I went on a 4 day holiday to Vietnam with Cat and Lydia the two NZ girls that also live in Svay Rieng. Was an awesome time, here we are just about to walk across the border, as we caught a taxi to Bavet (on the Cambodian side) walked across and caught a taxi to Ho Chi Minh city. The first photo is me and Cat and the second me and Lydia – note my gorgeous hair – hadn’t been washed for over a week as I was saving it up for the hot water in the hotel hehehe I’m not dirty… who me?
So… Vietnam traffic is just as bad if not worse than Cambodian’s there are a few more rules here however still super scary, motos everywhere! One time we even got escorted across the road by the policeman the traffic was so bad! After checking in to our luxury hotel we caught moto’s see Lydia on the back of one to the Diamond centre a huge shopping mall and entertainment centre which had take out style food it was amazing after nearly a month of Khmer food!
And a mention on the hotel it was paid for by Cat’s parents who were coming to visit, it was a super luxury, amazing place 5 star, gigantic lobby wow… I lucked out big time it even had a swimming pool!
So anyway at the Diamond centre we spent the night just having a girls night and watching 10 pin bowling, eating lollies, playing Daytona and pool! Actually real pool that doesn’t involve gambling and betting and girls are allowed to play! Also notice behind me the NZ naturals ice cream, all through Cambodia and especially Vietnam the brand is huge, no McDonalds, but definitely NZ naturals every other street corner! So of course we had to treat ourselves! Def not cheap around USD$3.50 for 2 small scoops… but you know…
These photos are of the balcony of our hotel, just before it got dark, we had a river front view of the Saigon river it was beautiful at night and just down the road from us was a cute little cheap market, it was fantastic. Took us many many tries to get the photo of all three of us on the balcony!
The second day that we were there we jumped in a taxi as they as sooo cheap and there are no tuk-tuks in Vietnam, and went to the Water Park, slides, rides, bikinis the works it was a great day just lounging out and chilling. Language it Vietnam is a lot harder than Cambodia, its very shzz and eeeen hard to descibe but it’s all written in English alphabet but the sounds are a lot different, but people expect you to say the right word because its written how we ought to understand. And so many less people speak English it Vietnam than in Cambodia, it is really quite amazing in the main city none of the taxi drivers or some shop staff even.
This is us in the back of a tin can taxi van, reminded me of nezzy metal on the inside and out! Unfortunately it was in Vietnam that my camera died and so I am, saving up for a new one now, but lucky Cat had a camera.
Of course we checked out the big market where bargaining is quite necessary, I bought two dresses each of which started at $50 and I bought them both for $10! Along with a bunch of other clothes that were great because they were large enough for your average foreigner! The market was crowded and busy like Cambodia but a lot cleaner, in fact I found that about Ho Chi Minh as a whole it was a clean city.
Another place Lydia and I checked out was the Vietnam War Museum, it was interesting and harrowing but I found that being a person with a limited knowledge of the Vietnam War it did not explain things very clearly and so while the photos were horrendous and hard to look at I didn’t get a feeling of what had actually happened. However, this is Lydia with some of the tanks and guns used, and me with an American aeroplane.
Just a random one of me in front of the bus stop and the big market that we loved and went back to many times to pick up heaps of cheap deals! I bought a “Good Morning Vietnam” tee is rather cute I think.
Vietnam wrapping up was with a very expensive meal at a very nice Australian restaurant where Lydia had real lamb chops! I learnt a very valuable lesson here though, that is that some foreigners are really really rude! I couldn’t believe it actually without boring you with the details we just encountered some very rude people, its no wonder Vietnamese aren’t exactly renowned for being friendly. The other problem was the midget bugs hence the drink cover, amazing yum drinks though!
Me, Cat and Lydia at the restaurant, then Cat and her parents carried on to Hanoi, while Lydia and I had one last night and then came back to Svay Rieng together, overall impressions, nice place to visit but it’s a big city and I’ve really settled into my country lifestyle! Great to be back in Cambodia! Goodbye beautiful hotel lobby!
On the way back through the border however we did run into a little trouble which has made me swear to always be in the same country as my passport at all times… hmm. So I have made friends with the border patrol chief police commissioner on the Cambodia side and he said to ring when we arrived at the border, so we rung, no answer and we went to do a little duty free shopping leaving our passports on the Cambodian side, Phalla the policeman rang back and picked us up the Vietnam side of the supermarket, so we were now in Vietnam again and our passports still in Cambodia.
When trying to get through the border the police in Vietnam wouldn’t let us and sent us back to the supermarket but they wouldn’t let us in because we had no passports! Oops, so in the flashy policemans Chevrolet 4x4 we roared through the border stopping for no police until we reached Cambodian soil and our passports. Meanwhile we had several Vietnamese police chasing after us, it was somewhat of an experience!
But we made it back OK, and then had dinner with the Phalla, who unfortunately seems to have taken quite a liking to me… Big Problem, although the “I don’t understand your language” card is working well for now!
Now Lydia and I have Malaysia August 30 to look forward to! Yeee-aaah!
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