Hello again! Bit grey today and a chilly 29 degrees, so sitting on the verandah of our Airbnb and composing the latest. Since Nha Trang and a brief sojourn by the seaside, we have been travelling quite a lot, making our way through Vietnam, Cambodia and now find ourselves on the island of Koh Samui in Thailand.
Nha Trang is one of THE, if not THE Big Seaside Resort in the southern part of Vietnam and is heavily populated by Russians, to the extent that the second language on restaurant, tourist office, hotel posters etc is Russian. English barely seen, so we had to guess what the pictures showed when choosing our meals! Mostly successful, though. The amount of huge resort building going on along the beachfront is stupendous (nice word - makes a change from ‘amazing’) and mostly by big American or Chinese-owned conglomerates. Whatevs.
After Nha Trang, we took a train to Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City. To put this nomenclature issue straight: the Vietnamese call it Saigon and HCMC, but write HCMC. Or they will be imprisoned. Or something. Anyway, we get to our seats for the 10-hour train journey to find that someone had occupied them before us (this train takes two days altogether to get from Hanoi to HCMC) and had decided to leave the remains of their meal/s on the seats, flip down trays and all over the floor. Needless to say, we weren’t over-enamoured of the previous occupants, but no-one else seemed to care. After about 15 minutes, one of the train officials - there seemed to be a lot of them with no clearly-defined duties - offered to move us to a cabin for the rest of the journey in exchange for VND 300,000 - about £10. We took it and spent the rest of the trip in relative, if chilly (air con up too high) comfort.
HCMC - that’s what we’re calling it - felt a lot busier and more polluted than Hanoi. Maybe because the big streets were bigger and could carry more traffic, i.e. motorbikes and scooters, so danger of death crossing the road is heightened considerably! Once again our apartment was high in the sky (only 19 floors this time though) and we had a great view of the city when the smog wasn’t too bad.
While we were in the former capital of S Vietnam, we did what we often do and that’s take a hop-on, hop-off bus tour as it helps us get an overview of the city. Well, after eventually finding the best-hidden bus stop in SE Asia (that should have given us a clue), we embarked on probably the worst hop-on, hop-off bus tour we have had - and we have had a few.
We’ll gloss over the inadequacies of this particular tourist treat and just say that we stopped off at the War Remnants Museum to absorb some propaganda about the Vietnam War. Naturally, history is written by the winners - not sure who said that, probably lots of people wish they had - and there’s no doubt that USA’s involvement in SE Asia is a very shameful part of their history. It was very sobering to witness some of the awful events during that conflict and we came out feeling very thoughtful and eager to double down on the experience by visiting the Cu Chi Tunnels the next day. Not.
A lot of the displays at the museum concentrated on some of the inhumane actions of the USA, in particular the bombing campaigns, use of napalm and Agent Orange - a dioxin defoliant that left a legacy of birth defects and deformities for generations and one that is familiar to Andy’s former student colleagues at Bretton Hall as we made a piece of documentary theatre about it.
Cu Chi is an area about a 90-minute drive from HCMC and is preserved to show how the Viet Cong fought their guerilla war against the USA, living in tiny tunnels three to nine metres underground for weeks and months on end and coming up to engage with the enemy. What was particularly interesting and thought-provoking was that the previous day we had been bombarded with the evils of the ‘Great Aggressor’ - USA and their evil actions - and today we are being shown how the Vietnamese soldiers set all sorts of horrific traps for the American soldiers, which usually gave them a slow, lingering and extremely painful death. Our guide explained and demonstrated these spike horrors quite dispassionately, as if our approval at their approach to defending their country was taken for granted. But the USA was there for the flimsiest of reasons and the Vietnamese were defending their homes...
Humanity clearly takes time off from both sides in war.
Hiroshima and Vietnam in one trip. But we have the Killing Fields to lighten the mood in a few days. Goodie!
We decided on balance that we preferred Hanoi to HCMC so were quite happy to jump on a bus the following day for our luxury treat. Long journey out to Ca Bai (I think) [whatever - ed.] and boarded our boat for a two-night cruise up the Mekong River to Phnom Penh. We were accompanied by seven Aussies, two Brits, two Swiss and an American, so quite an interesting and varied group. The Mekong is a huge river that starts in China (the Chinese would probably have it stop there as they have built a lot of dams that are causing the river to silt up further south). For the duration of our trip it was very wide - very wide - and seemingly fast-flowing, but very calm and placid.
After a very relaxing couple of hours cruising, we stopped at a place called San Oc? [see above - ed.] where we wasted some time finding out about Marguerite Duras and her love affair with a Chinese man in This Very House and she wrote a book called ‘The Lover’ - anyone? Anyway, we’ll gloss over that particularly pointless episode and just say that we went to a moderately famous market where we experienced our first ever pedestrian gridlock while watching scooters try to run us over and all manner of live and nearly-live comestibles laid out on the street for our delectation and delight. They were lucky we didn’t tread all over them.
Gridlock only lasted about 15 minutes and we were back on the boat (phew!). Relaxed dinner and more river cruising. The next day was a bit of a highlight when we disembarked on an islet and went on a lovely cycle ride for about six kilometres. Lunch, more cruising, then a cooking lesson before dinner, beer, bed [it’s a hard life - ed.]
Some observations about application of the Highway Code (or not) as pertains to motorcycles/scooters in Vietnam:
- Drive on the left, or the right, or whatever side you want
- Lights are optional at any time
- As are indicators
- The number of passengers you can carry at any one time is wholly dependent on the size of your seat
- Or not
- When the road is full, please use the pavements. If there are pedestrians on the pavement, feel free to ignore and run them down if they are in your way. What are pedestrians doing on the pavement anyway?
- What are pedestrians?
- Park where you want
- Stop when you want
- Looking over your shoulder before setting off or turning is frowned upon
- Have a nice day
It took us about two hours to get out of Vietnam and into Cambodia the next day and this was followed by a very enjoyable speedboat ride up the Mekong into Phnom Penh. We arrived in PP (getting used to these abbreviations) in blistering heat and were transferred to our hotel - Hotel Zing! (We only chose it because of the name). That evening we enjoyed food and beers on a rooftop near the river and crashed early as we had been up since 5.30 - as with most mornings recently.
The following day we had booked a bus to take us to the Genocide Museum - former prison S21 - and on to the Killing Fields near PP. We remember hearing about Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge and their intention to take Cambodia back to Year Zero by killing anyone with any form of education and making everyone work in the country growing rice. That this regime lasted four years and left two million - a quarter of Cambodia’s population at the time - dead is a shame that the West cannot shirk its share of the blame for. The fact that Pol Pot’s government remained in power for years after and he died peacefully and at liberty in his 70s is unforgivable.
Cheerful little post this, isn’t it?
More rooftop drinking and eating that night before another early start for Siem Reap the next day. This was a lovely bus ride that enabled us to see a lot of Cambodia - and what a lovely country it is. Lots of agriculture and generally clean and well-ordered. While we were in Phnom Penh, someone mentioned a good restaurant in Siem Reap near Pub Street. Well, how could we refuse?!
Our hotel in SR was some way out of the city and was doing its best to win The Most Deserted Boutique Hotel In Cambodia award. We hadn’t realised it was a ‘boutique hotel’ when we booked it, we just thought it was quite cheap! The furnishings and layout were beautiful, but it had a long way to go before it achieved our seal of approval - not least getting rid of the giant cockroaches!
Anyway, Gillie can expand on our ‘boutique hotel’ experience if she so wishes. Pub Street was exactly what it claimed to be: backpacker and tourist nirvana. Lots of restaurants and bars serving western as well as Khmer food, bars offering 50c beer for happy hour - usually lasting an average of four hours. Needless to say, Andy suggested Gillie leave him there for the evening and he would see her sometime the following afternoon! This didn’t go down so well. Just the dozen beers then and back to the hotel (joke) [I hope so - ed.]
We treated ourselves to a bit of pampering the following day - foot massages, pedicures and manicures. Then more cheap beer and not-so-cheap food. For a change our next trip was on a lighter note than recent tours. This took the form of a whole day in Angkor Wat, starting at another stupid-o-clock. Some of the temples we visited were quite stunning, especially the one with the ‘spong’ [sponge? - ed.] trees and their roots draped all over the stones. We also saw the Tomb Raider temple, whatever that is, but people seemed quite exercised by it. The last temple, when we were definitely wilting, was up a long path and several very steep steps to view a quite lovely sunset.
That took us over 18,000 steps for the day and understandably we were somewhat dishevelled and overheated by then, so a quick refuelling in Bar Street before heading back to our hotel.
Our journey to the bus station the next day was not without excitement, as the travel agency had placed it on the other side of the city from where it actually was, so we were spending several anxious minutes on the phone to the bus company pleading with them to hold the bus while our driver negotiated his way through the morning traffic. We arrived half an hour late and the bus was still there - thank you Ibis Buses!
A long drive through yet another border - Cambodia to Thailand - and a stay in a very nice Bangkok Airbnb followed. At some point during the bus journey, we noticed that Gillie’s legs had swollen to twice their usual size! (No pix). Needless to say, the next day was spent with Andy catering to her every whim while she sat with her feet up - literally - and drank gin and ate chocolates - not literally, writer’s licence.
We spent the next day on another hop-on, hop-off, which was much better than our previous experience, then met our good friends’ son and his partner in the evening for a meal in Chinatown and more rooftop bar drinking. Ho hum. We were leaving Bangkok on an overnight bus/ferry the following evening so spent a relaxing day in a rather pleasant park in the city watching giant lizards, terrapins, plus various birds and butterflies while trying to avoid getting drenched by the ‘gardeners’ watering the lawns and flowers [I reckon they were practising with the water cannons they had just bought from some dodgy blond English wanker - ed.]
So here we are in Koh Samui, chillin’ and waiting for the sun to come out. But if it doesn’t, well, it doesn’t does it?
Don’t forget to vote. We may not come back if the shit hits the fan, as expected. Lots of love to all. Can’t promise another one before, so Happy Xmas and all that stuff xxxx.
PS. Hi there only one month to go before we set off for home! Where have the last two months gone? Japan seems so far away now with all these new experiences whizzing round in our heads. Coming to this part of the world is certainly an assault on the senses. We’ve learned so much and it’s really brought home to us the horrors of what people can do to each other. The fact that the war in Vietnam and the atrocities that occurred in Cambodia all happened relatively recently made them all the more horrific. What was I doing when all this was going on? This really upset me when hearing the details of what happened in Cambodia and seeing all the photographs of how people were treated. The fact that there are so many photographs is heartbreaking but necessary for us to try and understand. Cambodia is such a lovely place and the people so friendly, I find it amazing that they seem to have recovered so quickly. Oh dear this post is depressing and I’m sorry for that, but we have experienced some emotionally draining things in the last couple of weeks and we need to remind ourselves how fortunate we are to live where we do. One thing we do notice when we travel is how varied and wonderful the world is. We must do what we can to protect it.
On a much happier note we’ll be meeting up with our girls in just under three weeks for Christmas and New Year fun and games. In the meantime we are enjoying Koh Samui and looking forward to exploring Koh Lanta and Singapore before our flight to the Philippines. Thank you all for showing an interest in our travels and we hope to catch up with you on our return. Happy happy Christmas to you all and a safe and peaceful New Year. Much love Gillie xxxxx
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| Cycling crew |
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| Wedding at Angkor Wat with spectacular sunset thrown in at no extra cost |
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| Phnom Penh at night |
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| HCMC from 19 floors up |
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| It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Not. |
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| Some roots, man |
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| A quiet day in HCMC |
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| Andy on the Monkey Bridge - or is it Monkey on the Andy Bridge?! |
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| What’s for tea?! Note the fag in the mouth. |
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| One of the many beautiful temples in Bangkok |
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| The old and the new in Phnom Penh |
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| Sunset at Angkor Wat |
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| Our view from 40 floors up! |
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| Sundowners on the Mekong Delta |
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| Lenny the lizard - or Daniel the dragon? |
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| Thought-provoking visit |
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| At our motorway services in Cambodia - not like Watford Gap, eh? |
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| Royal Palace Bangkok at night |
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| Another in Gillie’s ‘Cute Children’ collection |
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| Angkor Wat |
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| Coming out of the tunnel in Cu Chi |
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| Chinatown, Bangkok |
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| Sideways roots, with Gillie |
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| Early morning bike ride |
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| Smiley faces |
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| Golden Buddha in Bangkok |
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| Angkor Wat at sunset |
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| Norte Dame in HCMC |
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| Pub Street, Siem Reap. Beer 50c. Died and gone to heaven! |
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| Enjoying an early morning beer with our friend Dan on the way to Phnom Penh |
