Tom's Little Travel Journal

Saigon in a flash

2006-03-29T08:41:33Z

My Vietnam Airline flight arrived to Tan Son Nhat (SGN) on time and in one piece. The flight from Phnom Penh (PNH) was quite pleasant and short (~ 45 minutes in the air) and the view of the countryside from the air was a nice bonus. The airport was smaller than what I had envisioned. Going through custom at SGN wasn't as bad as I had expected. The custom officer gave me a short stare then stamped off my passport. Next stop was the baggage area. It felt like a regional airport in the States. There were some small but modern mall-like shops oddly located by the baggage carousel area (arrival). Some shops sold appliances like washing machine and refrigerators (It would be a trick to haul a refigerator on the plane as a carry-on item).

As I emerged from the arrival gate, I felt like I was showered with friendly smiles from a mob of people lining the hall way, eagerly waiting for arriving passengers. But I quickly realized those nice smiles weren't meant for me (but it's nice to feel welcomed any way ). When I successfully punched my way through the crowd, I received a personal greeting from a cheerful taxi driver. After a short negotiation (mostly in sign language) he persuaded me to let him take me to my hotel. On the way, the driver even gave me a quick tour of the city and before dropping me off the Caravelle Hotel. The hotel located right in the heart of HCM City facing the historical opera house (once housed the congress of former South VN). It's a nice hotel with tons of staff eagerly waiting to help. One thing I most appreciated was the in-room internet access (broadband). After a shower and short nap, I headed straight to my first meeting, which lasted into the late afternoon.

To have a (quick) cultural experience, I decided to skip the dinner option at the hotel and headed out for some “real” Vietnamese cuisine. Following the complicated directions given by the hotel concierge, I finally ended up at a popular food court, where a wide variety of regional traditional Vietnamese dishes were in competition. After a short survey of the selections, I ordered my food using my exclusive point-n-smile technique (I simply point at the food and smile). After a rather delicious and very inexpensive dinner, I took the long way back to the hotel, looping around the Notre Dame Cathedral and skirting Van Hoa Park (former South VN presidential palace). It's hard to imagine at this very same spot, a major event took place a few decades ago that changed everything about Vietnam and the life of the people who had lived (and died) in it.

Can't wait to come back to this place for more of those tastety traditional Vietnamese dishes.

The historic Cathedral in Saigon, viewed from the Caravelle Hotel's rooftop terrace.

Walking around this part of the city late in the evening on the nearly-empty and not-so-well-lid sidewalks was a small adventure by itself. I was a little lost on my way back to the hotel but got put back on track by a couple of French travellers. About half way back to the hotel, it started to rain - hard. So, soaking wet I was by the time I reached the shining hotel lobby full of expensive-looking people (my umbrella was nicely packed in my suitcase! go figure!).

Ahhh... my bed was quite comfy and that translated into a very good night's sleep, with or without chocolate on the pillow.

The next morning started around 5:30AM. Breakfast at 6:30AM followed by my first meeting at 8:00AM . Thanks to the early morning hours, my presentation went rather smoothly with virtually no interruption or question as most attendees were likely still half-way unconscious (or could it could be my boring presentation that put them back to sleep?). My last conference ended just a little over 3 hours before my flight out to Narita (Tokyo). So as you may guess, things were a bit rushy in my “final hours” in VN. I didn’t get a chance to shop for souvenirs or to say good-bye to everyone on staff at the HCMC field office. Though, I was given a quick mini-tour of the city by My Le, a pleasant local staff member, as she drove me to the airport.

Saigon is waking up to another beautiful day.

Consumable goodies in my hotel room.

By the time I was told to buckle up for the four-hour-flight to Narita (Tokyo), I had officially been in Vietnam for exactly 28 hours and 12 minutes. What a waste of a visa that was supposed to keep me legal in VN for six months! (I may be back again within the 6-month period though. I wonder how much it cost my boss for the visa). Hopefully I’ll get to have more personal time the next time I land in Vietnam.

___
Chao tam biet
("see you later" in Vietnamese)

Saigon in a flash remains copyright of the author moonsail, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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A weekend in Sihanoukville, Cambodia

2006-03-28T16:58:50Z

This is a "back log" of my trip to South East Asia. It was really a business trip but I tried to squeeze in some leisure time. The business part is boring and shall not be included here. So, I rather touch up on the leisure time.

Before heading out for my next meetings in Saigon (a.k.a Ho Chi Minh City), I had a couple of weekend days to relax. Waking up to a rather hot and humid morning in Phnom Penh, I thought it would be a good idea to checked out the beaches in Sihanoukville. So, off to the beach I went. I got on taxi and headed south. The two-lane main highway (Hwy 4) leading to Sihanoukville was in good shape but the driver was a bit too enthusiastic with his driving skill, especially when he appeared to bowl down the kids playing along the edge of the road.

After a four-hour ride, I was dropped off at my hotel in Sihanoukville late in morning. My hotel room had an ocean view. The combination of cool breeze, warm sand, and the sound of the ocean made it a perfect condition for a nap. And that's exactly what I did... for several hours.

Sihaoukville beach, a view from my hotel room.

Waking up to the sound of kids playing on the beach and the sight of coconuts laying around, I felt hungry. Fresh coconuts beat the frozen ones any time! That was my pre-appetizers. Now off to the main course. For that, I went to town prospecting a decent meal. Since my tummy had not been indoctrinated with the local culture, I decided to avoid items that may be unfriendly to my stomach, especially raw stuff. I had steamed fish and rice with fish sauce. The meal was good and the price was much more reasonable than that at the hotel.

Not often I get to enjoy real fresh cocounts right at the beach.

After the meal I took a stroll around the town. At the time I found it to be not that interesting. May be my opinion would change if I spend more time. Beside, I preferred peace and quiet by the ocean.

Back at the hotel, I had some coffee at the bar and made small talks with a couple of locals. The social structure of Cambodia is pretty much like that of a third-world country: a small population of very wealth folks and a large population of very poor folks. The middle-class folks are virtually in non-existence. Resort hotels lining Sihanoukville beach cater mostly to foreigners from Australia and Europe. With recent violent history behind them, the Cambodians are struggling to re-construct their life, one day at a time. And corruption is a significant burden in their day-to-day struggle. At one point, manufacturing industry was viewed as part of the solution to Cambodia's struggling economy. However, today, with the vacuum suction effect created by China's manufacturing magnets, thousands of Cambodians have lost their jobs and, perhaps, their hope in the fight against poverty. About 36% of roughly 13 millions Cambodians is living under poverty line. A monthly salary of a teacher is as little as US$20 per month. This means an illegal immigrant working at a minimum wage in the US can earn 40 times higher than a teacher in Cambodia

I got back to my room late in the evening feeling a bit ill. It could be the local beer? Humm.. but I didn't have any beer. Any way, My weekend in Sihanoukville was enjoyable but short. Gotta get back to Phnom Penh to get ready for my flight to SGN early on Monday.

Lear heouy

(goodbye in Khmer)

A weekend in Sihanoukville, Cambodia remains copyright of the author moonsail, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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le Château de Chenonceau

2006-04-16T03:13:48Z

While strolling around in downtown Tours, I ran into Sylvia, an old friend who had moved here a few years ago. Since we had a lot to catch up, we decided to spend a day hanging out. Sylvia thought le Château de Chenonceau would be a cool place to hangout. So off to Touraine we went (only 35km from Tours).

A good spot for a picnic, if you can get away with it

Château de Chenonceau is one of the most popular château in France. And I could see why. The beauty and of this château was most captivating. It was tons better than being in Disneyland. The architecture was original and had real history - not a replica! The moment I entered the front gate I felt like I was back in the Renaissance time, especialy at the sight of the Marques Tower.

The château's history dated back to the XIth Century. The Chenonceau was built on the piers of an old fortified mill and was a property of the Marques family for a couple hundred years. In 1513, Pierre Marques was in deep doo-doo with his debts. Came along to the 'rescue' was a tax collector from Normandie named Thomas Bohier, who bought the château from Pierre Marques (wonder how much did he paid for this joint). Bohier left his "signature" on the front entrance of the castle in the carved doors carrying his coat of arms on the left door and his wife's on the right. Bohier's arms could also be found above the fire place in the Guard's Room, once used by the King's "secret service". The château also houses a chapel, which was saved during the French Revolution by a clever move by Madame Dupin, who turned the château into a wood store during this turbulent time. My favorite was the Library once used by Catherine Briçonnet, Thomas Bohier's wife, who was largely responsible for the reconstruction of the Chenonceau during her husband's absence. When you enter the library, you may be captured by the spectacular view of the Cher and Diane's Garden. But what made this room special, at least to me, was the beautiful XVIth Century oak coffer ceiling.

The most distinctive feature of the Chenonceau, in my opinion, is the Gallery. Spanning across the Cher, this section of the château gives the Chenonceau a unique expression of elegance and grace. The Gallery was built on the bridge of Diane de Poitiers in 1576 and completed in 1577, in time for a grand party hosted by Catherine de Médici, mother of King Henry III. The Gallery was intended as a magnificient ballroom (60m long and 6m wide). During WWI the Gallery was used as a hospital, a self-funded operation of the then owner, Monsieur Gaston Menier. The Gallery again played an important role during WWII. This time, it served as a "passage" to the "free zone" (people could escape through the Gallery as its south end led to the un-occupied zone while the château's entrance was under the Nazi's control).

There are many interesting rooms and halls at Chenonceau. It'd take a whole day (or more) to fully appreciate the beauty of the château, not mentioning the beautiful garden and the surrounding areas.

A view of Chenonceau from our rowboat as we were floating down the Cher.

Did you know the Chenonceau was once home of the king's mistresses? For this reason, Chenonceau was also known as le Château des Dames (Castle of the Ladies). il est merveilleux pour être roi!

After a long day full of wonders, we rewarded ourselves with a sampling of local wines - they were among the world's best! Here were what we sampled: white chardonnay, white chenin, red cabernet franc, red camay, and red grolleau. Then later in the evening, we ventured in a cute little restaurant and indulged ourselves with tarragon chicken in wine cream accompanied by sauvignon blanc. Clafoutis aux cerises was a nice conclusion to this wonderful meal(gotta have desserts in France!).

Les Français savent vivre une bonne vie!

le Château de Chenonceau remains copyright of the author moonsail, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Château de Villandry

2006-03-29T01:44:00Z

While waiting for my friends to come back from Paris, I decided to take advantage of a nice day and biked to Villandry from Tours. It turned out to be a very nice ride, as a wonderful treat was waiting for me at Château de Villandry.

Villandry is a small village in the Loire valley about 8km from Tours. What brought the limelight to this village is the garden in the historic château, which was the last of large castle built on the banks of Loire during the Renaissance. Villandry was built by Jean le Breton and completed in 1536. The current château was built on the land of another XIIth Century château. There have been several prominent owners of the château after 1754. The current owner's great-grandfather, Joachim Carvallo from Spain, purchased the château in 1906 and created the gardens we see today.

Le Jardin d'Ornement

There are four main gardens namely, Le Jardin d'Ornement (the Ornamental Garden), Le Jardin d'eau (the Water Garden), Le Jardin des Simples (The Herb Garden), and Le Potager (The Kitchen Garden). Of these four gardens, the Ornamental Garden receives the most attention from visitors for its special "messages" through a beautiful sculptured flowerbed arranged in four squares, each with a special allegory: l'Amour tendre (tender love), l'Amour passionné (passionate love), l'Amour volage (fickle love), and l'Amour tragique (tragic love).

l'Amour passionné

The Kitchen Garden consists of nine squares, organized by the colours of the vegetables grown in them. There are about forty species of vegetables from eight different botanical genera planted in this garden each year. To avoid anachronism, potatoes are excluded in this garden (to be consistent with XVIth Century gardening practice). Though, the garden enjoys a XXIst Century irrigation system with advanced automatic underground watering system!

I also took a walk through the woods adjacent to the garden. It was a super enjoyable walk. The path through the woods provided a splendid views of the village and the valley. Toward the end of the walk was a beautiful XVIIIth Century summerhouse. Boys! those folks in France know how to live well!

One other thing I enjoyed greatly was the hedgerow maze. It's a great place to get lost!

You can practically spend the entire day at Villandry and still feel you haven't seen it all.

Gotta come back!

Château de Villandry remains copyright of the author moonsail, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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