Som Na, Chinam T’mai (Khmer for “Happy New Year”)

So off we troll down to Phnom Penh, our usual journey governed by a number of variables most of which out of our control. However, the weather had been kind during the last couple of months with minimal rainfall, so we expected uneventful travel. So it proved to be - taking about 6.5hrs and the road continues to improve beyond recognition from when we arrived some fifteen months ago.
Phnom Penh was unusually quiet with less than expected traffic and people. We are told that many of the ‘barangs’, an affectionate term for foreigners, had made their exodus home to all parts of the globe for Xmas and New Year.
New Years Eve was most pleasant and we ventured at 1130hrs to the Royal Palace adjacent to the Tonle Bassac (tonle means river in Khmer). As the New Year approached it was really good to see large numbers of people, mainly locals, enjoying themselves waiting for the fireworks at midnight. It was also good to see how good natured people were with not one person showing signs of excessive alcohol. The fireworks were very impressive and with lots of oohhs and aahhs, bursts of massive coloured designs with accompanying reflections across the river. We phoned home which was a bit strange due to the seven hour time difference, a mere five p.m. in Blighty! A shortish cycle ride back, in the dark with no lights, and then to bed ready for our trip!
We arrive at PNH airport, check in pay our ‘escape Cambodia’ fee of $25 each for the privilege (rip off!) Our flight was on time and we left New Year’s Day to experience our closest neighbour, Vietnam, a country that we had wanted to visit for some time – why we are not sure but..... Our first stop was Ho Chi Minh city, formally Saigon. We were a bit dazed and confused here as we had to board an internal flight straight to Hanoi, northern Vietnam. Strange because we had to collect our luggage, go through passport control and customs and leave the airport. There were no signs to help us and our Vietnamese even worse than our Khmer and we felt a bit out of our depth. Eventually we twigged that we had to change terminals for domestic flights.
Safely in Hanoi, we were greeted, on time, by our accompanying guide who ferried us to the hotel. We were already aware of differences between Cambodia and Vietnam e.g. cleanliness, organisation and general feeling of just being more joined up! After checking in we had a wander about to find the tail end of their New Year celebrations with most of Hanoi walking near the lake and viewing all manner of floral presentations, very nice they were to! The weather was also very different, wearing our fleeces and drizzle in the air. Currency was also amusing not only its name, the ‘Dong’, but also the numbers involved e.g. 1$ (U.S.) = 20,000 Dong (or VND) and we became Dong millionaires very quickly (I shall avoid using references to the Leslie Philips’ salacious “Ding-Dong” – oops!)
After a good night’s sleep and breakfast we left for a mere three hour transfer by our own minibus to Halong Bay to board our luxury ‘junk’. On arrival there was a somewhat chaotic rainy scene with people, cars, minibuses, coaches and backpackers all vying for parking spaces and places to unload. We were eventually escorted through the melee to a small jetty and then to our boat. The ‘junk’ only carries a maximum of fifteen to twenty people comfortably and each ‘ensuite’ cabin is well proportioned and warm (well needed and a novel experience for us coming from very warm Cambodia). Food on board was very good (lots of sea food) and as we were served lunch we slow ventured out of port to the world heritage site of limestone outcrops in the Gulf of Tonkin (Jan’s maiden name)! The weather could have been better but that’s the risk at this time of year. The journey was very pleasant and a welcome respite from the constant go of recent weeks. We visited temples, monkey island and a large cave, but it was a bit cold for a swim (except for one loonie – guess what nationality?).. We returned to Hanoi airport for a short flight to Hue (pronounced Hoo ay), a former capital. We enjoyed this visit very much with the usual temple trips but also impressively to the Citadel which encompassed the Royal Palace. This is being restored to its former glory and will be magnificent when complete. Day two saw a Dragon Boat ride down river, yes to another temple which was an interesting journey, seeing a working river and all manner of activities. We were particularly impressed by the industriousness of the locals who were managing to cultivate every useful part of the river bank. Much of the imported fruit and veg in Cambodia comes from Vietnam; they have done wonders to recover from the war as well as they have in such a short time.
The next phase was a three and a half hour journey down the coast to Da Nang by minibus. The scenery was interesting and varied. We climbed up and down mountain passes and stopped briefly outside Da Nang at one pass which reflected American troop activity during the war with a few pill box structures and a look out post.
Da Nang saw a stop for lunch and then a visit to Marble Mountain. As we travelled we saw a terrific amount of building work for Hyatt Villas, a Raffles hotel and new golf courses designed by Greg Norman and Colin Montgomerie. Clearly a place which is attracting lots of investment, even though this coastline regularly gets blasted with typhoons evidenced by sandbags on roofs to hold them on! There was a great deal of ‘rock’ activity, all sorts of carving (generally hideous) and various artifacts. Our guide informed us that none of the stone actually originated there as the marble ran out some year ago! We visited a cave which housed a temple and signs of “occupation” by Vietcong hiding from Americans!
The outside temple was ancient and very serene, quiet and peaceful. Very much a place for thought, meditation and reflection - all part of the Buddhist way.
The rest of the afternoon saw us swimming in the South China Sea and soaking in a few rays on the vast unpopulated beach all but for a professional football team who turned up to train while enjoying the natural facilities and associated glorious scenery.

A night in Dan Nang then off to Hoi An, a small ancient village on the coast. Again temples were prominent but had a Chinese influence together with small streets and charming shops. We were route marched down to an old market area to be sung and danced to which was charming, with some very strange accompanying instruments. Keith did some very good deals in the market to procure some ‘genuine’ Polo shirts and we spent a couple of pleasant hours in a port-side bar with a guy from the Harrogate Parks department who was on his quest in Asia to find the cheapest beer (here, overlooking a charming canal we found good value at 2.5 litres for a dollar!).
We flew back from Hoi An to Hanoi for another night. This time however, we had a bit more time and our guide showed us most of the important places, architecture and general view of this bustling city, which we enjoyed very much. We did not however ‘do’ Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum which looked very foreboding. The evening saw us trek around for bits and pieces after experiencing the unique water puppets which is one of the most bizarre theatrical experiences ever but very charming. I then treated Jan to another ‘luxury’ bar selling beer for about 15p a glass. Here we sat on plastic stools on the corner of a busy, traffic congested street, next to two brothers from Peru. Conversation concentrated on travel and experiences and they were very interested in what we had been doing and keen to get “inside” information on travel in Cambodia, their next stop.