15 July 07 - Getting out of Siem Reap, Cambodia :
I've done it, tomorrow I have a seat on the Mekong Express limo bus, sounds pretty classy doesn't it, especially for $20.00 total Siem Reap to Phnom Penh and on to Saigon, we will see. Couldn't get a through bus to Saigon so I'm staying in Phnom Penh for 2 nights. Now the search begins for a hotel, lots of them there so its no problem getting a roof over my head but I would like something nice but at a reasonable price. Yup, feeling kinda picky.

Have a on going bus connection from Phnom Penh to Saigon but rain into a couple of fellow Californians and they suggested I check Asia Air . Good tip as I found they were offering a one way flight to Bangkok for twenty some dollars. So I thinking about dumping the bus ticket and heading to Bangkok.

The motorbike guys and hawkers here are getting to me, had to have a little talk with my self to cool down and chill out. Earlier I snapped at the guy selling me the Bangkok Post and a writing tablet when he gave me one price then raised it. They do that all the time. Don't really think they are trying to cheat, they just aren't sure what they are doing and a long with thinking all of us foreigner guys are rich so what does it matter if they ask for more money.

Cambodia got the best of me, it's not in me to go on to Thailand as I already have a bus ticket from Phnom Phenh to Saigon. So I'll head back to my room in Saigon and recharge my spirit and then head over to Thailand in a few weeks. Anyway, I'm not good at traveling multiple country's, one or maybe two at a time is enough for me. More than that their are just to many things to figure out and keep track of.
To be continued -

Travel links to Vietnam and beyond from my site Vietnam-now.com :
Viet Nam time line 1930 - 2004 BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/1243686.stm

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam – Country profile
United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office (CFO)
http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029394365&a=KCountryProfile&aid=1019061877785
http://www.montagnard-foundation.org/about-degar.html

Travel advisories - US State Department
http://travel.state.gov/travel/warnings.html

Vietnam's English language newspaper http://www.saigontimesweekly.saigonnet.vn/

The Consulate General of Vietnam - San Francisco
http://www.vietnamconsulate-sf.org/frontpage.html

The Vietnamese Embassy - Washington, DC
http://www.vietnamembassy-usa.org/consular/visainfo.php3

Vietnam Administration of Tourism
http://www.vietnamtourism.com/

Victory (Thang Loi) Guest House: A friendly, hidden spot in Saigon's city centre where I stayed last time
http://victoryhouse.4t.com/ e-mail: mailto:victoryhouse@hcm.vnn.vn
http://www.sinhcafevn.com/

Vietnam has a narrow gauge railroad running from Saigon up to Hanoi – on to Haiphong or up to the Chinese boarder across from Lao Cai This will give you the schedules, costs and type of car service offered. The train is A lovely, interesting, however slow alterative to traveling via the friendly skies or on the chaotic highways. Excellent unofficial site - http//www.seat61.com/Vietnam.htm Vietnamese Official site - http://www.vr.com.vn/english/index.html

Primmer on Mini van travel costs: http://www.pmgeiser.ch/vietnam/transport/minibus.htm


Hydrofoil schedule - Bach Dang Wharf (foot of Nguyen Hue) Saigon to Vung Tao

http://bariavungtautourism.com/english/other_services/hydrofoil.php

Loads of inside information on Vietnam and other interesting stuff http://www.vnexpat.com/.

Vietnam Venture Group, Inc., Enterprise Service Providers and Handicraft Traders in Thailand and Vietnam

American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress
- An Approach to Dealing with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD) in Vietnam Veterans - by Daryl S. Paulson http://www.aaets.org/arts/art27.htm

The Legacy of Valor - Vietnam era helicopter images and artifacts http://vhpamuseum.org/

The guys guide to hanging in Cambodia – an expats life in Sihanoukville, Phnom Penh , nightlife, lodging, teaching English and a bunch of assorted tales from the folks who have been there doing it.

Ever wonder about land mines? If so, this sight will blow your mind! http://www.mag.org.uk/index.htm

Capital Guest House and tour – the guys with the boats from Chao Doc up to Phnom Penh - overall they seem to be the big guys in Cambodia budget tours – Seem to have to large a monopoly for my taste - http://.bigpond.com.kh/users/capital

on the road with Doug in Hue

11 July 07 Bus to Seam Reap, Cambodia from Saigon:
Found my bus in Pham Nu Lao at Spaco Tourist, cost $12.00. Left at 6:30 am for Phnom Penh, nice bus, toilet on board, they served us a sandwich and a bottle of water made one stop other than at the boarder. Vietnam Cambodia crossing was easy, paid the drivers helper $24.00 and gave him my passport, he filled out the paper work for my Cambodia visa and I passed through customs and immigrations for Vietnam than Cambodia with out a hitch. Didn't even have to take my bags off the bus or talk to any government agents.

Arrived in Phnom Penh at 12:10 PM and bought a ticket for the leg to Seim Reap, it left at 1:30PM. cost $6.00. The bus station in Phnom Penh is behind the old market, outside with walk up windows, two rows of concrete bench's under a p/e tarp. A noisy, congested and dirty place.

Seim Reap is a big tourist trap, Ankor Watt is really fascinating but jammed with hawkers and tourists. Bought lunch for me and my motor bike driver, one large bottle of Ankor beer two waters, a sandwich and rice and something for the driver- costed a little over $12.00. I want out, wanted to head on to Bangkok but can't figure out how to do it at a resonal price, bus seems to be too complicated and air is too expensive at $175.00 (US)one way. Thinking of heading back to Saigon on Monday if I can find a way that is economical and comfortable.

I'm staying at a friendly enough place here in Siem Reap, very clean but also very worn. named the Bakong Lodge. It's the kind of place you think to your self "this has a lot of unrealized potential" but mean while it reminds you of a hotel out of a movie set in old Mexico.

Everything is expensive here, not California type expensive but for SE Asia. Though there are a lot of bars for the tourist to toss there dollars and after a few drinks cost isn't all that important. Well. that is until the next day. Funny the Riel is Cambodia's currency but everything is in dollars (4,000 rl = $ 1.00 dollar). One afternoon I gave a beggar a the street some Cambodian money only to have him hand it back and show me a dollar, man they are tough here. Seriously though there are some real sad cases here, poverty is endemic and as always hits the children and physical handicapped the hardest. Speaking of handicapped people, the US probably is some what at fault here. Cambodia has more undetected land mines that just about any other country in the world and we, the US government played a big part in that, either in supplying the mines or having a hand in planting them. Sure don't see any US presence helping to fix the mess the started back in the 1970's but I do see Japan, France, Australia and many others at work here.
To be continued -

On visiting Bangkok:
Firstly - don't race through the City of Angles on your way to somewhere else - At first introduction, all the traffic and crowds in Bangkok can be intimidating but don't be standoffish, jump in and become part of the action.

Hop on the BTS (the skytrain) ride from one end till you either see an interesting spot and hop off or ride to the end look around and head back. If nothing else it's super air conditioned and very 21 st century.

Get your self down to the Chao Phraya River and hop on a express boat (reua duan). Pick up a tourist map or something like the "Rough Guide to Bangkok" to find the top spots to visit or just ride the water born bus watching the sights go by. You can connect from the skytrain at central Pier (was Saphan Taksin station) flat fair on the boats is 10 - 15 Baht . There are also tourist boats - look about the same but fly blue flags, offer running commentaries and head for designated tourist spots like Banglamphu at B75 for an all day ticket, also good on the express boats.

Instead of walking down that long soi grab one of those official motorbike taxi guys. You've seen em, the guys with the red vests, hanging on the corners, get a price first before jumping on. If you’re really a thrill junky, get one to run you through mid town during rush hour. Once while trying to catch a the night train to Chiang Mai my taxi was gridlocked the driver finely just shut off the engine and motioned me to a motorbike taxi at the corner. The motorbike taxi guy must have been used to this because before I could get out of the cab and pull on my pack he was there waiting. Guaranteeing to get me to the train on time at a price (still cheaper than a taxi). Nothing was off limits on our quest - sidewalks, dirt paths, alleys, squeezing beside and cutting across in the front of cars we roared on and catch my train. A little shaken and stiff from my ride I boarded my train on time.

What I believe to be highly underrated in our modern, fast pace world is just walking around. While at it do a lot of rubber necking and to thwart dehydration beer breaks with street vendors are a must and to keep the strength up, a bit to eat from a street vendor as you watch the world flow by.

Last leg of flights to Vietnam:

Made it back from Kowloon with time to spare, got my carry on bag back from the Left Luggage place, slid through security once again and started looking for the gate to board my 2:15 flight on Vietnam Airlines to Saigon.

Vietnam Airlines is growing, it used to be the last leg into Vietnam was shown on your ticket as aboard Vietnam Airlines but in fact it was in name only. While in fact the original carrier supplied the flight, but on this one I boarded an actual Vietnam Airlines piece of equipment.

I've flown Vietnam Airlines numerous times and they are better than a few years ago but I'm not comfortable flying them, even with free beer. It's nothing specific, but it's how the details are handled by the flight crew, they get things a little botched up. For example on this flight, they did a sloppy job on the pre flight safety presentation, food was OK but the fruit and salad were dried out as if it had sitting out too long. So being the worrier I am, I'm left to wondering what other details were glossed over or missed that I'm not aware of. Another thing is on this flight as with other Vietnam Airways flights I have flown, it seems the the plane was filled with very unfriendly people. OK, I know the airline can't stop booking tickets to the unfriendly folk but their cabin staff should be able to modify this though the cabin attendants seem to be taking directions from the Vietnamese passengers. No matter my feelings we arrived on time at 4:15 pm, and my bags were waiting for me on the carousel. So what do I really have to really grumble about.

Vietnamese immigrations is very efficient now a days, long gone is the need to slip a fiver into your passport for speedy entry. Customs is hassle free also but some Vietnamese are very impatient and will cut in front of you or pull your bag aside and push theirs through. After clearing customs, you walk trough a seemingly deserted terminal until you get to the open terminal exit and on the outside of this opening you see a semicircle of people packed 10 or 20 deep, then a layer of taxi cab drivers and sundry other folk their for who knows what. I always stand looking at this for a moment, catch myself and step into the mass, always smiles as the crowd make way for me and my luggage. As I stepping out into the crowd and as the hot, humid air washed over Gia My and Van materialized and stuffed me into a taxi they had already staked out.

Off to SE Asia once again:
As I finely get on my way I'm reminded of the skipper who never makes way from port, awaiting the right conditions to sail off. I've been making these trips to SE Asia for years but as my age increases the harder it gets to leave the comforts of home. In thinking about this I came to better understand the hold a familiar place can have as with the harbor locked sailor. So after many excuses and false starts, the time had come to just get on with it or surrender to endless afternoons of Oprah. Never an Oprah fan I pushed into the crowded summer travel season. Gave up on waiting for air fare deals, tossed my fate to a travel agent and had her book me a ticket to Saigon with an open return. Convinced friends in Saigon to help in finding me a new place to rent a room in the city center, district 1. They came through again, a dandy little guest house, offering me a nice sized room at a reasonable price with a 24/7 dsl Internet connection, cable TV, frig, balcony and best of all my laundry (even iron my boxers) done.

My son Ian drove me out to the Sacramento airport to catch a United Express/Skywest, 45 minute flight to San Francisco. Some might scoff at the extravagance of flying such a short distance but beats the heck out of driving the traffic chocked Hwy 80. Anyway, I couldn't talk anyone into driving me to San Francisco International so really didn't have much of a choice. Of note - their was the bummer of a 6 hour wait at San Francisco for the Cathy flight to Hong Kong.


Once my Cathay flight arrived at Hong Kong International their was another bummer of a layover of 7 hours before heading on to Saigon. What do you do with long lay overs? San Francisco was a no brainier, eat dinner, watch people and let the adrenalin carry me along but on arrival in Hong Kong I needed a bit more. 13 plus hours in a plane even if you did as I did and finagled an upgrade to business, will suck the adrenalin out the best day dreamers.

At 7:30, armed with my visa application, completed on the plane, I easily pass through immigrations and customs, that is after an interminable wait in one of those lines that seem to snake on and on for ever. I quickly located the Left Luggage and checked my carry on. For reference its located to your right after entering the terminal from customs and the going rate for a single piece of luggage is $50.00 (hk) for up to 24 hours. Then walk across the terminal lobby and ante up $90.00 HK dollars for my train ticket and waited to board the next Airport Express Train to Kowloon, trains leave every 12 minutes or something like that, so its a short wait even if you just missed a train. An important point for us brain dead, marathon travelers using the train is a true no brainier. They only go in two directions, one to downtown Hong Kong and other direction back, making only three stops on the way from the airport - Tsing Yi, Kowloon and downtown Hong Kong, which is about about 20 minutes and the reverse to return. They are very modern, high tech and high speed trains, offering a very peaceful ride. With even a quite car where no cell phones are allowed, and all are squeaky clean with loads of room and comfy seats to watch the country side pass by.

Obtaining a VietNamese visa:
Applying for a VietNamese visa is pretty straight forward deal. Go to the VietNamese Consulate San Francisco and down load the visa application (PDF form). You can also obtain a visa through the embassy in Washington DC Send the completed application along with a passport size photo, check, your passport and a postage paid / return envelope to the embassy.

The standard tourist visa is good for up to 30 days and a single entry and exit. The different visa's time limits and prices change from time to time so it's a good idea to check with an embassy to see whats up before you apply. From my experiences it seems the types of visa's availability and there costs sometimes vary from one consular office to the next. So if you get information from one office and decide to apply at another, double check your original information. In general a 30 and 90 day tourist visa are available. along with a 6 month work visa. The embassy's request you should allow two weeks for processing and for an extra fee a 2 days express service is available. Just for reference the visa I am on now took less than a week to obtain. Called the San Francisco Embassy on Monday about what was needed for a via, mailed my photo, application, passport, check and a return express mail envelope that afternoon. On that Friday my passport with the visa inside arrived in the mail.

If your traveling through SE Asia and Bangkok is your start point visa's are available directly from the embassy or through one of the many travel agents around town. I have heard that visa's are cheaper in Bangkok than in the US. I use Bangkok as an example but visa's are available from any embassy in any country and also through travel agents. A word of caution - if your using an agent, make sure of their reliability before surrendering your passport for a visa.

Another little know deal is that If you have a travel agent in Saigon they can set up a visa on arrival at Tan Son Nhat but this must be set up in advance.

One more important point is that the date on your visa is the date your visa starts, so if you arrive 10 days after this date on a 30 day visa you now have a 20 day visa.

Visa's for Vietnam are a real pain but the trouble is well worth it, Vietnam is wonderful place.