Mui Ne, Vietnam

After one night in bustling Saigon, we took a bus northwest to Mui Ne, which is pretty much a beach with a bunch of resorts, bars and restaurants. The place is known to be great for kite-surfing, which we didn't do.

We stayed one night at Thai Hoa ($35), but moved to a more centrally located hotel on the second day. The place was called Ngoc Duy; it was probably the cheapest place in all of Mui Ne, but it was great. We had a big twin room with a seating area outside. Since it was Vietnamese new years, the hotel staff invited us for dinner. Me and Kristine ended up at a table with only Russians who could barely speak English, but we still got along quite well. Actually, almost all the people we met in Mui Ne were Russian, except for this one Swedish guy who lived in Vietnam and sold cosmetics.

The food was great, especially the Corn from the street stalls and my new favorite: Dragon-fruit!

Apart from staying on the beach, we went on a half-day tour with Mui Ne Easy Rider ($10), where we had each our driver and some pretty sweet rides (at least mine was). We went to see the white sand dunes and a lizard farm. Apparently lizards are (due to scarcity) selling for about 400 times as much in restaurants as they did only a couple of years ago. We were invited to have tea with the owner. Since it's considered rude to reject any gifts, we were pretty much rolling out of there due to an excessive intake of cakes, cookies and watermelon seeds.

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

After a 7 hour busride from Phnom Penh, we finally arrived in Saigon. We stayed at Ngoc Thao guesthouse in District 1, which was great. About $20 per night. I’ll also recommend the restaurant ”Flavor of India” and the GO2 bar which had a pretty nice rooftop bar with happy hour all night.

The traffic in this city is insane, with only a few cars and MILLIONS of motorcycles. There’s at least three people riding on each of them, and we saw some carrying up to six people! I felt like I was risking my life every time I tried to cross the street.

We went to the War museum (needless to say, Vietnam has also been through awfully rough times) and the Reunification Palace. The bomb proof basement made me think of Twin Peaks.  

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

We took a boat from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, and the ride was about 7 hours long. I got to see the backside of the backpacker medal, as I was feeling really sick for the entire ride. In Phnom Penh we stayed for two nights at Sunday Guesthouse, which was a nice, very clean hotel with helpful staff. They got us Vietnamese visas in one day for $45. We got a private driver for one day ($5 per person), and went to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the killing fields. The fact that Tuol Sleng used to be a school didn't make the atmosphere less creepy. The very recent history of this country (late seventies) is so unbelievably brutal.

Apart from this, we went to the Russian market, Wat Phnom, the royal palace and the silver pagoda.

Cambodia turned out to be my favorite country from the trip. The people were friendly (though some sellers on the streets wouldn't take 'no' for an answer), and I fell completely in love with the colors; dusty and faded like in an old photograph.

Siem Reap, Cambodia.

We arrived pretty late at night. Tiny airport where you can get your visa. (I got e-visa in advance, which was $25.) We stayed at King Angkor Villa ($13). We decided to get up 4 hours after arrival (5 am) to see the sun rise over the ruins of the Angkor Wat temple. Angkor Wat was amazing, apart from all the little children begging you to buy their bracelets, Lonely Planet-books or bottled water. I was surprised by the fact that all these 4-5 year olds knew the capital of Norway without blinking, and it scared me the way they were trying to persuade us into buying stuff (they were obviously trained by adults who knows what buttons to push).

I recommend the Old Market in Siem Reap for great souvenirs. I bought some silver bracelets with snakes and dragons as well as small purses with elephants. Let little fish eat the dead skin off your feet while you drink a local beer (included in the price) or get a $4 per hour oil massage. Ride the tuk-tuks, they're cheap and fun. Have a drink at "Angkor What?" because the name is pretty awesome and you can meet Australians and realize that you barely understand a word they say.

About the trip.

I am now back in Seoul after three weeks of intense traveling. We never stayed more than two nights in one place. This was exhausting, but we got to see a lot. I will upload pictures from most of the places we visited. For snorkeling and more festive pictures (my camera didn't fit in the waterproof pouch or in my purse), wait for Kristine's pictures on Facebook.  I will also try to include traveling tips from the different locations. If I mention hostel prices, it will be for on night in a double or twin room with private bathroom and air conditioning.