If ever there was a trip that was intricately planned at one time and then got implemented after 3 full years, then it is this! Back in March 2018, we planned for Europe trip in Summer to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. Since Summer was just 2 months away, we ended up paying way too high than our peers did. So lesson learnt then was to plan and book international trips ahead of time to save hard-earned money. Cometh late 2019, we planned for Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam during summer of 2020. It was the farthest ahead we had ever planned. And we felt rightly so, since rates seemed cheaper.
While the highlight of the planned trip was Thailand, we had added Cambodia (mainly for Angkor Wat) and then Vietnam (mainly for Halong Bay) since they were neighbouring countries, so travel time was less and if at all in future we wished to see those countries, we wouldn't have to travel all the way from India. Next thing was to identify top things to see in the three countries within the stipulated time that we had - about 8-10 days at best. No package tour from any of the companies such as MakeMyTrip, Cox & Kings, Thomas Cook, etc. had a package tour that completed these three countries within the 8-10 days that we thought we could finish. So, once we decided on places of must-see, we started looking at the different combinations of itineraries based on flight availabilities. To say that it was hard, is an understatement. Hours and hours of research was spent just on itineraries. There were so many combinations - such as BLR-THAI-CBD-VTNM-BLR, BLR-VTNM-CBD-THAI-BLR, BLR-CBD-VTNM-THAI-BLR, and so it went on and on. In fact, within THAI itself, we had two options - Bangkok and Phuket as either arrival or boarding point. So, we listed all options down, compared the rates and finalized on this itinerary: BLR - BKK (1n) - PHKT (3n) - CMBD (1n) - VTNM (2n) - BLR. Departure on 22nd April and arrival back on May 1st, 2020. We booked all hotel rooms too.
And then Covid hit mid-March. Flights started cancelling and we got intimation from airlines. Some airlines said they would refund. Others did not, and instead kept the refund as credit which we could use in next 12 months. And 12 months passed, still Covid prevailed. The second wave was deadlier than first one. So the airlines extended for 12 more months. Although Covid slowly subsided, it was still prevalent. So airlines extended for 12 more months. Which meant we had time till April of 2023 to re-book tickets. By July of 2022, we had made up our mind to finish this long-pending trip by 2022 year-end. So started researching again.
Once more we had to check for itineraries, flight availabilities, etc. Some legs were no longer in service, so had to change and alter our plans. Yet had to tightly manage all those must-see places which we had listed and that too within the short span of time that we had. It was hard, hard work! Finally, found one leg of the journey BLR-BKK cheap for 22nd Dec via AirAsia and we booked it, thinking we could plan rest of the legs later.
After more research and identifying different legs of the journey, we felt reaching BKK at 3 am would not help us much since hotel check-in would only be much later in the day, so it'd be best to continue journey to Phuket. On hindsight, we could have booked either direct flight to PHKT or connecting flight to PHKT instead of booking two separate legs BLR-BKK and BKK-PHKT. Anyways. So 2nd leg got confirmed: BKK-PHKT.
Then, after 3 nights, booked next leg PHKT-BKK, and then next day BKK-CMBD and next day CMBD-VTNM. Finally, Vietjet Air back from VTNM to BLR 2 nights later. Booking hotels did not take much time since most of them were economical and neat and clean. So, we were all set for return back on Dec 30th, 2022.
And then, few months later, Vietjet Airlines cancelled the flight on Dec 30th. So again we had to review and revise our itinerary. This one cancellation costed us dearly upwards of Rs 50K. The next best flight (found after hours and hours of research since Google does not show it) was another Vietjet flight to Ahmedabad a day later on Dec 31st. So, booked that. extended our hotel room, and added one more place of interest to see in Vietnam.
And then when we were researching for places of interest in Phuket, we came across a number of things but most of them were on Krabi side and very few on Phuket. Back in 2020 when we had initially planned, we had completely ignored Krabi since it is close to Langkawi, which could be covered as part of a different vacation plan. But, we felt we had a good chance to see bioluminescence since we were close to new moon night and Krabi area had lot of ads about phytoplankton boat trips. So, we completely transformed the itinerary once more, and decided instead of just staying in PHKT, we should head to Krabi instead. So, there we go again, trying to search for hotels in Krabi, and cancelling hotel in PHKT. It seemed as if our itinerary kept evolving and there was no end to changes...
At one point, I had multiple hotel bookings for same night at different places in different websites, a number of local tour packages for certain dates, few of which had advance payment done and some not. It was all getting too complicated and difficult to manage. And I could feel the weight of it, and in fact wanted this trip to get done! Thankfully, time was the saviour, and soon enough, it was time for travel!
The flight was at 11:10 pm, so we left in the evening. Uneventful journey to airport, check-in, security, etc. Munched whatever we had for dinner and boarded the flight which was thankfully on time. Safely landed at Thailand (Bangkok - Don Mueang airport).
We had a long layover at BKK but that was good because the queue for getting e-visa was huge and only one counter was open. We had reached about 4 am local time and our next flight was departing at 10:40 am. I made a mistake with currency conversion at airport. I should have only converted only what was necessary for visa but instead did a complete conversion of whatever I presumed I would need Thai money in cash. Lost about INR 8K in the process. Tip is to go outside and use currency exchange shops which will have a better rate than the ones inside airport.
Also, there are a lot of professional people wanting to squeeze the money out of you. So be aware. Including in the immigration department asking us to go to a different queue (and pay more) and not pointing to the other 'no-fee' line at all. Had to forcefully join the fee-free line. Immigration itself took 1.5-2 hours, and then we went to the next gate for our next flight to Phuket. On the way, had slight English breakfast and coffee.
The 10:40 am flight to Phuket also was thankfully on time and we reached at about noon. It was very hot and humid when we exited the airport. There were a lot of tourist agencies flagging names outside, and we found ours and waited for the driver to pick us up. The driver was nice and friendly although hard to understand. Back in India, I had searched for this cab and had found Andaman cab taxi. Had booked this journey from Phuket to our hotel in Ao Nang. It was about 2+ hours, and we reached about 3 pm. This drive itself gave a clue about the uniqueness of South Thailand. There were towering mountains but best part was that these mountains were filled with greenery! It was like trees growing on vertical walls! Anyways, we reached and checked in to our hotel, it had a nice side view of the Andaman sea. Relaxed in the room until it cooled down a bit and then we headed out to the beach which was just 5 mins away.
We scouted and found a boat ride to Railay beach. We had to wait for the boat to fill up with other tourists, and just when we were wondering if it'd be a long wait, we fortunately got a couple of them and we departed to Railay beach. It was not too bumpy, and it was a short 10 boat ride. We got down at Railay beach and scenery reminded us of
, except that here we also had an ocean and a beach. Meaning, tall almost-vertical cliffs were surrounding the beach, and it was a sight to behold indeed.
The last 'already-return-paid' boat back to Ao Nang beach was about 2 hours, and we lazed our time on the beach - walking from one end to the other, looking at other tourists, the scenery, clicking pics, etc.. It was the first relaxed 'vacation-vacation' time of this trip. Wifey did mention about Phra Nang Cave beach being walkable but when I searched on Google Maps, it showed a route which was impossible to tread, since it involved either climbing a cliff or wading through the waves. So we had ditched the plan of heading there. But just when it was about time for us to depart the Railay beach, daughter asked for drinking water, and I headed towards the beachfront shops. And right there, there was a map to go to Phra Nang Cave Beach. And we were like, 'Oh No'! On the spot, decided to ditch the return boat and head to the cave beach. We'd have to pay extra for another boat about an hour later on but that's still better than not visiting the Cave beach.
So hurriedly (for we did not have too much time), we made our way towards the Phra Nang Cave Beach. It was about 15-20 mins away on a walking track that wound its way from east Railay beach to west Railay beach and then headed back towards east. Just as we came out of the denseness of the island towards the ocean, the sun was setting and it was Golden hue all around. Spent some time admiring the setting Sun and then headed inside the Phra Nang cave. This was a splended place indeed. One might see a cave, one might see a beach but a cave beach is something else altogether especially when you can enter and exit. Plus the tide was just enough to walk through the water knee-deep. The natural formation of the rocks was mesmerizing. The mountains towering all above us and the waves lapping at our feet - this was a sight not to be missed. Glad that daughter asked for drinking water, else we would have missed this completely albeit it costed us a bit due to the stupidity of checking the route on internet vs asking someone! Anyways, took good amount of pics and videos and headed back quickly the way we came to Railay beach.
The boatmen were shouting for last left-over passengers, and we hurried to the boat, paid the extra bucks and soon we were taken back to Ao Nang beach. There are numerous Indian restaurants and we had some snacks, tea and then walked on beachfront. It was a nice place for tourists, and reminded us of so many other beach-cities that we have been to, especially on west coast of US. We had vegan dinner pizza and then headed back to the room to retire for the night.
Day 2 - Dec 24th: Ao Nang - Phi Phi Islands - Ao Nang
We had booked Phi Phi Islands one-day tour on Sea Eagle Tour back in BLR prior to trip start. Promptly they picked us up at about 8 am in a minivan and took us (along with other tourists) to Nopparat Thara Beach where we were given orientation about Do's and Dont's, what to expect and what not to expect. Remainder of dues was taken, registration was done and we walked to the pier to board our speed boat.
It was a beautiful day, waves were not too choppy and our first view-point was Chicken Island. We didn't stop there but indeed island looked like a big chicken. But our first destination was Bamboo island. It took some time to get here but its absolutely out-of-the-world. The water color is aquamarine, turquoise, call it whatever you want but common denominator is that its simply beautiful. One must be so grateful for having eyes to admire the scenery. The waves are not too choppy but just enough to be playful. We walked the entire length of the beach until some tree trunks had fallen from land onto the ocean. Took lots of pics and walked back. We had the whole hour here.
After hearts' content, we left Bamboo island and our next stop was Monkey Bay. The boat did not dock since apparently it is dangerous to be around monkeys. The bay is small and lots of monkeys. So we just waved them from afar for some time and continued to our next destination, which was Viking Cave. Again, cannot dock, so had to just see from afar the natural cave formations on the mountain. Not much to write home about. But we did anchor though and those interested in swimming, could dive into the water and snorkel towards the limestone rocks. They were given instructions not to touch but just go near and explore the marine life.
Next stop was Maya Bay. This was quite something! The boats unload & load passengers from one side of the island where there is man-made rubber pier (the kind that floats on water) and you will need to walk to the other side. Now, the place where the pier is, the water is extremely choppy. The waves make the boat go from one side to the other almost like 270 degrees up and down. So one time we are looking right at Sun on top of us and the next second we are looking directly into the ocean! Within few minutes, I started feeling seasick. Thankfully the boatman managed to get to the tier and we are asked to get down quick since there was huge number of boats wanting to load/unload passengers. Massive traffic jam! Got onto the wobbly pier and somehow quickly walked to the solid ground and started getting my bearings back! Thankfully nothing happened.
Walked across the island to the other side and the view was spectacular here as well. We realized now why Maya Bay was famous. Hardly any waves, but once again the color was breathtaking. Walked all the way to the end of the beach and walked back, and took umpteen pics. Spent about an hour on the island, and all that seasickness-inducing landing was all worth it! Getting boarded back on the boat was not that difficult.
Next was lunch time at Phi Phi Don. It was a short ride. Food was ok-dokey but filling. Not many options for vegetarians. Fruits were a saviour! After lunch, we had time for ourselves - almost an hour to relax and rest. So we laid down on some of the beach chairs under the shade and spent time looking at the waves and boats and tourists. Felt nice and good. It was time to move again, and our next stop was Pileh Lagoon. A short ride and the boat stopped again. At Pileh Lagoon, folks who wanted to go on snorkelling once again dove into the water and had gala time. The three of us stayed put on the boat and just enjoyed the scenery and people diving.
That was the last spot and we headed back to our starting point. It was a long boat ride - almost 1+ hour. By the time we reached Nopparat Thara Beach, it was almost 5 pm. The minivan took us back to Ao Nang. Instead of going back to the room, we realized that it was close to sunset and people were already sitting on the beachfront awaiting the sun to set. So we too sat on the beach steps and watched the sunset. It was clearer than previous evening sunset at Railay Beach whence there were clouds. This time around it was much clearer and it was absolute pleasure to see the sunset. After sunset, we did little shopping and then headed to dinner near our room. It was good Indian food. I had to then make some arrangements for cash and credit since I was running into some challenges with the limits that I had preset on my cards. Finally I got that resolved and it was time to pack up for tomorrow and get ready to check out first thing in the morning. Retired for the night. Christmas eve!
Day 3 - Dec 25th: Ao Nang - Khao Sok - Phuket
Had booked the same Andaman Taxi for pick up from our hotel at 6 am for drop off to Khao Sok National Park where we had booked a full day tour for Cheow Lan Lake from 'Our Jungle Camp' resort starting at 8:30 am. We were right on time. Refreshed and then we were off once again in another mini van! After about an hour, we reached the entry point of the Khao Sok National Park. We got our tickets, got some basic instructions from our guide and then we got onto our long-tail boat. Right after the boat started, we could see the Ratchaprabha dam to our left, but we continued onward.
This lake is enormous and extends anywhere and everywhere. It is called Halong Bay of Thailand because of the similarities - the huge rock formations jutting out from under water. The first point of visit was The Three Friends, where we have three massive rock structures almost equidistant upon water. The boatman stopped for some time (on the water itself) and then moved on.
Our next stop was for Nature trail. As the guide explained, it was Rainforest (akin to South America) of Asia. So, it was thick, with hardly any sunlight on the ground. The trail took us upon a decent ascent and our guide was super knowledgeable on the kinds of trees and plants surrounding us - stating which was poisonous, which was safe, how they were used, etc. The trail was dotted with useful information on the flora surrounding us - apparently it was a relatively new trail that was built. We walked about 30-40 minutes and we reached what was supposed to be the end of the trail. It was a big roundabout on wooden planks. The guide, just as we were walking, picked up some fallen plants, sticks, etc. and made a nice hat for my daughter! He also showed us a big tree-swing where most of them had a go! Soon, it was time and we headed back to the boat. It was then a short ride to raft-house where lunch was being served for all tourists.
Primarily food was non-veg, so it was kind of difficult. The veg that was served also seemed like non-veg! Like tofu, mushroom, kind of rice which had an aroma, veg stew, etc. Wifey hardly ate anything. Thankfully fruits came to the rescue - watermelon and pineapple. After food, we had some leisure time for ourselves. People who wanted to swim or kayak could do so, but we did not opt for it. Instead just lazed on the raft house and appreciated the beautiful scenery all around, with towering hills and emerald green lake. One of the itineraries which we had planned was for an overnight at one of these raft-houses facing the lake, but now that we were here it felt as if that'd have been too much and what we ended up choosing was good enough.
Then we were called back to the boat and our next stop was Coral Cave (aka Pra Kai Petch Cave). The boat stopped at the edge of a mountain and we had to somehow climb down, and then walk up few stairs to enter the Coral Cave. The cave is kept pristine in its raw nature, without any developments (such as lighting or walkway) which is good. People are given torch lights so that they can zoom in and zoom out to see unique and unusual formations inside the cave by themselves, and explore. Once we were done with that, we got back onto the boat and headed back the way we came towards the Park entrance.
It took quite some time to come back and the view of the dam was more clearer than how it was on our way up. We reached the destination and rest of the trip was uneventful - from the park entrance to the 'Our Jungle resort' via minivan which took about an hour and then from there to Phuket (our taxi driver was waiting for us) which took about 3 hours. By the time we reached our hotel (which was near the airport), it was almost 9 pm (had pizza for dinner on the way back). The hotel was very clean and good-looking, and comfortable bed.
Day 4 - Dec 26th: Phuket - Bangkok
Our flight was in the morning at about 9ish, so we left at about 7:30 to the airport (shuttle was arranged by the hotel). Flight from Phuket to Bangkok was uneventful. At Bangkok, we thought we will go by ourselves from airport to The Grand Palace (instead of taking a taxi). Somehow tried to learn and understand. Decided on metro train and that took us to one point which seemed to be the nearest place. It was good experience, taking train like locals! But from there, we had to take a cab as we were not sure which public bus/train to take. The cab driver seemed very helpful and genuine. He dropped us off closest to the Grand Palace and asked us to exercise caution and not fall to traps of touts.
It was quite a challenge identifying where to enter though (!) but finally made it. This Grand Palace is quite huge and unfortunately we had to go through every place with our luggage! There were quite a number of things to see such as the story of Ramayana depicted on the walls, the Buddha (standing, sitting, etc.), some temples (Temple of Emerald Buddha), etc. The line was labyrinth and it moved from one spot to the other. Most spots were temples and we could relax inside. The important places that we covered were Temple of Emerald Buddha, Chapel of Emerald Buddha, The Demon Guardians, The Royal Pantheon, The Elevated Platform, Model of Angkor Wat, Belfry, Statue of Cheewok Komaraphat, Gallery of Ramakien (Indian story of Ramayana) & many more which is not English translated like Maha Prasat Hall, Sihabanchon, Rajruedi Hall, Phra Phiman, Aphorn Phimok Prasat, etc. It seemed to be more a complex of temples than a Palace. With that, we were done with Grand Palace.
Our next stop was the place which is famed for Sleeping Buddha - Wat Phra. It was walkable, so we walked but it was tiring since it is not just the Sleeping Buddha that we have here, it is one more complex filled with number of temples. We spent quite a bit of time at this place and then headed to the port where there were boats to take us across the river to Wat Arun.
We were at the right time - sunset, which is what this place is famous for. Again, there were few temples at the beginning but the main attraction is the tall tower with a number of steps from all four sides, each side of which has few idols. We walked around the tower at the base, and then climbed the stairs and again went clock-wise on top. Too much crowd, so had to walk carefully with steep steps on one side. We thought we could see sunset from atop but that was not the case. Sunset was too dense anyways. So we climbed down and then we thought maybe sunset light upon the tower would be good to see, but that was not the case either.
At about 6 pm when sun had set, they switched on the golden lights on the tower, and then we realized that is why we have to come here at dusk! The Golden lights on the tower almost makes it look like the Eiffel Tower. We spent some time on the garden gazing at it and munched on some snacks. Then it was time to leave and we took the boat back across the river and hailed an auto to take us to our hotel. Out of all the places that we had shortlisted to see in Bangkok, it was just three - Grand Palace, Wat Phra and Wat Arun that finally won. With that, we were done with Bangkok.
After checking-in and refreshing, we again headed out to dinner. Right outside, there was a devi Hindu temple. It was wonderful, and lots of local people were inside. It amazed me how an Indian temple got constructed in Thailand and how it has got so many devotees! After temple, we walked to Saravana Bhavan & had sumptuous dinner. It was fulfilling - our only meals for the entire day!
Day 5 - Dec 27th: Bangkok, Thailand - Siem Reap, Cambodia
This was just a day of travel. We checked out in the morning from the hotel and walked once again towards Saravana Bhavan. Again had sumptuous breakfast. We wanted to take public bus to airport but were not finding any right option on Google. So was thinking that maybe we can go close to airport and then take cab but then a bus came and driver said he can drop to airport. We were surprised and got on. It was a nice experience, going like natives in bus, watching the city. It was a long journey, close to 1.5 hours and reason why Google was not showing this bus as an option to airport was because it was not official. The driver was helping us! He stopped on a spot where bus was not supposed to stop (Don Mueng Railway station) but that was super helpful. From there, it was just taking a walkway across the road and we were inside the terminal! There even was a currency exchange shop where I converted the remaining currency since we were now departing Thailand.
Our flight was at 2:50 pm via Thai Air Asia. It was a short 1 hour flight. We munched some snacks prior to departure and that sufficed for our lunch. Upon reaching Cambodia, we cleared immigrations and exited the airport. It was a small city, so very peaceful and calm. People seemed happy and willing to help the tourists. Our hotel had arranged for airport pick up and we went up to the man who was holding the placard. He had a tuk-tuk or an auto which took us to the hotel. The drive was so soothing and peaceful! He was our designated driver for rest of our trip in this country!
It seemed like a sleepy town with hardly any traffic. The hotel where we stayed (Uncle Sam Villa) was wonderful and clean. They gave us options on what to see the next day and how to plan ourselves. We booked one 'Long circuit' trip which covered most spots in Siem Reap + Sunrise tour of the Angkor Wat. Then we headed out for dinner. There was a nearby 'Modi's' Gujarati restaurant with no onion and no garlic. The food was great! After dinner, we walked back via Pub street. Here it was crowded. Looked like the sleepy crowd of the day had finally woken up! The street was filled with pubs and live music and sports. We headed straight back to room, booked our tickets to Angkor via online and retired for the night.
Day 6 - Dec 28th: Siem Reap, Cambodia - Angkor Wat - Hanoi, Vietnam
Ok, so this was a real-early morning wake up day. Guess we were up by 3:30 am, did our kriyas, freshened up and left the hotel by about 4:30 am. Checked-out since we would be back only post noon, but kept the luggages at the lobby. It took us 20 mins to reach Angkor Wat visitor center where we got our tickets. Then the driver took us to the entrance to Angkor Wat which was again 20 mins away. It was a looong walk from drop-off point to actual entrance. We had to do it in dark but there were lots and lots of visitors, so it was safe and ok. Most of them were using their cell phones as torch. I couldn't figure out where we were walking but just followed the crowd. At one point, I guess we crossed a long bridge which was made of raft, so it was bobbing on the water. Quite an experience doing this at dark! We continued walking for 10 more minutes and finally the crowd had settled (or rather stood), so we thought this is it and we stood too. Point being sunrise at Angkor Wat.
Initially the temple's shadow fell on the lake (which was apparently right in front of us) and it was beautiful. Gradually as the sun rose higher, the rays started falling on Angkor Wat itself and now both the temple and the reflection looked nice. But, personally I felt it was over hyped, for all the trouble one had to take to come here so early in the morning. It wasn't like oh-my-god feeling. More like, oh-ok-ish! There were lot of professional photographers who seemed to have settled down overnight near the lake edge to get the best sight with their tripods. Too much, if you ask me!
Anyways, once the sun was bright enough, we went hither and thither for more pics but we could not enter the temple premises because it would open up only later. So, we headed back to our tuk-tuk. We had chosen for the long-circuit route (vs short-circuit route). So, our next destination was Banteay Srei which was quite far away. And since we were on tuk tuk, it took a long time. However, the route was very scenic and took us via countryside Cambodia. Most houses had a specialty - they were built using wood and with nothing on ground, except long sticks. Like, how we have foundation underground, they had a foundation but on ground and the actual stay area was on first floor. In some cases, this 'ground-area' (or basement) was used for agricultural purposes like grinding, etc. Or maybe to tackle flood, not sure!
We reached BS and again took entry tickets and visited the now-in-ruins shrine. Once again, maybe it was an architectural wonder at one point of time, but now it seemed very mediocre. And I was wondering if visiting Cambodia was worth at all! We were done in few minutes with BS, took some snaps and headed back to tuk-tuk. Another long route back to areas in and around Angkor Wat. Our next stop was Ta Phrom. Now, this is really worth-seeing. This is called Tree Temple, and for a reason. Enormous trees have outgrown from temple from all over the compound walls. It is truly fascinating to see them all. Sometimes it feels like compound walls have grown out of temples and not the other way round. There are trees coming out of roofs too! A sight to see indeed! The parking lots for both BS and Ta Phrom are quite a distance away, so factor for some walking.
Our next destination was The Bayon Temple. This is a famous temple because of the easily distinguishable faces on the walls and roof-tops. Even though it is in ruins, one can make out the faces easily. We walked around the campus and there was one more long walk to the parking spot.
On the way, there were more tourist spots such as Baphuon Temple and Terrace of the Elephants. The former has huge number of steps to climb, just to the base of the temple, and one more set of stairs to the rooftop where we have nice vista view of the Angkor Thom area. The latter is just a walk-through where artists have carved walls filled with elephants, one after the other.
Our next destination was Phnom Bakheng. Well, this is actually a sunset spot but due to our time constraints, we had to visit right at noon! So, we hardly met any other visitor on our way up. Yes, the tuk-tuk stops on the road, and one has to hike up the hillock. It takes about 20-30 minutes to climb up. And once atop, there is a temple-ruin which has more steps to climb up. Completely atop, one could see Angkor Wat and entire city of Siem Reap, a water body, etc. By now, we were famished and headed directly to Modiji's restaurant and invited our driver as a guest to have nice Indian Vegetarian lunch with us. Post lunch, we went to the hotel lobby, refreshed ourselves a bit, took our luggages and headed once more to Angkor Wat, but this time to enter and see in entirety.
Once more, a long walk from parking spot to the temple. This time we could see the route that we had taken in the morning darkness, the bobbing raft on the water, the lake where we had stood to see the sunrise view, etc.. We continued inwards and upwards, inwards and upwards, because that is how the temple is built. Finally came a series of steep steps which we had to climb. This was the peak of Angkor Wat. Apparently it held Vishnu idols at one point, but now it has idols depicting Buddhists. At the very edge of the perimeter, there is indeed a Vishnu idol, which we happened to come across as part of an alternate pathway since the usual exit route was blocked by monkeys. The idol is quite tall and majestic. Inside the Angkor Wat, there are many constructions related to water pool, although they are all empty now. Finally, we came out of the temple premises, the perimeter, etc.
With that, we were done with Angkor Wat in particular and Cambodia in general. On hindsight, maybe one more day would have been better in Siem Reap. We came across some brochures in the hotel which was advertising a day-long tour to some nearby tourist spots such as riverside waterfall, lakeside and even sahasra linga (thousand lingas), etc. Anyways, we were on compressed timelines, so had to leave. Our next flight was to Ha Noi, Vietnam, and it was right on time.
Flight was uneventful and we reached Ha Noi at about 9:30 pm but the queue in immigration was unbelievably long. There were like 20-25 counters and each had about 50-60 people. Out of the lot, it annoyed me that we were the last three members to be leaving the entire immigration hall - how unlucky could that be?! Imagine coming in at the same time when a bunch of international flights landed, choosing the slowest immigration counter possible and being the last few folks out of over a thousand people! Added to that, the driver who picked us up seemed to be the slowest driver ever! Pretty much all the vehicles overtook us while the driver spoke in length about his interest in India!
Anyways, the driver (whom we had booked from the hotel) dropped us off at our Hotel, which was curiously called Marriott. I had visions of typical Marriott hotel with its uber cool luxury but this one seemed more like a hostel! I double-checked with the driver if the address I had on file was the same one and he confirmed. Well, so be it. We checked in, and the room was not that bad although it could have done better on lighting. A thing that we were suddenly made aware of was that here in Vietnam, it was biting cold! We had not expected this - while Thailand and Cambodia was cool and nice, Vietnam was not so. Even a temperature of 17 degrees C seemed far too cold than it ought to! So, room was cold too. Anyways, we retired for the night at about 1 am, and we had an early start for the morrow. What a day, huh, from 4 am till 1 am and one more short night sleep - and you call this a vacation?!
Day 7 - Dec 29th: Ha Noi - Halong Bay - Ha Noi
We had booked full day tour to Halong Bay via hotel itself prior to leaving India. The tour guide came to our lobby and picked us up at about 8:30 am. We boarded the bus and it was about 2 hours ride to our first stop. It was a rest area but it also had some shops pertaining to pearls. They were having live demo of how pearls are plucked out of oysters. After seeing that demo, we felt so bad for the oysters and how inhuman Man is that he kills animals for the sake of self-beauty! We had had enough of it. Instead of that shop promoting selling of pearls, it had the opposite effect on us! There were also some beverage and snack shops for those who wanted to have quick bite but we skipped. It was too windy and biting cold.
It was about 30 minutes drive to the next stop which was the Tuan Chau Harbor where we got the tickets to our cruise. We hopped on the cruise boat and thankfully it was warm and cozy inside. The boat departed the pier and we were soon on the South China Sea. Within a few moments, the sights of Halong Bay that it is famous for, came up viz the tall free-standing towers of rocks from bottom of the ocean. For us, coming from Khao Sok in Thailand, this seemed like a repeat but this was that actual wonder! The jutted rock popups seemed everywhere. On the way, we were served lunch. Thankfully the vegetarian food was not too bad.
Soon enough the boat stopped on an island called Titov with a limestone tower to climb. We climbed all the way to the Titov peak, there were a lot of steps and the view of the Bay from the top was panoramic. We got back to the boat and it was a short boat ride for the next stop which was even more interesting.
They dropped us off at another pier where we had an option to go kayaking or on a small boat ride. We chose the latter. The reason this was interesting is because the boat went underneath a big mountain, as if going inside a cave, except that it was not a cave since it opened up right after we entered into another vast open area. It was like a passthrough cavern that could be navigated only by boat. Really enjoyed the experience.
Then our cruise boat took us to the next point of interest. This one was a cave called Luon. Vietnam is famous for its caves, and this one did not disappoint us. It was enormous. We had to climb a lot of stairs and inside was vast space. The whole cave was well-maintained and well-lit and well-paved. So one had to just follow the path to experience it in totality. It climbed up at some places and climbed down at some others. At one point, it even went out of the cave but was high up, so we could see the great Sea on left side and we could peep inside the cave as well. That was the last point of interest. As we headed back, we were given some light snacks to eat and hot beverage, which was a welcome for the cold, cold day that we had.
Rest of the journey back to the hotel was uneventful. We saw some nice colorfully lit-up trees all through the highway, probably it was because of Christmas. When we came to our hotel, realized that it was right in the middle of night-life of Vietnam! The streets were jam-packed and hardly any place to walk. I had to withdraw some cash from ATM and it allowed me to explore some of the streets, and street food and pubs all around, and I even had few people approaching me with some snaps in their hands! Got back to the room quick and snuggled up for a good night's rest. All in all, was not overly joyful about Halong Bay, mainly because we had seen something very similar in Khao Sok. But nothing to take away from the natural wonder indeed.
Day 8 - Dec 30th: Ha Noi - Ninh Binh - Ha Noi
As I had mentioned before, we were set to depart on this day at 7 pm. However, because of a better flight option on 31st, we had to extend our stay by one more day. And to fill this gap, we had chosen Ninh Binh as a full-day tour. As it happened, this was one of the finest places of our tour and, as the saying goes, all's well that ends well. That flight cancellation by Vietjet on 30th was destined for us to see this beautiful place.
This tour started even earlier - by 7:30 am itself. This was a smaller group unlike previous day's bus. But the distance duration was about the same - 2.5 hours. By the time we left the Old Quarter (where we and all the tourists were staying), it was almost 9 am. Our first stop was a Buddhist Temple called Bai Dinh Pagoda. It contained a huge statue of Buddha and also a tall tower (which our tour did not include). But it was laborious to get to this place. The mini-bus stopped at a parking spot, then we had to take tickets and a golf-cart to the temple premises. The temple itself is too huge and is setup on a hillock. So we climb the wide stairs slowly, and there are statues lining up all the way - close to 500 our guide told us.
Then we reach the main temple itself with the big statue (100 ton). It is a huge building, with wide & vast spaces all around. Then, we come back on the other side with similar statues. Then there is a stop-over for a big bell (36 ton). We had to climb one flight of stairs just to get to the top of the bell! And then we continue back to the exit. All through the visit, the background score of
Aum-Mani-Padme-Hum was on, and it was very soothing. All in all, a very pleasant experience.
We then went for lunch at a local resort. It was a nice setup with pool-side buffet. Surprisingly, there were many veg options, almost as much as non-veg. Had ample time to eat, and relax before we headed out for the next destination, which was Trang-An. This was the best place in Vietnam, we felt. Here we got small boats to navigate through the river across what is called the paddy fields. The boats only carry 3-4 of them, and since we were three in the family, we had a boat all for ourselves! It was wonderful and extremely pleasant. Each boat had a boatman or boatwoman who paddled the oars. Initially it seemed like just another boat ride.
But our experience enriched when the boat started going through caves underneath massive mountains, just like the previous day. However, these caves were long and winding and we could not see where it was ending. Also the length of the caves were so low the we had to stoop in our boats sitting so as not to get bumped on our heads. Despite the stoop, we could still touch the belly of the mountain! And it was not just one such cave, we paddled through many such caves and this experience was really exhilarating. So it was a tunnel cave system on a river. It seemed like we were in 'River of Adventure', the famous Enid Blyton book! This is definitely not-to-be-missed in Vietnam! It took over an hour for the entire length to be completed, and we were super happy that our original flight got cancelled due to which we could add this on our trip!
The next stop was nearby and it was a small mountain called Lying Dragon that we had to climb. So we started off and it was not very steep in the beginning but became so as we climbed. Plus, there were too many people. At mid-point, the climb forks into two with left being longer and higher and right being shorter. We took the longer one. Taking rest, we kept climbing higher and higher. Finally we reached atop after 500 steps. But the line for dragon (which is the highlight of this climb anyways) was too long. Visitors were taking n number of photos with the dragon, and we did not have too much time despite having rushed to the top. So we caught a glimpse of it from side. We spent some time instead enjoying the vista of Tam Coc all around us. We could even see the Trang An boats below us.
That done, we headed back down. There were couple more points to be seen below - one was Tiger Cave. A huge mountain and a small cave underneath called Dancing Cave. We had had enough of caves by now! And then some kids play area with horse statues, tree houses, swings, walkway on marshy land, etc. We saw all of those and headed back to the mini-bus. Once again, rest of the journey back to the hotel was uneventful. We spent some time roaming around the streets of the night life in Old Quarter, apparently very famous. Got some souvenirs and then retired for the night, thoroughly satisfied with the day.
Day 9 - Dec 31st: Ha Noi, Vietnam - Ahmedabad, India
This day was relaxing day since we did not have any plans. We checked if there were any more sightseeing places but found none to be very interesting. So thought we might as well spend it easy. So got up late, refreshed, checked out of the hotel and roamed on the streets on the way to an Indian restaurant. Had nice Indian brunch. Then walked a few distance to catch our bus to the airport. This, like in Bangkok, gave us insights to the city life unlike how a cab does. It was a long, 1.5 hr journey to the airport. Even from the drop-off point, we had to walk a long distance (not sure why - almost like a different terminal, they could have arranged for an inter-terminal shuttle or something) to our international terminal. Thankfully it was not raining.
We had a long wait time at the airport, nevertheless we checked in, security and went to our gates. The flight back was uneventful, and we reached Ahmedabad at about 11 pm IST. Here too we had a long layover, about 6 hours. Here, too, we had to walk a long distance from one terminal to another. Again, security and we went to our gates. There was a selfie-with-Santa booth where kiddo did time-pass! At midnight, we wished each other a Happy New Year!
Day 10 - Jan 1st: Ahmedabad - Bengaluru
Last flight of the trip was nice and smooth too. Reached home safely at about 8 am from airport via cab.
Epilogue: As mentioned before, this one took a lot of planning, re-planning, cancelling, tracking refunds, re-booking, flights getting cancelled again, re-booking, multiple hotel bookings on same day, visa applying, checking for covid regulations, etc. I was more relieved after the trip than I was before! So much so that I had told my family that no vacations for summer will be planned until this one got over! Also, with Kailash, Himalayas & this big International trip, we had too many trips in the last 6 months and it was getting to a point of exhaustion!
In this trip alone, we had been on 7 flights and several boat rides (Railay to-and-fro, full-day Phi Phi, Khao Sok, Halong Bay, Trang An) and many, many temple visits. No tour package gives Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam in the 9-day itinerary that we did (which excludes to-and-fro travel dates). Of course, there are other places to visit, but then again, is there ever an end to see places. So, we can hope to cover the best amongst the best with the least amount of time. We are averse to flight travel, so want to avoid one trip to each country, and would rather combine neighbouring countries in one-go!
This was the second time (first one being Nirvana beach) we came very close to viewing bioluminescence and yet we could not go on that night tour as it was at a time that was not working out for us. Alas, maybe next time.
And that's how we ended our 2022 footprints! So, what does 2023 hold in store?! ;-)
