All posts tagged: vietnam

Backpacking: How to survive the dreaded overnight bus trip

The best way to survive one is to avoid overnight bus travel all together. But if you really must, here are some tips to live by: 1. Never assume there will be a washroom on board. Carefully consider how much liquid you consumer prior to and during the trip. 2. Stock up on food. The bus will likely make a few stops but you’ll be at the mercy of whichever vendor the company has negotiated a stopover with. Usually they are large, cafeteria style restaurants with disappointing food options and a host of toilets around back, which you’ll have to pay to use. (Bring toilet paper!) It’s best just to order a takeaway sandwich or two for the road and hit a 7-11 for snacks. 3. Wear layers. Buses often run air conditioners overnight and it can get very cold. Make sure you bring a long sleeve shirt and consider packing a sleeping bag liner. 4. Essentials: Baby wipes and/or toilet paper, earplugs, and a flashlight if you intend to read. 5. Remember, you get what you pay for. …

4 Places I Never Need to Visit Again

  Overrated, litter-scattered or completely charmless; some places just aren’t my jam. Given the chance to return I’d politely decline an invitation to these four places. Battambang, Cambodia My Fodder’s guidebook sang high praise for Battambang. (I visited in mid-2012) It touted colonial charm and a glorified bamboo train. A train described as “one of the world’s all-time unique rail journeys” by Lonely Planet. By all means I had it on good authority that Battambang would be a home run. What I recall most distinctly were disappointing accommodations, a bucolic riverfront restaurant operated by the world’s least attentive proprietor (British and grass smoking – neither which I am necessarily offended by), rats the size of small raccoons scurrying around the market after dark, and under cooked peanuts offered up by a street vendor. Soggy peanuts, just imagine. Sorry, not sorry Battambang. Olympic Village, Beijing.  Yawn, even for sporting fans like us. (I can’t help but tear up when Olympians receive their medals. They’ve worked so hard.) I’m not sure what we expected but basically we were greeted by a massive …

I Can’t Get Enough of Darling Hoi An, Vietnam

Of course the roads are super bumpy and general discomfort creates an environment that not even two Diazapem can remedy. Did I mention that we hate overnight bus rides? Hoi An, where the guest houses at?!   How many times have we insisted on never traveling on overnight buses? Ten, twenty, forty? How many times have we taken an overnight bus? Three. Three too many.   For some reason there is no day bus to Hoi An. Why? How is it that there is not one VIP company operating a bus that leaves in the morning? Begrudgingly we booked an overnight sleeper bus to Hoi An. That itself was difficult enough as multiple agencies told us that all of the bus companies were full. Well you learn pretty quick not to trust travel agencies in Southeast Asia. Their bus may be full but they will straight up lie to you in attempt to sell you a ticket on their next bus. If you look hard enough you will eventually find a fare.    When we boarded the bus …

Things Went a Little Sideways in Nha Trang, Vietnam

He then mentioned how his family had seen a girl defecating near the beach after dark… Nha Trang, beach side city where American soldiers used to holiday. With that knowledge I expected it to be a bit more bumpin. Perhaps there’s a peak season that we weren’t a privy to, but it seemed to me that there was less than a full wind in the sail. The beaches were big and clean enough though, and there was ample space to sink into a beach chair. We had great weather and I was able to gain quite a bit of color under the hot sun.   Upon arrival we headed to the bustling Backpacker House but it was full, so we checked in to a hotel across the street. Props to the Red Apple Restaurant. I enjoyed both my breakfast and dinner there. Lanterns also served a good meal. And as long as on the topic, I would not recommend ordering a Bolognese from the Italian restaurant just down the street. It was ironically quite spartan.    The …

Saigon – Good – But I didn’t Fall Into Its Rhythm

After stores close the owners place small plastic chairs on the sidewalks and sell Beer Saigon for 10,000VND ($0.50), the cheapest in SEA. This post should be a little shorter than the following entries for Vietnam.   We crossed into Vietnam from Phnom Penh rather uneventfully. The same couldn’t have been said for the three older American women on our bus. They were kicked off just before departing because they had obtained e-Visas and our border point was not one of the ones that could accept them. They were pretty miffed about where to get a visa, asking a British bloke where he got his Vietnamese visa. Her: “Where did you get your visa?” Him: “Uh, at a travel agent.” Her: “Which travel agent?” Him: “Uh, any travel agent. Like literally, any travel agent.”   Also of note was the skeletal Frenchman who sat beside GTO. Shortly after departure he began to bust up a small bag of grass, tossing stems onto the floor and transferring the rest to a smaller bag. GTO informed me that …

Human Sardines in a Tin Can Van

Returning to the Cambodian mainland, we spent our final days in Sihanoukville with Steve and Angela before they jetted off to India. We decided to stay on Occidental Beach rather than Serendipity. Unbeknown to us at the time, is that they are the same beach