Cambodia part 3 & Vietnam part 1
Door: robenfloorinazie
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Floor
20 Mei 2012 | Vietnam, Nha Trang
Cambodia part 3
Kampot
After leaving Sihanouk Ville, we arrived at Kampot. A relaxed laidback city next to the river and famous for it's saltfields. The first day we walked through the city and arrived at the market. We were just in time because it started raining (rain in Cambodia, is proper rain...) which made the locals put their pots and pans on the floor to catch the rain. After lunch, the sky was blue again and we walked to the river to see the old bridge and we planned a tour for the following day.
The following day, we were picked up at 9AM by our personal tuktuk-driver. First he took us to the mountain caves. To get here, we had to travel on unpaved roads leading through the local villages and the beautiful ricefields. When we arrived at the mountain, two little boys offered to give us a tour through the caves. In his almost perfect English (the boy was 12years old..) he explained about the cave and the creatures in the cave (see pictures) and let us to the other side (by using a flashlight, how exiting!). After the mountaincaves we went to see a pepperplantation. All different types of pepper (red, black, white and green) happened to be the same pepper. The different ways of producing (sundrying versus cooking and pealing) these peppers, creates the different colours (and flavours). The next stop was Kep: famous for it's fresh seafood, a perfect place for lunch. In the afternoon we stopped at the saltfields: large fields, filled with salt-water, dried by the sun. Back in Kapot we booked our busticket to Vietnam.
Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)
After a 15 hour trip, we finally arrived in Saigon (HCMC). Completely exhausted we arrived somewhere in the city. This was not supposed to be the last stop, but the driver decided he had enough. Since it was midnight, we had no chose but to take a moterbike-taxi. This means you rent a moterbike with driver and sit at the back. Since we both wanted to go to the city (including backpacks and smallbags), we had to rent two moterbikes with drivers. Once on the road, these drivers became maniaks: kamikaze pilots, no care for the rules and just go.They dropped us at the city centre. Due to the fact that it was midnight, we took the first hotel in front of us. The hotel was a bid above budget, so we left the following day to end up at Ms Thu her place. A nice homestay like guesthouse with big rooms, AC, TV and breakfast included. After setteling, we wandered around the city: hugh, lively chaos, but very nice!! And lots of scooters! In the afternoon we entered the war remnants museum: interesting, but communistic propaganda.
The next day started early: breakfast at 7AM. Ms Thu made us breakfast herself: instant coffee, a banana and an egg sandwich. Ms Thu is kind of a hectic woman but she creates a homelike vibe. Within half an hour we finished our breakfast (together with her others guests) and were forced to go to the bus. The bus took us to the Mekong Delta on which we took a boattrip to the floating market, a candy factory and a nice place for lunch at the countryside. It's nice to see the differences between the countryside surrounding the Mekong Delta and the big city of Ho Chi Minh.
Together with our temporary housemates, we took a tour to the Cu Chi tunnels the next day. Again, this day started with an early breakfast an a little hectic of Ms Thu. A big bus (including guide) took us to the tunnels which are located outside of the city. The Cu Chi tunnels were used by the Vietcong as a fortress to hide from the Americans (and French) and to attack them. It was very interesting to see these tunnels which are realy small and not made for Western people (see pictures: Rob doesn't fit..). In addition you could see the clever traps they made to truly hurt the American soldiers. After hearing all the terrible stories about what happend here during the war, there was time to fire a gun yourself. So Rob took his chance and fired the M1-garand (wat een tering herrie..).
After these days of cultural sightseeing, we headed for a big Western shoppingmall with Western fashion in Western sizes.A fun day of shopping, and finaly something else to wear!
Mui Ne
Our next destination was back at the beach. Mui Ne turned out to be more Russian than Vietnamese and was mainly resorts. Since it is low season, we decided to treat ourselves with a nice bungalow at the beach and enjoy some relaxing time. After one day of full relaxing, we headed to the famous sanddunes of Mui Ne by Jeep. We started at the Fairy stream: a stream of pure groundwater floating out of the dunes. Halfway we also spotted some ostriches, which you could actually ride... It looked fun, but was realy expensive. The next stop was at the fishing village, which was actually nothing more than a stop and 2 minutes of picture time: fun to see, but not really special. Next were the white sanddunes: beautiful, looked like a desert and a nice place for some sandsliding (which is exhausting since you have to walk up again..). The last stop was at the yellow sanddunes, where we sat down for sunset. Unfortunately it started to rain, so no sunset for us...
Nha Trang
Again, a place of beaches and islands, but now with a bigger city (again many Russians... WHY?). Since we are a bid tired of beaches (spoiled?) and it's to hot for sunbathing, we mainly wandered through the city and enjoyed some amazing Italian food (we love fresh pasta!). Although, we also did a four island tour. This included some amazing snorkling (not), beautiful scenery, lots of locals, a nice lunch, relaxing time at a resort and a visit to the aquarium.
Today, it's time to leave for Hoi An. Again a link to the photos: more will follow (slow connection again).
Cambodia:
https://picasaweb.google.com/floor.v.wakeren/CambodiaSihanoukVilleBambooIslandKampot?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJqtppum9Lf9JA&feat=directlink
Vietnam:
https://picasaweb.google.com/floor.v.wakeren/20Mei2012?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPnkyp_70uWKogE&feat=directlink
Love,
Floor & Rob
Kampot
After leaving Sihanouk Ville, we arrived at Kampot. A relaxed laidback city next to the river and famous for it's saltfields. The first day we walked through the city and arrived at the market. We were just in time because it started raining (rain in Cambodia, is proper rain...) which made the locals put their pots and pans on the floor to catch the rain. After lunch, the sky was blue again and we walked to the river to see the old bridge and we planned a tour for the following day.
The following day, we were picked up at 9AM by our personal tuktuk-driver. First he took us to the mountain caves. To get here, we had to travel on unpaved roads leading through the local villages and the beautiful ricefields. When we arrived at the mountain, two little boys offered to give us a tour through the caves. In his almost perfect English (the boy was 12years old..) he explained about the cave and the creatures in the cave (see pictures) and let us to the other side (by using a flashlight, how exiting!). After the mountaincaves we went to see a pepperplantation. All different types of pepper (red, black, white and green) happened to be the same pepper. The different ways of producing (sundrying versus cooking and pealing) these peppers, creates the different colours (and flavours). The next stop was Kep: famous for it's fresh seafood, a perfect place for lunch. In the afternoon we stopped at the saltfields: large fields, filled with salt-water, dried by the sun. Back in Kapot we booked our busticket to Vietnam.
Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)
After a 15 hour trip, we finally arrived in Saigon (HCMC). Completely exhausted we arrived somewhere in the city. This was not supposed to be the last stop, but the driver decided he had enough. Since it was midnight, we had no chose but to take a moterbike-taxi. This means you rent a moterbike with driver and sit at the back. Since we both wanted to go to the city (including backpacks and smallbags), we had to rent two moterbikes with drivers. Once on the road, these drivers became maniaks: kamikaze pilots, no care for the rules and just go.They dropped us at the city centre. Due to the fact that it was midnight, we took the first hotel in front of us. The hotel was a bid above budget, so we left the following day to end up at Ms Thu her place. A nice homestay like guesthouse with big rooms, AC, TV and breakfast included. After setteling, we wandered around the city: hugh, lively chaos, but very nice!! And lots of scooters! In the afternoon we entered the war remnants museum: interesting, but communistic propaganda.
The next day started early: breakfast at 7AM. Ms Thu made us breakfast herself: instant coffee, a banana and an egg sandwich. Ms Thu is kind of a hectic woman but she creates a homelike vibe. Within half an hour we finished our breakfast (together with her others guests) and were forced to go to the bus. The bus took us to the Mekong Delta on which we took a boattrip to the floating market, a candy factory and a nice place for lunch at the countryside. It's nice to see the differences between the countryside surrounding the Mekong Delta and the big city of Ho Chi Minh.
Together with our temporary housemates, we took a tour to the Cu Chi tunnels the next day. Again, this day started with an early breakfast an a little hectic of Ms Thu. A big bus (including guide) took us to the tunnels which are located outside of the city. The Cu Chi tunnels were used by the Vietcong as a fortress to hide from the Americans (and French) and to attack them. It was very interesting to see these tunnels which are realy small and not made for Western people (see pictures: Rob doesn't fit..). In addition you could see the clever traps they made to truly hurt the American soldiers. After hearing all the terrible stories about what happend here during the war, there was time to fire a gun yourself. So Rob took his chance and fired the M1-garand (wat een tering herrie..).
After these days of cultural sightseeing, we headed for a big Western shoppingmall with Western fashion in Western sizes.A fun day of shopping, and finaly something else to wear!
Mui Ne
Our next destination was back at the beach. Mui Ne turned out to be more Russian than Vietnamese and was mainly resorts. Since it is low season, we decided to treat ourselves with a nice bungalow at the beach and enjoy some relaxing time. After one day of full relaxing, we headed to the famous sanddunes of Mui Ne by Jeep. We started at the Fairy stream: a stream of pure groundwater floating out of the dunes. Halfway we also spotted some ostriches, which you could actually ride... It looked fun, but was realy expensive. The next stop was at the fishing village, which was actually nothing more than a stop and 2 minutes of picture time: fun to see, but not really special. Next were the white sanddunes: beautiful, looked like a desert and a nice place for some sandsliding (which is exhausting since you have to walk up again..). The last stop was at the yellow sanddunes, where we sat down for sunset. Unfortunately it started to rain, so no sunset for us...
Nha Trang
Again, a place of beaches and islands, but now with a bigger city (again many Russians... WHY?). Since we are a bid tired of beaches (spoiled?) and it's to hot for sunbathing, we mainly wandered through the city and enjoyed some amazing Italian food (we love fresh pasta!). Although, we also did a four island tour. This included some amazing snorkling (not), beautiful scenery, lots of locals, a nice lunch, relaxing time at a resort and a visit to the aquarium.
Today, it's time to leave for Hoi An. Again a link to the photos: more will follow (slow connection again).
Cambodia:
https://picasaweb.google.com/floor.v.wakeren/CambodiaSihanoukVilleBambooIslandKampot?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJqtppum9Lf9JA&feat=directlink
Vietnam:
https://picasaweb.google.com/floor.v.wakeren/20Mei2012?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPnkyp_70uWKogE&feat=directlink
Love,
Floor & Rob
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22 Mei 2012 - 10:09
Tina:
Fijn om weer een verslag aan te treffen. Het is net alsof je meereist. ik zoek de plaatsen op die jullie noemen en lees er dan over. Dat hebben ze dus gezien, denk ik dan. Vanochtend een whatsup van Rob ontvangen. Jullie zitten nu on Ho-an om de ziatische cultuur op te snuiven. Geniet er nog even van voordat jullie oversteken naar Bali. Liefs van ons. Het gaat wel goed. Dikke kus!
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
