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Vietnam, Cambodia & Thailand
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  • Ruth Snow

Vietnam, Cambodia & Thailand

A 30-day adventure by Ruth Read more
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    🇻🇳 Hội An Tây Ward, Vietnam
    Ruth SnowVietnam, Cambodia & ThailandRuth Snow

    Coconut basket boat ride

    Yesterday in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Had breakfast then wandered to the more 'town side' of An Bang and had an overpriced smoothie in The Deckhouse - lovely views. Sunny today and there were people sunbathing and walking up and down the beach.
    Then got a Grab to the hospital and sprung Anna free. Cost approx 15 million dong, £450ish. Very impressed with the service.
    Came back to the hotel for Anna to shower etc then headed to the Coconut Village and got a coconut basket boat ride for 300k, prob could have haggled down more but happy to pay that. It was beautiful and bonkers fun - watched them spinning (we didn't partake as Anna still queasy), watched a fisherman cast a big net, a load of men singing karaoke in their boats with giant speakers and just general madness. We both had a go at the paddling, Anna crashed into a few things. The paddlers seemed really happy and chatted to their fellow paddlers. Our lady pointed out her husband who was also a paddler.
    Then had a coconut and wandered around a bit before coming back briefly then walking to the town part to show Anna. We had an early dinner at The Fisherman's Vegan Restaurant which was amazing. My dinner was tofu, spring rolls, falafel, cold noodles and a salad. Really good. Anna had chips and crispy tofu, her tofu was more silky and less cooked and neither of us fancied it. Got a gelato on the way home and had an early night as both knackered.    Read more

  • Ruth SnowVietnam, Cambodia & ThailandRuth Snow

    Hospital

    November 25 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    No adventure is complete for us without trying out the local A&E!
    Anna started being sick in the early hours. She vomited blood so I went to see if reception was open, which it wasn't. There was also a big metal fence in front of our block but we were able to push it out to get onto the road.
    ~4am: We got a Grab to Pacific Hospital Hoi An A&E, a private hospital about 10 mins away. The Grab driver was great and the nurse met us outside immediately. So much easier than Cardiff! She was seen quickly by a doctor who spoke English and they put her on a drip and did an ultrasound. They moved her to a room in the hospital, gave her breakfast which she didn't fancy so I ate the mini croissants. The nurses came on constantly checking on her drip and giving various medicines. Then 2 doctors and an 'international facilitator' came in who explained everything to us in English - v impressive.
    I stayed a while then went back to our hotel for breakfast and a nap. Breakfast room was empty and you could order off a menu, I had American pancakes and fruit which was good.
    I went for a walk, An Bang is pretty deserted due to low season and reason floods. Seems a bit of a ghost town with only the odd tourist. I got a croissant from a nearby bakery and then headed to the coconut village at Bay Mau. There were a few coconut basket rides going on but few boats and few tourists, it seemed pretty deserted - I think there are several places you can do it and this isn't the main one. Then I walked back the opposite way where there was more of a town (though not many more tourists) and you could see the potential for when the weather is better.
    I loaded up on snacks for Anna and after a quick nap went back to the hospital for a few hours. Anna had perked up a bit and was keeping down fluids and some mashed potato they gave her, I ate half of it. They changed her room while I was there as a lady was coming in with a broken hip. Hopefully she will be out tomorrow.
    Then headed home and just had some biscuits for dinner as my tummy is not 100% so a day of blandness will hopefully do it good.    Read more

  • Ruth SnowVietnam, Cambodia & ThailandRuth Snow

    Hoi An

    November 24 in Vietnam ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    Overnight train was much better than expected. Toilets were clean and had loo paper, cabin was comfy. Despite my watch saying only 12 mins sleep, I dozed on and off. The rocking of the train was quite soothing but every time it stopped, which was fairly often, it woke us up.
    There was a roll, jam and banana for breakfast plus a bottle of water. We'd also bought some snacks and there was a guy who came through every now and again with a cart. Our attendant bought us some instant coffees so Anna was happy. Dozed off some more then Anna woke me up for the views. Between Hue and Da Nang the scenery was stunning, the Hai Van Pass - along the coast, through jungly vegetation, looks like you are right over the edge at times. Wow!
    Grab to Sol An Bang beach resort (£9); £140 for 3 nights. Unlike previous places they don't charge the 3% credit card fee, or it's already included in Booking cost. The driver turned into the road and it was completely flooded for about 20m. He bravely drove through it and we made it out the other side. It's in An Bang which is on the beach 5k from Hoi An old town.
    Grab to Hoi An old town. Wandered around. Tons of lovely shops. Very busy. Lots of touts, more pressure to buy etc. Beautiful place.
    They have had several episodes of severe flooding. We were debating whether to come but is mostly business as usual. There is still some flooding and a lot of sand/mud on a few of the streets. We talked to several store owners and they are struggling, one said 'our country is broken with all the rain' 😭.
    Started tipping down with rain so we went into Poison cafe - amazing tofu dish, one of best veggie meals ever. Anna had beef pho. Prices here are more expensive but places are also far more fancy. Approx 1.5 to 2x as much.
    Bought souvenirs / Xmas pressies.
    Stopped for another coffee for Anna - tons of fancy coffee places here.
    Went on motorised lantern boat full of bright lights. Meant to be 20 mins for 200k, then charged us 50k extra for lanterns and was max 10 mins. Quite scammy but still fun. We're happy to pay and support as many people as possible. Not sure our driver had passed his test, we crashed into several boats.
    Morning glory - cross between spring onions and green beans cooked in garlic. Absolutely delicious. Asked for veggie spring rolls but they gave us meat, were very apologetic. Veggie spring rolls were lovely too.
    Another boat ride, this time on the row boats which was the allotted 20 mins and very tranquil. These were more organised with a ticket for 170k and then lanterns 50k each.
    The lanterns generally wash up on riverside so presumably get cleaned away. However I don't like the environmental impact so didn't do a second one. The first felt forced upon us.
    Hoi An is magical at night, lanterns and lights everywhere. However many more touristy bars and belting out music than I expected. It's a lovely vibe but noisier than I thought. 1-2 days here and you'd be warn out from the constant touting. They respect a firm no but there's a lot of them! Especially when arranging a Grab many try to get you to cancel it and go with them. However Grab is guaranteed and also linked to credit card so don't need any cash.
    QR codes are ubiquitous here too so we've been using our Moretta app lots.
    Anna bought giant green suitcase - she is no longer a backpacker! 700k.    Read more

  • Ruth SnowVietnam, Cambodia & ThailandRuth Snow

    Hang Mua & Tam Coc

    November 23 in Vietnam ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    We both switched to rolls with jam for breakfast as pancakes are not great and suspect the fruit might be upsetting our tummies slightly.
    We headed back to Hang Mua and wandered round the lotus flower ponds then climbed to the top again. Much hotter today! At the top of one side was a dragon amongst precarious rocks which people were climbing, was a bit overcrowded and hard to get a footing so came back down. The other side was a temple and one girl had climbed onto the side of the temple whilst her friend took a zillion photos with just sheer rocks below her. We waited a while for them to finish and then Anna started loudly commenting they should hurry up and was met with some choice swear words. Instagrammers are lovely people!
    We went to the caves which weren't very impressive and wqnder d around the other bits. It's a very chilled, tranquil place, done a bit like Disney with lots to see. We stopped for egg coffee and spring rolls for Anna and a cheese croissant and coke for me in an attempt to soothe my stomach. Seemed to work. On our way back we had a coconut and sugar cane juice (£1 for both). Yum! Vietnamese coconuts have not disappointed so far and are very cheap.
    Then we wandered back and got some rattly old bikes (free from homestay) and headed to Tam Coc. Whereas An Trang doesn't seem to have a centre, just random restaurants along various roads with no pavements, Tam Coc was a definite tourist mecca and had some gorgeous restaurants along the lakeside, more touristy type restaurants etc.
    We wandered around the lake, seeing the boat rides being rowed by the feet and then stopped for a delicious passion fruit 'snow' sorbet type drink and Anna had coconut coffee with a lakeside view. Prices were very reasonable towards the back of the lake and comparable to elsewhere in Ninh Binh.
    Next we cycled to Bich Pagoda. We knew it was closed but fancied the ride and although we couldn't go in we could see the pretty entrance way across the lotus ponds which I think is the main attraction. After riding back through a bit of crazy rush hour which keeps you on your toes/pedals, we saw an exercise class for older ladies in the 'square'. They had some sticks but we didn't have time to wait and see what they did with them! We had some dinner by the lake. We were in a slight hurry and Anna was tired so settled for somewhere quick despite them having no tofu and no veggie spring rolls. We had fried noodles with veggies which were good but nothing special.
    We cycled back in the dark, walked the bikes on the main strip then cycled once we got to the quiet roads through the rice fields. Anna had a head torch and we only had to stop a couple of times to let some cars pass.
    We had booked an extra night in the homestay so we could have the room all day and shower etc. On check out he gave us a bit of a discount for not staying the night, which offset the 3% card fee they have to charge for credit cards everywhere here, plus some water for the journey. Such a lovely place.
    Ami (who it turns out is a Captain in the army and has a gun) gave us a lift to the train station. We loaded up on some snacks and waited for the train which was 20 mins late. Don't think getting there 45 mins before departure is quite necessary! We were loaded quickly into our little cabin for the night which was quite nice and had some snacks and breakfast provided and our attendant bought us a drink. Not a cheap way to travel at £220 for a private cabin but 'an experience' per Anna. We shall see how much sleep we get...    Read more

  • Ruth SnowVietnam, Cambodia & ThailandRuth Snow

    Four Paws Bear Sanctuary

    November 22 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Early-ish breakfast and Ami's (massage man) brother gave us a lift to the bear sanctuary for 400k (£8) which was slightly cheaper than a Grab. The driver was lovely and was trying to work on his English so we did a lot of Google translate
    We joined a tour for 250k where we watched a video about bile farming and the work they do and then had a tour around the sanctuary. We watched a bear close up for ages. They had about 46 moon bears and 1 sun bear and they eat up to 5kg a day of fruit and veg and smoothies.
    Anna was hungry so we had an early lunch, noodles for me, Banh mi for Anna and fairy tea - sugar, lime and blue pea, a vibrant purple colour. Anna had salt coffee - all v yummy. Then Anna bought half the gift shop!
    We went back on the skywalk which is above the enclosures and watched them being fed at 1pm - they call them in before this (they recognise their names) and then the keepers can enter the enclosures and spread and hide the food. Another of Ami's friends drove us back and we had some chill time before walking to Hang Mua lookout (£100k) which is 15 mins around the corner. It's a 20 min walk up some steps to give an amazing view across the rivers and mountains. We made it up for sunset with a zillion other tourists. The sunset wasn't that amazing but it was beautiful none the less. I had a cinnamon bun I'd picked up on the way.
    We looked for somewhere to eat on the walk back. Everywhere was deserted but we settled on Hoang Long Quan restaurant. They had chicken with lemongrass and chilli so Anna asked if we could have it with tofu instead. She didn't speak any English so we weren't sure what we would get but we had a delicious, humongous plate each of lovely tofu, however no rice. We were both happy though. Afterwards she bought us some big grapefruit / orange segments and sat down and started peeling them for us and playing charades conversation. So lovely and she showed Anna her trees where she grew the fruit. She only charged us 60k for each meal whereas the chicken one had been listed for 120k.
    Back to our room for an early night listening to karaoke?/wailing from somewhere across the fields. It's the weekend so perhaps a wedding. There was a lady in a wedding dress up at Hang Mua.    Read more

  • Ruth SnowVietnam, Cambodia & ThailandRuth Snow

    Trang An boat ride

    November 21 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    First lie in all holiday, which was lovely. Up at 8:30 which by Anna's standards is still crack of dawn.
    Breakfast was 2 crepe-like banana pancakes which were a bit chewy and undercooked and a plate of fruit.
    Anna's tummy bit funny so had a relaxing morning catching up on photos, blog etc.
    Grab taxi to Trang An (£2) and I got a croissant and slice of banana bread (£2) for quick lunch as Anna not wanting to risk food. Then we got our boat tickets (£5 each) and went to the boarding area with zillions of boats and got on one with a German couple. A lovely lady rowed us for about 2.5 hours, 15k, super fit and faster than the majority of the boats. Anna tried out lots of her Vietnamese. Had 2 temple stops (lots of gold and buddhas) and several caves, the first was 1k long lit by many lights, absolutely amazing and had to duck down often. Whole trip was fab, absolutely stunning scenery. Slightly numb bum after from sitting on wooden seats.
    Walked to Trang An Riverside restaurant, no pavement but road really wide so didn't feel unsafe. Both had lemongrass and chilli tofu with rice plus a coconut for £2 each. Very yummy and scenic by river.
    Got a Grab back and stuck in Hand Mua sunset rush hour - absolute chaos! Took over half hour for 10 mins journey with driver getting increasingly irate, left the car twice, almost nudged a cyclist off the road and beeped an awful lot.
    Anna had a nap and then we messaged the first Grab driver today whose wife ran a massage place. He picked us up and dropped us there but her staff hadn't turned up so we waited with our feet in bowls of hot water with an incense tea bag in them while the husband put together a new flashing sign. Anna helped him use his new chalk markers and ended up doing the whole sign and then a Christmas display on the window whilst I ate crackers and sipped ginger tea. They loved it and tried to give us dinner from their family's place but we weren't that hungry. We had hot stone massages (£8 each for an hour). They were a little too firm for me in places but the hot stones were nice and felt good afterwards. Had more ginger tea and she gave us some sachets to go, then got a Grab home who didn't have enough change so said we could have it for free but we insisted he keep the £2.    Read more

  • Ruth SnowVietnam, Cambodia & ThailandRuth Snow

    Ninh Binh

    November 20 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Pronounced Ning Bing.
    Quick breakfast at 7 then straight on tender to walk up nearby Titov mountain - great views and a refreshing coconut on way down.
    Checked out of our stunning room and had a buffet brunch, pizza for me. We weren't hungry but figured may as well eat and skip lunch.
    Left the boat at 10:30 and had an hour wait before transfer so wandered up and down the wharf.
    Arranged transfer limousine bus (fancy seats) via 12go for about £10 each which picked us up and drove us to Ninh Binh, with the obligatory stop at some shop selling marble statues amongst other things - bit big for our suitcases!
    Once in Ninh Binh we were dumped with a few others from the larger bus by the side of a road and put straight onto a minibus which took us all the way to our hotel - wasn't expecting door to door service.
    Hang Lan Bungalows (£38 per night) is our next stop, a little oasis in a waterfront bungalow. Water is a little on the pongy side.
    Anna was flagging so we fed her a coffee then walked in search of some dinner. Stopped at second place we found called D&D riverside, cute little place run by a family. Little girl of about 8 gave us menus and cutlery etc and was wiping down tables. Dad took the orders and mum cooked while the little boy just threw things. Had 2 bowls of pho, crispy tofu, 8 spring rolls, beer and large bottle of water for about £4. Very tasty! Wandered home in the dark lit up by our phones.    Read more

  • Ruth SnowVietnam, Cambodia & ThailandRuth Snow

    Too cold for coconuts

    November 19 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Both slept well. Breakfast at 7. Muesli, yog, fruit, croissants; eggs for Anna. Accompanied by ominous titanic music.
    Transferred to day boat - sunshine cruises - with 2 other couples, Scottish and Taiwanese along with other 2 nighters from diff boats.
    Bit of drizzle to start with then dried up but much colder than yesterday.
    Went to pearl farm then kayaked to a beach, had a wander round then kayaked back. Managed to stay fairly dry this time.
    Lunch was copious amounts of food again as we went to Long Ha bay, including a coconut which was delicious but so cold. Then Anna and a few others swam to a beach and back. The water was warm but it was chilly once out. However boat had hot showers - had I known this in advance might have joined them. But maybe not as I was already feeling chilly!
    Then we went a bit further and stopped at a smallish but very cool cave you had to climb through bits. We were dropped off at our boat and Anna dipped in the cold 'hot tub' before warming up in the spa bath.
    We had cocktails and learnt to make spring rolls (not v difficult!) up on the top deck and then had dinner, so much food! They gave us each a mug which are lovely but not sure it will survive the journey home space wise or not being smashed to pieces wise!    Read more

  • Ruth SnowVietnam, Cambodia & ThailandRuth Snow

    Halong Bay

    November 18 in Vietnam ⋅ 🌧 21 °C

    Slept really badly. Woke up at 1 and couldn't get back to sleep. Then our neighbours got up at 4am and banged around for over an hour 🤬.
    Breakfast pancakes and fruit for me, omelette for Anna. Got accosted by an American missionary who says 'we don't use that word' then preached at us for a while.
    Got picked up by the Hermes limousine bus (giant comfy seats that recline) just after 8 and driven to Halong Bay with a stop at a large shop where Anna bought a couple of sewn pictures. I snoozed most of the way.
    We boarded our Hermes cruise and had lunch straight away as the boat cruised through the bay. It was a bit drizzly but still looked spectacular.
    They told me I was special vegetarian so I couldn't have the buffet but gave me soup, chips and a sandwich. I was pretty disappointed at the blandness / lack of veggies compared to the buffet. However half way through this they then came out with spring rolls, a delicious lemongrass salad and tofu curry! Mr Ben, our young waiter was hilarious, I asked him how to say delicious but apparently my pronunciation said water buffalo and had him stitches.
    Fully stuffed, we checked into our Presidential suite - we treated ourselves to proper luxury for this and it doesn't disappoint - apart from the hot tub on our sundeck is lukewarm at best. £930 for 2 nights, 3 days including all food and activities.
    Then we all piled onto a tender boat and we're driven to some caves. My expectations were low and I think every boat has the same itinerary (and there's tons of boats) so there was a long slow queue to start with standing in the rain. However once it got passed a point where everyone was taking viewpoint photos, it calmed down. There were 3 chambers of the cave and it was immense! It was called the amazing cave and it really was. Our tour guide kept pointing out rocks that looked like various animals, some a bit more imagination-needing than others.
    Then we drove to another area where you could kayak or be rowed in a bamboo boat. We opted for kayaking and paddled through a cave and around the hidden bay the other side. Stunning and great fun despite it now pouring with rain and completely soaking our lower halves.
    To warm up, we ran the spa bath in the bathroom and turned on the jets. Anna had some of the free bottle of wine they'd left in the room. We missed the spring roll making class and neither of us wanted happy hour so went back to chill and both fell asleep.
    Dinner was a delicious 5 course affair accompanied by a Vietnamese viola player.    Read more

  • Ruth SnowVietnam, Cambodia & ThailandRuth Snow

    Hanoi

    November 17 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    35k = £1
    Despite being super sleepy we headed straight to train street which was just around the corner from our hotel. I had some amazing ginger tea as we watched 2 trains fly past us.
    After a shower and much needed sleep of 3.5 hours we headed out for a quick explore and grabbed me a SIM for £6 from a Viettel shop as my phone wouldn't take the esim Anna had.
    We wandered to the lake and temple (50k) which were very serene in the midst of the city, and then around the old quarter streets. There doesn't seem to be a main centre, just tons of chaotic, jam packed streets. There are plants everywhere and mini red flags and lanterns strewn everywhere. It's a chaotic place but less intimidating than I remember HCMI. Pavements are usually clogged with parked motorbikes so you have to walk along the road dodgy mopeds, cars and rickshaws. Strangely it feels quite safe.
    Anna bought some backpacker trousers and top for about £8. We didn't even bother to haggle at that price as £1-2 is worth far more to them.
    Anna was flagging so we stopped for coconut coffee (lump of coconut ice cream added, yum!) and kombucha for me. Then we wanted to try Banh mi, a local type of sandwich so I found one on our way back - Banh Mi 25 - which turned out to be a hot backpacker spot and had quite a queue. However we only waited a couple of minutes and they were very delicious. Pork for Anna and tofu / mushroom for me. £3 for both.
    Next we headed back to train street to see it all lit up. We shared some spring rolls, I had a coconut and Anna had Hanoi beer before realising there was a chocolate train stout so had to have that too. Train street was much busier in the evening and had a lovely vibe. We wandered back via an ATM and another train engine went by so we got to see 4 in total which was very lucky as they can be hit and miss timing wise apparently.
    Back in our room the noisy neighbours started praying very loudly in American accents, which was odd as we had heard them speaking Vietnamese before. The chanting and hail Mary's carried on for ages and it sounded like a cult was gathered next door. After a while I had enough and got reception to knock on their door. Took ages for them to answer as they were asleep and it was on TV. Most odd, I'm not sure praying works if it's in another language and you sleep through it.
    A fabulous first day to our adventure.    Read more

  • Ruth SnowVietnam, Cambodia & ThailandRuth Snow

    Fly Vietnam Airlines

    November 17 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Took off 11am and landed 11 hours later at 5am local time.
    We'd splurged for premium economy and definitely worth it. Super comfy, spacious seats but not much sleep despite not sleeping well the previous night.
    Lunch was good - loads of fruit and veg, breakfast was like gruel and didn't help it was labelled 'conge vom' - tasteless watery rice pudding? with 3 slices of mushroom. Even Anna couldn't eat it all.
    Huge queues at security - we had considered getting a fast pass and regretted not getting it - queues didn't move for ages, don't think it was even open for half an hour and then our queue was super slow with the guy clearly not loving his job.
    Picked up by a driver from our hotel who weaved in and out of the heavy traffic as fast as he could. Overtaking down narrow lanes seemed to be his forte and choosing a side of the road to drive on was optional.
    Checked into San Premium hotel, super friendly staff. Rooms not quite as shiny as the photos but fine. We'd booked the previous night as well so could check straight in and have breakfast.    Read more

  • Ruth SnowVietnam, Cambodia & ThailandRuth Snow

    Another adventure begins

    November 15 in England ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    After what seems like a year of planning and drooling over various destinations and exotic hotels, the day has finally arrived to begin our Asian adventure!

    Our bags have been packed for weeks, well mine anyway. Anna has downsized to 50l and I have gone to the dark (lazy) side with a 44l wheeled backpack. Anna's weighs approximately twice as much as mine due to bringing half a pharmacy and a gallon of bug spray.

    After a morning at the gym for me and a lot of faffing for Anna we were ready to go - on time for once 😀.

    We took the Barry express to Cardiff, had an M&S dinner pitstop, quick dash to a money exchange (guess who forgot to order the Vietnamese dong?!) and weaved in and out of hundreds of rugby fans before jumping on a Flix bus and were whisked to Heathrow.

    After a bit of confusion and one closed tube line, we made it to Terminal 4 and our overpriced Holiday Inn room (£109) with a window that looks over the reception and bars. Reminds me a little of Disney hotel with the monorail that goes through the middle.

    The adventure begins....    Read more

    Trip start
    November 15, 2025
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