Many of you would be aware that I love to explore other countries with my partner Kate. In fact I love travel nearly as much as I love accounting firms! I get asked regularly to share some observations from my travels. Nothing to do with running a better accounting firm, although you might have noticed I often find useful travel and hospitality analogies to apply in that arena.
Cambodia and Vietnam
In March/April 2024 Kate and I completed a three week trip in Cambodia and Vietnam. Unusually for us we decided to join an organised tour. Our normal mode of travel is to do our own thing, but we had a very good experience with this trip. I’ve concluded that was because:
- We chose an Australian travel company with a specialty in Asia
- The trip was a 4 star level
- The group was limited to 18
- All of our fellow travelers, like us, were well travelled – which meant we didn’t stress if things didn’t go entirely to plan and there were lots of great travel stories shared
- Cambodia and Vietnam are fascinating places, and our trip let us see some things we may not have seen otherwise
Cambodia
It was hot and sweaty in Cambodia and the two features of our trip were:
- Angkor Wat
Quite possibly the best known attraction in Cambodia, this Buddhist-Hindu temple complex is impressive. It is also surrounded by a number of other structures, some of which became famous in a Lara Croft Tomb Raiders movie! It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and well worth a visit. The modern town of Angkor is developing and reminded me in some ways of parts of Bali. - Phnom Penh
The modern day capital of Cambodia will forever be connected with a very dark period in world history when Pol Pot tortured and/or massacred between 1.5m to 2m of his own people. A visit to the famous S21 prison is a very sobering experience and you can meet one or two people who survived to tell their stories.
One thing I found a little disturbing was an acceptance by our local tour guide regarding the political system. He accepted that only the politicians and their friends and family get rich while the rest of the people struggle. Very sad. It was a little bit similar in Vietnam too.
Vietnam
It was also pretty hot and sweaty in Vietnam
The Mekong River was our entry point into Vietnam as we boarded a boat in Phonh Penh and cruised the down the river towards Ho Chi Min City. I can highly recommend this trip on the boat Victoria Mekong which goes on one of the arms of the Mekong which has fewer tourists. Our days trips to various places along the way really did feel like we were getting to see the real Vietnam.
Ho Chi Min City (Previously Saigon) is a very fast paced city of 13m people with 7m motor scooters! At some points during the day and night you can barely see any road, so thick is the coverage of scooters! In some places there are no crossings and you just walk across the road with purpose while the scooters dive either side of you. Not for the faint hearted. It’s a classic modern city in a developing country – a combination of the very modern and wealthy and the historic and poor.
Hoi An is on the central East coast and has some very good beaches and a lot of development nearby. I understand it is where people from other countries are being attracted to buy a “condo” on the coast. The old town of Hoi An is fascinating and we loved walking the streets both in the day and at night to enjoy the vibe. We didn’t do it, but it’s also a great place to have clothes tailored for you in just 24 to 48 hours!
Hanoi is in the north and is the current capital of Vietnam and second in size after Ho Chi Min City. It is less hectic than HCMC. It is also the stepping off point to travel to Halong Bay where we did an overnight on a modern “junk” in amongst the tiny islands of the bay. Really quite beautiful but showing signs of being over touristed.
Our trip was through Wendy Wu Tours and I would happily recommend them and the trip they call “Classic Mekong.”
Cook Islands
If you are looking for blue water, white sand and not too much development then the Cook Islands could be for you! There are 13 islands making up this tiny Pacific country which has strong links to New Zealand. Like a lot of tourists we visited the two most popular islands, Rarotonga and Aitutaki.
Rarotonga is where you fly in from NZ or Australia, with only Jetstar operating from Australia. We went Air NZ via Auckland, including a stop to visit family there. The airfares are not super cheap though. The island is quite small and has two buses that drive around the coastal road – one in each direction! It only takes say 50 minutes to complete the trip either way. There are some great beaches and if you want some serious walking there is a mountainous centre with I’m told some excellent views.
One of the highlights was a “swim with the turtles”. This involved snorkeling near a group of large turtles in clear, warm water. It was made better by having electric devices that we held to propel us forward without having to use our flippers! Some might say a little lazy but they were excellent for diving down to have our photos taken next to a turtle and also to manage better in some currents that were present in the water.
On Aitutaki one highlight was renting e-bikes for a ride around the island. It’s a very small island so a few hours on the bikes was enough to see pretty much everything! The bloke we hired from didn’t want any ID, didn’t take our names or want to know where we were staying. We just handed over the $100 NZ for the rental of the two bikes and helmets and he sent us on our way! How refreshing.
You can visit some of the other islands making up the Cook Islands but most people don’t. We really enjoyed our week between the two islands and could have had a couple more days.
Next time I’ll share some thoughts on Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, which we visited in July.