Around Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in 30 Days

All credit to the boy for planning and organising this trip.  The visas alone were a thesis.  Plotting a doable and transport available course was a mission.  Conceiving of even going and where to go was inspired.  My involvement didn’t really kick in until we were at the 24 hour countdown.  Much to his displeasure I’d not pawed over the plans he meticulously made, having been somewhat preoccupied with my Indian visa situation, or lack thereof, and the heat in down town Manipal.  But that’s another story ...

Once we negotiated our way out of India, on our fourth flight – Mangalore, Bangalore, Mumbai then Delhi to freedom – without being stopped at the border by DHL for unpaid service tax (Again another story. This time of postage to India!), we both took up our roles to bring you Travel by Brian and Accomodation by Kayleen.  There were a couple of crossovers in the roles.  Brian did book the front and back end accommodation, “I thought you might need some luxury to start off and before you come back.”  Plus we had help organising our 4000 Islands in the Mekong stay.  Other than that, despite all research and reviews to the contrary, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were incredibly easy to get around.  Planes, buses, minibuses and boats, all ran frequently, on time and at reasonable costs for good quality, safe travel.

Having escaped via Delhi with Jet Airways and the usual bag check, booking pass, multiple security point circus that is India, we flew to Hong Kong for a few hours of assimilation back into the real world and a cafe bill of $18 for two cups of coffee, then we landed in Hanoi with Vietnam Air.  Vietnam Tourist Visas must be prearranged, that is you have to be checked and on the approved list to be granted a visa on arrival.  In fact before we were even given our Boarding Passes for Hanoi, in Hong Kong, they wanted to see this proof.  Forms, photos, stamped and we were in.  My first experience with a communist regime.  Taxi to our hotel – no problem.  Book the return taxi – all sorted.  Payment?  “I’ll get some Viet Dong.”  Very sheepishly Brian returns with a 1000 Dong note.  The Help Desk lady laughed, “That’s about 10 cents.”  Thank goodness for AMEX and we were on our way.

Four Nights at the Opera

Our first stop out of India during a month long Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia trip, and The Hotel de l’Opera, Hanoi was my luxury treat.  And really that says it all.  Small and attentive enough to feel boutique, large enough to provide all the comforts one could possible want for ... and more:  the bathroom appointed and lit light a gemstone cave, the bed with mountains of linen and almost in need of a step ladder to reach it, and a ‘pillow menu’ no less.  The concierge staff in particular were exemplary.  The hotel’s atrium is beautiful and my only ‘complaint’ would be that this is where they allow smoking (which unfortunately is allowed in all hotels and restaurants in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia), so we never were able to enjoy it.  Fantastic buffet breakfast, excellent wine cellar, maybe a little more needed on the dinner selection, but overall ... it’s a place you could easily never leave and we didn’t for four nights – well except to go walking and enjoying the city.  Our next stop was Lakhangthong Boutique Hotel in Luang Prabang.

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From Hanoi to Luang Prabang again with Vietnam Air, also with a sick Brian.  He’d succumbed to travel sickness, the chest infection type.  We skimmed the palm trees flying into Luang Prabang, a tropical village clinging to the Mekong in the middle of Laos.  Visas on arrival here again, but this time just form, photo and pay.  The interesting part was watching the passports being passed ‘Pass the Parcel’ fashion from the payment counter (USD$1 service charge) along a line of no less than a dozen attendants, to emerge approved and stamped at the collection end.  The last attendant then called out names and seemed genuinely surprised when each arriving passenger in turn collected their passport.

As we were to find everywhere, transport from taxis to tuk tuks is pretty much fixed price, so much of the angst for me, game for Brian, is eliminated.  Walk out through unattended customs and there’s the taxi desk.

The Boutique Hotel version of the Backpackers’ Hostel

From Hotel de l’Opera in Hanoi to Luang Prabang with no idea what Laos would be like, but Trip Advisor research, we arrived easily at Lakhangthong Boutique Hotel, Luang Prabang.  With only a handful of rooms, upstairs and downstairs, each with a balcony table for breakfast, this is a quiet delight not too close to the super tourist Night Market area, but easily walkable.  My partner had succumbed to the travel bug, the chest infection kind, and spent a good deal of time in bed, while I happily traversed the town on foot and found ample food options and Wats, of course.  The staff, including the owner on site, were helpful and friendly.  New arrivals were welcomed to sit and talk at the reception courtyard with whoever was coming or going.  A place that probably is reminiscent of Byron Bay, Australia way back before it became ‘spoiled’, Luang Prabang and Lakhangthong Boutique Hotel are must dos.  From here we ventured to Vientiane.

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This time we flew Laos Air to the capital, Vientiane.  Brian kept mentioning to other passengers something about Laos Air jets falling out of the sky.  Ours didn’t.  We did however have a growing collection of moist towelettes, handed out on all flights.

A bed by any other name ...

The taxi pulled up in the early evening at Douangchan Plaza Hotel, Vientiane and I thought it looked too expensive for the price I’d booked.  And indeed it was good value for money.  Being very recently renovated, everything is clean and shiny and working.  In fact you couldn’t fault the room we had, but the hotel still looks and feels like a shell without any of the decorator touches – a plant or some art would be a good start.  The breakfast was included but so so/so not and being a little away from the tourist strip made it hard to find an alternative – even a cup of coffee.  The best place we found was Falang Bistro, Sailom Village, Chantibouly District.  You’ll get there if you head towards the French Quarter and you will locate it by the wood-fired pizza oven out the front.  Italian pizza cooked by a French trained Laos chef is a must.  Douangchan would do well to put a barista cart with fresh baked pastries in the vast foyer.  At the moment it’s a more than adequate hotel, but it lacks heart.  Our next stop was Pakse Hotel, Pakse.

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Another Laos Air flight.  Another round of moist towelettes.  No incidents.  Pakse looms out of the landscape against a dusty Mekong, reminiscent of an outback Australian mining town.  With only a handful of multi storey buildings, all clustered around the junction of the Mekong with the Xe Don River, it already felt inviting.  Plus we had a lady taxi driver.

Just Charming.

After the austere Douangchan Plaza Hotel in Vientiane, Pakse Hotel, Pakse was a warm comforting step in to old world charm and manners.  The building is authentic and so are the staff.  Our room was small but perfectly adequate – it even boasted a bottle opener attached to the outside of the cupboard!  Everything about Pakse Hotel was easy and seamless:  Our check in and swapping nights to allow for a 4000 Islands trip, and here the young lady on the travel desk, Ms Nang, deserves special mention for her care and attention, for putting our travel and accommodation in the islands together.  Some nice touches:  The roof top restaurant wait staff handed shawls to guests as it was a bit cool.  We were able to leave our extra bags secured during our river trip and had the same room on our return.  A self-guided walk around town ensured we enjoyed Pakse and its soft pace and people.  The minibus collected us at the door for our next destination, Pan’s Guesthouse, Don Kohn.

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This was our first Laos road trip, and we had our misgivings.  One hundred and fifty kilometres before lunch?  Unheard of in India and we assumed unlikely in Laos.  One air conditioned, clean minibus, a sealed double lane dual highway, polite and law abiding motorists, and two and a half hours later, we were on the river boat to Don Konh.  Then deposited without ceremony on the side of the river, to find our way to Pan’s Guesthouse.  Given there was only one path and the habitation was to the right, this really wasn’t a problem, and we meandered our way through the village, happening upon our destination after only 10 minutes walk.

The closest thing to being on the river, without getting wet.

From Pakse Hotel we took the minibus then river boat to Pan’s Guesthouse, Don Konh.  I highly recommend you talk to the travel desk at Pakse Hotel to arrange this for you.  On line it looked messy.  Ms Nang made it easy.  The minibus is comfortable and clean.  The roads are excellent.  The services, bus and boat, run on time, and by lunch time you’re sitting on your verandah at Pan’s.  And really that’s all you need: a verandah and a hammock to watch life on the Mekong go by.  Don’t worry about anything because Mrs Pan (?) will ensure you have breakfast in the cafe and safe passage back to Pakse.  Nothing to do.  Nowhere to go.  No one to please.  Just be.  And then we went to Tasom Guesthouse, Siem Reap.

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One more Laos Air jet and we arrived in Cambodia.  Now here was an interesting visa on arrival process.  The same form filling, USD paying system ... followed by the digital photographing and fingerprinting!  Well, for some.  How the selection criteria worked, I don’t know, but it seems everyone except Brian was duly required to follow the beeps and provide thumb and four fingers of each hand on the scanning pad.  The only differentiating factor we could think of, was age.  Perhaps after a certain age, tourists aren’t deemed a risk anymore?  Anyway after that scrutiny, the way was clear, literally, and we again walked through an unattended customs area, straight to the airport taxis.

Tasom?  Really?

I booked Tasom Guesthouse, Siem Reap based on great reviews, then the day we travelled I checked for the address and saw a less than happy recent guest’s words.  Compounded by the airport taxi driver’s comment, ”I’ve never taken guests there.” I was quite apprehensive.  However, Tasom Guesthouse turned out to be a value for money, port in the storm that is the craziness of Siem Reap.  Okay, so it’s basic, but what do you expect for the price.  What we got was clean, friendly, safe and more than adequate.  Beware Siem Reap, not just Tasom, suffers from more than its fair share of load shedding ... well maybe its because there are so many tourists.  It has Angkor Wat after all.  Tasom is at the edge of the busy section ... and there’s real coffee at the Service Station cafe next door.  Special mention is needed here to Mr Phalla our taxi driver for the duration.  This polite young man scored us at the airport, and was chuffed when Brian engaged him for the Grand Wat tour of Siem Reap.  Well mannered and English speaking, plus always with a clean pressed shirt, he even checked if we thought it was okay for him to wear his sunglasses.  I’m sure he made Siem Reap an easier place to negotiate.  You can find him on email: phallapes@gmail.com  Our next bus trip took us to Vy Chhe, Battambang.

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Our bus ride to Battambang was short and uneventful.  The highlight being the three pairs of underpants on one of our allocated seats.  “Look at these especially for you.”  One of Brian’s favourite topics is underpants, of late Jockey or nothing and previously, Big Bazaar’s ‘Two for the Price of Three’, so I thought it was nice they knew he was coming.  Turns out of course they were the driver’s clean laundry, and after much giggling from the local ladies at Brian’s glee, they were claimed.

Same, same and sterile.

After the small and homely Tasom Guesthouse in Siem Reap, Vy Chhe, Battambang was a vast expanse of opulence and excess.  You’ll understand when you see the foyer.  The rooms are huge and the bathrooms too, but it’s pretty much same, same and not different.  There’s no restaurant for breakfast and although the staff very available, it was a bit sterile and we were left to our own devices.  Now this is all well and good because there are enough places to eat and things to do to ensure Battambang is a worthwhile stop.  By all means go to Vy Chhe.  It’s convenient and perfectly fine, and on the hotel strip where all the properties look to offer similar accommodation.  The road trip to Pandan Boutique Hotel, Phnom Penh was next.

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Another mini bus, another easy road trip through Cambodia, until the outskirts of Phnom Penh where road works saw the bus driver knock it into 4WD and go off road, or was that still on road.

A Garden in the Middle of Town

After Vy Chhe, Battambang, Pandan Boutique Hotel, Phnom Penh was a garden oasis at the right end of town.  Somehow we managed the penthouse suite and it was a suite.  Absolutely beautiful from top to bottom Pandan turned out to be a retreat from the perils of Phnom Penh after I had my iPhone stolen by a motorcycle pillion passenger when we were in a moving tuk tuk.  Please, choose tuk tuks with side coverings.  That aside and back to Pandan, it’s near multiple restaurants and cafes aka pastry opportunities, plus easy walking to the riverside rush if you must.  Across the border by bus now, a mission in itself, to Sofitel Plaza, Saigon.

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The deluxe bus from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City was classified as such due to the inclusion of breakfast (which we donated to the children selling trinkets aka begging on a river ferry down the road a bit), water and of course a moist towelette.  The bus ride also included an onboard flight attendant, who handed out the moist towelettes, but most importantly, assisted in negotiating the border crossing at Bavet/Moc Bai.

Oh my gosh!  This was a hell hole they must have modelled on an Indian system.  First hand in passports.  Not happy with that!  Wait on bus.  Attendant returns and calls names.  Collect passport and follow the other sheep to a booth.  Operator checks Cambodian visa on computer: photograph, fingerprints.  Oh no!  This could be a problem.  Maybe Brian won’t be allowed to exit.  No fingerprints.  Turns out they were happy for him to leave.  Back to the bus.  Handover passport again!  Drive 200 metres to the Vietnam border.  Turns out the first stop was exiting Cambodia and the no man’s land in the middle kind of like the international transit area at the airport, where you’ve officially left one country but haven’t been granted entry into the next.

This time off the bus and collect all your luggage.  Zig zag up the ramp to the Entrance Hall, round the corner and the fun begins.  No lines, no order, no hope.  Bus load after bus load of would be arrivees press in to a 5 metre wide channel.  The Immigration counters loom silent at the end.  The crush of humanity unmoving.  Following some other stunned sheep from our bus, we stand and wait and swelter and become claustrophobic (well I do) with panic.  Remember we have no passports at this time.  The system eventually reveals itself.  The immigration official in the distance calls names and like in a Bingo Hall, the lucky winner raises their hand and pushes through non-existent spaces to the front.  Then it’s through the cattle crush and out into Vietnam and the deluxe bus.  All this takes approximately one and a half hours, during which time I call a false Bingo and get ushered through the gate sans passport.  This turns out to be a good thing, because I snaffle our bus attendant who locates our stack of passports and gets them through.  No doubt we’d still be waiting.  Roll on Ho Chi Minh City.

Not 5 star!

After the beauty of Pandan Boutique Hotel, Phnom Penh, we had high hopes for the 5 Star, Sofitel Saigon Plaza, Saigon ... and they weren’t met.  Sure it’s a nice hotel but it’s not 5 star.  The rooms are small but comfortable.  The bathroom was lovely, but shower over bath flooded every time.  The restaurant options are basically a Sizzler equivalent or high end French; both priced excessively.  The downstairs bar was quite okay but really shabby, with worn arms on all the ‘leather’ couches.  Although the staff were excellent and when we had a few minor requests, a light not working, an extra power adaptor, and champagne glasses please, these things were attended to in a flash, in all Sofitel Saigon Plaza needs a good pick up if it hopes to retain that rating in actuality, not just via Trip Advisor reviews.  So to our last stop, Mekong Lodge, Mekong Delta.

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The minibus pickup from the hotel, the quick trip down the freeway to the wharf at Cai Be , then the escorted river boat to Mekong Lodge, plus return via boat then taxi to HCM Airport are the only way to go here.  The lodge obviously know how to make their property accessible to guests, and they do it well.

Where’s Maurice?

Another seamless transfer from Sofitel Saigon Plaza, Ho Chi Minh City via mini bus and boat, and we arrived at Mekong Lodge, Mekong Delta.  Our lasting impression of Mekong lodge will not be its garden bungalows with semi-outdoor bathrooms and boat bathtubs.  Nor will it be the lunch and dinner served at the table by the lovely young wait staff.  While these aspects were as promised and no doubt pleasing, the most valuable asset Mekong Lodge has are its guides, in particular our guide, Maurice (Tinh).  From his beaming smile as he guided, indeed helped us on to the boat at Cai Be wharf, to his delight and care in making sure we saw all his Mekong Delta had to offer, our time in Mekong Lodge was a lovely gentle way to end our time in Vietnam.