Vietnam and Cambodia in under two weeks
This is essentially a travel journal of my two weeks in Vietnam and Siem Reap, Cambodia. I wrote it to crystallize an amazing experience and to help others who plan to visit either country. It is long form so it won’t read like a series of recommendations but is hopefully enjoyable for anyone wanting to know more about the region and those who plan to visit.
Oh, wouldn’t it be lovely to teleport back into the study-abroad, no-responsibility, gleefully ignorant, pretending-to-save-the-world-through-backpacking, trek-year salad days of the post-college years. That Gabe could take several months in Brazil and soak in all a country has to offer. This Gabe (36 with a mortgage) is lucky to carve out two weeks and the ability to not check email for a full day. But fortunately, as I recently experienced, you can build a totally fulfilling two week trek around Vietnam with a bonus Ankor Wat visit. I created this travel journal to share with you my strategy and to collect better suggestions from others fortunate enough to experience this magical country on a time-budget.
But, first before I dive into some suggestions, a few caveats:
Traveling attitude in my 30's
We all have different orientations towards travel(I’ve heard this is a major relationship test). I think traveling attitude is probably more fluid than core to your being, but nonetheless important. Here is what I decided for this trip:
- Rule #1: Go middle-class The days of bunk bed hostels and chips for breakfast are over. I’m a damn adult and don’t have time for that. But, I have even less interest in luxury travel. If I wanted to lock myself away in a resort with a heart-shaped lap poll, I’d go to Scottsdale. Paying top-dollar to avoid locals and replicate the American experience seems, to me, to miss the point of international travel. So, that left me to plan a middle ground. The good news is that, in Vietnam, the middle ground will cost you no more than $35–80/night for lodging and around $10-$20 for a nice meal. That kind of money would barely get you a room off I-70 at a Motel Six but, in Hoi An for example, $75 landed me a private balcony and flower petals on my bed. Aggressively bargaining and penny-pinching during travel is sometimes necessary but, with Americans more often, just a sport and something to talk about (“can you believe I got this handmade friendship bracelet for .30!”) I don’t have time or interest in that.
- Rule #2: Be flexible- I like to book hotels for no more than 1–2 nights and leave the majority of my trips open-ended. In Vietnam, I never had a problem booking a tour, a flight, or a hotel with a day’s notice. So, I’d recommend deciding on your first city, book that hotel so you know you are covered on arrival and then stay flexible
- Rule #3: Plan in buckets The time you spend on travel basically falls into a few buckets: experiencing culture, visiting historical attractions, partying, and nature. I broke my trip down about 60/culture, 20/attractions, 5/partying, 15/nature. My perfect day was spent walking or biking around a market or village with no agenda. With more time, I would have seen more of the natural attractions up north.
- Rule #4: no bitching- Lastly, I can’t understand or condone ever complaining while traveling. Every minute of travel is a gift, even when not going according to plan.
Ok, enough with this rambling preamble. Here is how I spent my two weeks in Vietnam. For anyone who has traveled in Vietnam, I would love for you to add your comments and improve this journal.
Hanoi (Day 1 and 4)
Even though my international flight landed me in Ho Chi Minh City (HCM), I decided to immediately connect to Hanoi and prioritize the North. I do regret missing out on the historical sites in HCM (War Remnants Museum, Museum of Vietnamese History) especially after reading Fire in the Lake during my trip. The city felt too big, too similar to other mega-cities, and this trip is about choices. So, after 40 hours of travel over three cities, I added one more connecting flight and started my first weary day on the streets of Hanoi.
I stayed at the Elegance Diamond Hotel and, despite its over-the-top name the Diamond did not break rule #1 (middle-class travel) at $60/night.
My time in Hanoi was heavily influenced by the wonderful ladies at Traveling Spoon and their Hanoi Food Guide.
Much of my time was spent wandering with the (loose) purpose of locating a food destination from this guide…which on my first day started in the old city….
I imagine every visitor to Hanoi has the same question when setting out on their first walk. How the fuck do I cross the street?! Very few intersections have traffic signals — and when they do — they are ignored gloriously by everyone. One enjoyable exercise is to sit on any corner and people-watch new tourists (like myself) silently build up the courage to cross the street without exposing terror and betraying their status as a Vietnam rube. My recommendation for your first attempt, and this is very important, is to locate an old lady. They know the game and will show you the way, and like a NFL fullback, she will open up blocking lanes that you can’t yet visualize with your American eyes. After one or two of these trips you can take off the training wheels and try for yourself. You will find that the only strategy is to walk in a straight line and at a predictably-even pace no matter what is happening on the street. No need to treat this like frogger — the traffic will adjust around you.
Anyway, long digression — back to the food tour. I plead with you not to skip Cafe Pho Cu. To find Cafe Pho Cu you must sleuth it out between two silk shops and walk down an alley an into a courtyard. Order downstairs and then scale up to one of 5 floors to one of the top two that offer views of the lake. It opens at 9AM.
Also, don’t skip out on the Bahn Cuon. Bahn Cuon is a steamed rice-flour sheet stuffed with minced pork, mushrooms, covered in deep-fried shallots and then dipped in fish sauce. It can be found in restaurants and from street vendors, which brings me to my next tangent; street food and the much debated topic, is it safe? Answer: I have no idea. But, I do know I ate it fairly aggressively all over Vietnam and didn’t get sick. In fact, my stomach felt better than it typically does in the states. Maybe I got lucky but I also had a semblance of a strategy. First, I looked for food carts crowed with locals because I assumed that the local validation increased my odds a bit. Second, I tried to eat mostly cooked food. I say mostly because, Bahn Cuon for example, much be eaten with a fish sauce and raw garnish to be fully appreciated. That added some risk. And, lastly, I did follow the advice emphatically repeated in guide books and avoided ice and fruit without outer peels in all places except hotels and airports.
I didn’t have much time to explore Hanoi but two more quick recommendations. Get up at sunrise and watch the crowds doing Tai Chi around Hoan Kiem Lake. And, at night, hang out at one of the bars along Ta Hein (I parked out front Mao’s Red lounge).
Halong Bay (Day 2–3)
On Day 2, I arranged for a tour of Halong Bay. There are a million different options but I went with the “standard” one on V’Spirit, arranged through my hotel. There are more luxurious boats and more budget boats so ask around depending on your interests. Halong means something like “bay of the descending dragons,” which is just the perfect nickname because that is the only logical explanation for how the bay, with it’s sharply jutting rock formations, was created — dragon fire. You can do multiple nights but I thought one night was sufficient because you get 80% of the experience the second you float out through the rocks and park in one of the harbors. I think it was $79 for everything (private room, 3 hour bus ride from hanoi, pretty good food, and things like kayaks). As you can see, travel in Vietnam can be super affordable.
Hoi An (day 5–8)
Toughest call of the trip was deciding to go to Sapa or not. Sapa is a 8 hour overnight train ride NW of Hanoi and a stunning mountainous region where you can hike, bike and visit villages. It was highly recommended by everyone I know who had been there. Unfortunately, I was in Veitnam in early January when the temperatures in Sapa were hovering around freezing and, after almost a week of non-stop travel, I was anxious to find a location where I could slow down and settle in for a few days. So, I skipped Sapa and flew down to Hoi An, a great home base for a variety of day trips.
Hoi An is certainly no secret; it was the top recommendation in Lonely Planet. Despite its popularity with tourists I absolutely loved this fishing town 40 miles South of Da Nang. The town is oriented along a river and is a 15 minute bike ride from the beach. My first pro-tip is to stay at the Hotel Ha Ann (if you are following rule #1). For $75/night you get a private balcony overlooking the courtyard, a deluxe breakfast and friendly staff.
The first day — true to form-I just wandered town. Well, actually more precisely, the first thing I did was eat a Bahn My (and went on to average one a day). You can get these sandwiches in many US cities but of course they are much better in their homeland and Hoi An is the supposedly the best Bahn My in the country so I will spend some time talking about them now….the guide books will send you to Banh Mi Phuong because Anthony Bordain said nice things about them at some point in the last decade. I’m not a hater at all; Banh Mi Phuong had a great sandwich and you can sit inside and enjoy it with a beer and meet other travels. But, I actually enjoyed one particular street vendor more because you can pick and choose your ingredients (definitely add an egg!) and then take it back to your Gabe-recommended hotel one block away and sit on your balcony with a beer: Biere Larue (my favorite), Tiger, 333, or Saigon.
The other thing Hoi An is know for is the city’s tailors. There are something like 600 tailor shops supported by local seamstresses who will work in homes overnight to make custom clothes in around a day. You can pretty much ask for anything (and I had a doozy of a request) but tamper your expectations a bit from what legendary stories of bargain buying. You aren’t going to get a cashmire Ermenegildo Zegna knockoff for $80 but you can have some fun designing your own clothing, picking out fabric and getting fitted. For context, I believe a suit can range from $40-$250 depending on the quality of material. Men’s shirts are $15–20. But, remembering rule #1, I didn’t negotiate much. Picking your tailor is the first challenge as every third store across town is a tailor shop, so how to decide? I basically went with my gut and picked a place that was a bit further from the most touristy part of town, had unique items on display and put some effort into store design (115 Tran Phu). I had them make a dress for Shalisa that was based solely on three pictures and a few photos. Ideally you are there to take measurements but they worked with me and made a near-perfect fit overnight. They also made a winter coat for me and the total came to $120.
For my second day in Hoi An, I biked to the beach. The closest beach is Cua Dai but I had heard it was a bit crowded so instead targeted An Bang, which is just another 15 minute bike ride north. If on bike, you may want to get “lost” on the way and explore the villages on the peninsula to get a taste of what it is like to live in the region outside of the tourist areas. The An Bang choice paid off royally as I happened to be there for the 2nd annual Hoian Jam (at Soul Kitchen on the beach). Sitting on the beach with some Australian tourists I met that day, I started hearing the kind of rare grooves and break beats that you might only find in the most down Brooklyn bars. When Chuck Brown came on I decided I had to see where this was coming from. The DJ was a local named DJ Slowz and the dancers were incredibly impressive. We’ve become so connected now — a kid in rural Vietnam can build on art and dance perfected in the US and, in less than a generation, advance to their skills to the point they are indistinguishable from the best in the US.
After my beach day I decided to halt my pattern of moving every 1–2 days and stay for another couple in Hoi An; one to do the Morning Glory Cooking School and another to motorbike around the area.
Cooking school was well worth the full day; you arrive at 8AM and tour the markets to see and hear how produce and meat arrive in Hoi Ann. Your guide will explain uses for exotic fruits, flowers and spices that will later be used in dishes you will cook in school — so the market is a nice connecting thread for the day. Back at the school I took the three hour advanced class w/ Master Chef LuLu (“LuLu the Legend”) and learned fairly advanced dishes that I will definitely be trying again at home.
The final day in Hoi An was probably not necessary and I’d suggest not adding it to your itinerary if you are in a rush. I stayed in town because I found a bar to watch my (super bowl champion!) Denver Broncos play the over matched Patriots on time delay. With an extra day, I signed up to a motor bike tour (←- this links to Travel Fish’s website, which I found SUPER useful in my trip planning). I say it was a dud of a day because I 1) don’t ride motorcycles so I had to sit on the back of the bike 2) it was cloudy, which makes the climbs kinda boring and 3) it was more expensive than my 2 day trip to Halong bay. If you have sun and don’t mind the cost, it might be worth it. And, definitely if you have more time, I’ve heard multiple day trips where you tour through rural areas are a great way to see the country.
Siem Reap, Cambodia (Day 9–10)
With just two nights left, I needed to decide if I should go south to experience Ho Chi Minh or take a train to the mountainous retreat area of Dalat. But, the easy choice was to fly to Cambodia and see the temples of Siem Reap (commonly referred to as Ankor Wat).
For accommodations, you have a wide range to choose from. With the large tour groups from Europe and Asia, there are plenty of large, gated luxury resorts on down to hostels. I went with the Rosy Guest House, which was the most hostel-like of all my accommodations but totally workable. What I forgot about hostels in the 15 years since I stayed at one was that they are frequented by people dropping into town with no plan or planning. So, the hostel staff get really good at making recommendations; “smiley,” the night manager/bar tender gave me a solid game plan for tackling the temples in 1.5 days. He calls it the “smiley tour” and, if you go, I highly recommend you go talk to him or back into the tour on your own…
The Smiley Tour: the thing I didn’t understand before I got to Siem Reap was that Ankor Wat is just one of 1,000 temples spread over 150 square miles; this is a large ancient civilization — and I had less than two days to explore. Ankor Wat, the most important of the temples is not to be missed but the tour buses are focused there and at Ta Prom (first discovered by the French in the late 19th century and then again by the famous explorer Angelina Jolie who used it as a backdrop for Tomb Raider). Outside those two and a few others highlighted in guide books it’s hard to figure out how to prioritize your time. So, you really should go in with a plan and a tuk tuk driver to get you around ($25/day arranged through the hostel). The Smiley Tour is probably as good as any. The day starts early and takes you to the furthest temple Phnom Bok, which was built on the highest point on a hillside overlooking the valley.
To get up, you’ll channel Umma Thurman in Kill Bill as you ascend several hundred poorly maintained stairs through the jungle to get up to the hilltop temple.
Other tangent warning! We all know and have rolled our eyes at the returning trekker who likes to talk about their spiritual moment in X far-away country. Our eyes glaze over as they try to paint the picture of the moment when they had a life altering realization on the top of some hill during sunrise. Well, here I am about to commit the same crime…just below Phnom Bok, is a modest Buddhist temple, which locals recently built and use for worship. Open on all sides, you can hear chanting and music from across the valley below. Because it is so remote, you will likely be there on your own and can sit and soak in the wall paintings and colorful prayer flags. I sat on the temple floor for some time. With a full day ahead of jostling with other tourists for the perfect picture, this was a great place to reflect and set myself in the proper place for thinking about the importance of these temples.
So, after my zen moment, I descended the stairs and met my tuk tuk driver who was lounging in a makeshift hammock in his pedicab. We then drove to some of the slightly lesser known temples of Pre Rup, Banteay Srei, and Ankor Thom/Bayon. The smiley tour also includes a unique stop where the tuk tuk driver drops you at the North city gate and meets you at the West gate, giving you an opportunity to hike around the walled city perimeter to a small secret temple. Instead of trying to describe each temple, check out photos here (←album of many photos).
You don’t really get a chance to truly explore many tourist destinations, which are typically limited to certain views in roped areas. Here, and especially in the less popular temples you have nearly full freedom to approach the temple from any angle and wander in and out of all areas of the temple grounds. My strategy at each site was to first walk the exterior, sometimes following the temple walls which extend well into the jungle, and then approach the temple from the back or the side. This created the feeling of having stumbled upon greatness for the first time. Then, once inside, and this will make conservationists gasp-you can pretty much walk anywhere, climb anything as if you had discovered the temple (obviously, be cognizant of not damaging the temples). So, while the architecture and detailed carvings were the reason to see each temple, exploring the grounds was equally magical for me.
On day two, I covered the most well treaded temples Ankor Wat and Ta Phrom and it is well worth getting up and seeing Ankor Wat at sunrise and Ta Phrom quickly after to avoid crowds and get that money shot you can use as your new Facebook profile.
Ho Chi Minh (day 11)
For my final day I had 8 hours between flights and just one last thing to do before leaving Vietnam: try Traveling Spoon and get a home cooked meal. The experience was exactly as promised. My host had me over to home in a fairly suburban section of the city. Nothing about the experience was sanitized — I helped send her son off to night school and before dinner, she swept aside the pile of his text books so I could sit and chat about modern Vietnam, the life of an entrepreneur and the changing role of women in their society. We had a wonderful meal and I left with a better sense of life for those in modernizing Vietnam.
The end
So, that was my Veitnam + Camboida experience in 11 days plus travel time. 10 airports, 6 cities, 5 Bahn Mys, no stomach issues and I already want to go back and see the parts I missed. With more time, I would have definitely have done Sapa, explored the Mekong Delta by bike, found a rural village, and sought out sites related to the Vietnam war.
If you find go yourself, please help me improve this post with your own suggestions. Enjoy!
