Day 19 of 36
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to Siem Reap, Cambodia
Flight 10 of 18
263 miles of 22,121 total miles to travel
We awoke at 7 am and had our usual morning ritual ending with a large breakfast in the Executive Lounge. I updated my blog and email and then we took a walk out in HCMC. We went into the Park Hyatt Hotel - beautiful but we like our hotel better.
We walked to a large park with a concrete structure over a pond. The tower looked like a lotus flower with small fountains and walkways out over the pond. We rested there - it was hot - and then headed back to the hotel. We stopped in a modern shopping centre - we could have been at the Galleria. But it was cool inside. They had a huge Korean Ginseng display - this stuff is expensive. Tim got a cold diet coke and then we headed back to the hotel to finish packing and check email, etc one last time.
We went to the Executive Lounge and had a cold drink and looked at the city sights one last time. Tim checked us out with the concierge, we retrieved our bags and went to the lobby to get our hotel car (a Mercedes of course) to go to the airport. Traffic wasn't that bad and we made it there in about 20 minutes. Amazing considering the minibikes zipping around.
The chauffeur dropped us off and we checked in with Vietnam Airlines. Then to immigration, security and customs. An easy process. They didn't even find the bottle of water that was in my backpack!
We checked out the duty free shops - they were expensive - looked for wine (too expensive and not much choice) and then went upstairs and had a small sandwich and diet coke since we hadn't had lunch. We then headed to our gate but Tim was nervous "Why isn't our flight posted?", "This isn't the right gate!", "This isn't right", etc, etc, etc. I asked the attendant and she told me this was where we should be but he still didn't believe it. It was right. The flight was late coming in so they were late loading, but we got on the bus and went out to the plane. We left right on time with cloudy, hazy skies over HCMC. Goodbye, Vietnam.
The flight was bumpy - they gave us a snack (small ham sandwich and a small container of water) and lots of papers to fill out for our arrival in Cambodia. We had gotten eVisas so this was going to expedite the process for us. We hoped to see some of the ruins from the air but no such luck.
We landed at the new Siem Reap airport. And because we had our eVisas we were the first through the immigration counters. But the agents took forever. Especially with Tim. Lots of stamping, looking at us, checking the computer, etc. While he was finishing, I retrieved our bags since they were among the first ones out and waited for him. Tim exchanged some USD into Cambodia real.
Our driver from the hotel was waiting right at the exit for us. Nice guy and friendly. While he loaded up our luggage, I went to an ATM at the front of the hotel. I was so surprised when I got USD out instead of CVR! I had to laugh - come halfway around the world and the ATM is giving me US currency!!! Amazing. We wondered how much of the US currency is outside of the US?
Short drive to La Residence d'Angkor. LOTS of new hotels being built on the way from the airport to the city. We love the location of where we are - right on the river with a lanai overlooking the river - beautiful grounds - just lovely. We checked in and made some dinner reservations for tonight and tomorrow night (show dinner at the hotel). We were led to our room which is lovely - large room with separate tub/shower, and the lanai over looking the river. Tim was excited and loves it.
We went to the lobby bar for drinks - it is happy hour. We learned from our experience in Hanoi and asked what "happy hour" meant. Buy 2 drinks and get 1 free (for each person). OK - so that's what we did. It was attitude adjustment hour. The concierge made a reservation for us at a restaurant right around the corner - Viroth's. It had started raining - hard at times - but the hotel had lots of umbrellas that we could use. It was a short walk around the corner. And Viroth's exceeded our expectations for our first meal in Cambodia. We had a bottle of South African Chenin Blanc. Tim had Khmer fish sour soup and Larry had pumpkin soup with sesame seeds. Delicious. For main course, Tim had akoc fish and Larry had Khmer chicken with morning-glory wine steamed. We both had steamed rice. It was delicious. For dessert we shared bananas flambed in rum. We are stuffed and very satisfied with the Cambodia food after one meal. We look forward with anticipation to trying more things.
We made the short walk back to the hotel, updated our blog and emails, and headed off to bed. We have to get up early to meet our tour guide to begin exploring one of the greatest ruins on earth - Angkor Wat.
There is a mosquito net over our bed and we are tempted to use it but the concierge told me that this is for "atmosphere" only. We wonder. Tim swears that there is a big mosquito in our room!!! (:-)
Off to bed - we are excited to be in Cambodia for the final leg of our adventure in Southeast Asia.
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to Siem Reap, Cambodia
Flight 10 of 18
263 miles of 22,121 total miles to travel
We awoke at 7 am and had our usual morning ritual ending with a large breakfast in the Executive Lounge. I updated my blog and email and then we took a walk out in HCMC. We went into the Park Hyatt Hotel - beautiful but we like our hotel better.
We walked to a large park with a concrete structure over a pond. The tower looked like a lotus flower with small fountains and walkways out over the pond. We rested there - it was hot - and then headed back to the hotel. We stopped in a modern shopping centre - we could have been at the Galleria. But it was cool inside. They had a huge Korean Ginseng display - this stuff is expensive. Tim got a cold diet coke and then we headed back to the hotel to finish packing and check email, etc one last time.
We went to the Executive Lounge and had a cold drink and looked at the city sights one last time. Tim checked us out with the concierge, we retrieved our bags and went to the lobby to get our hotel car (a Mercedes of course) to go to the airport. Traffic wasn't that bad and we made it there in about 20 minutes. Amazing considering the minibikes zipping around.
The chauffeur dropped us off and we checked in with Vietnam Airlines. Then to immigration, security and customs. An easy process. They didn't even find the bottle of water that was in my backpack!
We checked out the duty free shops - they were expensive - looked for wine (too expensive and not much choice) and then went upstairs and had a small sandwich and diet coke since we hadn't had lunch. We then headed to our gate but Tim was nervous "Why isn't our flight posted?", "This isn't the right gate!", "This isn't right", etc, etc, etc. I asked the attendant and she told me this was where we should be but he still didn't believe it. It was right. The flight was late coming in so they were late loading, but we got on the bus and went out to the plane. We left right on time with cloudy, hazy skies over HCMC. Goodbye, Vietnam.
The flight was bumpy - they gave us a snack (small ham sandwich and a small container of water) and lots of papers to fill out for our arrival in Cambodia. We had gotten eVisas so this was going to expedite the process for us. We hoped to see some of the ruins from the air but no such luck.
We landed at the new Siem Reap airport. And because we had our eVisas we were the first through the immigration counters. But the agents took forever. Especially with Tim. Lots of stamping, looking at us, checking the computer, etc. While he was finishing, I retrieved our bags since they were among the first ones out and waited for him. Tim exchanged some USD into Cambodia real.
Our driver from the hotel was waiting right at the exit for us. Nice guy and friendly. While he loaded up our luggage, I went to an ATM at the front of the hotel. I was so surprised when I got USD out instead of CVR! I had to laugh - come halfway around the world and the ATM is giving me US currency!!! Amazing. We wondered how much of the US currency is outside of the US?
Short drive to La Residence d'Angkor. LOTS of new hotels being built on the way from the airport to the city. We love the location of where we are - right on the river with a lanai overlooking the river - beautiful grounds - just lovely. We checked in and made some dinner reservations for tonight and tomorrow night (show dinner at the hotel). We were led to our room which is lovely - large room with separate tub/shower, and the lanai over looking the river. Tim was excited and loves it.
We went to the lobby bar for drinks - it is happy hour. We learned from our experience in Hanoi and asked what "happy hour" meant. Buy 2 drinks and get 1 free (for each person). OK - so that's what we did. It was attitude adjustment hour. The concierge made a reservation for us at a restaurant right around the corner - Viroth's. It had started raining - hard at times - but the hotel had lots of umbrellas that we could use. It was a short walk around the corner. And Viroth's exceeded our expectations for our first meal in Cambodia. We had a bottle of South African Chenin Blanc. Tim had Khmer fish sour soup and Larry had pumpkin soup with sesame seeds. Delicious. For main course, Tim had akoc fish and Larry had Khmer chicken with morning-glory wine steamed. We both had steamed rice. It was delicious. For dessert we shared bananas flambed in rum. We are stuffed and very satisfied with the Cambodia food after one meal. We look forward with anticipation to trying more things.
We made the short walk back to the hotel, updated our blog and emails, and headed off to bed. We have to get up early to meet our tour guide to begin exploring one of the greatest ruins on earth - Angkor Wat.
There is a mosquito net over our bed and we are tempted to use it but the concierge told me that this is for "atmosphere" only. We wonder. Tim swears that there is a big mosquito in our room!!! (:-)
Off to bed - we are excited to be in Cambodia for the final leg of our adventure in Southeast Asia.
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