Having had the opportunity to travel extensively during one of my 3 previous ‘careers’, I had never travelled to Cambodia or Vietnam. In my opinion these two countries conjure up thoughts of backpackers and, for many, as places where terrible atrocities have taken place during our lifetime. I am able to reflect a little on our brief encounter with these two fascinating countries. My travellers tip for this part of the world is that you need to be calm, composed and ‘street savvy’, and accept that things don’t always run as smoothly as you hoped they might!

The countries are charming and well worth visiting. Would I go back? Not sure about Vietnam…….Being a simple ‘Islander’ I reserve judgement on big cities. The street chaos in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) was not my cup of tea. The challenge of crossing roads (picture1) remained an achievement and was never easy, particularly when you were about to step onto a pavement and were nearly hit by someone coming from behind you on the wrong side of the street or then, having reached the pavement, be nearly run over by a bike using it as a quick cut through!
However some of the beauty of the countries is staggering - to see two of the “Seven Natural Wonders of the World” will remain with us forever (pictures 2 and 3). Both Halong Bay and Angkor Wat are UNESCO World Heritage sites, yet neither country has, I believe, quite got it quite right for the tourists, especially with the rubbish in Halong Bay (picture 10). That aside, we decided to do the 14 hour bus journey from HCMC to Siem Reap, Cambodia, because we thought it would be good to see the countryside, which you would miss during the 90 minute flight. Hmmm, didn’t really appreciate how flat Cambodia is. Great for cycling (Carl take note!) but, after a couple of hours, you have probably seen one too many rice fields!
Many of you know of my love of red wine and cheese, but it has been almost 4 weeks and I haven’t even sniffed any (far too hot!). Our diet has changed completely, with rice or noodles being a pretty staple diet. The smells and delights of Vietnamese and Cambodian cooking is to behold and, after many a meal, the lingering afterburn of the chillies was still zinging well past the 3rd or 4th glass of ‘bia hoi’ (Tiger, Saigon, Hanoi, Larue, Cambodia, Angkor or, once, even a Heineken, were the beers of choice). Owing to the lack of wine (as Sally has referred to on many occasions) even Sal was known to have a glass or two of the local Hooch! Prices did vary enormously. That reminds me that I still struggled, even on the last day, of trying to work out what 26000 Vietnamese dong or 5260 Cambodian Rials were to the GBP! Far too many zeros!
During my exporting career I did tend to shy away from ‘hotel’ meals and have been known to try ‘alternative’ restaurants and to say that we had enjoyed some incredible meals at places, to be fair, most of us would not wish to venture near, let alone into, has proved really quite exciting. Having said that some of the dishes have looked somewhat unappetising. I refer to a particular bowl of sweetcorn soup that looked like, and had the texture of, gooey rice pudding, and also a deep green mush that went with a curry. Added to the green mush, I also had to deal with the local wildlife - a gheko (picture 9). BUT they tasted really good! It was also interesting to note that ‘Morning Glory’ was a delightful bowl of beans and wonderful spices that seemed to be available everywhere (picture 4).
Abiding memories…. too many to list, but there is no getting away from the abject poverty in both countries (pictures 5a, 5b and 5c). Yet, in places such as Da Nang in Vietnam, huge new 4* & 5* tourist complexes are being built as far as the eye can see next to a backdrop of run down shacks where locals seemingly happily exist. The people are lovely, particularly the Cambodians who always have a smile on their faces but, given the two countries history, they have been to hell and back. Why the Vietnamese allow Americans into their country is beyond me, given the atrocities of the war which, to this day, are still being cleared up and are so vividly depicted in the ‘must see’ War Remnants museum in HCMC. Both countries are places of contrast, which to me was summed up by our visit to the Cu Chi tunnels - within 2 hours of me scambling underground on my hands and knees in a tunnel, used by Cambodians during the atrocities of war, I was sitting at a white linen tablecloth having lunch with food beautifully crafted (picture 6), still dressed in the same clothes!
It is often the little things on trips that keep travellers amused and provide after dinner anecdotes, so here are a few that tickled me. The sign that greeted me during the infamous bus journey in a gents loo, just crossing the border into Cambodia, put you firmly in your place (picture 7). The ‘local’ Vietnamese restaurant that had wonderful pictures of ‘Pried’ rice everywhere that made one s****** but, to be be fair, they had the same mis-spelling all over their menu too! As for tuk tuk taxi drivers, sorry, but if I stand up and want to go to the bathroom I don’t need someone asking me if I want an effing tuk tuk to get me there!!!
Our trip was part of a guided tour and, if anyone is to visit these countries, I cannot recommend the tour company ‘Hoi An Express’ highly enough (www.hoianexpress.com.vn) as everything worked on time and was well organised. It all also helped having a lovely group of fellow travellers (10 in our group, picture 8) to share experiences with. Pommies, Scots, Aussies and Kiwis made up a group of like-minded travellers, and to share a 40th wedding anniversary with Ian and Sheila from Falkirk was a pleasure!