 15 of us and everyone really gets along well. Picture was taken at Tuol Sleng Prison in Phnom Phen. Older gentlemen in center of photo was one of seven survivors of Pol Pot's massacre. Phenom Phen was bit of disappointment. Really run down, dirty town except for Palace. Saw the prison where victims of Pol Pot regime were held. Also visited Killing Fields.
12/17/09 - Sihanoukville was nice beach resort in Cambodia but somewhat run down. Beach near hotel not great and were constantly harassed by people trying to sell food and souvenirs. Took excursion to private beach with some basic snorkeling for a day which was highlight for this area. We all had great time.
12/19/09 - Got a pretty bad case of the revenge on day leaving for Vietnam. Had to take antibiotics and trip through border from Cambodia to Vietnam was very difficult for me. We had to carry our own bags and thanks to members of group I made it. We overnighted in Chau Doc, which is a small border town in Vietnam.
Our tour leader has organized great excursions (paid) and dinners almost every night for the group. We really get along wonderfully.
12/20/09 - Arrived in Ho Chi Min City (Saigon) after long bus ride. Great city!! Motorbikes are everywhere and crossing street is really a fun adventure. There is a huge market in center which was interesting. Several of the group visited the War Remnants Museum which was very well done except it really was slanted towards how the Americans ravaged the country. Afterwards we went to a temple on top of a hill. Also went with group to Caravelle Hotel located on main street for drink at night. Really nice view. Not much to see here but really like this city.
12/21/09 - From Saigon we took The Reunification Express overnight train to Nha Trang. What an experience. Four of us shared a compartment. Three lovely women and me. I slept about 3 hours. It was very rough. Not the most pleasant experience I've ever had. The train arrived early so we had to grab our stuff and get off the train fast. My cabin mates were kind enough to take some of my things otherwise I would not have gotten off in time and would probably have wound up in Hanoi. I wasn't happy before taking the train and my feeling haven't changed since.
Nha Trang was great! We were lucky since we go our hotel rooms upon arrival at 6am. Most of us crashed for a few hours, had breakfast and started exploring the beach. Again, this is a beach town. The next day was probably the best so far on this trip. I snorkeled with some of the gang, then we went to a mud bath spa (picture above), and finally I had a facial before boarding our next Reunification Express train to Danang. This was the train from hell. Dirty linens on bed. Hot but I was so tired I did sleep better. I had same cabin mates and we got up at 3:30am so we would not have to rush off the train.
12/24/09 - Train was late and when we arrive in Hoi An this morning at 5am had to wait until 11:30am for rooms to be ready. Tired group of travelers but we carried on. Had a couple of pants made today. One for $20 another for $25. They are copies of the pants I love from China that I got a few years ago.
12/25/09 - Had a free day to roam around Hoi An. They have a pass you can buy for the historic area of town that includes visits to 2 of the museums plus entrance to the district. Went with Patrick & Manuela for the morning. Really a lovely, old village. Afternoon I went on small boat to the wooodworking village and then to the ceramics village. Another great day. Picked up my pants but they made a mistake and didn't put inside front pocket I wanted on one pair. Took them for $10. That evening Con set up a Christmas dinner at one of the restaurants. We all had to give a surprise gift to each other. We had a drawing and I got Steven. Got him a set of fancy marble coasters since I know how he loves to drink. Lee got me and had a camouflage t-shirt custom printed with "G I" on the front and "Cory" on the back. It was the hit of the party. Food was great and we all had wonderful time.
12/26/09 - Drive from Hoi An to Hue was really beautiful! You travel through mountains (small) using switch backs like in Europe to a lookout point giving a view of lovely beach. Took about 4 hours to get to Hue. City is not too exciting but sights are great. Afternoon took taxi with others to 2 Tombs in area - Ming Mang and Khai Dinh. Ming Mang is sprawling with lakes and forest. Several buildings and lovely, serene surroundings. Khai Dinh totally different. Set in hillside with very ornate, colorful ceramic tiles. This is a tiered tomb which is very impressive.
12/27/09 - Next day we had a wonderful tour using motorbikes that took us first to the Citadel commissioned by Emperor Gia Long in 1804. It includes the Imperial Enclosure where the Purple Forbidden City resides. After a couple of hours we took off on the back of our motorbikes (my driver was great & kept putting my helmet on every time I got on again). We had a wonderful guide that was with us for 5 hrs during our day in Hue. He was very informative, entertaining and gracious. Our second stop was at a small house where a well know woman made poem hats out of fiber. This is the famous conical shaped hats you see on all the travel shows. A poem is inserted in between layers of the fiber and when you hold up to light you can see poem with drawings. We took off again and went through the rice paddies to an exhibit by a 78 yr old woman explaining how rice was harvested, separated, and milled in the countryside. She was great. We stopped at a Japanese Bridge nearby before continuing our journey through the farmland to the Tomb of Tu Doc. This was the third tomb that I saw and although interesting really liked the other 2 I saw yesterday. Our final stop was the Thien Mu Pagoda. This lovely pagoda was founded in 1601 on the banks of the Song Houng River. This tour was a highlight of the trip.
We left Hue early afternoon on the Reunification Express train to Hanoi. This was a 13 hr journey but we got really lucky and had the best sleeper car on the train. They gave us free water, hot dogs & bread. Still didn't sleep too well and arrived in Hanoi at 4:30am.
12/28/09 - Took private bus to Halong Bay where we had breakfast before checking into our hotel for night. At noon we boarded a Junk for afternoon cruise of Halong Bay. What a beautiful location. Similar to Guillin in China but more expansive and dynamic. Was a bit overcast with some sun breaking through. Had a wonderful fish lunch before visiting a huge cave on one of the islands in the bay. Was really surprised at the size of the cave and its sights. We then stopped at island which I think was called Tiptop where I climbed 320 steps to top of mound that gave great view of area. Cruised back to Halong City for our overnight stay.
12/29/09 - Next day we left for 4 hour trip back to Hanoi. Trip coming to Halong was shorter because no traffic at 5am. Traffic in Hanoi is chaotic. Cars, trucks, motorbikes, bicycles all struggling to get around this old, grungy city. Hanoi will celebrate its 1,000 year anniversary on 10/10/2010. It will be a big event. Although this is an old, dirty city it is also very fascinating. Living space is so precious most people eat outside on street instead of their dwellings. Motorbikes are everywhere - on sidewalks, streets, huge parking areas. Our hotel was a bit outside of center but was one of best we stayed at on entire trip. Visited Ngoc Son Temple located on an island in northern part of Hoan Kiem Lake. This lake is in center of Old Quarter activity. There was a floral exhibition mainly on the west side of lake tht drew large crowds, especially New Years Eve. Went out to dinner with group then to Irish Pub for quick drink.
12/30/09 - Next day was last with the group. In the morning 4 of us (Soo, Patrick, Manuela & me) went on our own excursion. Visited Ho Chi Minh Complex which consisted of his tomb, One Pillar Pagoda, Stilt House, & Museum. Viewed Presidential Palace but wasn't allowed to visit. Museum was really well layed out and interesting. Exhibits very creative and well presented. Our second visit was to the Temple of Literature which was dedicated to Confucius by Emperor Ly Thanh Tong, and later est. as a university for the education of mandarins. Consisted of 5 courtyards. The Emperor ordered 82 staelae (stone plaques) honoring men who received doctorates dating back to 1442. We took a taxi to the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology. Stopped at a Pho stand nearby before visiting museum. Really cheap and good. The museum features collection of art and everyday objects gathered from Vietnam's diverse tribal people. There is an outside area that has replicas of structures from different tribal groups including a tomb with erotic sculptures surrounding it. This was a great site. Our excursion ended with a performance at the Water Puppet Theatre. The show was lots of fun and I videoed most of the scenes/acts. Geared for young set but still was lot of fun and only lasted 45 minutes. We had our last group dinner together. Cab driver got lost and we found local office worker that walked us to restaurant to join the group. Shows that there are great, kind people in every corner of the world. The rest of group was leaving at 6:30am the next morning so I got up early to see them off.
