Lastly before I end my blog I want to tell you about the problems we had on our journey.
bicycle problems:-
1) bicycle computer cable caught in wheel, abrasion cut the wire off so after 1st day it was useless
2) Bicycle kick stand...unable to keep bike upright ,too soft and useless for the weight of the bike with pannier bags..
3)mud guard( fenders) too narrow and short...can't keep mud from splashing on to my back..always have dirty muddy t shirt
4)Rear tail lights not bright enough for day light cycling
5) screws on pannier rack became rusty ..after days cycling in the rain
6) needs to bring synthetic lubricant coz the normal ones will wash out in the rain
7) all the spares we brought were not used at all ...we had no punctures no spokes broken no brake cable or gear cables snap
Most Useful accessories
1) sunglasses, protects the eyes from dust and sun
2) anti-pollution mask....lots of fumes from trucks and buses on highway 1
3) water bottles
4) a good padded bicycle seat( with springs)...some may swear by the "Brooks "leather seat
5) a loud horn ( I wish I had bought the "AIRZOUND" horn
6) trackking handlebar( butterfly handlebar)
Monday, October 6, 2008
5 October Saigon
This morning I woke up early went to have my last breakfast at Alle Boo's cafe..say good bye to all the staff there..then back to the hotel at 11 am to check out..and leave my bags in Lou's room as he took half day more coz our flight does not leave till 22:20(10:20 pm)..we went for lunch at an American restaurant called.."Milwaukee's" but the food was terrible and Lou had only a Sprite drink coz he had been having a "Saigon belly" diarrhoea...and I was too feeling a little tired I think must be coming down with a flu....after lunch Lou went back to sleep and I went for my final massage and stayed in the steam room for a little longer to try and get the flu bug out of my system.......
I spend the afternoon sitting by GO2 cafe watching the world zooming by on motorbike ,....ignoring the street vendors with babies on their arms begging me to buy all sorts of things from chewing gum ,cigarettes... to ear cleaner ,and also the shoeshine boys...all wanting to take the last few dollars of what I have left.Met a German couple there who had adopted a young Vietnamese girl from birth and at aged 6 they brought her back to see her own country..but so unfortunate that she can't speak a word of Vietnamese... otherwise she could translate and explain the Vietnamese life style to her parents
At 6 pm I went back to Lou's room had a shower and then we left for the airport at 7 pm..we were charged for excess baggage coz in Saigon they only allowed us 20 kg where as in Sydney they gave us 30 kilos because we were staff,but in Saigon airport they refuse to gives us 30 kilo so I end up paying $108 dollars for 6 extra kilos and Lou had to pay 4 kilos extra plus $30 usd for 3 days over his visa.They check in staff for the jet star in Saigon was very unprofessional ,unfriendly as well.Every one at the airport wanted to make money from you...a bottle of water cost 10 times more than out side...50,000 for a bottle of water that cost only 5,000 on the outside, and even Lou who had paid $30 for overstaying 3 days ,was stop at the passport control and the officer wanted him to pay again...this kind of practise will surely kill the rising tourism in Vietnam if it is not stop.
the flight took 6 hours to get to Darwin then we had to clear customs and re check in for the domestic flight back to Sydney...
I spend the afternoon sitting by GO2 cafe watching the world zooming by on motorbike ,....ignoring the street vendors with babies on their arms begging me to buy all sorts of things from chewing gum ,cigarettes... to ear cleaner ,and also the shoeshine boys...all wanting to take the last few dollars of what I have left.Met a German couple there who had adopted a young Vietnamese girl from birth and at aged 6 they brought her back to see her own country..but so unfortunate that she can't speak a word of Vietnamese... otherwise she could translate and explain the Vietnamese life style to her parents
At 6 pm I went back to Lou's room had a shower and then we left for the airport at 7 pm..we were charged for excess baggage coz in Saigon they only allowed us 20 kg where as in Sydney they gave us 30 kilos because we were staff,but in Saigon airport they refuse to gives us 30 kilo so I end up paying $108 dollars for 6 extra kilos and Lou had to pay 4 kilos extra plus $30 usd for 3 days over his visa.They check in staff for the jet star in Saigon was very unprofessional ,unfriendly as well.Every one at the airport wanted to make money from you...a bottle of water cost 10 times more than out side...50,000 for a bottle of water that cost only 5,000 on the outside, and even Lou who had paid $30 for overstaying 3 days ,was stop at the passport control and the officer wanted him to pay again...this kind of practise will surely kill the rising tourism in Vietnam if it is not stop.
the flight took 6 hours to get to Darwin then we had to clear customs and re check in for the domestic flight back to Sydney...
4 October Saigon(Ho Chi Minh)
well after the Vung Tau I caught the 2 pm fast boat back to Saigon, went back to the same hotel as my bags and bike was still there, all ready packed up by the bicycle shop in "Vo Thi Sau " street they charged us 150,000 Vnd each bike($11.50 aud).they did a good job as we were there helping them as well .
As I was felling a little hungry I went to my favorite "pho"(beef noodle) restaurant near our hotel in "Bui Vien" street and had some beef noodles and then went for a second massage. That evening I went walking around the Ben Than market and ate at the side streets stalls....later I went to a famous pub/disco called " Apocalypse" this place has change from a hole in the wall place to a huge brightly lit and buzzing place,and its now a place where all the backpackers and all the trendy Saigonese comes to party,drink and eat...it has a large open air courtyard 2 floors of tables and chairs 2 DJ's..1 on each floor..music was very loud in the pub but you can sit outside in the courtyard and enjoy the music ..met many Asian tourists from Singapore , Malaysia..some from Hong Kong...Taiwan and mainland Chinese as well
As I was felling a little hungry I went to my favorite "pho"(beef noodle) restaurant near our hotel in "Bui Vien" street and had some beef noodles and then went for a second massage. That evening I went walking around the Ben Than market and ate at the side streets stalls....later I went to a famous pub/disco called " Apocalypse" this place has change from a hole in the wall place to a huge brightly lit and buzzing place,and its now a place where all the backpackers and all the trendy Saigonese comes to party,drink and eat...it has a large open air courtyard 2 floors of tables and chairs 2 DJ's..1 on each floor..music was very loud in the pub but you can sit outside in the courtyard and enjoy the music ..met many Asian tourists from Singapore , Malaysia..some from Hong Kong...Taiwan and mainland Chinese as well
3 October Trip to Vung Tau
This Morning I decided to visit Vung Tau Beach I have been there the first time about 10 years ago when I first visited Vietnam,but it was really disappointing then it was really dirty and smelly and was not a well..equipped to receive international tourist , But after I saw some pictures of it on the brochure it looks like a different place altogether it looks like a well maintained beach with lots of nice new resorts ...
So I ask the local tour agent how I can get there by myself..of course they told me its difficult to go alone..and tried to sell me a package with accommodations and boat ticket for $50 u.s. anyway I am too smart for them to be cheated..so I went to enquire from locals and found out that I can catch a fast boat there ..so I went to the "Bach Dang" pier by myself bought a return ticket to Vung Tau cost...320,000 dong.($24 Aud) The fast boat took only 1 and half hours to get to Vung Tau.
As I exited the pier at Vung Tau...there were Cab drivers all rushing toward me to offer hotels and resorts..so I had a cab driver take me to a small resort at the middle beach..room cost $19 usd
the Beach is now so clean...but still the water and the sand is not as good as Thailand beaches..the seafood is the best even better than Thailand so fresh and cheap...I had 2 baby lobster 1 B-B-Q and 1 boiled...so delicious... total cost 2 baby lobster...aust $30...at night the place is very quite, so I relax in the hotel have a beer on the balcony look at beach...fall asleep then woken up by mosquitoes.......slap!!!slap!! slap!!!!...back to the room.....ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz
So I ask the local tour agent how I can get there by myself..of course they told me its difficult to go alone..and tried to sell me a package with accommodations and boat ticket for $50 u.s. anyway I am too smart for them to be cheated..so I went to enquire from locals and found out that I can catch a fast boat there ..so I went to the "Bach Dang" pier by myself bought a return ticket to Vung Tau cost...320,000 dong.($24 Aud) The fast boat took only 1 and half hours to get to Vung Tau.
As I exited the pier at Vung Tau...there were Cab drivers all rushing toward me to offer hotels and resorts..so I had a cab driver take me to a small resort at the middle beach..room cost $19 usd
the Beach is now so clean...but still the water and the sand is not as good as Thailand beaches..the seafood is the best even better than Thailand so fresh and cheap...I had 2 baby lobster 1 B-B-Q and 1 boiled...so delicious... total cost 2 baby lobster...aust $30...at night the place is very quite, so I relax in the hotel have a beer on the balcony look at beach...fall asleep then woken up by mosquitoes.......slap!!!slap!! slap!!!!...back to the room.....ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz
2 oct saigon
Well..our cycling trip is truly over now and the next few days we will be resting in Saigon and eating lots of food before going home to Sydney
today I had breakfast on my own,and sat at Alle Boo's cafe again coz its nice place by the corner of De Tam street overlooking the park and the traffic also they have great coffee and the staff are very friendly always wanting to practise their English with you.
Then after lunch I went for a massage at this hotel on the main street it was very good and cheap...for 1 hour massage and free use of the steam bath and spa and also 30 mins of free foot massage cost only 120,000 Vnd about $ 9.20 Aud...well I think I will be here again...that afternoon I met some guys sitting by the street side restaurant having beers and singing English songs I was quite surprise thinking that Vietnamese can sing so well in English, so I chatted with them. then I found out that they were Filipino's and they were the band at a nearby pub called the 17 saloon, and I was invited to hear them sing at their pub that evening...
The seventeen saloon was very impressive..decorated like an Old cowboy style saloon with wooden walls, red Indian statues, waitress and waiter's dressed as cowboys with hats, gun belts ,great menu as well ,nice steak and great beers...I shouted the band beers..and they sang all my favorite songs for me including "ANAK" (child) by a famous Filipino singer named Freddie Aquila..that night I was a little tipsy but not drunk ...but slept really well.............zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
today I had breakfast on my own,and sat at Alle Boo's cafe again coz its nice place by the corner of De Tam street overlooking the park and the traffic also they have great coffee and the staff are very friendly always wanting to practise their English with you.
Then after lunch I went for a massage at this hotel on the main street it was very good and cheap...for 1 hour massage and free use of the steam bath and spa and also 30 mins of free foot massage cost only 120,000 Vnd about $ 9.20 Aud...well I think I will be here again...that afternoon I met some guys sitting by the street side restaurant having beers and singing English songs I was quite surprise thinking that Vietnamese can sing so well in English, so I chatted with them. then I found out that they were Filipino's and they were the band at a nearby pub called the 17 saloon, and I was invited to hear them sing at their pub that evening...
The seventeen saloon was very impressive..decorated like an Old cowboy style saloon with wooden walls, red Indian statues, waitress and waiter's dressed as cowboys with hats, gun belts ,great menu as well ,nice steak and great beers...I shouted the band beers..and they sang all my favorite songs for me including "ANAK" (child) by a famous Filipino singer named Freddie Aquila..that night I was a little tipsy but not drunk ...but slept really well.............zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Thursday, October 2, 2008
1 October
This morning we had breakfast on the top deck of our floating hotel, then we had to pack up and waited for the motorboat to pick us up for day 3 tour of the cave temple and "cham" village.
The temple in the cave was actually a small cave where a Vietnamese lady nun had mediated for a long time...then the was a long climb up to this temple but it was very well kept, a pond full of carp and turtles which symbolises long life to the Buddhists.
The next place was really intresting as we were taken to a Cham ethnic village..they all look like malays , the women wearing the "baju Kurungs"(long Malay dresses) and the mean in sarongs Malay shirt and songkok(hat) or the white skull cap the "haji's " wear..they spoke a kind of Malay dialect too. we were wondering why they were all dressed up that day in their finest clothes ,then we were told it was the first day of the Muslim new year 'hari raya"the village looks like a typical malay kampung( village) on stilts over the water, on the main road they had a Mosque as well, we went into the mosque compound to take some pictures with the people there..My wishes of "Asalamuailaikum"(peace be upon you) was happily responded back by all ..we stopped by a weaving shop where there was a Cham lady demonstrating their traditional way of weaving sarongs and other materials,here I bought my good friend Nanang a Muslim skull cap , the lady of the shop then brought out new year cakes for us to sample...some of the cakes were similar to our Chinese new year cakes,Then it was back to the floating hotel to collect our bags and board a slow boat back to Can Tho city where we were served lunch on board...fried egg noodles with a pork chop and veggies..it took 2 hours to get to Can Tho city by boat from there it was a long bus ride of 6 hours to Saigon...we got back to Saigon that evening at 7 ;30 pm I was so tired .
The temple in the cave was actually a small cave where a Vietnamese lady nun had mediated for a long time...then the was a long climb up to this temple but it was very well kept, a pond full of carp and turtles which symbolises long life to the Buddhists.
The next place was really intresting as we were taken to a Cham ethnic village..they all look like malays , the women wearing the "baju Kurungs"(long Malay dresses) and the mean in sarongs Malay shirt and songkok(hat) or the white skull cap the "haji's " wear..they spoke a kind of Malay dialect too. we were wondering why they were all dressed up that day in their finest clothes ,then we were told it was the first day of the Muslim new year 'hari raya"the village looks like a typical malay kampung( village) on stilts over the water, on the main road they had a Mosque as well, we went into the mosque compound to take some pictures with the people there..My wishes of "Asalamuailaikum"(peace be upon you) was happily responded back by all ..we stopped by a weaving shop where there was a Cham lady demonstrating their traditional way of weaving sarongs and other materials,here I bought my good friend Nanang a Muslim skull cap , the lady of the shop then brought out new year cakes for us to sample...some of the cakes were similar to our Chinese new year cakes,Then it was back to the floating hotel to collect our bags and board a slow boat back to Can Tho city where we were served lunch on board...fried egg noodles with a pork chop and veggies..it took 2 hours to get to Can Tho city by boat from there it was a long bus ride of 6 hours to Saigon...we got back to Saigon that evening at 7 ;30 pm I was so tired .
30 Sept Can Tho city
This morning we were picked up at the hotel at 7 am, there was a free breakfast of french baguette and omelet. we walked to the Can Tho pier to board a motor boat to take us to the floating wholesale fruit and veggies market .It was quite sunny that day and we were in a boat with no roof,we saw many boats of all sizes packed to the brim with all kinds of veggies and fruits , to advertise what their boat sold, they hang all the types of veggies and fruit on a tall bamboo pole on the roof of their boat so when the other boats passes by they know what they are selling, we were told that these boats bring their veggies and fruits from all parts of Vietnam and they stay in this region till all their veggies are sold ,then they go back and bring more...so it was usual to see the whole family living on their boat with children on them as well.
The next stop was a noodle making factory .they still used the traditional method of soaking rice in water and then making a thick kind of rice flour soup then it was pour into a steamer and separate thinly and then steamed for a few mins then it was taken out ..laid on bamboo mats and dried in the sun ,later it will be collected and then cut into strips of noodles, but this was only a family business so it does not produce the majority of the noodles in Vietnam but only for the local consumption.Then it was on to the next place...A rice Mill, where we saw how rice was husked by machine, then polished the tour ended at the same pier we walked to this morning and we were brought to a restaurant called " Nam Bo' food was good I had a seafood fried rice and some Vietnamese spring roll., Lou had pumpkin flower soup and Cantonese fried rice,we were told that our 3 rd tour guide will be picking us up at the hotel at 3;15 pm so I had some time to look around the market I bought a T shirt and a pair of shorts then met Lou and we went for coffee at the Pier's restaurant.
The bus was late picking us us as they were caught in a traffic jam at the ferry terminal, then we drove 4 hours to the city of "Chau Doc" the last city before Cambodia, we were put up in a floating hotel in the middle of the Mekong river, dinner was not included but we had to eat at the hotel there was no choice as we were stuck on this floating hotel.I had fried chicken Maryland and tomato rice ,Lou had fresh Vietnamese spring roll and fried rice we both had a plate of tropical fruits for dessert. we had to go to sleep early as the next day was a very long day we had to do the 3 rd day tour and then drive all the way back to Saigon.
The next stop was a noodle making factory .they still used the traditional method of soaking rice in water and then making a thick kind of rice flour soup then it was pour into a steamer and separate thinly and then steamed for a few mins then it was taken out ..laid on bamboo mats and dried in the sun ,later it will be collected and then cut into strips of noodles, but this was only a family business so it does not produce the majority of the noodles in Vietnam but only for the local consumption.Then it was on to the next place...A rice Mill, where we saw how rice was husked by machine, then polished the tour ended at the same pier we walked to this morning and we were brought to a restaurant called " Nam Bo' food was good I had a seafood fried rice and some Vietnamese spring roll., Lou had pumpkin flower soup and Cantonese fried rice,we were told that our 3 rd tour guide will be picking us up at the hotel at 3;15 pm so I had some time to look around the market I bought a T shirt and a pair of shorts then met Lou and we went for coffee at the Pier's restaurant.
The bus was late picking us us as they were caught in a traffic jam at the ferry terminal, then we drove 4 hours to the city of "Chau Doc" the last city before Cambodia, we were put up in a floating hotel in the middle of the Mekong river, dinner was not included but we had to eat at the hotel there was no choice as we were stuck on this floating hotel.I had fried chicken Maryland and tomato rice ,Lou had fresh Vietnamese spring roll and fried rice we both had a plate of tropical fruits for dessert. we had to go to sleep early as the next day was a very long day we had to do the 3 rd day tour and then drive all the way back to Saigon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
