S.E. Asia or bust

[Rawhead]

On a bit of a whim I've got a one way ticket to Vietnam leaving in about 3 and a half weeks time.


sooooo


anyone here gone to the region?


My plan is to stick to the Southern part of Vietnam, mostly around Ho Chi Minh; head west to Cambodia and Siam Reap (sp?) to check out Angkor Wat, then head west again and have a quick look at Thailand. or north to Laos i dont know. or south. maybe.


Looking for stories, hints, anything.







OK GO!

 

[dlanod]

Did Vietnam with my mum and sister on a tour about five years ago. Started in Ho Chi Minh City (stereotypical SE Asian metropolis) and left from Hanoi (really liked it, it feels like a old European city in the middle of Asia), visiting the Mekong Delta, Nha Trang (generic beach town), Hoi An (felt like a theme park, but definitely different from anywhere else), Hue (my favourite, fair bit quieter than the others tourist-wise) and Halong Bay (amazing landscape) on the way. Great country, excellent food, shame about the smog coming in from southern China in the north.

Make sure you eat as much weird shit as possible, it makes for great stories. Plus the Vietnamese definitely like serving up the weird shit to tourists. The bia hois are great, 20 cent cups of beer on the side of the road, and the pho is fantastic (as it should be).

 

[Hollow Knight]

Avoid balut.

*vomit*

 

[notting18]

Avoid balut.

*vomit*

Soft TBD.

I think they are awesome and way better than either chicken or egg on their own

 

[Rawhead]

Balut is the duck embryo in the shell isn't it?

If so, then am definitely going to give it a try, along with cobra wine, fried tarantula and possibly maybe ummmmm dog. dunno, see how drunk I get.

Probably be giving the north a miss, which is a bit of a shame cause I would love to see Halong Bay, but after the tsunami I hear they copped a fair degree of flooding in Hanoi. Will try to make it as far north as Hoi An as well as stay a while in Nha Trang.





I'm looking at some of the prices over there and I'm blown away, cant belive how cheap things are, 20c for a cup of beer..............

Hoping massages (normal ones) are cheap too. My main must do's are

1. Get three custom made suits
2. Get a massage every day
3. Eat something disgusting

 

[Tassie4ever]

While in Thailand, visit Nongh Khai, on the Mekong River on the Thai-Laos border, near the Freedom Bridge which was built by Aussies as a gift.

While there, if you can stay at the Grand Hotel, a throwback to god knows when but very nice still.

And try the "jumping prawns"- you'll soon see where the name comes from.

 

[Rawhead]

Are they Grasshoppers?

I know I could google, but it's so much more social to ask.




I am going to eat so many insects.

 

[Gibbo_88]

I recently went to Vietnam but didn't visit Ho chi minh, heard a lot of good things about it though.

I spent a few weeks in Hue which is in central Vietnam and a few days in Hanoi. Hanoi was just crap, went out for the day and the air was so bad I could hardly breathe. Hue has a population of only about 300,000 I think and its the old capital of Vietnam. If you have time I would recommend going there. It is ridiculously cheap compared to Hanoi.

Good luck crossing main roads over there, its probably the most stressfull but fun at the same time thing to do in South east asia.

 

[Tassie4ever]

Are they Grasshoppers?

I know I could google, but it's so much more social to ask.




I am going to eat so many insects.

They are live, very small prawns served in a bowl over which you drizzle vinegar. The vinegar quietens the prawns down to a certain extent before you eat them.

You will need to go to one of the small Mekong-side local restaurants to find this as it is very much a local dish.

Also try a catfish cooked in salt spread over the fish which is then grilled. You then peel back the skin to get at the flesh.

For dessert, try a pancake cooked on one of the riverside trolleys. 10bht= 25c.

 

[king and i]

It could be fairly wet, so the islands and beaches may be worth avoiding. Today for example is an absolute shocker. You wouldn't be able to get here even if you wanted to. Over the next 6 weeks, 4 weeks will be crap, and 2 weeks will be pleasant. (In the south). It's very predictable. Check the latest weather news closer to the time. Rafting in the North is really popular, in Laos there is a company called "In the ring". You float down the river in rings and vendors along the river throw out ropes to catch you and ply you with booze and send you on your way... it's outrageous fun, but keeping in mind that the rivers will be in full flood, you may want to take it easy! They also have flying fox treks, where you harness on to flying foxes metres above the canopy and travel through the jungle staying in tree houses. My nephew did that and said it was awesome.. anyway, there is loads to do.

 

[Rawhead]

hoping that the travel book I got is right and the dry season starts in December, cause I'm pretty keen to go to Nha Trang and chill out under an umbrella while my feet get massaged and I sip on 20c beer.


Live prawns. hmmmm. Wondering where I draw my eating line, still moving might be pretty close to it.

 

[dlanod]

We were there in Dec/Jan and it was pretty dry.

 

[Rawhead]

I've done a bit more reading, and it seems like there are three distinct weather patterns across Vietnam; North, Central, and South.


I see central might be a bit dodgy when I get there, but that might work out OK cause I want to stay a while in Ho Chi Minh anyway, so by the time I start to head North hopefully the weather will be agreeable. As mentioned I'll just keep an eye out while I'm there.



I was just thinking today about how great it is that you can travel with a laptop these days, what a difference it makes. I can check climate, book hotel rooms, tickets, recommendations......... makes everything so much easier.