Fri 27 Mar – Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam

Our bus trip over the border to Saigon means that we have caught buses all the way from Hat Yai in Thailand to southern Vietnam (excluding the round trip from Bangkok to Chiang Mai). That’s around 2,400 kilometres – roughly the equivalent of Geelong to Mackay.

Vietnam has around 84 million people, making it the 13th most populous nation. Yet in terms of landmass it is closer in size to Victoria than any other Aussie state, which has a population of 5.2 million, making it a very dense. Hence, the highway from the Cambodian border is consistently lined with townships. For the record, Vietnam has an area of 332,000 square kilometres compared to Vic’s 238,000.

The difference in development between Vietnam and Cambodia provides a strong contrast either side of the (efficiently-run) border. Vietnam is ordered, green and clean. Its streets are swept of dust and debris, the fields neatly arranged and efficiently irrigated. Cambodia is comparatively dry and ramshackle. Given that the two countries share the same border, climate can be immediately dismissed as a reason for the distinction. Before hitting Vietnam, the level of development that we’ve seen has generally decreased with every new destination reached, beginning with the clean and streamlined Singapore to Phnom Penh, where it felt as through you had stepped back in time.

Having said all that, my impressions of the Cambodian people improved with each new day, and you can only commend them on their resilience once you learn of the plight in recent decades.

Although officially known as Ho Chi Minh city, to the locals this is still Saigon. I’ll stick with the locals preference from here on. Plus it’s easier to type.

The Dong is the Vietnamese currency and it’s not user friendly. The current rate is 1 AUD = 12,000 dong. Withdrawing cash today became the first, and hopefully not last, time that I took over one million from an ATM… and it was two!

Australia’s influence on South-East Asia has been prominent throughout our travels – be it the availability of Aussie beers or the abundance of tourists from the land Down Under. Another example is the Australia television network that broadcasts throughout the region. And to prove that Aussie Rules really is the biggest winter sport in our nation, the network shows, on delayed telecast, AFL games in the prime timeslot of 7:30pm Friday and Saturday nights. Tonight’s broadcast was the Cats v Hawks game, so we set up camp in the suitably-furnished, Aussie-themed Blue Gecko Bar in downtown Saigon to catch the game with a couple of other Melbourne-based Cats fans.

Listening to the likes of Kevin ‘Bloody’ Wilson, Hunters & Collectors and Midnight Oil, watching the footy on a big screen TV in a bar whose are walls adorned with signed photos of Gary Ablett Snr, Mark Yeates and the 2007 Premiership team, I couldn’t help but think that this was all just put on for me.


Sat 28 Mar – Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City

Myself & Libe consider ex-72 Canterbury Rd housemate Jen Tran to be a culinary guru, so we had to take her advice and head to the Quan An Ngon restaurant for tea. We’re happy to say Jen’s advice didn’t let us down (not that it ever has!). We arrived there at the reasonably early time of 5:30pm and watched the queues steadily grow, to the stage where at 7pm hungry patrons were lined up well outside the door. The young staff were very eager to please, literally fighting over each other to serve us. Perhaps the low prices on offer meant that they rely on tips for a decent paypacket? (I hope not - they must have been sorely disappointed by our apparent lack of generosity!). Most important of all, the food, cooked in the open air underneath the garden patios, was awesome.

It’s hard to remember a city like Saigon where its colonial rulers have had such a visible impact. The French controlled the city for over 70 years from the 1880s, and their long-lasting presence is clearly felt when walking amongst the small townhouses, the tree-lined boulevards and the grand theatres and museums. This place immediately recalls to mind our prior experiences of Paris. The city that is, not Hilton.

Amongst the major activities today was a trip to the War Remnants Museum. A government-controlled exhibition, it is as damning towards the US as can be, portraying them akin to genocidal monsters. The photos and quotes relating to Agent Orange, the herbicide and defoliant used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program, are particularly hard-hitting, especially those coming from American officials during their post-War reviews. In total, 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange, resulting in an astounding 400,000 deaths and disabilities, and 500,000 children born with birth defects. It is certainly worth everyone reading up on this atrocity and supporting the efforts of those seeking to get just compensation from the creators and users of Agent Orange – there are numerous Facebook groups such as “The Global Agent Orange Walk 2009 Supporters” to join for those interested.


Sun 29 Mar – Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City

Although we have a lot in common, as with any relationship, there are individual tastes that Libe and myself don’t share. One of these is my seemingly endless curiosity to anything concerning history and related, to which Libe has an average level of interest. This difference meant that we split up for a lot of day, myself heading out on a field trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels while Libe sought some retail therapy in the city centre.

The Cu Chi tunnels is a network of tunnels dug by the Viet Cong for use during the War for all purposes, in particular attack, defence, living, first aid and communication. Some parts of the network have been enlarged for Westerners but not to a size suitable for anyone with the slightest bit of claustrophoba. The tunnels are tight, hot and long, requiring a doubled-over walk or crawl for up to 40 metres at any one time. What we saw was only a small section of the full network employed by the Viet Cong – up to 200km of tunnels existed in the Cu Chi district alone. Other highlights of this place included an open-air shooting range equipped with real machine guns such as AK47’s, and replicas of traps used to great effect by the North Vietnamese soldiers for sabotage.


Mon 30 Mar - Saigon to Singapore

The last week or so has arguably been the busiest period for us. In the 9 days from Sunday 22nd to Monday 30th (inclusive) we have taken in four countries. Add 3 more days, to include Thursday 2nd May, and there will be five nations in this stretch. And as there has been a higher proportion of day travel in that period, as opposed to overnight travel, we could be excused for looking to settle somewhere for a few days.

It was back to Singapore today via a Tiger Airways flight to Singapore. This might be a useless fact, but Singapore is one of what is probably a select group of countries that has an international airport but no domestic one. Dubai comes to mind as another. There are probably a few others, particularly among the smaller states in Europe and the third world countries in Africa, but without conducting further research I don’t know of any.

I am really disappointed to say goodbye to Saigon, and I think Libe feels much the same. It is a place that I knew little about before our visit, but my opinion of it when leaving is that it’s a wonderful city with a great mix of eastern culture, Asian and French architecture, a lush environment and a top social scene. This is a place to which I’ll happily return if the opportunity arose.

There are numerous strong differences between Singapore and the rest of South-East Asia that we have travelled through in the last month or so. One of these is that we could notice what day of the week it was from the city’s activity. Monday night means first day of the working week and thus the streets of Singapore were largely empty. In the other places, perhaps excluding Kuala Lumpur, there were no such noticable variances in the level of activity on the city streets between the days of the week. I feel as though we are well and truly back in the Western world.

Besides that, Singapore has been the only place where English is the true language. As always, it has been enjoyable to converse with locals in their native tongue and to see the smiles on their faces when you surpass the low expectations they have of your multilingual abilities.

Good weather has been a constant feature of our trip. The only place that we might have seen rain is Krabi, but if there was any that fell there it was not enough to provide any significant inconvenience. According to travel literature March occurs during the dry season here, so we perceive these documents to be correct.

Tue 31 March - Singapore

Second last day of the trip, last full day. I’m already fighting off PTD (Post Travel Depression).

Much of the day was spent on Sentosa Island, the southernmost point of the Asian continent. A very-well created resort and playground for the local people, the highlights here include swimming in beaches while looking out at numerous freight ships sitting off the Singapore shores and wandering around Fort Silosa, a former military base which re-creates the Japanese invasion, occupation and surrender. For Australians the fort is certainly worth a visit as our country and its brave men had a significant role here in WWII.

Wed 1 April - Singapore

Singapore is a really good city but not in my great category. The great ones have a constant edge and intangible atmosphere that separates them from the class below. My list of great cities – limited to those I’ve been to – are:

• New York
• Paris
• Amsterdam
• Hong Kong
• Bangkok
• Saigon
• Prague
• Melbourne

Florence would be included in there if you recognise it as a ‘city’ – its size could be the question.

One of the very few unmemorable items of our trip has been the smell of a particular fruit, known as a ‘Durian’, that is common throughout this part of the world. Unquestionably strong, some perceive the smell to be ‘fragrant’, while others think of it as overpowering and offensive. I’m agreeing with the latter group of people. Like it or otherwise, the Durian is banned from a many hotels and public transport systems. For the record, the other real dislike has been the Cambodian border officials in Poipet (although the Jetstar baggage handling system will soon be added to that!).

Singapore is a certainly in the list of the most expensive places I’ve been to. In fact, it may actually top the list. Using a common example, a bottle of Baileys in a Singapore supermarket, one of the cheapest places to buy alcohol here, is SGD (Singapore Dollars) 56, or approximately AUD 59. Only a few days ago the same bottle was costing USD 13 (AUD 20). Taxes appear to be the major expense component, hence why one litre bottles are available duty free at Changi Airport for only SGD 32 (AUD 34).

Unfortunately our trip ended tonight with two flights ahead of us to reach Brisbane (Darwin being the other location involved) by tomorrow morning (although my main backpack would not reach Logan until early next Monday).

Hope you enjoyed reading of our travels (if anyone reads this!) as much as I enjoyed noting the remarkable and not-so remarkable. And I hope I enjoy reading this in the future when I come looking to my own blog for inspiration. I’m not sure when and where our next adventure will be – I only hope it’s not too far away and it’s somewhere near as good as this one has been!