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This 12 part video series highlights an amazing 3 week adventure in Vietnam and Cambodia by a Relax Asia group during May 2013
Enter a world where the colours are vivid, the landscapes are breath-taking, the coastline dramatic, the history utterly compelling, the tastes are divine and where the culture is rich and unique. This world is Vietnam, the latest Asian dragon to awake from its slumber.
Nature has blessed Vietnam with a bountiful harvest of soaring mountains, a spectacular coastline and verdant rice fields. Vietnam is extraordinary.
Inland, peasant women in conical hats still tend to their fields, children ride buffalos along country paths and minority people scratch out a living from impossible gradients.
Vietnam’s cities conjure up a thousand jumbled images. You can wander through timeless alleys to ancient pagodas or teeming markets, past ramshackle wooden shops selling silk, spices and baskets, before fast-forwarding into the future beneath sleek skyscrapers or at designer malls, gourmet restaurants and minimalist bars. The ghosts of the past live on in the churches, temples, former GI hotels and government buildings that little more than one generation ago witnessed a country in turmoil.
VIDEO 1: From Hanoi to Sapa. Exploring the crowded and crazy streets of Hanoi, risking life and limb just crossing a road. The famous Hanoi Water Puppets; Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum and house; The Hanoi Hilton; St. Joseph's Church; Train to Sapa; Sapa Hotel and the start of a half day trek through a beautiful Black Hmong village.
I handed my video camera ( Canon XA10 ) to local guide Dinh for a look during our walk at Ho Chi Minh's house. The bugger switched off my microphone and I didn't discover the lack of sound until we arrived in Sapa. I think the accompanying soundtrack compensates ok for the lack of live sound.
VIDEO 2: Sapa. This video shows off the incredible beauty of the Sapa region. From the Black Hmong village with it's stunning scenery, we then we visit an equally beautiful Red Dzao village. Video also shows the lake, market & streets of Sapa town and the morning of a full day trek to our overnight Homestay.
VIDEO 3: Sapa. Continue trekking in Sapa with the Red Dzao. Homestay in local village where many of the group let their hair down that night ( ringleader Dinh ). Trek back with amazing views over rice paddies, beautiful rivers and pristine villages.
VIDEO 4: Halong Bay. 2 Days cruising through the stunning UNESCO World Heritage listed Halong Bay on a Junk. Canoeing, island hopping including trek to a lookout and tour of caves.
VIDEO 5: Hue - Hoi An. Flight from Hanoi to Danang then drive to Hue. Visit the Imperial Citadel. Enjoy a traditional music & dance performance. Thien Mu Pagoda and a cruise on Huong Giang River. Day trip to Thanh Toan Bridge, Imperial Tombs of Tu Duc & Khai Dinh. Drive to Hoi An - the impossibly beautiful beach town of Lang Co and over the spectacular Hai Van Pass. Stop in Danang - visit the Cham Museum & Marble Mountains.
VIDEO 6: Hoi An. Ancient House Hotel. Relaxed streets & pre-war buildings of the UNESCO World Heritage old town. Main Market, a visit to a local home, the Japanese Bridge, bike hire & boat ride on the river. The Red Bridge Cooking School.
VIDEO 7: Ho Chi Minh City ( Saigon ). Cu Chi Tunnels, Cyclo Ride through streets of Saigon, visit to Central Market & War Museum. Walked to L'usine Cafe. Hotel Elios.
VIDEO 8: Mekong Delta. Boat ride on the Mekong. Visit to factories along the delta in heavy tropical rain. Cruising Gondala style through the backwaters. Homestay, helping to prepare dinner & night time entertainment from local actors & musicians. Visit to the local market.
VIDEO 9: Cambodia - Siem Reap. Visiting several temple including Angkor Wat. Elephant ride.
VIDEO 10: Cambodia - Siem Reap / Phnom Penh. Boat ride to Kampong Kleang. More Temples around Angkor. Phnom Penh - The Waterfront, The Royal Palace, Russian Market & S21 Prison.
VIDEO 11: Cambodia - Kampot. After our group flew back to Australia from Phnom Penh , Veronica and I opted for a few days R & R in the quiet southern Cambodian towns of Kampot & Kep.
This video shows Kampot, a great chill-out town on the south coast of Cambodia. Kampot town is full of crumbling old French colonial shophouses, a vibrant central market, an early morning crab market, a beautiful river and is surrounded by pepper plantations. We stayed 4 nights at the superbly run Rikitikitavi.
VIDEO 12: Cambodia - Kep. Only 20 km and 2,000,000 pot holes down the road from Kampot is the quiet seaside township of Kep. A wonderful morning crab market, great seafood restaurants, long stretches of beach and surrounded by jungle but it' still not enough to drag in the tourists - yet.