Blog Detail
- Wonders of Indochina
- Tour of Wonders Of Indochina Including Luxury Mekong River Cruise aboard Jayavarman
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Day 1
After a flight from Sydney via Bangkok and on to Hanoi we arrived at the Sofitel Metropole Hotel early evening. I was certainly impressed by the grandeur of this historical hotel. Our rooms were located in the Metropole Wing, which remains true to the historical grandeur of the hotel. Out in the streets it was total bedlam, Vietnam had just beaten Thailand in a thriller, in the Southeast Asian Championships, their first international title. A sea of motorbikes were in the streets, everybody was waving a Vietnamese flag, and beeping their horns, it was hard not to get caught up in their excitement. The noise continued on for most of the night, but nobody seemed to mind, what an introduction to Vietnam!Day 2
A morning of sightseeing as we visit Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, where his body is preserved in a glass case within the confines of the Mausoleum. Also a visit to his very simple house on stilts where he spent time, it has been preserved just as he left it. The Hanoi Hilton, the old city prison, is a gloomy place indeed, it was built by the French and later used by the North Vietnamese to house American fighter pilots shot down over the North. Lunch was at the Wild Rice Restaurant in a renovated villa decorated with some of Hanoi’s finest art. A top quality restaurant with innovatively presented food was a great first introduction to Vietnamese cuisine, excellent choice. We went by cylco through the bustling streets of Hanoi to our evening entertainment, at the Water Puppet Theatre. From a visual perspective I think it was fantastic. The puppets are very colourful and I found the puppeteers very skilful and clever, as they moved the puppets in complex moves to the harmony of traditional music. Mind you we didn’t understand a word that was spoken, but the puppeteer’s made the stories come alive, wouldn’t have missed the experience.Day 3
Today was a Select Option day with a choice of three different activities. Myself and a small group ventured off to the local market, where we did some shopping in preparation for our cooking class. There was much laughter had by all in the preparation of our dishes, but the best was sampling our cooking skills, and then much to our delight lunch was served downstairs in the restaurant, we certainly came away from the experience very satisfied indeed.Day 4
Arriving at Halong Bay was a great experience, everybody was looking forward to the New Year’s Celebrations. We were most impressed with the Halong Jasmine, the cabins were very comfortable and to be able to see the magnificent views of islands rising up from the ocean from our cabins was a real treat. Most of us decided to visit one of the most spectacular caves in Halong Bay. Although the cave is not as beautiful as some in the world, it is very impressive due to its massive expanse and grandeur. Dinner was on the beach and a lavish spread of barbecued seafood, roasted meats and exotic salads. The entertainment was a show consisting of local traditional fishing people with fishing boats, acting and singing traditional love songs. We all fell into bed that night exhausted but happy and content after a wonderful New Year’s Eve Celebration.Day 5
What a way to start the New Year off, Thai Chi on the beach, only about 8 of us were up for this and believe me it is quite difficult to balance in the sand, but we managed. Afterward we took a very challenging climb to the lookout, which was not for the fainthearted, but the views of Halong Bay from the top were superb and worth every step.Day 6
Touring in Hue this morning aboard the Dragon Boat, Khai Dinh Tomb is one of your first stops, it is the final resting place of Khai Dinh, Emperor of Vietnam from 1916-1925, believed to be an extremely unpopular ruler during his lifetime. Throughout the interior of the tomb, colored glass and ceramic chips were used to form mosaics of oriental design. The ceilings were hand painted much like the ceilings of western churches, but the designs were of dragons and clouds, beautiful indeed. Off to the Tomb of Emperor Tu Duc, which is a romantic summer palace for the afterlife, apparently the Emperor was a poet and philosopher who had 104 wives, but no children! Dinner this evening was at An Dinh Cung Restaurant and a surprise for our guests, upon arriving we all put on imperial costumes of the Hue court, and enjoyed a banquet in all the style of the ancient imperial courts with imperial dances and songs, a great night was had by all Emperors and Empresses.Day 7
The highlight in Hue has to the citadel once the capital of the Nguyen Emperors, designed to resemble China’s Forbidden City, which, although heavily damaged in the Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War, retains the majesty and elegance of the Imperial Dynasty. Our Hoi An hotel was located in between the river and the ocean, a delightful setting indeed.Day 8
A walking tour of Hoi An, which is such a pretty town. A stop at the tailors, proved to be fun, everybody was ordering shirts and pants, they can have them ready for you within 24 hours! We had lunch at Brother Café, which is an open air cafe, located on the river, the gardens here are just beautiful, green and lush and it was nice to spend time there. The afternoon was free to enjoy the Victoria Hoi Ann Resort some of us had a swim in the pool, others spent time having a massage and others choose to catch the shuttle bus into town.Day 9
Some of the group came up to Marble Mountain, which is actually five mountains all named after the elements metal, water, wood, fire and earth. A most fascinating place as there are cave entrances, numerous tunnels and several Buddhist sanctuaries to visit. There is quite a lot of walking involved, but we just took our time to enjoy all there was on offer. This afternoon a small group of us did a bit of a shopping tour in the town of Hoi An, most of us bought something, from t-shirts to costume jewellery to pretty skirts.Day 10
Today we are heading towards Dalat, after a short flight to Nha Trang and then we picked up our bus and headed off on a 3 hour drive, but most enjoyable, as we are heading towards Dalat, we see rows upon rows of vegetables growing and flowers, it went on for miles, and looked fabulous. Our hotel the Sofitel Palace is amazing, fresh flowers everywhere, in beautiful vases and artistically arranged. Our dinner was very special event, pre dinner drinks in the cocktail room was a pleasant start, the conversation was lively. Dinner in a private room was a set French Menu and the tables looked stunning with white linen clothes, candelabras, beautiful china and glasses, everybody had a great evening.Day 11
The morning tour of Dalat is well worth the trip and most people joined in even though it was an optional excursion. Emperor Bao Dai's Summer Palace a 25 room villa built in 1933, set in a pine grove. We walked around the gardens in the sunshine, very pleasant. Central market offers an abundance of fresh vegetables, fruits, grains and newly cut flowers from the flower gardens are everywhere, a very colourful sight. I think what stood out for me was the massive amounts of strawberry’s, buckets of them for sale everywhere. The market was a treat to behold. The afternoon was at leisure, I think most people decided on a bit of exercise and choose to walk around the lake, mind you it is a 7 kilometres walk, but a very pleasant walk and no hills involved.Day 12
It’s a long day on the bus today as we drive from Dalat to Ho Chi Minh City, but everybody kept busy with crosswords, ipods, Sudoku and we played a little game, with each passenger guessing the arrival time to our hotel, this was a bit of fun as we approached each time and each elimination. Dinner was a buffet of seafood, salads, vegetables and roast meats.Day 13
Ho Chi Minh City a very lively city indeed home to some six million people, most of whom will whiz past you on their motorbikes. It is fun walking across the road, but you just have to walk into the sea of motorbikes, don’t worry because they all just manoeuvre around you, but the trick is do not run, just walk and you will make it to the other side. We drove past the American Embassy but were asked not to take any photos. Visited The Reunification Palace former residence of the President of South Vietnam, and we all remembered the communist tank that was shown in the media crashing through the fence symbolizing the free world.Day 14
A fairly long drive from Ho Chi Minh City to Can Tho about 190 kilometres. We took a stop at Cai Be, where we visited local rice-paper makers and an elegant historic residence known as the An Kiet house We, along with a sea of motorbikes, took a short ferry ride over to Can Tho to stay at our hotel on the Mekong.Day 15
This morning we visit the Cai Rang floating market, what a fantastic time we had on our boat tour navigating through the floating market on the Mekong River. We soon worked out what each boat sold by noting what they had perched on the top of their mast, there was anything from pineapples to watermelons, basically floating supermarkets. Lots of hustle and bustle here on the Mekong, we loved it.We continue our journey along the Mekong to Chau Doc where we are to spend the night. Those that were interested by boat and foot we visited a Muslim neighborhood inhabited by the Cham, a group that traces back to the Champa kingdom that ruled the area centuries ago.Day 16
Continue along the Mekong today, heading towards Phnom Penh. Upon arrival at Phnom Penh Wharf, we take our bus for a short ride to the Hotel Raffles Le Royal with its old world charm. We have a free afternoon, some choose to swim but the shoppers well they were at the Central Market like a flash, its only about a 15 minute walk, here you will find clothes, watches, sunglass, bags and all manner of things. Back to the hotel for a well earned buffet dinner and drinks at the famous Elephant Bar.Day 17
The morning commences with a visit to the Royal Palace of Phnom a complex of buildings which are the royal abode of the Kingdom of Cambodia, and absolutely beautiful, a photographers paradise. We were all trying to find out if the current King was home, but the best we could do was glimpse the gardener. This afternoon is sombre as we visit the Tuol Sleng Museum of Genocidal Crimes and later a visit the notorious Killing Fields, now some people decided that they didn’t want to go and we organised for them to go back to the hotel by taxi, but the majority of us did visit these sites, very confronting. Most of us were quiet on the ride back to our hotel.Day 18
It’s not too far today, about a five hour drive from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap and there is an air of excitement in the air today because after arrival at hotel and a light lunch we will be heading to one of the highlights of the trip Angkor Wat Temple supposedly the biggest religious temples in the world. This architectural masterpiece was constructed in the 12th century and covers about 210 hectares. There are many galleries with columns, libraries, pavilions, courtyards and ponds. Carved reliefs about Ramayana Story and day to day life at the time of Angkor’s construction.Day 19
Now for the early starters there was the option to see the sun rise up over Angkor Wat, but for others a sleep in. When the others returned we all had breakfast and then went out to Angkor Thom, and saw the famous Bayon Temple, Phimeanakas Temple with the Royal Palace enclosure and Terrace of the Elephants. Onto Ta Prohm, which is just a photographer’s paradise with the temple overgrown by stranger figs and silk-cottons trees. We all wonder if one day it will be just eaten up by the trees. Our farewell dinner this evening is at our hotel Le Meridien, in our own private dining room. One of our English passengers dressed up as Queen Elizabeth, with wig and tiara and gave us a speech to rival even the Queen herself. A wonderful evening to end an amazing trip with a delightful mix of people.Day 20
Today it is time to part from our Melbourne and Brisbane passengers and head off to the airport for our flight to Sydney, but not without the last minute shopping at the gift shop which is directly across the road from our hotel. Goodbye Vietnam, thanks for the wonderful memories.Please note – in 2010 The Captain’s Choice Tour will now be using the luxury Mekong cruise ship for a seven night cruise up the Mekong River from Saigon to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat. This deluxe cruiser offers a superb way to experience the Mekong region in absolute comfort. The use of this vessel eliminates the need for one night stops and travel aboard smaller, less comfortable boats as this tour had in 2008/09.
