Incredible Singapore, Cambodia and Vietnam

Tina Hopkins on 04 April 2016
We began our trip in Singapore for three nights; it was my third visit but it had been 27 years since the last time. I was surprised at how much development has taken place in the intervening years, but it still had the charm I remembered from years ago. With bustling Chinatown and chaotic Little India adding to the general ambience, and of course the obligatory visit to Raffles for a Singapore Sling.

Public transport is cheap, reliable and easy to navigate. Since we last visited they have opened a museum dedicated to the occupation of Singapore during WW2; a very interesting but sometimes quite harrowing exhibition. Also new since our last visit are the Gardens by the Bay, two enormous dome structures, one housing plants found in the rain forests and up in the clouds, the other with flowers and plants from all over the world. They’re surrounded by formal gardens which are lovely to walk around to escape the tropical heat.

We moved on to Siem Reap in Cambodia for the start of the more formal part of our holiday. We spent two days visiting some of the many Angkor Temples with a dedicated guide. We needed a pass to visit the temples, ours was valid for three days and they were checked each time we visited a different site. Having your own guide is a must as there is a vast amount to see and very little by way of written explanation. Our guide put each of the sites we visited into historical context and explained the layout of the structures and translated the many stories which had been carved into the walls of the buildings. We visited the Angkor Museum whose exhibits had been taken from the surrounding temples, which helped to recap what we had learned whilst visiting the sites.

Our visit to Vietnam began in Ho Chi Minh City from where we visited the Cu Chi Tunnels – used during the Vietnam War. They were well presented and very interesting. Ho Chi Minh City was also the starting point for our visit to the Mekong Delta. One of the highlights of our holiday, we sampled some delicious food prepared by a local family (the biggest prawns I have ever seen), had a trip on a small rowing boat on a Mekong River tributary and a larger diesel boat. We saw local fisherman and passed families who spend their lives travelling up and down the river delivering fresh fruit. We visited a coconut processing factory and a brick making factory.

We moved on to Hoi An in central Vietnam, a UNESCO world heritage site. A beautiful little town easy navigable on foot, it is also the capital in Vietnam for having clothes made. I had a beautiful dress and top made, ready for the first fitting in less than 24 hours. I also had a pair of sandals tailor made copying a pair I already had. My husband had a buffalo skin overnight bag made and we had two pairs of flip flops made for our children. Probably just as well we only spent three nights in Hoi An, I just couldn’t trust myself not to buy more! Hoi An has some beautiful beaches, we took bikes from the hotel and cycled to have a look. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t good enough for sunbathing while we were there.

From here we were driven to Hue the old capital of Vietnam where we visited the Imperial Citadel and tomb of Emperor Tu Doc. We also took a scenic bike ride between huge paddy fields and small villages to the lagoon where we took a small boat weaving in and out of the fish farms to a stilted restaurant where we enjoyed lunch. We left Hue on the overnight train to Hanoi a 13 hour journey arriving at 05:30 the next morning. We had an early check-in at the hotel and following breakfast and a shower we went for a day’s sightseeing around Hanoi, taking in Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, One Pillar Pagoda, The Temple of Literature and the Ethnology Museum.

Our last port of call was to Halong Bay for a junk cruise, a very relaxing way to end a very busy holiday. We had a lovely room with a private balcony, from where we could site and enjoy this beautiful UNESCO world heritage site. It’s impossible to pick a favourite part of the holiday, we have had so many amazing and different experiences. Would I recommend Cambodia and Vietnam for a holiday – you bet!