ATM's and money matters

Picking which atm to use initially doesn't seem like a big deal,  after all a few thousand dong extra in fees doesn't seem that bad.  But when you remember that your bank will also be charging you (even if you are using a travel card often they have atm fees). Plus over a couple of weeks it adds up!

 

VIETNAM

Best pick
MB
White buildings with blue writing
NO ATM'S FEES- and this atm allowed me to withdraw 5 million dong in each transaction. 
Gives 1 million of withdrawal as small notes
In hoi an most ATM's only allow 2 million per transaction,  MB stills allows 5

 

ACB
30k fee on atm
Varies between ATM's how much you can withdraw.  2 or 3 million per withdrawal.  In hoi an they only allow 2 million. 

 

Agribank ATMs

Maroon and white.

Allows withdrawals of 2 Million (I have never been able to take more than that). The best thing about Agribank is that they give you at least 1 mill in small denominations, 20K -> 100K. This is super useful if you are getting spending money out. Most shops will get angry if you give them 500K and market stalls or small businesses just wont even accept it.

 

Cambodia

100% the most useful ATM is Canadabank. They won't charge you fees (as long as  the money is in USD. If it is a different currency you will get conversion fees). The problem is that you get most $20 or $50 bills, but if you go in branch they will actually change the money to lower denominations for you for free, so that was pretty awesome!

 

Once I discovered these ATMs, I didn't use any others!

 

The currency advice is that if you do take a chunk of money in local currency, and ask people at markets the price in riel, they will either work out the price in USD and then convert it, or sometimes they can't do that maths in their head and will quote you a closer to cambodian price.... so you end up paying less.

For hotels, tours, and big purchases you will be quoted in USD. You may as well use these as at least if you have money left over you can spend it in other countries and it's free to get from ATMs. But keep that small change for buying water, snacks etc. Don't stress too much about changing money, often if you pay a hotel in USD, your change will be in Riel - just watch that exchange rate for any weirdness!

Mai Chau

Mai Chau,
About a 4 hour drive from Hanoi, with peaceful rolling green rice fields, slightly awkward traditional dance performances an abundance of scarves and bamboo products for purchase and plenty of peace and quiet.

I was afraid that Mai Chau would be a hectic, Disneyland-esk "minority village". Happily it seems to be a place that has learnt to supplement their farming incomes with the tourist dollar while avoiding the horrible, pushy sales tactics of some of the other tourist markets. In fact, while we walked through one of the villages in which every house has a shop below it we were able to browse within a number of stalls without being followed, questioned or told to "buy this" "very good price" "cheap for you" or any of the other cash cries that usually abound in tourist markets.

This post does read a little like an add for Mai Chau Nature Place (MCNP).... Not my intention, but that's where I stayed, ate and got entertained!

Getting there
Local buses - consult locals for up to date info, time tables and price. but know that these leave from a bus station a fair way outside of Hanoi, will take a lot longer and may be full of travel sick Vietnamese people. But, it will be cheaper!!!

Transfer bus.
These can be booked through virtually any hotel or tourist agency in the city. Our hotel quoted us 12usd each person each way. The transfers is in a mini bus with one of the tour groups.

Small group tours
Mai Chau nature place seemed to be the most common tour. All hotels and booking agencies offer tours, but many of them are the same itineraries. We opted for the $70 per person tour, which included a private room without aircon, all transfers, meals and activities. I think this worked out to be the cheapest option - I usually dislike group travel where you have to all trek around together, but this was actually really enjoyable, and people had the freedom to do their own thing.

Sleeping
There is an abundance of "home stays" available in Mai Chau and the surrounding villages. These looked more like dorms in stilt houses, I am not sure how involved the family actually are, if they stay in the same area and socialize or not. My understanding is that home stays can be arranged for around $10/night/person.

A few hotels are in the town itself, though I am told that cleanliness varies greatly.

Mai Chau nature place has a few bungalows and a dorm room outside of any of the villages.It is an easy walk into Mai Chau centre or the small minority villages and is on a tiny little lane that cars can't drive down. So peace and quiet from the traffic of Hanoi was one of our highlights.
The dorm at the Mai Chau nature place was clean looking, it featured mosquito nets over the beds and also curtains for privacy. They had single and double mattresses available in the dorm and there seemed to be reasonable space between beds. Because it is up on stilts and quite open it was cool at night, even in the summer. People who slept there told us they didn't even need to use their fan in mid August.
We stayed in the bungalow at Mai Chau nature place. We had booked the cheaper rooms, which we were told had fans only, but when we arrived were shown the room with aircon. Not sure if this was to keep our whole tour group together in one area, or if the other rooms were full. It wasn't too hot, but the room's had few opening windows, and is lower than the stilt house so it doesn't get the breeze... so we needed that aircon! The room was really large, had a queen and single bed, chairs, huge bathroom and balcony. Plus a great view. If you wanted somewhere to relax, slow down and have some privacy for a few days I would definitely recommend.

We also were entertained by a traditional dancing show, my understanding it that a lot of the home stays also put on these slightly awkward dance shows. They did get everyone up and joining in the bamboo ankle smashing dance, which had everyone laughing and clapping along!

Food
Our tour included all food, so life was easy! A couple of other people were staying in the dorm apart from the tour, I overheard them getting their bill and all lunches and dinners were 150K VND per meal. Not sure of the breakfast cost.
There were a couple of places BBQing up skewers of meat in the village, and a few local restaurants in Mai Chau itself, but don't be too disappointed if you cant find a western style restaurant!

Ok, I'm here.... now what can I do?
Bike riding
Mai Chau was beautiful to ride around in the late afternoon. Flat land and country lanes made cycling a breeze and the views were stunning! We went to a lake where locals swim (the water is pretty icy, but it looked beautiful. I didn't have swimmers as I assumed there wouldn't be anywhere to swim!). Where ever you decide to stay I am sure they will provide or draw maps to show you great places to cycle, and how to get back!

traditional clothes hire 
For a bit of a laugh, you can hire traditional outfits in the village. I believe it was a dollar per clothing item to hire them for the afternoon. a group of girls on our tour had a hilarious looking photo shoot in traditional clothing!

Climb up the 1000 step cave
We were told it was in fact 1200 steps... I didn't count, I was busy trying to breathe! It was a good, satisfying climb up those damn steps in a cave. The view at the top was actually blocked by the trees a lot. You get glimpses down into the valley, but avid photographers might expect a lot more after climbing 1200 steps!
The cave is.... cave-ish. really, nothing mazingly spectacular if you have been in many caves before. But head over to the back left, there is actually a path (complete with hand rail) that loops further back into cave. You will need some sort of light because it gets far enough from the entrance to be dark and the ground is slippery. Exploring this dark part of the cave was much more fun for us..... but for some reason that wasn't explained the guide from MCNP yelled at us to come back. So I dunno what that was about.

 I didn't partake of, but understand that you can also arrange treks to villages that are further out, rock climbing, motorbiking to a lake, and trips from here on to Cuc Phuong national park if you so desire.

Tailors of Hoi An (getting clothes that fit perfectly!)

I could have included this in the Hoi An post......  but there is such a lot to say about tailors in Hoi An (and other places too!) that I thought it warrants it's own post!

Starting with my experience in Hoi An, which is the most popular place to get clothes made.... and so has tailors on every single street!

My absolute 100% recommendation is Xuan -- 27 Hoang Dieu st. Hoi An

Xuan (right) with my boyfriend in clothes she made and her staff

Why do I recommend her?

Firstly, she isn't pushy. If you want to come in and look around, then you walk away - I have never seen her follow anyone, or yell out for them to buy stuff, or start asking millions of somewhat harassing questions.... You will see what I mean when you walk around or past any of the other tailors!

Her prices are really good! The more you buy, the bigger the discount that you get. And we kind of bought a lot..... So I can't really give figures of how much for any one item (plus, it depends on design, fabric etc etc).

But another couple that I ran into in her shop (after meeting them in Hue and giving them her card) told me that they got quotes for 3 piece men's suits at another shop..... and hers were half the price!

Honesty

This falls into the great pricing part (personally I don't haggle with her.... especially when I bought heaps because I know the discount was already there!). Also honesty in how you look...... You see, One of the items I bought was a tight "wiggle dress". It is meant to the form fitting.... but Xuan was honest enough to insist on letting it out just a tiny little bit (so it didn't stick quite so much to my curves) which made it look WAYYYY better! Even though this meant more work for herself as it was another alteration!

Quality and longevity 

I know people who have used Xuan for their tailoring needs for 8+ years. This ranges from suits, to formal dresses, everyday wear and work pants for her husband. Nothing has broken before it's reasonable life span. Nothing has shrunk, or fallen apart, no seams popped!

I Haven't had time to try out my big load of shopping.... but I have been wearing two shirts that I bought in May more or less continuously for the last three months and for two of those months I was hand washing them and wringing them out quite forcefully! They are in perfect condition despite my mistreatment!  

Summary - definitely head to Xuan and have a chat! if you don't see fabrics you like immediately describe what you want and she will do her best to find it! Take photos or download them off the net too, she has wifi at her shop so you can email her the photos and get exactly what you want!

Other tailors I know of or have used:

Swim wear

Unfortunately Xuan doesn't make swimwear :( So I had to search elsewhere for a tailor who did).

I asked at a few of the shops along the same road. Most showed me the fabric options which was a jersey knit. They didn't seem to have Lycra. Watch out for this, Jersey knit is very stretchy, and yes it feels light. But it wil get more waterlogged than lycra and is likely too stretchy, meaning when wet it has the risk of stretching more and dragging down, and as it ages it can stretch out - no body likes daggy bum swim-wear!

The girls at shop 47 Hoang Dieu were able to help. They don't actually make swimwear themselves but one of the ladies put me on the back of their bike and whizzed me to her "sister" who does. (nb, seeing as the woman didn't seem to know much about this apparent sister - like if the sign about car hire is the same shop, I think the relationship might not be so close :P). The first tailor did the price negotiating. She quoted me $40 and I negotiated to $30, which for a two piece swimsuit seemed fairly generous to me (but still cheap compared to Aus, and I tend to fear bargaining too hard for risk of items being made very cheap and breaking!).

This woman did had a few pairs of swimmers hanging up around the shop, and big bins full of lycra. I showed her photos that I had, we worked together to sketch up what I like, and picked out colours. The only difficulty is that she doesn't speak English.... So you need to go via another shop like I did, or take a translator, or take good pictures and a dictionary! 

I really like the togs that I got made. They are pretty perfect, but I wanted the back strap to be tighter and the tailor talked me out of it. Later I looked again and I really do need that strap tighter! So I will just have to do it myself when I get home. This sort of talking you out of changes so that they don't have to make alterations really put me off them! I also noted that the woman who actually made the swimmers was paid only $17, the tailor said she paid her some the day before as well..... but I was in the room the whole time and didn't see any money change hands! 

Lucky Number

This tailor is up out of the old town a little. On Hai Ba Trung st.
In January I was in Hoi An with a friend and she wanted to get some clothes made so we went here.
I initially got a "play suit" style thing made. However as they gathered the pants instead of pleating like in the picture they looked like clown pants! seriously, it was terrible. We negotiated and turned it into a dress instead, much less clowny.
I was really happy with it initially, however I has washed it only twice. The first time the zip busted, but I was able to get it working again.

I also believe it shrunk in the wash as it got extra tight! The next time I washed it it seemed fine, but now the zip has actually torn so cannot be used at all. Basically they used poor quality zips and stitched it poorly so it cut into the zip and caused it to tear.
The difficulty here is that when you receive the items it seems fine, it is only after you go home and start wearing that they break!

I also got some pants made. These I said I think they need to be tighter and there was a lot of space in the waist band..... they explained in various ways why this shouldn't happen and got me convinced that it is fine...... but it isn't. they are far too large, and fall off. Personally I vote, don't buy clothes here.... they are expensive (at least compared to Xuan), and don't do the alterations well enough to get a good fit!

These are my experiences with tailors.  Limited, yes..... but once I fond Xuan I really had no motivation to go elsewhere! When I have more time I will chat with other people I know have spent plenty of time here and add their experience!

Sapa

General Impressions
The scenery around Sapa is stunning. Terraced rice fields and mountains as far as the eye can see. Indigo clad women sitting on the side of the road selling peaches, buffalo, fabrics. Sapa is a great relief from the heat in summer (but on weekends in the summer Sapa will be very busy with local tourists).
Sapa is however a place that has become a tourist mecca. Every second building is a hotel and every person is a tourist guide or "original hand made" whatever saleswoman. (funnily enough they all have the same "original hand made bags", the same pattern, the same colours, the same exact design...... in fact, it looks just like something that would be made in a factory in China for very cheap.

Where I stayed
Kenpass hotel
I do not recommend! The room was clean, though the hot water was more... tepid rather than hot.
The main memory I have of this hotel was washing to yelling at 4.30am
It would seem they allow Vietnamese tourists to book one room for entire families. The family who for some reason were leaving at 4.30 in the morning had at least 4 adults and 3 kits in the one room. This leads to a major increase in noise levels! Now, normally I wouldn't blame a hotel floor other guests being noisy. But it is obviously due to the over stocking off rooms. Also, it took around 45 minutes of yelling for this family to finally get the hell out of the hotel. Their voices were echoing through the whole hotel. At no time did any staff come and tell them to keep it down.
Secondly, the rooms have large glass windows on the doors. They have made a half hearted attempt at privacy by putting some sheer curtains up. The hotel staff then disregard this privacy by looking at us through the gap in the curtain at 6.30am. I was lying in bed and looked up to see a man looking into our room. I have no idea what his deal was. But that is unacceptable, especially when I realized he was staff.
It is in a temptingly central location, and it is cheap.... but the location losses points because it is actually directly opposite the concert park..... and Vietnamese people like their concerts loud!

Trekking
If you go to sapa, doing some sort of trekking is pretty much mandatory. We trekked with Sapa OChau. I would say that your trekking experience is absolutely dependent on your guide. And to be honest, ours wasn't really all that talkative! Actually, just outside of town a young man (turns out he was her husband) met us and walked with us. He didn't speak any English and our guide spent most of the trek walking and talking with him.
Where we spent the night a group from Sapa Sisters was also staying. Next time I would trek with them! She was talkative, informative and social. Definitely more fun!

Bac ha markets
If you are around on a weekend, the Sunday Bac ha markets are worth the trip! To get there from Sapa you have to go back through Lai Chau so it is actually easier to get the train from Hanoi Saturday night and bus to Bac Ha as soon as you arrive, or get the train back from Sapa Sunday night and just ask the tour bus to drop you at the train station on their way back to Sapa. If that doesn't work for you though, you can do a day trip from Sapa to Bac Ha and back again. Every hotel and tour agency has a version of the tour, I am pretty sure that they are all the same (and prices do vary) so it might be worth asking around.

The markets here are a major event, people come from many surrounding villages to buy and sell. Most minority people are dressed in traditional costumes so you can even compare that different groups. Make sure to walk up the hill at the back to also see the animal market!
The Bac ha market is full of women trying to force Chinese made bags/souvenirs on you, which is a pity. But as soon as those markets are packed up you are free to walk around town or the country side totally harassment free! In fact we enjoyed walking around Bac Ha much much more than Sapa. While we walked we were totally ignored - except a few friendly people yelling hello!

There is a restaurant who organises treks and tours. And if I had my time again I would probably forgo Sapa and head straight to Bac Ha for trekking. Just for the sack of avoiding people constantly trying to sell us stuff! Plus, the trek near Bac Ha look like they would be much more devoid of tourists and touts!

Somehow, my friend and I seemed the have "No" pheromones. We got asked to buy things maybe twice while eating dinner, and when starting our trek a woman followed us for about 5 minutes. Then I said in Vietnamese. We will not buy anything, we are walking not buying. (I practices that line :P)
She then left.

We saw other tourists getting followed by groups of 6 or more women. Or getting asked repeatedly and harassed to buy things. Sometimes if you refuse they eventually start the sob stories.
Personally, I don't understand this technique. The more you follow me and get in my way, the more annoyed I am.... and the less likely to buy anything from you! But it must work or they wouldn't do it.
So Please don't give in and buy from a woman after 3 hours of being followed. If you want the bag either buy it straight away, or buy it from someone in a shop, or sitting down not harassing tourists. Don't encourage the following people to make a sale, or the disrupting people's meals.

Hoi An Photo tour

Sunrise at Lan Co Lagoon

Who will enjoy this......
Budding (or experienced) photographers
People who want some hints and tips to help take better photos
People with new cameras who have no idea how to work them
People with a phone camera who want to learn to take beautiful photos
Anyone who wants lasting memories and beautiful photos of Vietnam outside the tourist streets!

Who is hoi an photo tour
Etienne Bosset is a French photographer who lives in hoi an with his family. He knows the local people, he know good to speak Vietnamese, English and French and so cam communicate with people on your behalf. Or taj you some basics so you can communicate!

Fisherman coming home in the morning

Tours normally run floor sunrise and sunset.
Why? Because the light is best at these times and local people are busiest at these times. Coming home from fishing trips in the morning, selling their fish at the market, preparing floor the day. Getting boats ready for fishing in the afternoon, taking advantage of the cool to work outdoors, cooking dinner.
Tours also run atty night during the full moon festivals each month.
The tour I went on was actually a three day tour rather than one of the half day tours. So, I got to experience the morning and afternoon tours, plus take trips further afield to other areas. The tour I went on was no doubt more detailed than the half day trips.

What do you do?
A lot of the focus of the tours is around getting comfortable with interacting with locals and taking their photos, and working on composition. This is why it doesn't matter if you have a top of the line slr or a phone camera or anything in between. For those with slr  cameras you all learn a little about settings, depth of field, shutter speed, iso. Enough to take your camera off the manual setting!!

The most important thing that I learned?
That taking photos of people, if done wrong makes you look like a particularly obnoxious tourist (I viewed this some months ago on a bus trip up to My Son. When one woman walked into a front yard, put her camera into the window and took flash photos of a family while they were sitting inside trying to eat lunch. She didn't say hello, or thank you, or try to ask permission)

But when done right, taking and sharing photos with people allows you to connect and spend time with them far beyond the limits of my language skills!

Women harvesting rice near Hoi An

I have spent time with women harvesting rice, laughed with them and watched them work. I have discovered how proud of their houses many people are, requesting to be photographed sitting or standing next to their house. I have met three or even four generations of women living together in a house, helping to care for each other.


If you want to read more about the entire tour I did you can find that here: http://physio-overboard.blogspot.com/2014/05/photo-tour.html

The Hoi An photo tour webpage is here: http://www.hoianphototour.com

popular traveler scams to avoid

So this guide to tourist scams is doing the rounds, and I thought I would add it here for your information.... and comment on a few that I have been privy to first hand!
Nothing is as bad as realizing later that you got scammed by someone - so read up before you go and avoid the hassle!

Be aware of the scams - but try not to be too defensive, or scared, or worried. Most people I come across (particularly outside tourist areas) are genuinely excited and interested to meet westerners. Lots want to practice their English and do just want to talk to you. Sure - be aware of what's going on... but be friendly, interact with people, learn a few words in Vietnamese and everyone will be VERY impressed and friendly. If you get too caught up in will-I-be-scammed fear you just wont be able to enjoy your holiday at all!

The friendship bracelet:
This is massive in Cambodia. Particularly the waterfront / street 172 in Phnom Penh. Mostly children trying to sell the bracelets while you are walking or eating. DO NOT BUY THESE! the poverty line in Cambodia is about $1 a day. So if people are paying kids 1 - 2 dollars for a bracelet - and I am sure more than one person would be..... why would that child ever give up the trade to go to school. The problem is the kids eventually get bigger, and are no longer cute. People stop buying the bracelets. The kids cant return to school even if they realise they should as they are too far behind. So instead they usually turn to crime.
DO NOT BUY STUFF FROM KIDS! either they are being trafficked specifically to sell things for a central person (because people pity kids and buy stuff they wouldn't buy from an adult), so in this case buying from them encourages this form of child trafficking and slavery. Or they keep the money and do not go to school.

Give your money to a REPUTABLE charity, or spend the extra dollars eating somewhere like friends, or purchasing gifts at a not for profit.



Women with rosemary:
This isn't limited to Madrid. All of Spain has these women! My brother and I were walking in Granada and were accosted by these women. They took us separately aside and told our fortunes (in rapid Spanish). We don't really look alike and it seems they assumed we were a couple... the fortune telling was awkward! And our sister in law is Spanish so we could understand enough to understand that we are apparently having 2 babies. Unlikely!
My brothers method was to learn the Spanish for "Get away devil woman."... and "witch" and yell that when they tried to grab him.
I learn how to say "but you said no money!"  (they always start by saying no money.... then after the fortune demand money) and let them go through the entire shabang - and when they start asking for money calmly say, but you said no money and give them back the rosemary. Our different methods entertained us and meant we almost hoped people came up and tried to scam us :P

The overnight bus
If you are going on ANY bus you should really not leave anything valuable in your luggage ever, and have padlocks on your bag. People are able to undo zips and then redo them up if the zips move around. So try to buy a bag that has the lock built in so the zips wont slide around when locked. Or sew a key ring into the bag, and put the padlock through this as well. But mostly, keep your valuables on your person and tuck them into bed with you!

Charity petition
We were accosted outside the Louvre in Paris and asked to donate money for the deaf mute society. They had a list of names, emails, and amounts donated. I have no idea if the people already listed were made up to make it look more real (and make you feel like you should donate 10-40 Euros like the people before you) or if other people were getting suckered. Just look a little closely, they had lanyards..... but the "ID cards" were just bits of paper. The thing you signed to get your receipt (they would send it later apparently) was very very badly photocopied, and the clip boards were pieces of cardboard.
Also, because they were deaf mute you couldn't question them!
Interestingly.... none knew sign language (I do!)

Milk scams
A woman with a tiny, thin, dirty baby (I swear, one I saw was actually a dirty doll!) will either be on the street and follow you / grab your arm. Or be sitting on the ground with the child on her lap. She will tell you she doesn't want money, just milk for her baby. She will point you to a shop where you can buy powdered or bottled milk (the powdered milk can be $20+) and once you are gone she will return the milk to the store and split the money with the shop keeper.
This scam also encourages women to keep their children dirty, thin and sick.

Taxi Scams 
be very wary of taxi's, particularly in Hanoi. ALWAYS ask your hotel how much it should cost for a taxi to where ever you are going. Use the meter and if it seems to high (usually the rigged meters will make it WAY high, like 2 or even 5 times higher than it should be) refuse to pay unless they phone your hotel to explain. The train station is the worst. We knew it cost 30 000 to get a taxi from the hotel, to the train station. On the return trip taxi drivers were quoting us 100 000 or more.
Some who saw us refusing and asking for meters were way to insistent that we get into their metered taxi (even though he was dirty, not in a uniform, and following us around shouting at us). We refused and kept walking until we found a calm, not shouty guy, with a meter.  It ended up costing us less than 30 000. Be patient, and don't get into the shouty man taxi!

The Green Taxi from "Mai Linh" and the white from "Vinasun" are good to use

The - I don't want to beg
In Cambodia I did become quite cynical. Particularly around people who would say (or have a sign that said) "I don't want to beg, please buy my book/bag/bracelet/whatever". Often they were disabled or old people. I also found that these were often outrageously expensive compared to any other person or place selling the same thing. Sometimes when you said, no I don't want that. they would rely with, well how about $1.
And I constantly saw people giving these people money without purchasing anything (the same 2 were always on the street I lived on for a month). One would even say his bags were made by a local orphanage and he sold them for the orphanage and the orphanage fixed the price at $5 (they were like, a change bag size, and really bad quality). When we didn't want it he told us that it costs him $5 for a bed for the night and he has nowhere to sleep can we buy one so he can sleep. The stories kept going on and on. So yeah, I am very suspicious of the I don't want to beg.... but if you don't something i sure will people!

The take my fruit ladies
Hanoi is full of women walking around selling fruit from baskets attached to a pole that goes over their shoulders. They will often walk up to you and shove the pole onto you, offer to take a photo - then demand money, or that you buy the fruit at a very high price.
Now - I often buy fruit from these women (because I like fruit)... but it is a good idea to ask someone how much it should cost. And, like always.... I personally refuse to buy anything from the ones who try to force me. Instead finding someone calm and respectful.
Of course - other tourists love the chance to have photos of themselves carrying the baskets - and that's fine if you want to. But do be aware you will probably be made to pay (or purchase) so ask how much a pineapple should cost first :P

Sapa followers 
Many women in traditional dress simply follow you around in Sapa. Personally, I don't really care if someone follows me for 4 hours - I am not going to then pity them and buy stuff. Especially seeing as I didn't engage during those four hours. But it must work to wear some people down or surely they wouldn't bother!
most of what they have to sell is cheap imports from China, not things made in their village. And once you buy one time.... you are marked to all the other women as someone who will buy. So maybe wait until the end of the trip if you really really want that scarf or whatever!

Copy cat hotels
I got tricked into breakfasting at the copy cat Queen hotel in Ninh Binh. Instead of what is apparently the best banana pancakes in Vietnam... I probably had the worst!
Be very wary of people waiting at the train station to lead to you the hotel. Likely they will lead you somewhere else.
 And if you are going in a taxi, know the address, and double check when you arrive. If it is the wrong street - show them..... then if they insist. Simply refuse to pay. They will tell you the hotel has moved, or is full and this is the sister hotel, or has shut down. but I would much rather go to the actual address (besides - I have booked and the hotel is actually full.....  then that hotel can pay for the taxi to the new one!).


But please note
In Buddist countries giving to the poor or disadvantaged is very usual. As is purchasing things (at reasonable prices, and when they don't harass) from people with disabilities. Many will sell lottery tickets, which isn't much use for tourists. But also fans, cards and bottles of water. As long as you have an idea of what these items should cost. Or you feel like the person is genuinely making a living from selling things - please please do buy from them! Hoi An has many people selling cards and fans - I personally refuse to buy anything from children ever (please see above re: schooling), but I do but cards and fans from various people with disabilities.

A weekend in Kampot

Getting there?
We took a bus there. Giant Ibis for about 8-10 dollars depending on where you book. This was like, a medium sized bus. About 20 odd seats, with a tv that played movies on the way down! sure, we couldn't hear because the volume was way down...... but I think that is better than if the volume was way up!
You have allocated seats - so if you want to be at the front due to sickness let them know when you book and they will make sure you get a good seat.

On the way back we were with some other company (sorry, can't remember the name!). They went via Kep and lots of little back roads - picking people up and dropping them off willy nilly. Plus they finished up at some weird bus station that was not the official station! very confusing and lots of tuk tuks trying their hardest to rip you off! It took WAY longer to get back to Phnom Pehn - my advice, stick with Giant Ibis!



Samon village

Our bungalow. Nice and airy.

Bungalows here are nice and cheap, I think it was $8 a night for a bungalow that sleeps 2 people. But they are bungalows. This means open space around the floor and top of each wall. They do provide mosquito nets on the beds and a fan (which wasn't really that effective at getting air around the room - particularly to the bottom bunk!). But the open walls do mean that you may end up with some wildlife, cats, geckos and the like in your room.
Not really a big deal - but if that is going to be an issue you should probably not stay here!

Food at the restaurant was ok. we had a bbq the first night - cooked by us at out table which was fun. But breakfast was a bit ordinary so we went elsewhere for future meals!


advice - Do not trust any tour advice from these guys. They booked our bus back to PP, we specifically asked for a bus that didn't go via Kep. and said we wanted to Giant Ibis bus again. He assured us that he would put us on a good bus, that doesn't stop to let people on just anywhere, and goes straight to PP. He didn't.
He also told us that the tuk tuk would pick us up at 1pm. We almost missed the bus because the tuk tuk came at 12.30, and our lunches took 45 minutes to arrive!

What to do?
Samon village had a nice deck overlooking the river. So mostly we relaxed. All the places along the water hire kayaks and arrange boat trips.
We did the buffalo tours one day - It was meant to be history and waterfalls. Our understand was we would drive up a giant mountain and look at king's summer palace, then visit a waterfall where we could swim. Then a sunset  cruise on the river.

What we got
A tour of deserted derelict buildings....

The most interesting part of the Summer Palace

 The summer palace was a three room besser-block building, completely gutted. It did have some cool graffiti. And another smaller but equally cool building off to the left (as you approach the "Palace") which is interesting for it's graffiti and the forest that steadily reclaims it. Beware of landmines though - I was pretty scared walking along the path that we could step on anything. It was a conflict zone and not everywhere has cleared!

The french casino

The much more palatial building was this one, the old french casino/hotel. This building was cool. You were able to climb to the top to look at the view and explore the rooms, it would certainly be creepy at night! It actually looks amazing, and with some ahem.... aesthetic repairs would be an amazing hotel - in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do. But a new casino with heaps of hotel rooms was just up the road a bit in a much less interesting place!  


The derelict church!
I did promise run down buildings. As we approached this church it was pretty spooky. mostly because we could hear soft voices singing hymns. Less spooky once we got closer and established that there was a bus load of Vietnamese tourists inside singing.
Pretty cool stone arched building none the less

the view from near the old church 

Next up was the waterfall. Turns out It is dry season (despite the rain) and so no water in this waterfall for swimming. We ate lunch (fried rice that had been waiting in the car- but was alright... there just wasn't a lot, so byo snacks might be a good idea) and had an hour or so to hand about the waterfalls. I walked around as far as I could go and found this lovely spot.

view from beside the falls rather than above where we started

bonus falling down building I found on my adventure
to the waterfalls

Last up was the sunset cruise. Once we got back to the hotel we had some time for relaxing before the cruise with our tour group. Some of the smarter lads and lasses went into town and got supplies, and the drinks (though somewhat nasty) did make it more relaxing! Less relaxing once the already mildly insane driver got in on the drinking action!

unfortunately the tour ended before the sunset, especially as it was a nice sunset - what we could see through the trees back on land!

the crazy somewhat drunk boat driver
who kept telling me to take his photo, then hiding

exploring Battambang

Staying:
We stayed at coconut house.
It is a little way out of town, but we figured they would be able to tell us how much a tuk tuk to town is (the real price, not the tourist price)! The woman on the desk had no idea, saying she rides her motorbike instead. That is fair enough.... but as a hotel out of town it would be reasonable to expect them to know!

When we arrived only one room was ready for us to move in to. It was already 2pm, So we weren't trying to check in early or anything. For some reason it also took 2-3 hours for the room to be ready!
Lastly, I would advise not eating breakfast here - the sign says to order 30 minutes early, but the food took an hour to arrive, wasn't very good. It was also very very cold - which kind of makes sense seeing as I saw the food walk in to the hotel 15 minutes before we got it!


What to see:

The bamboo train carriages

This kid hitched a ride with our train.
He got let off halfway along the track
at what I assume was his house

.



Bamboo Train
 These train carriages are flat boards with a little motor and two sets of wheels that hook onto the very dodgy train track. Turn out, real trains don't run on this track because the lines are so dodgy and wavy and terrible. For $5 each we got to ride out to the end of the line and back.  It was actually a lot more fun than I had expected. We got to look at the countryside scenery, wave at kids, and the train went quite fast - now I see why people referred to it like a horizontal roller coaster! Especially as some parts the train tracks were noticeably uneven.

Unfortunately at the end of the line you are made to get off and spend 10 minutes standing awkwardly in the centre of a group of market stalls selling scarves and "bamboo train tshirts". At least, awkward if you don't want to buy - or even look at the products in the shop (not look at was because I didn't want the harassing. total indifference is the way to go).

The wibbly tracks

Also a collection of children trying to give us free little things (grasshoppers, stars etc) made from palm leaves. "For you" "no thank you" "Free, free for you" "no thankyou" "TAKE IT it free take it". For a "free" item the kids were incredibly rude and pushy. No doubt because once you take the free thing you are guilted into buying a selection of crap woven bracelets. Or something. I refuse to buy anything, accept tours for money, or give money to kids. My theory is if they are earning cash having fun talking with tourists or by handing out bracelets what is their motivation to go to school? Many kids I have met in Vietnam are so excited to see tourists and talk to them to practice English. And if these kids wanted to talk to us that would have been great fun for everyone - and I would have happily hosted an impromptu English lesson. But no, just forcefully yelling TAKE IT FREE does not make me inclined to interact with them at all.

Anywho, The bamboo train then got loaded back onto the platform for our return journey. we obviously got here before the rest of the tourists because on the return journey we had to disembark and dismantle our train to let other people go on the one way track. The rule is..... the least loaded train has to make way for the other train. It was fun to have to jump off and wave to people going past.... or be the victorious ones who didn't have to jump off!

This is how the dismantle the train to let others pass

The end was also a bit of a let down.... the money taking person started telling us to tip the driver. Personally I hate this. We payed $15 (for three people) for this short ride on a basic train thing. Our tuk tuk for the whole day of driving around various bumpy country roads, talking to us and telling us stories and Cambodian fables and all his petrol/tuktuk/bike repairs was $20. We actually told the guy that $15 seems like enough money. I think tips are for specially good service. The driver didn't talk with us (I know he probably didn't speak English.... but I have had amazing and hilarious conversations / interactions with people with no actual language being understood on either side). It also wasn't the driver who asked for / looked annoyed when we didn't tip - It was the money taking guy who just sits around in the shade all day. So I wonder if when people tip, he pays the driver less and keeps more for himself. But maybe I am being too sceptical.

Much stairs at Ba Nan

Ba Nan Temples 
These were surprising far away, but a really nice drive down little country roads and past villages. Lots of kids waving and shouting hi! We then had to tackle to formidable 356 steps to the top. The first section seemed like a cruel punishment (not sure why it was so bad.... in Phnom Penh we were staying on the 4th floor of an elevator-less hotel). I actually expected once we reached the top we would have another set as big as the first.... but it was nice and small.
The view over some forests and bamboo groves as well as the old, crumbling temples at the top made the climb well worth it.
Back down for lunch. We were pretty glad that we ate lunch AFTER the climb, we saw a few of the people who were at the bamboo train arriving and lunching - I pity them climbing those stairs on a full stomach!

More stairs. they seemed never ending!

There were 5 temples like this as the reward
at the top of all those stairs!

We were also pretty impressed that people
must have carried all these stones all
the way up this hill!

Some seem a little.... lean-y

Next we loaded back into the tuk-tuk, this time it was a little bit mystery tour like because we forgot to ask where we were going. It was also down a road that had suffered the beginnings of the wet season. But it was interesting because this road is obviously a short cut that gets a lot less tourist actions. People were staring and waving a lot more!

Monkeys hanging on the stairs

Turns out we were headed for a mountain with more steps (yey). The tuk tuk driver did give us the option of paying $3 each to get driven up the mountain. We opted to be cheapscates and get some extra exercise on the stairs. I am so glad we did. The views at each different height were really interesting. Plas I found a random little cave to explore, but I didn't have a light... and no one else came in with me so I had to turn back before it got too dark.We also turned a corner to discover..... treacherous path of monkeys....
We opted to follow the rules of the wildlife park - don't show your teeth, don't threaten and don't look them in the eyes, and slowly walk past the monkeys.
The strategy worked and no one got attacked. Our guide did later tell us that sometimes the monkeys bite people (thanks for the warning buddy!) but I believe those people had fruit / tried to touch or pet the monkeys.

monkeys hanging in trees above the stairs (just waiting
to drop down on someone)

At the top was a pagoda, a series of people guarding the pagoda from monkeys (with slingshots) and a few people trying to sell drinks to thirsty tourists. We found some stairs leading through a cave/valley and back up the other side. We then heading off down the road to find the killing caves (a place where the Khmer Rouge would kill people and use the cave as disposal for bodies). Here we had a 13-ish year old boy come running up and inform us that the killing caves are that way (up a side path that looked to us like it went to a statue of a buddha and nothing much else. We thanked him, and tried to work out how we can walk up there without him being our "guide". Eventually telling him that we don't need a guide. I felt a bit like he did help us, and maybe I should tip him a tiny amount. But he kept harassing us. Telling us that he needs money for school and going and going and going. We also quickly realised that actually, where we were walking towards would have taken us directly to the cave, and his directions were a detour designed to make us feel like we need to pay him.

The view from the top. 

The random cave we found to walk through.

The caves here didn't really have any information or much to look at. But, we also didn't have to pay to get in. I was glad that we walked up the stairs though - that was definitely the highlight of that part of the trip.

The amazing incredible fairly lame bat cave

Once back down the driver asked if we want to stay to watch the bats come out. He said it would be at about 5pm (in an hour). I have seen plenty of fruit bats at Tolga.... but I didn't mind sitting and having a cool drink to wait if the other people wanted to watch. 5 turned into 6.... and we were fairly ready to leave - but just as we asked to go the bats started. I guess if you watched the bats for an hour, the shear number might be amazing. but I expected more to be pouring out like some amazing column of batty goodness.









Cooking class as Nary's Kitchen

Market tour with the cooking class

 We got a market tour, bought some of the ingredients for the food and then learnt to make Beef Lok Lak, Fish Amok and spring rolls.

The teacher / chef was friendly. They obviously read and take on the reviews people write - I noticed a lot of people complaining that they didn't get water etc. but we each got a bottle.

$10 for the whole morning class and lunch! definitely worth it!






Phare, The Cambodian Circus

That night we headed off the see the Cambodian Circus. This was originally set up as an arts school for refugees in camps on the Thai border who did art therapy to help them after the Khmer Rouge. It was hugely successful and evolved to include dance, music and circus. The aim was partly to help people but also to prevent the arts from being lost because many artists were killed during the khmer rouge regime.

Now the school is set up in a very poor community which has a lot of problems with drugs / gambling / etc. They aim to get all the kids to school, and also teach them skills that they can use at the circus and to get jobs other places.

The show was funny, light hearted, but also serious and had a great story.
The performance here is a little different to in Siem Reap (it was so good we went to both!)
Here is the actual school, so you walk through the school grounds and past the training rooms to get to the big top. They also don't have the English / French translations of the script. But to be honest you didn't really need it. And I found that in Siem Reap (while it was funny and good to see what they were saying), it did distract from the show.

It is totally worth going to both shows - the school here has more and better art work (done by kids of the school) on display. for $10 a ticket it is well worth it!

The performance in Siem Reap featured older, graduated performers, had a bar with food as well as drinks and had more things to buy (shirts, singlets etc.) not really sure why the merch isn't also sent to Battambang though!

Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center

Basically this place is owned by the government, but has wildlife alliance hanging out, fund raising and making the lives of animals better than in most zoos! Also running breeding and release programs. we paid the extra "donation" to do the behind the scenes tour with wildlife alliance instead of just turning up and wandering around ourselves. And we saw lions and tigers and bears.... oh my! (and elephants, and monkeys, and otters and snakes!)

First up we met Lucky the friendly elephant who was found as a 6 month old and raised by people. So she is very comfortable hanging around with people and being trained with food rewards. It was really interesting because they were talking about the bull hooks that the trainers have to carry (just in case she suddenly rampages and starts killing people) but you can see that she isn't phased at all by the hook. Not scared, or watching it... she just didn't really care one bit. So the take home message was that if you go to place with elephants.... check out how they react to the hook, even if they claim it is never used - if the elephants are watching it, or shy away, it is a bad sign. But also, everywhere will carry hooks just in case. Good to know I think.

 These two elephants both have a history of being violent with people. Neither were raised around people and so they are not able to be people-ised, or released.
The boy (with tusks) had most of his feeding ground cleared and turned into sugarcane. Which he thought was pretty swell, but the farmers were much less happy about an elephant sized hole in their cane each day so tried to scare and chase him away. This made Mr elephant pretty mad... and he started stomping down houses and people who got too close. So the wildlife guys came and rescued him!
The lady elephant was near a village and for a while the people enjoyed feeding her.... then it got expensive so they stopped. She liked the free food option better and started just taking whatever she wanted. Again, people tried to scare her off and chase her away. Even throwing acid on the poor girl. Eventually these guys found out and came to collect her.
Because of their amazing memories the elephants can't be released or they will just go on back to their original homes. but at least now they get to live their lives in safety :)

The last elephant lost one of his legs as a baby. most likely in a snare trap. He was raised around Lucky and people, but as he hit puberty started getting rough and so now they have to keep him behind a barrier while training and changing his prosthetic.










We also visited these tigers and their keeper. This zoo has 7 tigers that are some sort of cross-breed. The seized 6 (three pairs) as cub in a raid. One pair breed early on, but they are all on birth control as they don't really want to breed the strange mix breed tigers.
Apparently they also have one purebred indochina tiger and are hoping to get a mate for it to start a breeding program. The problem is the government can't understand why they want to import a purebred tiger when they already have 6 or 7 that are more or less the same.

The keeper obviously has a pretty amazing relationship with them, petting them, and making them lie down near the bars so we can pet them!

I think that a rule of buying an big camera should be that you at least understand how to not use your flash. some tigers would see a camera and immediately bare their teeth and growl. I couldn't really understand why until I noticed a couple of people using flash on the poor things even though it is really quite light and sunny. No wonder animals hate it when they see cameras! rant over!








I do particularly love gibbons! they have such giant long arms and beautiful eyes! Technically gibbons are apes... but i'm going to use the term monkeys for all primate like animals from here on in. So sue me!

mmmmm back scratches!

 This lovely lady is presumed to have been raised as a pet, then abandoned when she got too big and playful.unlike other monkeys she apparently doesn't mind eye contact (the others see this as a challenge and will attack) and she sometimes smiles at people she likes (other monkeys perceive teeth baring as a threat and will attack). Her last strange behaviour is climbing down to the bars and then turning her back on people. Most gibbons turn their backs as signs that they want nothing to do with you. This sweetheart likes to have her back scratched. When one person stopped she would climb as close as possible to someone else and turn around for a back scratching! So adorable! I just wanted to give her a big old cuddle!

getting my face painted

Lucky the friendly and rewards-based trained elephant painted shirts for everyone. She looked quite proud of her handiwork.... and I think she had a cheeky smile when her painting skills would get a bit enthusiastic and she would paint all over someone's face. With every brush full of paint she used she get a treat of some potatoes.

 Then it was time to visit the baby monkey cage! Part of our backstage tour included hand feeding these guys. It was a lot of fun! the hard part was the fact that looking them in the eyes, sudden noises (like laughter) and showing you teeth is not recommended as they might get scared and attack. So trying not to smile or laugh was a bit of a hard task!

We also have to remove anything the monkeys can grab, hair clips, glasses, jewelry. Poor Nancye had to keep a hand on glasses at all times to prevent them being stolen, and be able to see! the monkey on my arm got a bit sad when he dropped his fruit though.....

And launched himself at Nancye for a fierce tug of war, which ended in the monkey escaping with her glasses, and everyone else chasing the monkey to retrieve them.

The monkeys did enjoy suddenly launching themselves off one person and flying at your face in a fairly terrifying manner. They also enjoyed trying to dislodge anything that looked steal-able, such as the buttons on my shirt, or the tie on my pants (which one used as a swing a couple of times).
One monkey did become obsessed with my baggy pants, fortunately they just weren't quite baggy enough for him to climb up there!

is there food up here?

I'm ready for my close-up now

This monkey is more chilled

This guy heard puppy dog eyes are a good way to
get food to appear

All in all and awesome day! I thoroughly enjoyed being introduced to, painted by, and climbed on by all the animals! Totally recommend to anyone heading through Cambodia.... plus, the money helps save more animals!