|
Justin's Blog
|
|
Justin Friend, Orion's Expedition Program Manager writes of his scouting adventures...
Sihanoukville
5th - 6th July, 2008
Found a great landing place in Sihanoukville, its a beautiful beach known as Sokha Beach. The main public beach is just chaos, 100's of people and vendors and stalls and the like, Sokha beach however is by comparison deserted and next to a quiet and exclusive resort. It still gives us access (5 mins by road) to all the chaos of "downtown" Sihanoukville and from here we can launch optionals such as snorkel tours to the outer reef islands and road trips into the nearby national park.
Sihanoukville as a destination offers much potential and will fit perfectly into our plans for 2009 and into the future. There is a good balance of history, culture, beach activities, and just enough "Asian chaos" in the markets and on the main tourist beach (which is not the one I intend to land on) to remind everyone exactly where they are!
Off to Angkor Watt now, battle the Phnom Penh traffic for an hour then a 20 min flight and I'll be there before lunch......
Siem Reap
8th - 9th July, 2008
Well I'm in Saigon now but spent Monday and Tuesday in Siem Reap for the temples.
Angkor Wat itself is basically right in the middle of town, and then there are many other temples spread out around the place both older and newer than Angkor Wat.
The bas relief Hindu stories on the walls of Angkor Wat are by far superior than anything found in other temples, but some of the other temples have features in their own rights that make them special. 
Bayon temple for example has hundreds of faces of Buddha. Two other temples are almost entirely grown over with trees, and the tree roots permeate many chambers of the temples.
There is so many tacky souvenir outlets, but there is one artist cooperative producing quality work. They have a couple of outlets which we would include on a visit to give the guests an opportunity to purchase some top quality artefacts.
Outside of the temples there is one more great feature here that really impressed me and thats the floating villages on Tonle Sap lake. This really blew me away and would be a real experience for the guests. Tonle Sap is Asia's biggest freshwater lake that flows down to the Mekong. The lake changes size significantly from wet to dry, so the villages float so that as the edge of the lake changes, they remain on the edge of the lake. Everything floats, the schools, shops, everything. Its amazing to take a boat through there, absolutely amazing.
Anyway, Saigon awaits! I have seen our intended berth and it is literally in the middle of the city. 10 mins walk from the port is downtown Saigon, shops, museums and art galleries galore.
Ho Chi Minh City
10th - 11th July, 2008
My guide here in Saigon is amazing, he is really switched and has some amazing ideas as to how to make our trips unique and special. He will accompany me all around Vietnam and knows all the "secret" wet landing sites others have used. Also there is a guy I have been "courting" as our potential EL for Asia who my guide also knows and states that he is the most popular Expedition Leader in Vietnam and that "all the country love him". Sounds like a good endorsement for the guy who could potentially end up as our Asian EL!
With the city so close to our berth, and no doubt the inclusion of a shuttle bus, guests have Saigon on their doorstep and can easily navigate the relatively small city centre area on their own if they desire, very easily. Taxis are abundant and cheap allowing guests to explore at their leisure if they wish.
Vung Tau
16th July, 2008
Vung Tau is included for its significance to the Australian efforts during the war years. Vung Tau is used by the big ships who can't make it up the River to Saigon itself. The various people I have been dealing with kept saying to me that they couldn't understand why I wanted Vung Tau when we were capable of Saigon proper. I struggled to get the message through until Destination Asia brought in their local Australian Expert. On the surface he was like any other 100 of the English Speaking tour guides in Saigon, but this guy had spent a lot of time with Aussie Veterans and really knew his stuff when it came to the Australian involvement in the conflict. It wasn't long before I knew I was on the right track. This guide gave me a map of the Australian Task Force Base, which today is a massive rubber plantation. Without the map and a knowledgeable guide it is still a rubber plantation. But walking around with the map and the guide it was the Nui Dat base.
And right in the middle of all this stood a small building resembling an aircraft hangar. But it was too new to be an aircraft hanger, I asked my new guide what this building was, his face lit up and he said "let me show you". It's a kindergarten built and paid for by the Australian Vietnam Veterans, right in the middle of what used to be the Nui Dat base. The kids all screamed and swarmed around me, jumping all over me, pulling my hair and the like. They were so happy for an Australian to be amongst them. The security bars on the Windows are shaped like Kangaroos, the Australian Flag flies beside the Vietnamese flag, its a great little school in the middle of all this Australian history. To include this in our tour together with some donations for the school will be an instant highlight.
From the base at Nui Dat its only a couple of km's to Long Tan. Long Tan is known to most Australian's as the most significant battle that Australian's fought during the Vietnam conflict. A small Australian unit was pinned down by a huge Viet Cong force and held under withering fire until Armoured Troop Carriers were able to break through and rescue them many hours later, and not before 18 Australian Soldiers were killed and dozens more seriously injured.
We can make an exceptional tour round Nui Dat and Long Tan from Vung Tau. Other options in Vung Tau include the chance for a day trip to Saigon, half by Soviet era Hydrofoils and half by road if anyone has not yet experienced Saigon. A half Day Vung Tau highlights tour, which is an off the shelf bus tour of scenic and historic sights, or simply walk around the modern town and beach area. I suspect, at least for Australians, the Australian Battle Field Tour will be popular.
Off to Hue, Da Nang, Hoi An and the former DMZ now. My guide claims he knows some spots were we can do wet landings directly into Hue, which sounds perfect!
Da Nang and Surrounds
Hue
16th July, 2008
Firstly I went straight to Hue to look at the possibility of making a wet landing directly at Hue and was shocked. It was a totally exposed, rubbish filled, smelly fishing port. Whilst it would be great to make a wet landing at Hue, we are much better off in Da Nang as I note further down.
Hue is the old imperial city. The former Kings of Vietnam were based in Hue and the old city is surrounded by a miniature great wall of China. The Chinese influence is obvious with temples, shrines and all the tombs of the royal families all reflecting the Chinese influence. Hue would be an optional day trip from Da Nang based around the ancient culture and historic sites.
Image: A spectacular gateway within the Citadel of Hue
Da Nang
16th July, 2008
Then it was down to Da Nang proper. The optimum berth here is right in the middle of the city, I mean right in the middle. Its known as the Han River Port and is much better than the "Deep Water Port" which is the classic commercial cargo port a long way out of town.
In Da Nang we have an overnight so being in the centre of town will be beneficial to guests and crew who can wander along the river side restaurants and cafe's, the Cham Cultural museum is 10 mins walk away as is the city markets and downtown shopping area.
China Beach
16th July, 2008
China Beach is 10 mins drive from Da Nang - the beach is beautiful and the resort I have in mind is happy to have us base there. It will be a nice easy option any time throughout the two days for guests to swim and hang out on the beach. Beach landing is not feasible due to potential surf.
Hoi An
16th July, 2008
Hoi An is 20 mins away on a brand new express road. Wow, what an amazing place. Shopping galore, history everywhere, amazing restaurants and cafes. We can look at walking tours of the old quarter, cycling tours of the nearby village and if guests just want to go themselves its 10 bucks in a taxi. Shoppers will spend two days here easy. I got a beautiful suit made for $200. Tailors and shoe makers are every where. The whole old quarter is full of buildings at least 200 years old. The Japanese covered bridge is another famous landmark. I loved Hoi An and bought so much stuff I had to buy another suitcase and pay excess luggage to Nha Trang, and I've got weeks of travelling left to go......
My Son
16th July, 2008
My Son is the ruins of the Champa Kingdom and is another 10 mins past Hoi An. The Chams were Hindus of central Vietnam who were basically eradicated by warring ethnic Vietnamese in the 19th Century. They are a very mysterious race with lots of unknowns about how they built there temples etc. My Son is often called the mini-Angkor Wat. I liked it because there wasn't the 3000 people you get at Angkor Wat! It is however much more a "ruins" than Angkor Wat as the Viet Cong used the area as a base and the US bombers dropped tons of bombs on the place destroying three quarters of it. Ironically Hoi An was untouched by the war, considering that is only 20 mins from Da Nang and right in the middle of VC country it is amazing how it escaped destruction. My Son can be combined with a Hoi An trip
This will be a great two days with so much around the place even if spent 5 days here you wouldn't get to see everything.
Nha Trang
20th July, 2008
Nha Trang was a surprise in many ways. I always knew it was Vietnam's beach resort area but it was different to what I expected. For an Asian beach town the first thing was it was exceptionally clean. No rubbish, no millions of vendors on the beach selling everything from deck chairs to old tyre tubes to float around in, none of that. I mean there were vendors walking the beach strip, but with buckets of fresh steamed lobsters or sand crabs, things like that.
Nha Trang is great. Whilst the off-shore islands were not what I was expecting, the village and the incredibly orderly beach scene in town more than make up for it. There is even a fully restored Cham temple, pre-Angkor Wat times in the heart of the city. With a landing right on the beach, access to the town strip, half day snorkel tours, off the shelf SCUBA, and my little village tour its all for a great day.
In fact you could say each destination has a small hook everywhere allowing for the 'Orionisation' of Vietnam.
Off to some more islands in Thailand now. The ones I 've seen so far have incredible expedition experiences just waiting to be discovered......
Sangliat Dol
20th July, 2008
So now after a frustrating day, as it was getting dark, somebody came forward and said they understood what we were looking for and we headed north again, getting bogged up to the axels several times eventually arriving at a place called Sangliat Dol. Bingo! Now we're talking. Incredible place! The village itself could be anywhere in Indonesia with one major significance. Smack bang in the middle of the village is a huge stone boat. Not a boat that would ever float, but a monument to the ancestors who arrived by boat. The beach is sheltered by a reef, perfect for landings and a giant stone staircase over a hundred years old leaves from the beach to the centre of the village traditional area. The "village boat" was once found in every village in most of the islands of southern Maluku. But as the Dutch moved people around into different areas, they often left their stone boats behind. Now only half a dozen villages in the Tanimbars and the Kei Islands have village boats. The boats signify the arrival of their ancestors to settle the area originally. The village structure follows the organisation of a boat still today. The village head is seen as the Captain or Master "steering" the direction of the village. Many other positions of the village basically translate as "helmsman" "harpooner" "bailer boy" and other boat related names. There are two further figures in the structure the "herald" or "speaker" who is the father of the village and speaks for the village (traditionally basically in times of war) and the "sacrificer" or mother of the village. The mother and father of the village represent the cooperation as in a marriage to ensure the continuing existence of the village.
