Thuan Loi Hotel Chau Doc

... main river we made good progress to Chau Doc. As we arrived at the steps to disembark the skipper seemed to forget to throttle back and gave them a good whack. I was told that I would be met to be taken to my hotel and sure there was someone there to take my bags. However instead of a taxi he had a cycle rickshaw but this had a flat floor so I could not bend my knees.and rested them on the bags. The hotel was fine tomorrow I will be in Saigon.<br>

... Rice..... so repeatedly saying Rice just wasn't working... the kind lady just repeated Rai...Rii....rie??? at us.... in the end it all worked out and we had another lovely dinner with the locals. :-D<br><br>After dinner we met our Cyclo driver rider again who recommended a bar about 1km from where we staying. It turned out to be a strangely set 80's style cocktail bar, with lots of decorative lights. We ordered our ...

... limestone cliffs similar to those in Halong bay. It was a great trip for birdwatching, we saw lots of kingfishers and herons. Despite the breathtaking scenery, it wasn't the most relaxing trip as every two minutes we were being asked to buy something or another. Cost of living is generally low in Vietnam but it is not a cheap destination for tourists, as a tourist price is charged for everything, from entry fees to bus tickets and even food. The people who work in tourism are ...

... Thailand, Kambodscha und Vietnam dermassen krass, dass wir schon am ersten Tag ein wenig deprimiert waren. Die Vietnamesen sind um Welten unfreundlicher als die Thais oder die Kambis und auch das Essen kommt nicht im Entferntesten an das der anderen beiden Laender ran. Hoffentlich ist das jenseits des Mekong Deltas anders...Ich (Vera) war ja vor 8 Jahren in Vietnam und bin mir nicht mehr sicher, ob das vietnamesische Essen der Grund war, dass wir staendig Indisch gegessen haben :-)

... Hotels:<br>1 - Phuoc An Hotel, Hoi An<br>2 - Ngoc Anh Hotel, Ninh Binh<br>3 - Kim Ngan, Nha Trang<br><br>Worst Hotels:<br>1 - Hoa Hong, Dong Hoi - no hot water, no breakfast, just a bed and a smashed window<br>2 - Astoria, Hanoi - Constant pressure to go on tours and shocking wiring<br>3 - Diem Thanh, Hue, didn't change our sheets in 8 days, screwed up our visa extension and a huge family of cockroaches<br><br>Worst Tour:<br>Perfume ...

... As we ate, the skies opened once more. So much so, that there was a power cut during our meal. Our crew immediately came rushing over with torches so that we could continue. We were truly spoiled. The power quickly returned and we finished up, and made our way back to the boat. Sitting on deck, we talked under the moonlight and reflected on our fantastic time as tomorrow we would arrive at Chau Doc and stay in a hotel for the night, before moving onto Cambodia.<br>

... I was honestly looking for CNN (BBC World News is a luxury I daren't dream of) what I found, however, was a film about treasure hunting with Matthew McConaughey (looking really hot) and Kate Hudson. I'm not actually recommending watching it but I really quite enjoyed it, Donald Sutherland makes a random appearance. Anyway, by the time I made it out of the hotel, it was 3.30pm and I was starving. I set off to explore &amp; it was just gorgeous. The main ...

... now; she seemed pleasant enough and was able to laugh at the situation but he seemed to think that he was being ripped off. $36 for 3 days and 2 nights, I'm not sure what he was expecting. We arrived at Can Tho at around 9pm, quite hungry. The hotel turned out to be quite good, or so I thought. We dumped our bags and went looking for food. We were in a quiet part of town and headed for the most lights. We came to a large, posh hotel and restaurant and saw the German couple checking in ...

... a family of six can fit, so can we... with room to spare too. My bag is so full that the driver had to tip his head back to drive - poor guy! We were dropped off and then transferred into a minivan with 10 others. It took us longer than expected to get to the boat, around 1 hour and 20 minutes. The houses were on really high stilts along our driver, there was lot of palm trees too. We arrived at Neak Uoung Ferry stop at 8:50 and the 10 of us boarded a boat ...

... and to "avoid turning the lights on in rooms." The bus driver than said, "Tomorrow, before Cambodia border we go to see Cham people--Vietnamese Muslims. But you do not have to worry--Vietnamese Muslims very kind. No Terror!" <br><br><br><br>Now that my fears of the always threatening Cham people had been allayed, I was free to explore Chau Doc. There is ...