|
We planned to visit three places, the Central Highlands
of Vietnam, the beaches of Phan Thiet in the South and
finally a few days in Cambodia seeing the world famous
Angkor Wat plus two days in the capital, Phnom Penh.
Our 14 day tour itinerary was 2 days in Ho-Chi-Minh, 5
days in Buon Ma Thout and Pleiku, 3 days relaxing in Phan
Thiet, 2 days in Siem Reap/Angkor Wat & 2 days in Phnom
Penh. The combination of highlands, beaches, cities &
the largest temple complex in the world would make a
fabulous 2 week tour.
We left Heathrow on the midday flight via Kuala Lumpur
& arrived in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam the following
morning at 10am. We checked into the 4* Majestic hotel by
the Saigon river. This original French colonial style
building reflects the elegance & feel of a bygone era.
The beautiful swimming pool is in the inner courtyard and
circled by all the lovely balconies of each room looking
down. The Breeze Sky Bar is one of the most unique places in
town with a panoramic view of the famous Saigon River. I
drank from a large bottle of Saigon beer while watching the
traffic sailing along the river. The occasional breeze
brought extra pleasure. It cannot be a better start to see
the former Saigon.
Our driver picked us up from the hotel & delivered us
to my tour agents office for a meeting with the director Mr.
Nguyen. That night Mr. Nguyen & his wife held a welcome
dinner for us in a beautiful Vietnamese restaurant called
Blue Ginger. The modern decor combines Vietnamese culture
with elegant & comfortable environment. There is a
beautiful courtyard for outdoor sitting during the day. The
food was good, the Pan fried shrimp with scallion ravioli
& hot sour prawn soup most memorable.
We rose at 5:30 next morning in order to catch the flight
to Buon Ma Thuot at 7am. We had to miss breakfast to get to
the airport. As our car drove into the early hours of the
HCM city traffic my resentment at this early departure
changed into guilt. The normal traffic of motorbikes was
nowhere to be seen, instead the roads were filled with
people walking, jogging & exercising. The young, the
old, men, women & even children were all happily working
out in the dawn light. Memories of my father doing Tai Chi
exercises in the park at dawn came flashing back to me. I
began to feel as happy as the early risers on the roads.
Vietnamese people rise with the sun.
A 45 minute flight took us to the south central highlands
of Buon Ma Thuot, a city of aromatic coffee. A local tour
guide named Siu Cham met us at the airport. Cham is from a
minority people himself, but the strange thing is that I
share the same surname (Siu) with him although I spell it
slightly differently. Cham has a good knowledge of the
minority people & their culture and a good command of
English as he also works as an English teacher in his local
town, Pleiku as well as the tour guiding. We were in good
hands for our stay in Buon Ma Thout.
The tours started with a trip to see the stunning Dray
Sap Falls. (Dray Sap means 'Smoky waterfall). A mist of
invigorating spray fills the air from the rocks making this
a very dramatic place to visit.
|
|
|
Next page:
|
|
|
|
|
