Trip Report - Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia - 2019

Those pools are gorgeous!

Sayhello
They were an amazing milky bluey-green color. Our local guide did the unnecessary step of saying, "You should have seen them last month, they were amazing!" and showed pictures on his phone. lol

He wasn't wrong, they looked even more amazing lol

Ditto what @sayhello said--gorgeous! Funny that you mentioned the rice farm. On my Japan trip we were talking to someone about this trip and that was their favorite activity.
We figured it would be a 'yeah, that was alright' activity, but we really enjoyed it. The hosts were engaging and funny and it gave you a newfound respect for each grain of rice.
 
Enjoying your trip report! We got back this morning from our trip and I'm enjoying reliving the days as you post. We also had the itinerary change and our schedule was very similar except it looks like they made a small change on the last day in Hoi An--since we had a later flight they added a provided lunch and took us to the large Buddha on the hill to see the area around it.
 
Enjoying your trip report! We got back this morning from our trip and I'm enjoying reliving the days as you post. We also had the itinerary change and our schedule was very similar except it looks like they made a small change on the last day in Hoi An--since we had a later flight they added a provided lunch and took us to the large Buddha on the hill to see the area around it.
The Lady Buddah? We were hoping for some free time to go there, but it was too far away from Hoi An (but close to the airport). I would have rather skipped Marble Mountain and the marble store and gone there instead.

I'm very interested in hearing your thoughts on the trip!
 


Day 9 of ABD

This day started very early with the Alms Giving ceremony. We had a spot on a quiet side street away from the masses. The monks walk by very quickly and the whole thing didn’t last very long.
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There was an optional hike up Mount Phousi after that. It wasn’t too bad of a hike and gave us great views of the rivers and the hotel. We returned to the hotel for breakfast.

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After a brief rest period, there was an optional trip to another temple. A few in the group took this opportunity and it was a nice tour. It was a much bigger temple than what we saw the when we first got to Laos.

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Back to the hotel to check out, then off to lunch.

We had pre-ordered at this place, but it still took a while. After lunch, we went to the airport to fly to Siem Reap. The Sofitel hotel was one of the best of the trip. It has a large pool and my wife and I did some swimming. Dinner was a buffet at the hotel that was pretty good.

One great thing about finishing the trip in Cambodia is that it's easy to get US Dollars. Several got USD from the ATMs at the airport. My card didn't work there for some reason - could have even been user error.

When we got to the hotel, Henry and Drew pointed the way to an ATM across the street from the hotel. They said it used to be a 5 minute walk to get to one, now it's simple.
 
What a beautiful temple! And that view is quite nice, but I can't imagine hiking *before* breakfast!! :eek:

Sayhello
 
What a beautiful temple! And that view is quite nice, but I can't imagine hiking *before* breakfast!! :eek:

Sayhello
They did give us some cookies, coffee, tea, and juice before we left the hotel. But it wasn’t ‘breakfast’.

By this point in the trip, i’d eaten more than my share of food anyway lol
 


Day 10 of ABD

Angkor Wat day! The previous day, our local guide told us that shoulders and knees needed to be covered and that scarves were no longer acceptable. He said too many people draped the scarves over their shoulders just to get in, then would take them off.

After breakfast, we headed out for Angkor Wat. The size and scale of the place is amazing. We spent about two hours walking around the grounds and through the temple. It was hot and humid and there isn’t much shade. Fortunately, we brought out umbrellas for some shade and that helped. Our local guide explained a lot of the carvings.

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After, we went to lunch then walked to a temple for a blessing. I think after that, we had a short break at the hotel. I had dropped my sunglasses at the temples and they broke. Drew thought he had super glue in his bag, but couldn’t find it. He and Henry went out of their way to have someone from the hotel come to the room to try to fix my sunglasses. They took them and returned about 15 minutes later with them glued back together. Unfortunately, they broke again, but it was so nice of everyone to try to help.

(continued in next post)
 
(continued from previous post)

That evening, we went to the sunset cruise. It was a nice, peaceful cruise. We sailed to a point where it looked like you couldn’t go farther, then the boats all pulled over in the shade. One of the rowers sang a few songs and looked like he had a great time doing it.

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After, we were on our own for dinner. A bunch of the families grabbed tuk tuks to pub street where some did the fish massage (where the fish nibble at the dead skin on your feet) – my wife did it and was glad she tried it. A group of us went to eat at a restaurant on pub street and had a pretty good meal. My wife and I split a small pizza that was surprisingly good. Either that, or we really missed pizza. I'm sure it was a bit of both.
 
The previous day, our local guide told us that shoulders and knees needed to be covered and that scarves were no longer acceptable. He said too many people draped the scarves over their shoulders just to get in, then would take them off.

...It was hot and humid and there isn’t much shade. Fortunately, we brought out umbrellas for some shade and that helped. ...

For the temples I am thinking of wearing a sheer duster kimono over shorts and tank top. I don't think I can survive the heat in anything long. I like the suggestion of an umbrella in the sun! Also maybe a water misting fan would help.
 
For the temples I am thinking of wearing a sheer duster kimono over shorts and tank top. I don't think I can survive the heat in anything long. I like the suggestion of an umbrella in the sun! Also maybe a water misting fan would help.
I'm a simple dude, so I had to look up what a duster kimono was, but that should work great. ;)

There were a few that had water misting fans. Drew, one of our ABD guides, also had some mister that he would run around and spray you with if you wanted.

We had meant to pack our frog togs, but completely forgot them. It was about day 3 of the trip before we even remembered that we forgot them. lol
 
Day 11 of ABD –

After breakfast, they had tuk tuks waiting for us at the hotel to take us to two temples – The Bayon then Ta Prohm. Riding in the tuk tuks was so much fun. I thought it would be hot, but when you got moving, it was better than air conditioning. I started feeling bad for the people that were stuck in the busses! This was a much better way to see the area.

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Bayon was spectacular – I think I enjoyed that one more than Angkor Wat. We moved a little fast through the temple and it was hard to watch your footing and take in everything around you at the same time. We did stop from time to time to learn about the temple and carvings.

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After the temple, you had to find your tuk driver again, then they took you to the next one. Ta Prohm was also beautiful. By the time we got there, the crowds had picked up, but we were still able to enjoy it.

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After the temples, we went to lunch. As we were headed to lunch, it started to rain. By the time we got to lunch, the rain was over.

We re-ordered this meal the day before. I remembered what I ordered this time because I got a beef dish that had red ants on it. I tried the ants on their own and they didn’t really have any taste. The dish was very good, though.

After lunch, there were 3 options: go back to the hotel, go to a market, or go to a local village. We chose the village. At the village, they had a cooking demonstration and served us some food – we were still full from lunch, so not much got eaten. What we tried was really good, we were just so full and felt bad we couldn’t have eaten more. They had a small area set up for archery and the locals helped us with our form. Then it was back to the hotel.

From our room, we could see them setting up poolside for the farewell dinner. We could also see that a storm was headed our way. I needed to go to the lobby and it was pouring. There were about a dozen hotel workers with big squeegees clearing off the walkways. They had also set up sandbags on a few of the paths to divert the water from the main walkway. We figured there would be no way to have the farewell meal outside. When it was time for dinner, we went down and Henry and Drew directed us to a private conference room inside. They apologized, unnecessarily, about having to move indoors. As nice as it would have been out by the pool, I think many were happy to have the air conditioning. The farewell meal was really good – especially the grilled items. There was a beautiful dance performance followed by a nice recap video and speeches by Henry and Drew. They also went around and asked people what their favorite parts were.
 
Day 12 of ABD –

My wife and I had an early flight out – 11:30AM – so they booked us a car for 9:00. A group of people were planning to do Siem Reap at sunrise. We could have done that and made it back in plenty of time, but we had a long travel day (it would be 37 hours of travel that day), so we decided to skip that. I think only a few actually made it. We got loaded in the car and Henry, Drew, and about 6 – 8 hotel employees came out to waive goodbye.

We had a 7 hour connection in Guangzhou, China so, before we left home, I bought a Priority Pass so that we could use one of the airline clubs. I found a 40% off code for the card, then we had to pay $32 each. Total, it cost about $140. We went to the best reviewed club and checked in. It was nice enough, but wasn't anything outstanding. It was nice to have our own space and a place to plug stuff in - except, I had packed all of my outlet converters in my checked bag. I think we only used one once during the trip. I asked at the desk and they found one in lost and found that I borrowed then returned.

We had hoped they would have good internet and we could stream nextflix or upload pictures, but it was so slow, you'd have to re-try any website multiple times before you got it to load. In the end, I think it was worth the money just to be somewhere a bit more relaxing. The pass is good for a year, so maybe we'll get to use it again before it expires.

This was such a great trip! There were so many highlights it was hard to pick favorites.

The food was all really good. The only meal that wasn’t outstanding was at the hotel in Hanoi. In Hanoi, we also had lunch at the airport. There weren’t a lot of choices, but we had some banh mi that were pretty good. There were no lunch or dinner buffets or boxed lunches, to that was a huge plus! After our Viking China trip, we didn't eat Chinese food at home for months - we were so tired of it. Immediately after this trip, I am missing the SE Asia foods.

The guides were really good. They have to balance a lot to make sure both kids and adults are entertained and happy.

We’ll definitely consider ABD in the future for trips!
 
Day 12 of ABD –

My wife and I had an early flight out – 11:30AM – so they booked us a car for 9:00. A group of people were planning to do Siem Reap at sunrise. We could have done that and made it back in plenty of time, but we had a long travel day (it would be 37 hours of travel that day), so we decided to skip that. I think only a few actually made it. We got loaded in the car and Henry, Drew, and about 6 – 8 hotel employees came out to waive goodbye.

We had a 7 hour connection in Guangzhou, China so, before we left home, I bought a Priority Pass so that we could use one of the airline clubs. I found a 40% off code for the card, then we had to pay $32 each. Total, it cost about $140. We went to the best reviewed club and checked in. It was nice enough, but wasn't anything outstanding. It was nice to have our own space and a place to plug stuff in - except, I had packed all of my outlet converters in my checked bag. I think we only used one once during the trip. I asked at the desk and they found one in lost and found that I borrowed then returned.

We had hoped they would have good internet and we could stream nextflix or upload pictures, but it was so slow, you'd have to re-try any website multiple times before you got it to load. In the end, I think it was worth the money just to be somewhere a bit more relaxing. The pass is good for a year, so maybe we'll get to use it again before it expires.

This was such a great trip! There were so many highlights it was hard to pick favorites.

The food was all really good. The only meal that wasn’t outstanding was at the hotel in Hanoi. In Hanoi, we also had lunch at the airport. There weren’t a lot of choices, but we had some banh mi that were pretty good. There were no lunch or dinner buffets or boxed lunches, to that was a huge plus! After our Viking China trip, we didn't eat Chinese food at home for months - we were so tired of it. Immediately after this trip, I am missing the SE Asia foods.

The guides were really good. They have to balance a lot to make sure both kids and adults are entertained and happy.

We’ll definitely consider ABD in the future for trips!
Great trip report--sounds like a fantastic trip. Thanks so much for the write up :)
 
Thanks for the report...we are going on this trip with dec 22 start. Anything suggestions beyond what you've written? We will have a day in Ho Chi Minh City before the ABD trip begins. Thanks!!
 
Thanks for the report...we are going on this trip with dec 22 start. Anything suggestions beyond what you've written? We will have a day in Ho Chi Minh City before the ABD trip begins. Thanks!!
Oh, so excited for you! I really, really want to go back!

  • Try all the foods you can. Everything was so good.
  • In Laos, try to go to Manda de Laos - it was one of the best meals we had on the trip and the best ambiance.
  • We didn't see a ton of extra things we wanted to do in HCMC.
    • The Post Office was pretty and a short walk from the hotel, but it's only worth a few minutes of your time
    • Notre Dame was under construction when we were there. Lots of scaffolding.
    • We went to Ben Thanh market. It was fine, but nothing caught our interest. Some of the vendors were a bit aggressive. I've heard Tan My Market is a better choice.
  • If you like coffee, get it often. I don't drink it, but my wife does. She loved the coffee, particularly in Hanoi and said it was the best she's ever had. Regular coffee, iced coffee, and especially egg coffee.
  • If you have a no-fee, international debit card, it was simple to get USD in Siem Reap. There are ATMs right across the street from the hotel. We didn't need USD anywhere except Siem Reap (and we got more so we could tip our guides)
  • Did I mention the food? ;) Banh Mi (we only had the chance to get one at the airport and it was still delicious), cau lau, pho, banh xeo, etc. etc!
Do you have any specific questions? I might be able to help more.
 
Oh, so excited for you! I really, really want to go back!

  • Try all the foods you can. Everything was so good.
  • In Laos, try to go to Manda de Laos - it was one of the best meals we had on the trip and the best ambiance.
  • We didn't see a ton of extra things we wanted to do in HCMC.
    • The Post Office was pretty and a short walk from the hotel, but it's only worth a few minutes of your time
    • Notre Dame was under construction when we were there. Lots of scaffolding.
    • We went to Ben Thanh market. It was fine, but nothing caught our interest. Some of the vendors were a bit aggressive. I've heard Tan My Market is a better choice.
  • If you like coffee, get it often. I don't drink it, but my wife does. She loved the coffee, particularly in Hanoi and said it was the best she's ever had. Regular coffee, iced coffee, and especially egg coffee.
  • If you have a no-fee, international debit card, it was simple to get USD in Siem Reap. There are ATMs right across the street from the hotel. We didn't need USD anywhere except Siem Reap (and we got more so we could tip our guides)
  • Did I mention the food? ;) Banh Mi (we only had the chance to get one at the airport and it was still delicious), cau lau, pho, banh xeo, etc. etc!
Do you have any specific questions? I might be able to help more.

Thank you...super helpful!! A few specific questions:

- Did you eat raw fruits and vegetables? We've been warned not to, but wondering if that applies to the hotels as well?
- How did they handle situations where kids and adults split up? We have 17yo twins who would probably prefer to go with the adults in some of those situations...is that an option?
- Any other restaurants you liked for meals on your own?
- Anything you wish you had brought with you but didn't?
- How are the guides? Do they know the area well? Are they helpful?
- How many people were in the group?
- Anything we need to dress up for?

Thanks!!!
 
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Thank you for the questions; it helps me re-live the trip a bit!

Fruits and vegetables - we ate tons of fresh fruit at restaurants and hotels (I miss the mangoes and pineapple!). I know some in our group bought some fruit at a market and ate that, including the peels. I'm not sure if they washed them or not. Pretty much every meal had fruit.

Veggies - like fruit, we ate these at hotels and restaurants (like at the Obama Bun Cha place). Just give them a good shake to get the water off and it was fine.

I did get sick the first morning of the ABD trip (we had been in Vietnam a few days prior), but I'm not 100% sure what got me. I think it might have been the raw vegetables in my pho at breakfast - who knows.

Note: we didn't eat any street foods. We weren't avoiding them necessarily, we just didn't have a great opportunity. You end up eating a LOT, so there were times when we would have tried something, but were too full. That said, on the last day of the trip, we were talking to Henry and he said he didn't recommend that most people eat the street foods unless you have a strong stomach.

Kids and adults - we didn't travel with kids, so we didn't pay too much attention, but the kids that were on the trip all seemed to have a great time together. There were twin boys right around that age on our trip. There were other kids the same age, too, so that helped. IIRC, there were 5 or 6 that had just graduated High School (including the twins). There were 2 very young kids and a few between those two groups.

There was really only one time when there was an 'adults only' activity. It was a dinner at the hotel in Laos. The adults ate in the beautiful, open-air dining room and the kids ate in a side room, then played games. They all seemed to have a great time. My impression was that adults were free to join the kids, but kids wouldn't be in the dining room. Alternately, you could do dinner on your own that night if it was really an issue. It would only cost a few bucks to get a tuk tuk to take you somewhere.

I think the only other kids activity was during some afternoon on-your-own time at the hotel in Hoi An. The kids and guides went down to the beach and played and the adults did whatever they wanted - most ended up at the pool.

Other OYO restaurants - The "Obama Bun Cha" place (Bún chả Hương Liên) in Hanoi was very good. I think it was my wife's favorite meal. Maybe watch a video on how to eat Bun Cha before you go. We tried so secretly watch the locals. Morning Glory in Hoi An was good.

We ate at a pretty good place for dinner in Hanoi. I don't remember the name. We asked Henry, our Vietnamese guide for a good, local place. He took my phone and set it up on Google Maps and we walked there. Which, that brings me to a great tip - ask the guides. If you want something specific, they will help with suggestions.

Anything we wish we brought - no, I don't think so. Almost all of the hotel power outlets accepted US-style plugs. I think we had one place where the most conveniently placed outlet didn't accept US-style. We did use a small power strip and/or a multi-port USB charger a lot for our phones and cameras. We brought sunscreen, bug spray, etc, but the guides also had plenty of those.

Guides - they were great! We had Henry and Drew as our ABD guides. They were so friendly, fun, and knowledgeable. Henry is from Hanoi, so he knew that city pretty well. He was also very knowledgeable about all of the other places we went. If you were near the guides and payed close attention, you could see when there was a curve ball thrown at them. They handled them so well that most people probably didn't even know it happened.

We had some great local guides, too. One of the local guides in Laos was the one that recommended Manda de Laos. We had planned on going somewhere else and asked him to point us in that direction and he said that place was good, but if we wanted really good, to go to MdL.

People in the group - I think there were something like 28 in our group, which they said was on the smaller side. It was a pretty good number - small enough that you got to know most pretty well and large enough that, if you wanted, you could have easily avoided someone who you didn't get along with.

Dress up - for meals, not really. Some chose to be a bit dressy. Others, including us, did not. We brought one or two 'dress casual' outfits. My wife may have worn one to dinner the first ABD night - I wasn't feeling good, so I didn't go that night. We may have worn them for the last dinner, I don't remember. But there were no meals where you needed to dress up (in our opinion). For reference, we are 'those people' that don't want to dress up on cruises, either. ;)

Do make sure that any women in the group have some outfits where shoulders and knees are covered. Men have to have their knees covered in some places, but 'knees covered' had a pretty loose definition for men. More like shorts that are 'somewhat in the vicinity of your knees'. The guides did a good job of telling us the day before when we would need to have those clothes on. The times I remember were: in the HCM complex (more on this below), both days in Laos, and the temple days in Cambodia.

The guides didn't tell us that requirement for the HCM complex and as we were going in, there was a guard that was very upset with our group because several of the women had bare shoulders. Henry said it was the first time it had been an issue. That was one of those times where the guides quickly solved a problem - Henry called someone and they bought t-shirts for those women and delivered them to us. It probably took 5 minutes for that to be solved.

Don't hesitate to ask more if you have them!

Thank you...super helpful!! A few specific questions:

- Did you eat raw fruits and vegetables? We've been warned not to, but wondering if that applies to the hotels as well?
- How did they handle situations where kids and adults split up? We have 17yo twins who would probably prefer to go with the adults in some of those situations...is that an option?
- Any other restaurants you liked for meals on your own?
- Anything you wish you had brought with you but didn't?
- How are the guides? Do they know the area well? Are they helpful?
- How many people were in the group?
- Anything we need to dress up for?

Thanks!!!
 
Thank you for the questions; it helps me re-live the trip a bit!

Fruits and vegetables - we ate tons of fresh fruit at restaurants and hotels (I miss the mangoes and pineapple!). I know some in our group bought some fruit at a market and ate that, including the peels. I'm not sure if they washed them or not. Pretty much every meal had fruit.

Veggies - like fruit, we ate these at hotels and restaurants (like at the Obama Bun Cha place). Just give them a good shake to get the water off and it was fine.

I did get sick the first morning of the ABD trip (we had been in Vietnam a few days prior), but I'm not 100% sure what got me. I think it might have been the raw vegetables in my pho at breakfast - who knows.

Note: we didn't eat any street foods. We weren't avoiding them necessarily, we just didn't have a great opportunity. You end up eating a LOT, so there were times when we would have tried something, but were too full. That said, on the last day of the trip, we were talking to Henry and he said he didn't recommend that most people eat the street foods unless you have a strong stomach.

Kids and adults - we didn't travel with kids, so we didn't pay too much attention, but the kids that were on the trip all seemed to have a great time together. There were twin boys right around that age on our trip. There were other kids the same age, too, so that helped. IIRC, there were 5 or 6 that had just graduated High School (including the twins). There were 2 very young kids and a few between those two groups.

There was really only one time when there was an 'adults only' activity. It was a dinner at the hotel in Laos. The adults ate in the beautiful, open-air dining room and the kids ate in a side room, then played games. They all seemed to have a great time. My impression was that adults were free to join the kids, but kids wouldn't be in the dining room. Alternately, you could do dinner on your own that night if it was really an issue. It would only cost a few bucks to get a tuk tuk to take you somewhere.

I think the only other kids activity was during some afternoon on-your-own time at the hotel in Hoi An. The kids and guides went down to the beach and played and the adults did whatever they wanted - most ended up at the pool.

Other OYO restaurants - The "Obama Bun Cha" place (Bún chả Hương Liên) in Hanoi was very good. I think it was my wife's favorite meal. Maybe watch a video on how to eat Bun Cha before you go. We tried so secretly watch the locals. Morning Glory in Hoi An was good.

We ate at a pretty good place for dinner in Hanoi. I don't remember the name. We asked Henry, our Vietnamese guide for a good, local place. He took my phone and set it up on Google Maps and we walked there. Which, that brings me to a great tip - ask the guides. If you want something specific, they will help with suggestions.

Anything we wish we brought - no, I don't think so. Almost all of the hotel power outlets accepted US-style plugs. I think we had one place where the most conveniently placed outlet didn't accept US-style. We did use a small power strip and/or a multi-port USB charger a lot for our phones and cameras. We brought sunscreen, bug spray, etc, but the guides also had plenty of those.

Guides - they were great! We had Henry and Drew as our ABD guides. They were so friendly, fun, and knowledgeable. Henry is from Hanoi, so he knew that city pretty well. He was also very knowledgeable about all of the other places we went. If you were near the guides and payed close attention, you could see when there was a curve ball thrown at them. They handled them so well that most people probably didn't even know it happened.

We had some great local guides, too. One of the local guides in Laos was the one that recommended Manda de Laos. We had planned on going somewhere else and asked him to point us in that direction and he said that place was good, but if we wanted really good, to go to MdL.

People in the group - I think there were something like 28 in our group, which they said was on the smaller side. It was a pretty good number - small enough that you got to know most pretty well and large enough that, if you wanted, you could have easily avoided someone who you didn't get along with.

Dress up - for meals, not really. Some chose to be a bit dressy. Others, including us, did not. We brought one or two 'dress casual' outfits. My wife may have worn one to dinner the first ABD night - I wasn't feeling good, so I didn't go that night. We may have worn them for the last dinner, I don't remember. But there were no meals where you needed to dress up (in our opinion). For reference, we are 'those people' that don't want to dress up on cruises, either. ;)

Do make sure that any women in the group have some outfits where shoulders and knees are covered. Men have to have their knees covered in some places, but 'knees covered' had a pretty loose definition for men. More like shorts that are 'somewhat in the vicinity of your knees'. The guides did a good job of telling us the day before when we would need to have those clothes on. The times I remember were: in the HCM complex (more on this below), both days in Laos, and the temple days in Cambodia.

The guides didn't tell us that requirement for the HCM complex and as we were going in, there was a guard that was very upset with our group because several of the women had bare shoulders. Henry said it was the first time it had been an issue. That was one of those times where the guides quickly solved a problem - Henry called someone and they bought t-shirts for those women and delivered them to us. It probably took 5 minutes for that to be solved.

Don't hesitate to ask more if you have them!

Thanks so much - amazingly helpful. I did remember one more...laundry. Did you do laundry on the trip? What are options for that?
 

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