Cambodia and Vietnam travel experience. A tour in Southeastern Asia

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TRAVEL DIARY
BETWEEN CAMBODIA AND Vietnam

AUGUST 2005



I arrived in Cambodia, after several stops, for the goal not so much tourism, namely Siem Reap. The next morning I made the pass, with lots of photos, to enter the archaeological heritage site by UNESCO. I could hardly believe my eyes, that could exist in the world such wonders. Yes, it is the temples of Angkor, the largest site in the world, an area of 21 km2, representing the universe. To visit I took a car with a driver is always available at a cost of $ 10 per day. Angkor Wat, the most majestic and, in my opinion, the most fantastic, and Angkor Tom Bayon, who visit in the jungle on elephant back was an experience. Not to mention the temples swallowed by the vegetation, which have been shot some scenes in the movie "Tomb Raider". Before leaving for Hanoi, I stopped to visit the Museum of landmines, something terrifying, currently Cambodia is the country with more land mines and we would like to reclaim another 10 years. In the streets, I noticed many people who were missing limbs and upper and lower still is advisable to walk on the beaten track, of all that, still today, people are asking why. Therefore I shall refer later on I saw what happened and especially in Vietnam. But I am increasingly thinking that the true perpetrators of these wars is the United States of America, that "Peace"! The people are fantastic, apart from a little 'break the children left for a drop of Coca Cola in the can. Leaving the wild Cambodia arrival in Hanoi to stay for 3 days and visiting in the evening to take it, given the heavy traffic, to see the spectacle of the puppets on: very beautiful! After five hours of travel, one morning I find myself immersed in a surprising scenario, yes, it is the Halong bay, a pristine marvel in the middle of the sea, with more than 3,000 islands and rocks between. To visit this amazing beauty I took a tour of 3 days: the first night I passed on the island of Cat Ba and the other on a boat, admiring the shades of sunset and dawn, and then take advantage of it to make a beautiful bathroom. The next morning I left for Hue, and after 13 hours of buses to travel 800 km, I went to visit the old city, UNESCO heritage always, resembling the forbidden city of Beijing. In the afternoon I took a small boat and I did a cruise on the Perfume River and then visit in the rain, the various temples that never end to amaze me. The humidity is always high and into the 16,00, inevitably, the rain falls for his usual hour uninterrupted. 12 / 8 arrived in Hoi An, very pretty city that lies at the heart of Vietnam on the coast. To visit the historical part you need to buy tickets, but you must select what you want to see. Very beautiful is the bridge built by the Japanese and the port. The next day hire a motorbike and I go to the archaeological sites of My Son, which remain at about 60 km away. Let us say that after having seen, in the early days, the fantastic site of Angkor, there are no comparisons, but I follow with the landscapes and disadvantages that can be found on the street! In the afternoon I make a jump to the beach, it is worth the pain, also to taste some specialties offered by the sea. In the night going to Dalat and I expect 18 hours of bus travel for just 900 km ... more than anything else, every 3 hours, as a rule, the driver will stop for several minutes and stop. Dalat remains at a height of 1,400 meters above sea level, is a beautiful town, which will enable me to get rid of stress and dall'afa the last few days. I took an afternoon of rest for organizing the trip for tomorrow morning at Pangkor cascades, which remain at 70 km, and that, among other things, visit accompanied by a driver on a motorbike. Apart from the 2 hours used, it is really worth the pain ... the waterfalls are very beautiful! On the way back I stopped to visit a typical village in the country, then a monastery on a lake, a typical hill. The end of the visit a step in the house a little 'strange, "Crazy House", built by an American architect a' particular, resembling the house of wonders. And now it's fateful days: it leaves for Saigon, or, rather, Ho Chi Min To reach it takes 7 hours to travel between the other 2 just to enter onto and incasinata metropolis. I had never seen a chaos so monotonous even in New York, a multitude of motorbikes ... in Ho Chi Min I try to stay a minimum, it is too stressful. I take this opportunity, however, to visit the Museum of the war or, indeed, the horrors that Americans have combined with bombs to Nepal. Very beautiful, then, and they deserve to be visited, the various temples and the residential palace. 16 / 8 parturition, in the morning to visit the tunnels of Cu Chil, who remain outside Saigon of 70 km. Arrived, driving us into a room, where we show an original movie about the war. Then, go to explain, with a plastic, the whole branch of burrows and the preparation of the various rooms (kitchen, toilets, dormitories) ... a surprising thing considering that develop on an area of 200 km ... E 'arrivato il momento che expected: the guide takes us to the site and enter in these burrows. To enter and run I need to Gattoni and I asked "But they were so small, one time, the Vietcong or sacrifice?" ... Once outside, the guide leads us into the traps that they put on Vitcong do ambush the Americans ... among other things, there are residues of unexploded bombs and craters caused by the explosion of other bombs ... The whole network of tunnels is due to ingenuity of the Vietcong to cheat and defeat the U.S. army. Next day delivery for an excursion of some 3 days, taking over an agency, on the Mekong Delta. We are a group of 15 people: me, the only Italian, an Australian couple, three guys in New York, two pairs of Paris and five children in London ... We begin the tour by visiting the floating market, and very special characteristic, where vedono launches fruit between the boat and the boat, then move on to explore the true delta of the Mekong. E 'bello and particularly, but not so hygienic, see these floating houses, namely the boats, and people who use the river for all tasks related to hygiene of the body, cleaning the dishes and so on ... especially since the color of the muddy river ... We enter a house and we offer fruit at will, in return we buy their souvenirs. Then we enter into a herd of crocodiles, there is something for all the size ... the smallest is 10 cm long, with copy to get bigger, which reaches 6 meters long ... Released dall'allevamento, the guide tells us the story of a film, and coming to the plot, I discover that the place where we go is the place where they shot the film Apocalipse Now! Arrived, the show is amazing: vessels that act as home and move, not to mention the Vietnamese hats that women wear, not to mention the exuberant vegetation that is reflected on the river ... really a show!
Giving some numbers for this trip, I spent 28 hours in air, for a total of 25,000 kilometers and 4 calls; 2600 kilometers by bus, equivalent to 60 hours of travel, the average speed of 43 km per hour and 300 km in motor and 60 hours in the ship ... all this in just 25 days