Ham Luong Tourist Hotel Ben Tre

Hey everyone,<br><br>I just finished a long trip in cambodia that I ended in Ratanakiri in Ban Lung. It was the first week of september 2009 and the weather was not tooooooo bad. Actually we were lucky as we had full hot sunny day during our three days treks.<br><br>I ll make it short, but here are the info for anyone going there and googling to find more info than the lonely planet can give:<br><br>1. Tree Top ...

... him. At the entrance we were required to remove our shoes, and Lan instructed us to again &#8220;meditate&#8221; before entering. Right before us was the imposing seated statue of Ton Duc Thang, all done up in gold leaf and gilt. Talk about overkill. A few minutes later, as Lan was walking us around inside, Bill pointedly inquired as to the veneration of a communist leader, clarifying that #2 was not, in fact, a deity but in actuality a mere mortal.<br><br>We then walked over to the ...

... cooling off, and drank hot and iced tea before Lan took us up a wide curving staircase to the restaurant above. There were large open windows on all sides giving out on jungly vegetation, with several fans to keep us cool. We were seated by a lovely Vietnamese waitress and then taken through a 6-course meal. Each dish had a beautiful presentation. We started off with a delicate rice and vegetable soup followed by spring rolls. Next, a huge elephant ear fish was brought to the ...

Ore 5.30 am, arriviamo a Saigon, ma abbiamo deciso di dirigerci direttamente piu' a sud sul delta del Mekong. Dopo vari spostamenti, con un bus locale arriviamo alle 9.00 am nella cittadina di Ben Tre. Trovata la sistemazione, facciamo un giro nel piccolo centro con un grande mercato in cui si puo' trovare di tutto... tantissimi tipi di verdura, frutta, carne pesce essicato e fresco, persino rane molto grosse e differenti tipi di uova ...

... America we tend to eat brown rice but to Vietnamese people it is considered dirty because it is not polished. After that the machines polish the husk&#8217;s which makes it white. The next machine separates it into broken rice and non broken rice. With the broken pieces of rice it is either left as is or can be broken down more and made into feed for animals. Vietnam harvests rice 4 times a year and is the second largest exporter of rice next to Thailand. Today was ...

We took a day trip out to the Mekong Delta, it was a 2 hour van ride out to Ben Tre. We hopped off and on lots of different boats, first stop was at a coconut candy making place, which we are now travelling with, very good and sticky. We took a smaller boat to a village and rode bikes around before lunch. We got back on the smaller boat and went to fruit party (these are big here) the usual fruits we have been seeing ...

... I bought some fresh pineapple, which the ladies cut up for us very nicely. There is nothing quite like fresh-cut pineapple juice running down your face on a hot afternoon. <br><br>We visited a small pagoda one afternoon. I was delighted to witness one of the monks praying, chanting, singing. Very special. I also met the head monk, who was surprisingly friendly. He was very happy to chat with me (via Hoang's interpretations), and shared some yummy mangosteen. I've ...

Well, the most people I have seen so far is 5...two adults with three kids between them. The kids stand rather than sit so that everyone fits. They even fall asleep while on the scooter, standing up. The most impressive thing I have seen is a deep freeze on the back of one. A close second was the two twin matresses in between two people. The 12 foot ladder was an amzing sight as was the 21" TV. <br><br>That was the ride from ...

... the peace and quiet here. The family that run the GH are very helpful and friendly. They persuaded us to do a boat trip around the 4 islands in the Mekong Delta. It cost $40 and is one of the dullest boat trips ever. My tip is don't bother. Come to Ben Tre, stay at Thao Nhi and explore the wonderful countryside by bicycle or motorbike. On the ferry back from ...

... a night (as much as I'd paid anywhere else in Vietnam). It was long on quiet but short on 'rustic'. But here was a slice of Vietnam I hadn't really seen yet. No touts. Only a couple of moto guys. Very little english spoken. Friendly children who wave and say hello. Teenagers who say hello and something else in Vietnamese and then laugh hysterically. Friendly locals. Great Pho. No tourists. During our three days in ...