Re: Digest for vietnam-old-hacks@googlegroups.com - 1 update in 1 topic

[Lew Simons]

Carl and other fellow OH's:

My cousin and his wife are planning a 2-3-week Indochina sojourn this autumn and are asking for guidance. Carol and I were in Vietnam last November, but it was a cruise/speaking gig and we didn't see much. I haven't been in Cambodia or Laos for donkey's years and am very out of touch. I'd greatly appreciate help from those of you who are more current.  Following is part of my cousin's request:

 I have books and other information on these areas but I can’t seem to sort out the logistics or the nuances of each place we’d like to visit.  Of course, we’d like to understand the unique history and culture of the places we visit and see the most compelling sites with knowledgeable guides but we’d also like to explore places that are off the beaten path and therefore less touristy.  We love good food and restaurants, beautiful beaches/mountains/water, and interesting art and architecture.  We do not want to make this trip too hectic where we don’t get the feel for each place because we’re too busy running to the next.   Any input you can share would be super-helpful. 

Thanks and cheers,

Lew

On Fri, Jul 26, 2024 at 5:10 PM <vietnam-...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

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• Exclusive: US, Vietnam discuss supplying Hanoi with C-130 military transport planes, sources say | Reuters - 1 Update

Exclusive: US, Vietnam discuss supplying Hanoi with C-130 military transport planes, sources say | Reuters

Carl Robinson <robinso...@gmail.com>: Jul 26 02:28PM +1000 Interesting, if true. The North certainly inherited some in '75 from VNAF and I Recall used to airlift troops up north during China's invasion in '79. Pricier than Russian equivalent and a bit surprising US would transfer the aircraft's latest version and technology to Vietnam.   Carl     https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/us-vietnam-discuss-supplying-hanoi-with-c-130-military-transport-planes-sources-2024-07-25/

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[Catherine Karnow]

Lew,

I have an excellent list where to visit, eat, shop and stay in Hanoi, Hue and Hoi An, if you want to send me your personal email address.

Let me know of you want me to include Siem Reap.

Thanks,

Catherine 

Based in San Francisco & Provence

Tel 415.383.3328

Mobile 415.305.8181

www.catherinekarnow.com

•  Available for Assignments

•  San Francisco & International Photo Workshops

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•  Two brand new books on the beauty of Provence!

Represented by:

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www.artvietnamgallery.com

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www.thephotosociety.org/member/catherine-karnow

On Jul 26, 2024, at 2:26 PM, Lew Simons <simply...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[paul...@yahoo.com]

Don’t think they’ll be getting any of these gems.

pjh

The Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. The C-130J is a comprehensive update of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, with new engines, flight deck, and other systems.

C-130J Super Hercules
A U.S. Air Force C-130J
Role	Military transport, aerial refuellingaircraft
National origin	United States
Manufacturer	Lockheed Martin
First flight	5 April 1996
Introduction	1999
Status	In service
Primary users	United States Air Force United States Marine Corps See Operatorssection for others
Produced	1996–present
Number built	500 as of March 2022[1]
Developed from	Lockheed C-130 Hercules

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On Jul 26, 2024, at 16:44, 'Catherine Karnow' via Vietnam Old Hacks <vietnam-...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Lew,

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/vietnam-old-hacks/10916F0B-7616-4EF9-87F7-4FD445100286%40yahoo.com.

[Jack van Ommen]

JACK VAN OMMEN

S/V "FLEETWOOD"

Home Port: Gig Harbor, Wa. Call Sign :  WDI-8975

"Around the World at 80 Years"

Follow the adventure with regular blog posts at www.cometosea.us

phone Netherlands 31-649676419 

Dear Lew,

Your cousin may find some useful information by reading through my blogs of spending 3 months traveling through Indo-China in 2010. I realize much has changed since, but the hotels, modes of transport and sights remain. I served in Vietnam from late 1961 until early 1963. And I also visited Vietnam in 2006. My story starts on January 2nd 2010 : https://cometosea.us/?p=837 For a 2 to 3 week trip I would recommend a day or overnight local tour from Saigon to My Tho on the Mekong. Bus or speed boat to Phnom Penh, Angkor Wat, Luang Prabang (skip time in Vientiane), overnight train trip from Hanoi to Sapa, bus trip to Ninh Binh, probably skip Ha Long Bay according to Carl's reports, and Hoi Anh another overdone spot. Hue is a must. For the beach, I'd consider Nhatrang. Skip Dalat. 

Regards,

Jack van Ommen

--

[Denis Gray]

Hi Lew,

    Hope all goes better these days on the political scene in Washington.

     Love to help out but I also have not been to Laos and Cambodia for a long time although I do plan trips to see old friends this year.

     Not to be too negative but there are not many off-the-beaten,  untouristed places left in these countries and some, like Angkor and Luang Prabang, are heaving with tourists although of course still beautiful and your cousin should put them on their itinerary. On the positive side,  both countries now have some excellent restaurants, better than in our day.  One or two restaurants in Siem Reap are often cited as among the best in Asia. 

    I think if your cousin wants to avoid tourists,  then a trek of several days into some remote corner of these countries is the way to go.  AS far as beaches,  the Cambodian coast still has some lovely relatively tourist-free ones. If they head that way from Phnom Penh,  an overnight in Kampot would be good. It is one of the very few places in Cambodia  that has done a very good job in preserving its colonial-Sino heritage. Phnom Penh too has some excellent food but the old atmosphere has been all but killed off by a Chinese-fueled boom in highrises, shopping malls, etc. One recent development is a high-end residential enclave that tries to reproduce Paris, complete with an Arc of Triumph and expensive boutiques. Pol Pot must be turning in his grave. 

  I think we were lucky to have seen these places in our day. 

  All best!

   Denis 

--

[John.Gottberg Anderson]

Lew,

Here's a story I recently published with David DeVoss' East-West News Service.  There may be something helpful in here.

Cambodia’s Capital, Phnom Penh, Embraces A New Generation - Travel & Cultural Analysis From Around the World | East-West News Service (eastwestnewsservice.com)

Best,

John

On Sat, Jul 27, 2024 at 4:26 AM Lew Simons <simply...@gmail.com> wrote:

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John Gottberg Anderson
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[David Brown]

Dear Lew et al., Replying to a similar query last year, I wrote:

. . . Almost all of the Vietnam tours offered to Westerners are clones of the same model and itinerary.  For these, the tour sponsors and the bios of the leaders are your best clue to quality.  

. . . I urge you to study the trips offered by Handspan Travel Indochina.  Handspan is particularly good on the northern half of Vietnam.  You could consider the 21 day Grand Vietnam Discovery Tour, or take a more a la carte approach, stitching together about five days in Hanoi & the Red River Delta, a foray into the spectacular mountains north of Hanoi (e.g., An Epic Expedition to Ha Giang and Ba Be), two nights on Ha Long Bay, and then several days each in and around Saigon (check into our favorite Spring Hotel on duong Le Thanh Ton in district 1 and do your own exploring or maybe join Handspan's walking tours)  and in the Mekong Delta (perhaps Handspan's 2 day 'Mekong Exploration -- a Classic Renewed).    Re Ha Long Bay, you absolutely want to avoid a one day trip -- choose a one or two night cruise so you will get deep into the nicest parts of the bay, perhaps as far as Bai Tu Long.

 

See also my Aussie friend Mark Bowyer's fine Vietnam travel website, www.rustycompass.com.  Mark (ma...@rustycompass.com) spends about half the year in Saigon; it would be great if you can connect with him there.

 

. . . the best times to travel are from Thanksgiving until the end of January. You'll notice that I have not mentioned central Vietnam (CVN -- Hue/Danang/Hoi An).  For this, there are two reasons.  First, CVN is well worth a stand-alone seven to ten day visit at some other time.  Second, when the weather's best in the north and south (December to March), it is perversely the (torrentially) rainy season in the center.  

Your cousins can send me a note if they have more specific questions: nwo...@gmail.com.  Regards, David Brown

--

[John Burgess]

And concerning a trip to Angkor, the best guide there to my mind is Saron Soeun. His email is saron...@gmail.com. Very knowledgeable, good English, and an all-around good guy. 

John

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From: vietnam-...@googlegroups.com <vietnam-...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of David Brown <nwo...@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, July 27, 2024 10:01:40 AM
To: vietnam-...@googlegroups.com <vietnam-...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: Digest for vietnam-...@googlegroups.com - 1 update in 1 topic

 

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[Carl Robinson]

Hi Lew -- and everyone.   A great conversation here.  

(Sorry, and I've mentioned this before, you can all start your own conversations here even if you're on Digest because when you use that nobody knows what the Subject is any more and fewer people see the new message.  And so much for Vietnam getting C-130's too.) 

Now, Lew, it's not clear just how young/old, budget/splurge -- and especially how adventurous your cousin and his wife are for a two-three weeks off-the-beaten track visit to all three countries of the former French Indochina. I'm useless on Cambodia & Laos these days, but can't tell you how many times I've given travel advice and the recipients ended up doing their own thing out of Saigon's Pham Ngu Lao tourist district.  (My biggest disappointment was a good Aussie friend's son whom I'd arranged to meet up with our similar age grand-niece in Saigon to go local -- and then he met a bunch of uni friends from back home and that was that.)  Can your cousin ride a motorbike or does he need transportation?  

Anyway, just overall, it's never been easier to get around Vietnam these days -- and I don't mean on that on-and-off backpacker bus or that damned train people keep gushing about.   There are very good public bus companies now, most notably orange-coloured Phuong Trang Futa, whose clientele are mostly all Vietnamese but can get you wherever you want to go at a reasonable price.  Everywhere you go in Vietnam, you'll find someone who speaks -- or trying to speak -- English and help you out in the usual way.  It's a great way to meet the locals too.   

Another is using Grab, Vietnam's Uber equivalent and out of Malaysia/Singapore to get around by car and motorbike (as passenger).   You don't need a credit card and just sign up using a local number.  (You can get SIMs right at the airport but might wait until you get into town and your hotel.)   Grab is good around cities and you can even use them for trips out of town like, say, up to the Cu Chi Tunnels, My Tho or wherever.  (Just get a quote!)    Another is Xanh SM from Vietnam's electric vehicle manufacturer, Vinfast, who use cars & motorbikes.  

The best suggestion on travel, other than flying domestic up to Danang/Hue and Hanoi (presuming they start in HCM City) is to use a bus to get to a destination and then explore around there by local transport, including hiring a motorbike and explore on your own, or sign up with a local tour operator.   (Helps the local economies too.)  

For off-the-beaten track tours:   Often overlooked by foreign tourists, I'd suggest the two-hour high-speed ferry from Saigon down to Vung Tau, the old Cap St Jacques of course, and spending a couple nights at a beachfront hotel or preferably something in still-somnolent Back Beach area.  The town is full of resident & visiting Aussies whose troops were stationed there & up north at Nui Dat during the war and you can avoid them or not.  But there is a good mix of western and Vietnamese food there.   From there head up the little visited batch of beaches north Long Hai all the way to Phan Thiet and then Mui Ne to its east.  (One thing you'll find everywhere is that Vietnamese are now great travellers and it's not unusual to see hardly any other westerners around.)  

Alternately, get a Phuong Trang bus from HCM to Phan Thiet, about three hour east,  and book into a resort at Mui Ne.  Remnants of the last of the Cham Kingdoms give the region a unique feel, plus it's almost desert-like at the junction of the SW Monsoon and NE winds.  Great sand dunes & all that.  The Russians were pretty thick on the ground a few years ago and chased other foreigners away (Nha Trang too until even they escaped invading Chinese tourists)  but they're not there any more.  Great accommodation.  Nice local villages.  Lots of seafood. 

Oh, another off-the-beaten track would be to fly to Con Dao (formerly prison island of Con Son with its famous Tiger Cages) and still quite pristine and southeast of Saigon in the East Sea (don't ever call it South China Sea there.)  Accommodation is not too flash, thank goodness, and I can put you in touch with a tour guide friend who lives there.  From there, get a ferry to the Mekong Delta's Soc Trang province with its heavily Southern Cambodian (Khmer Krom) population, most visibly in its temples.  And then a bus up to Can Tho (nice riverside resort there now) and another bus back to HCM City.   (Chau Doc up the Hau, or Bassac River, on the Cambodian border is another great destination and not that touristy.)

Further north, I'd give Nha Trang one big miss -- and Da Nang too -- which has now drawn in a huge influx of US retirees on the cheap and changed their entire character with beachfront high rises.  Plus that damned VinCom resort on Bamboo Island really sucks.  

In fact, I don't even like Hue all that much, especially the arrogant locals (even the cyclo drivers) and the way they've over-done the restorations of the old royal palaces.   If you cousin is interested in history & stuff, why not get up to Dong Ha or even Dong Hoi just north of the Ben Hai River and old DMZ between North & South and base there for two or three days.  Do a tour up Route 9 to Khe Sanh and Lao border on the southern side, a very moving cemetery too, and on the northern side the Vinh Moc Tunnels and especially inland to 'Ha Long Bay on the land' of limestone karsts with the Phong Nha Caves and that only recently discovered cave that's hard to get into unless you're signed up & spend lots of money.  But truly overlooked region of Vietnam.  

Now, further north, I would recommend Ninh Binh which has some really nice spots, more of the karst landscape and nice little B&B's to stay. Some touristy boat trips (OK) but nice wild goat feasting and don't forget the truly overlooked Phat Diem Cathedral complex down near the coast.  (Read Graham Greene first.)   Get a bus from Ha Noi. 

Also around Ha Noi, I'd suggest a bus up to Ha Giang and then get a local tour, or hire a motorbike is you can do that, up into what's truly the most spectacularly beautiful part of Vietnam.   Stay two or three days.  Give Sa Pa a miss.   Another alternative is Cao Bang and then trips up along the Chinese border northeast to the Ban Gioc Waterfall or Pac Bo to the n.w. with its foundational history where HMC returned from exile to begin his revolution against the French.  Both lovely areas.

I have mixed feelings about Ha Long Bay but it is worthwhile doing in a proper way which I haven't quite figured out.  (The overnight cruises are OK but the generators are going all night and you wake up to a bay full of other such boats.  So no real feeling of privacy and on your own.)  Further up the coast, however, you can get your own impressions of the bay with some tours operating there.   Another great destination, always a favourite, is Hai Phong, northern Vietnam's main port.  A pleasant train trip (which should still run and a taste not the full-belly of the run from Saigon) and a city full of French colonial architecture the Americans couldn't bomb because there were British and neutral country ships in the harbour.  From there, you've got a backdoor entry into Ha Long with Cat Ba Island which has some good accomodation and a great way to head north up into the bay on a day trip.  

On weather.  Your autumn will be rough & humid in the North but getting nice & cooler in the South at the end of the Rainy Season.  OK in the Central.   

      

Finally, Lew, it'd be good get some more basics on where your cousin & wife are coming from budget-wise -- and I guess their age too -- to fine-tune things.   But these are my overall suggestions and I do hope they are interested.  They are  most welcome to get directly in touch. 

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[Donald Kirk]

Carl,

Presume you'll be dispensing all such accumulated wisdom and advice in the runup to the 50th next year -- and during and after the anniversary as well. Time to begin getting ready!

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[Carl Robinson]

Thank you, Don Kirk.  I really don't know about next year's 50th Anniversary.   Perhaps to each his or her own here -- and I'll get y'all tickets for the Parade.   I really would appreciate some feedback & thoughts

By the way, last trip I finally got up on one of those red London-style tourist buses with my youngest brother-in-law and his new wife and two other couples and found it surprisingly good.  A great way to hit all the old haunts.  For a proper Reunion, however, we'd need to hire one for the duration! 

Cheers,

Carl

    

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[don kirk]

Tour bus for the 50th? Great idea considering some may not be up for much walking, running after taxis etc.

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