Thursday, April 16, 2009
A rainy day in Hue
Today started out pretty badly, it was raining really heavily.... Originally we intended to leave the hotel pretty early and rent bicycles to visit the royal tombs. We didn't really have much mood to go out so we stayed in for a few hours, I was watching some tv and Casey was reading a book with tragic stories of Cambodian Khmer Rouge period.
After a while it suddenly stopped raining and even looked like it would become a sunny day... So we did decide to get on with our plan anyway. We rented the bikes and during the 16KM ride the weather really got very nice. It was a nice ride through some more rural areas and some rice fields.
As we had left quite late we only had time to visit one of the royal tombs, we went to the Minh Mang Tomb which is the biggest one. On the way to there we did see several large tourist buses leaving from there. By the time we arrived there we were the only ones still inside the tomb complex :) So glad we didn't join one of those day tours! The tomb area was a very nice quiet area to walk around in and it did have quite a lot to see.
Hopefully tomorrow the weather in the morning will be better than today. We probably will be visiting the sights in the city centre tomorrow. In the afternoon at around 16.30 our train will be departing towards Hanoi. We should be arriving in Hanoi at around 4.30 early morning. Then hopefully we can book tickets for the 19.30 train to Nanning, China for the same day....
After a while it suddenly stopped raining and even looked like it would become a sunny day... So we did decide to get on with our plan anyway. We rented the bikes and during the 16KM ride the weather really got very nice. It was a nice ride through some more rural areas and some rice fields.
As we had left quite late we only had time to visit one of the royal tombs, we went to the Minh Mang Tomb which is the biggest one. On the way to there we did see several large tourist buses leaving from there. By the time we arrived there we were the only ones still inside the tomb complex :) So glad we didn't join one of those day tours! The tomb area was a very nice quiet area to walk around in and it did have quite a lot to see.
Hopefully tomorrow the weather in the morning will be better than today. We probably will be visiting the sights in the city centre tomorrow. In the afternoon at around 16.30 our train will be departing towards Hanoi. We should be arriving in Hanoi at around 4.30 early morning. Then hopefully we can book tickets for the 19.30 train to Nanning, China for the same day....
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Phnom Penh to HCMC
2 days ago: In the morning we went back to the Russian market for some last minute shopping in Cambodia.
But actually after browsing around we ended up just buying some cards...
Then we head to the bus station for our bus back to Ho Chi Minh City. To our surprise the bus did depart on time!
The busride was supposed to take 6 hours. We expected to arrive at the Cambodian border after about 4 hours but after 4 hours there still was no border in sight...2 more hours passed and still didn't arrive at the border. At that point it had gotten dark already and we started wondering whether we were on one of the "famous" scam buses. (which would drive very slowly or wrong direction, arrive at the border by the time the border is closed already and then you are forced to stay at the extremely overpriced hotel they drop you off at). So at that point I did go to the person from the bus company in the front to check the situation. He told me the bus ride was delayed because we stopped for a very long time at the Mekong river.... In fact we only stopped for about 5 minutes during the whole trip until that point.... So I did question him asking what do you mean? We only stopped for a few minutes. But he kept insisting we had stopped for a very long time, all others surrounding me laughed at me like how could I have missed the very long stop... Anyway according to him we would be arriving the border after another 40 minutes more... (really amazing as at that time we should have already been in HCMC; the exact same busride opposite direction did really only take 6 hours). So starting to be suspecting we would really end up in a scam, was pretty relieved that we finally saw a point of recognition which was not too far off from the customs. We did (like on the way there) have a quick break at a restaurant and then passed the customs. At that time it was around 20.00, fortunately the customs were still open!
From there on still took us a while, an hour to cross the customs and another 2 hours bus ride in Vietnam. The bus ride which was supposed to take 6 hours finally ended after 10 hours! Still puzzled about what had caused the delay of 4 hours....But anyway really relieved we didn't have to stay in a "scam" hotel and we did get our passports back without any hassle as well :).
But actually after browsing around we ended up just buying some cards...
Then we head to the bus station for our bus back to Ho Chi Minh City. To our surprise the bus did depart on time!
The busride was supposed to take 6 hours. We expected to arrive at the Cambodian border after about 4 hours but after 4 hours there still was no border in sight...2 more hours passed and still didn't arrive at the border. At that point it had gotten dark already and we started wondering whether we were on one of the "famous" scam buses. (which would drive very slowly or wrong direction, arrive at the border by the time the border is closed already and then you are forced to stay at the extremely overpriced hotel they drop you off at). So at that point I did go to the person from the bus company in the front to check the situation. He told me the bus ride was delayed because we stopped for a very long time at the Mekong river.... In fact we only stopped for about 5 minutes during the whole trip until that point.... So I did question him asking what do you mean? We only stopped for a few minutes. But he kept insisting we had stopped for a very long time, all others surrounding me laughed at me like how could I have missed the very long stop... Anyway according to him we would be arriving the border after another 40 minutes more... (really amazing as at that time we should have already been in HCMC; the exact same busride opposite direction did really only take 6 hours). So starting to be suspecting we would really end up in a scam, was pretty relieved that we finally saw a point of recognition which was not too far off from the customs. We did (like on the way there) have a quick break at a restaurant and then passed the customs. At that time it was around 20.00, fortunately the customs were still open!
From there on still took us a while, an hour to cross the customs and another 2 hours bus ride in Vietnam. The bus ride which was supposed to take 6 hours finally ended after 10 hours! Still puzzled about what had caused the delay of 4 hours....But anyway really relieved we didn't have to stay in a "scam" hotel and we did get our passports back without any hassle as well :).
Quick update
Quick update before we go for our Mekong river day tour.
After the day trip we will be taking the 23.00 train to Hue. 16-17 hour train ride.
After the day trip we will be taking the 23.00 train to Hue. 16-17 hour train ride.
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