Stoned & Sun-burned in South East Asia - Vietnam & Thailand [EDITED WITH PICS]

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Nuggz
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Stoned & Sun-burned in South East Asia - Vietnam & Thailand [EDITED WITH PICS]

Post by Nuggz »

Last chopper into Saigon.

I took this day ‘off’ as a work-from-home day, to allow myself time to make some final preparations and pack at a more leisurely, stress-free pace. A few visa-photos taken at a photo-shop in the center, a few extra clothes and deet-bearing insect repellent purchased and we’re in business.

As the winter sun made its early evening home in the western horizon, the clock ticked and this journey grew ever closer. This was my first time going to either of these new countries, and to Asia at that. The missus put some Kale Chips in the oven to prepare a healthy snack. I ran to the Albert Heijn and grabbed some beverages to ‘spike’ on the train and neck down at the airport right before security.

I had about half a bottle of THCyrup left, I poured about two-thirds of said remainder into a bottle of Albert Heijn fresh-pressed fruit juice, and poured the remainder of that into the Missus’s fresh-squeezed orange juice. I did a final sweep of the apartment to make sure everything was packed and/or left behind in good order. I took a cheeky pre-chug of my inebriant-laden juice just for shits-n-giggles. I don’t know if was my wariness of the long journey ahead or this particular batch of syrup (re: it was the strongest I’d gotten from the master-chef to date), but I swear I felt sluggishly, almost overwhelmingly body stonage and eye droop-age.

We pack light as to only carry one backpack per person, so despite it being the middle of January we’re dressed rather light for the ten minute hike to Centraal, a mere flimsy wind-breaker, covering a long-sleeved shirt and some fabricky light pants, with long-johns underneath. I quickly realize (or don’t rather) that I’m to properly mashed to dole out so much of a fuck about the blustery temps for which we are so under-dressed. We get on the train, and the better half realizes the healthy snack of toasted Kale chips she prepared is smelling like a proper wet fart oozing from her bag. We get off at Schiphol she promptly dumps them, along with our now emptied juice-bottles.

After a few hiccups at international security - I haven’t had to go through this part of the airport in ages, it then dawns on me that this is my first time leaving the European continent in nearly six years, wow! I digress, we make into onto our flight without a hitch, and despite the lengthy journey and full-flight, I’m able to actually catch some Zzzs on the plane and the flight breezes by relatively painlessly (I’m sure the THCyrup had its hand in that). We make our descent towards Kuala Lampur, Malaysia - and the crew makes announcements to that regard, among which are “Malaysia takes the possession and trafficking of illegal drugs very seriously, and penalties can include the use of capital punishment - please be aware and cautious”, so glad I maintained the sensibility not to resort to any of my infamous “floo-powder” tactics, though we see very little sign of drug specific scrutiny in our brief hour long layover.

An hour in KL and we’re airborne again in the direction of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. As the plane descend over the night sky in Saigon, I gaze out the window mesmerized by the assorted rainbow laden boulevards of vivid neon lights below me. We touch down, and of course a hiccup in a visa-application process, keeps me sitting in a waiting-room for the better part of an hour. Name-called, $25 paid and my visa is slapped onto my passport and we quickly wisk ourselves through customs and into the whole new world out there.

We catch a taxi from one of the purportedly trustworthy companies - Vinasun. It seems we get an honest driver as the fare is even a bit under what we were told to expect, I leave him a nice tip and we get checked in and settled. Bags dropped in the room, it’s rounding 9PM local-time on a Saturday evening, we’re eager to get out and see what the bustling city has to offer. The first thing you notice about HCMC is the abundance of scooters/moped/low-power motorcycles just dominating the streets, they move at a surreal floating pace and can be quite mesmerizing to watch, that is till you almost get run over by one in the process of doing so.

Our first port-of-call this evening is the Bui Vien area, known as the ‘backpacker district of Saigon’, google maps suggests it’s a quick 10 minute walk from our hotel. We take it all in. I also notice the prominence of small shoddy plastic furniture on the sidewalks/”terraces” in the front of most cafes/eateries. These are properly small chairs, that in the Western world would be for children, but the masses filling them show that they’re also more than suitable for full-grown adults. People are sitting on these small chairs everywhere, and people are eating everywhere. The Vietnamese love to eat, you can catch them doing it at all hours of the day in all sorts of fashions and places.

We arrive a short while later in the heart of Bui Vien, the main drag is packed like a box of sardines, blaring trashy techno and pop mixes pulsate out of pulsating discotheques and bars lining it. We venture into the heart of the madness, the sensory intake is ample to say the least, strobe lights, pounding bass, wall-to-wall two way traffic of humans (surprisingly mostly locals given that the area is titled “backpacker district”) and amidst all this rolling food-carts whipping up all sorts of funky Eastern delights, soups, dumplings, Bahn Mi, freeze-dried squid, emitting less than pleasant by fumes as byproducts.

We stop in the middle of all this and stop at a random cafe to grab a beer, a bite to eat and take in the madness. After filling our bellies we make the daunting journey of the main drag, the flow of human foot-traffic has increased yet more. We make it to the top of the main drag in the direction of our hotel. We stop at another large multi-storied by at that intersection, and are greeted with the heavy stench of cannabis smoke. Full disclosure, part of my incentive to rove this backpacker district stems from what some of my research had told me. I had not planned to (easily) find, let alone partake in the herb on this trip as the horror-stories of draconian laws against drugs (including cannabis) abound in Southeast Asia. That said, my research in an effort to avoid these things and legal trouble actually revealed that despite implementing the most stringent of laws against cannabis on the books, Vietnamese law enforcement often look the other way regarding our favorite plant and its use.

Apparently the corruption of the country and revenue potential of the plant are enough that in many parts of the country, but especially Bui Vien, both sale and consumption are rather brazen.

After mulling it over with the missus, (we wanted to ‘feel out the situation’) a lot of the people we shall puffing joints weren’t even just Westerners but also locals. We decide to go for it. I cross the street there’s a guy sitting on a fold out chair next to a rolling cigarette cart. He has Raw papers even behind the case. I ask him “smoke” and make the international “joint” symbol by pinching my index and thumb by my lips, he nods agreeingly. I ask to see and inspect the wares, my guard is up as I heard despite the tolerance the ‘vendors’ here often like to pull the ‘bait-and-switch’ with tea leaves on unsuspecting tourists. However, he says I can take the bag he handed me to inspect. It looks to be about 3.5-4g with prevalent orange hairs, mildy fresh/damp, not loud smell, but better than I would’ve expected, I don’t even see any seeds in there.

We barter over price, he originally quotes me something amounting to about 17-20 USD, however I counter with a lesser amount, coming out to about 15 USD. An aside, the Vietnamese Dong is a very inflated currency so the bill denominations you work with, even for small purchases are quite high numerically. This is my first few hours using this funny currency and I’m trying to get the correct change, the guy goes into my bill-fold of my wallet (slowly) and pulls out the correct amount, let’s me inspect that it is indeed the correct amount and he hands me a pack of Raws and the bag (I negotiated the papes into final price) and we’re off. I recount my cash, and everything was there, anywhere else in the world - that would have been a red-flag and half, and just not flown. But for some reason it worked in this case, and I was not exploited aside from apparently paying a bit more on the weed than I should have, but it wasn’t too bad.




Image
The only bud-shot (of actual wares) I have from the entire trip. Some Vietnamese street-weed (allegedly Cambodian grown).



Finally our first taster of Asian weed in tow, we head back towards our hotel. We duck off just out front of the hotel and twist one up. It’s bit damp so doesn’t stay lit amazingly well, but I hardly find any seeds breaking it up, it burns with whitish ash, and is surprisingly potent all things considered - I’m a happy camper. We finish the joint and round the night off with a night cap at a local craft brewpub a block from our hotel - not before stopping by the Circle-K to stock up on awe-inducing Asian munchies. Day (or Night) one rather, has been a success to say the least. Much more adventure on the horizon.
Last edited by Nuggz on Mon 18th Mar 2019 02:15 pm, edited 2 times in total.


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Nuggz
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Re: Stoned & Sun-burned in South East Asia - Vietnam & Thailand

Post by Nuggz »

Day-I in Saigon

We wake up relatively early, the culprits being a mix of constant beeping moped horns, jetlag and excitement. We get dressed quickly head down to the lobby to take advantage of the free hotel breakfast buffet and we're off. Just out the hotel, I beeline for a Circle-K. This is a US convenience store chain, that's often the store at gas-stations. The ones here, are 24-hours and decidedly nicer than their US counterparts. Asian salty and sweet candy snacks galore, as well some hot snacks (such as Bao type buns, spring rolls, etc.) that are pretty tasty and cheap to boot.

I'm not after snacks at this hour though, I'm after some of the revered Vietnamese style iced-coffee - Caphe Sua - rich malty roasted iced coffee, sweetened with condensed milk, this stuff is amazing. Circle-K brews a pretty mean Caphe Sua all things considered and costing something around .40 cents USD for a medium-sized cup, my thirst for some early morning survival-juice has been quenched.

Food and caffeine in our bellies, we make off and a grand tour hoofing it around town. We check out markets, the national post office, the "pink" church, a few small temples/shrines, and of course slurp down ever more Caphe Sua's to beat the heat and keep us running. Saigon is a pretty cool town, busy, bustling, semi-chaotic an assault on the senses, but mostly in a good way. After an impressive first day trekking around town, we had back to the area of the hotel - drenched in sweat. We head to the rooftop pool of our hotel to take in an impressive 360 vista of the town and cool off with a dip in the pool and some beers.

After a nice cool off, clean up and shower we set back off for Bui Vien area, as more assured safe-haven to partake in our favorite herb. I wander down the main drag, it's not even dusk yet but still late afternoon on Sunday; needless to day the place is pretty sparsely crowded at this hour, a far cry from the bustling wall-to-wall mass of human flesh it was not even a mere 24 hours prior. I pop into the one of the pharmacies in the main drag, I've heard they're all to used to hedonistic Westerners desires - I'm not an easy sleeper, and jetlag is a bitch so I grab some valiums to help knock me out in evenings (I don't bother with such things here at home, but hey when on vacation - it's 90% 'medicinal' only 10% recreational 8) :roll: :wink: ). My easily sorted OTC transaction out of the way we had back to the intersection where I purchased last night's green.

I'm this time in search of a specific peddler. On the various forums and travel guides I perused regarding cannabis in Saigon, a recurring name was "Hammock Lady" an old Vietnamese women peddling her wares from a relaxed reclined posture on you guessed it a Hammock - she was constantly mentioned as having better quality Eastern weed, than the usual suspectss. I come to the place where she should have been, based on several accounts. I didn't see any lady in hammock but did see an old lady in a fold up chair perched in a doorway next to some cafe. In front of the cafe there's a local puffing away madly on a massive cone of reefer. He's the only one on the front terrace of said cafe. On the menus on each table on the back there's just a large cannabis leaf. I inquire with the lone host/owner/server, he says come in "I have" I tell him I'm already sorted for the moment but ask if it's ok if consume my own there, provided we buy drinks. He says fine, but continues to push the herb on me. He drops on drinks on the table and shows me pics of the weed. He disappears for a bit and comes back to show me the actual weed - I inspect it, it seems to be the exact some stuff I had gotten last night, he mentions that it's "Cambodian", so I operate under the assumption that a lot of the street weed going around comes from Cambodia. I smile and politely decline and tell him I'll come back to him once I need a top up. He accepts that reply for now. Our friend turns out to be a pretty zany, but kind character and provides much entertainment in the form of his quirks and personality on our subsequent visits.

We hang around lazily, and knock back a few beers and Js and watch the comers and goers. Of note when the guy left to get the actual weed he showed me he want towards were the folding chair lady was. I also heard him tell another customer that showed up while we there (an African immigrant/tourist) "Mama have, I no have" and saw him bring some cash that way at least once. A lot of pieces start to add up, I wonder is this woman in the folding chair the hammock-lady, maybe she's gotten quite some fame as indicated and become the OG weed peddler of the neighborhood? Hmmm

After a bit of stoned musing, our bellies begin to rumble relentlessly, however our minds don't. Jetlag is truly a bitch on the bio-rhythm I tell ya. We go to a restaurant called "Den Long" very close to Bui Vien. I found it doing some internet research and it had pretty good reviews, and upon reviewing their menu online I was salivating. It was clearly a place accustomed to catering to Western tourists, however the food felt mostly authentic, was delicious and reasonably priced (for Western standards, it may have been a touch pricey by local standards) and the service excellent - this was my first proper appreciation of the culinary wonders offered by Vietnam.

I believe we go back to the hotel pool for an evening apertivo, before again returning to Bui Vien to smoke some more joints in a safe haven. At some point we notice that there's a mass of processions storming the streets of Saigon, constant horn honking, shouting banging and waving of giant Vietnamese flags from scooters and cars all around the city, apparently the national soccer team had just won a big match and the city is out in full force to celebrate, the ambiance is electric.

We venture onward across the District-1 area to speakeasy type bar we discovered in our extensive online research. When we get to the place it's almost impossible to find (check), some older Vietnamese gentleman stops me and I feel like he's about to launch off in unintelligible Vietnamese to inquire what the fuck I'm doing snooping around his apartment complex instead he says "Snuffbox" (name of said speakeasy) and musters more English out than I would've ever expected from a fellow his age, and manages to point us to a door. We go up a stairwell and it feels like we're entering some cryptic, underground hangout out of a movie. Eventually we locate the bar and come across a funky, very dimly lit venue. The cocktails are excellent, but near extortionate in prices for Vietnam (around $8 USD + a pop), afte one drink we've "splurged enough" we pay up and the bartender inquires "leaving so soon" in a nearly flawless US-English accent (probably had ties to US), very off-guard catching moment in this low key venue, we go out front to hail our Grab (the counterpart to Uber over there), there's a gaggle of Vietnamese youth out in front of the building, wearing trendy alternative clothes, playing some card game and knocking back brewskis. The sharp stench of Ganja hits my nostrils and I note a fat joint being passed around their circle, I smile to myself - the locals seem to be pretty fond and tolerant of the Ganja around here 'twould seem.

Just around midnight we call it an evening and grab the most amazing Bahn-mi sandwich from a food cart on the way home, my love for Vietnamese food is further reaffirmed. We retire to the chambers in anticipation of another action-packed day to follow.
macky
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Re: Stoned & Sun-burned in South East Asia - Vietnam & Thailand

Post by macky »

Thanks for sharing ,keep it going ..it winter here still :D
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OneHighMofo
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Re: Stoned & Sun-burned in South East Asia - Vietnam & Thailand

Post by OneHighMofo »

Fantastic reading there buddy. Highly enjoyable looking forward to the rest :)
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Nuggz
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Re: Stoned & Sun-burned in South East Asia - Vietnam & Thailand

Post by Nuggz »

Day-2 in Saigon

We wake up early-ish again to the perpetual blaring moped horns carrying up from the chaotic world outside. Today's mission - a proper foodie day, to further delve into the culinary delights of this lovely land. We get cleaned up and we're out the door in a jiff, a quick swoop by the Circle-K to grab some of the revered Caphe Sua and we're off.

It's still somewhat early to eat a proper lunch so we do our best to work up our appetite, a little hoofing it around town in the beating sun, followed by stop at our favorite Bui Vien cafe for a few cheeky joints to really kick in the hunger. Our favorite zany host is there, and he naturally is already trying to push his wares on me. I look at our current stash, it's about 3/4 spent and we're headed to the rural Mekong Delta early the next morning (where I don't suspect procurement of Ganja will be a small feat) so I relent and after some extensive bartering (I'd learned the rate I previously paid was a bit steep) and haggling I got him to drop down a little to around 11 EUR per bag. It's exactly the same stuff so nothing special to report.

Bellies beginning to rumble and crave sustenance, we make for "Bun bo Hue Dong Ba" which we found where else but the internet on our late night internet foodie research the evening prior. The place we arrive at is very spartan, local, modest and authentic to describe in a few words - we're the only Westerners in joint but it is buzzing in here, always a good sign. We order up a few beers and the house specialty noodle dish, which is basically Pho but for some reason isn't Pho, I wish I could described the nuanced difference to y'all but alas, my Vietnamese culinary knowledge leaves much to be wanted it would seem. That said, whatever the wonder pseudo-Pho dish was, 'twas utterly sublime, generously accompanied with leaves/herbal accouterments and some chili flake sauce, it went down a treat.

Now that we've had an early lunch - we discussed the remainder of our day's itinerary. There are two discussed must-see sights in Saigon - A.) The War Remnants Museum & B.) the Viet Cong tunnels just outside the city. We had gotten too late of a start to properly do the tunnels, so we opted to pay our respects to the atrocities committed by our Yank forbears at the Museum. The museum itself was great, if a bit moving, powerful and tear-inducing. Taking in the excessive waste of time, resources, budget and human life that all propelled this utterly ludicrous and unnecessary war is quite a profound experience to take in, but it's certainly advisable to anyone going there.

After leaving the museum visibly shaken and moist-eyed we got some more iced-coffees and looked up our next foodie stop (how we were hungry after that I do not know). We headed on foot to "Banh Khot Co Ba Vung Tau" apparently the late and renowned foodie Anthony Bourdain once dined here. We got two dishes one which was basically almost like a seafood crepe/omelet of sorts the other which were like crispy poffertje sized savory pancakes topped with minced pork. The latter of those two was arguably the best thing I ate - I was in a sour mood from heat exhaustion, jetlag and the museum at this point and acting a right asshole, as soon as I took a delectable bite of that crispy heavenly-ness I changed my tune real quick, wow!

The beating sun had taken it's toll on us by this point, so we ordered a Grab to get us back to the hotel and headed back to the rooftop lounge for another refreshing dip. After some rest we ventured back out for the night of course to Bui Vien to smoke some ganja in peace, we tried a few other interesting venues - one of which where I was approached by a "Bar Lady" while the missus was away at the talent, I felt her intense gaze on me one table over to left I glanced over and she smiled seductively and intently "where are you from?", I very half-assedly responded the "US" just as the missus pulled back up to the table, it didn't take long for her to make herself scarce thereafter.

After a few more beers and joints in the backpacker area. We ponder calling it a night but make it halfway home and realize we're at least mildly hungry (fuck you jetlag) and still have yet to try some proper Pho in Saigon. A quick perusal on my 4G network and I locate a highly-rated spot that is open 24 hours to boot, we hail a cab and are off. The Pho as has been par for the course with all food consumed thus far, was absolutely delightful and made for a better late night drunken meal than one would expect. We skin up a final joint for the evening and begin the half hour trek back to the hotel, time for some shut-eye we have to wake up at the ripe ole hour of 5 AM tomorrow to get our bus to the Mekong.
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Nuggz
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Re: Stoned & Sun-burned in South East Asia - Vietnam & Thailand

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Day-3 Saigon/Mekong Delta

Chimes galore, my phone alarm roars to life at the ripe hour 5:45 AM this morning. We had already done pre-packing the night before in anticipation of awaking at this ungodly hour, no traffic sprawl of mopeds and the perpetual horn blaring to rouse us at this hour.

We check out of our hotel, run to Circle-K to get our survival juice and order a Grab 30 minutes across town to the bus terminal. It's still dark at this hour - the station is not very populated currently. We go up to the ticket counter and show our E-ticket info to the woman. Not surprisingly, English knowledge in these parts is minimal at best so it's a lot of pointing and writing things down. The woman writes down the bus's serial number, the departure time and the parking-spot number of our reference and points behind her.

We walk around and behind the ticket counter building and there's a vast swath of parked charter buses. After waiting around for maybe a half-hour the bus matching all of the details we've been given pulls up and begins to board. The ticket checker hands every passenger a black plastic bag which is meant for one's shoes and a bottle of water and everyone gets on. The seats on these Vietnamese style buses are very interesting they're like laydown almost/recline stay lounge seats (or imagine something like a shrunk down dentist chair if that makes sense) with a few little nooks and lights and AC ducts. Pretty much everything you need.

The 4 hour haul to our destination in the Mekong was interesting to say the least. Naturally about 20 minutes in I already have to pee again. There's no on-board toilets and there's only one rest stop about halfway through the journey. Holding this in was an enduring feat to say the least. Also the driving style. In Vietnam it's the norm the bus drivers are hauling ass most of the time and they're perpetually pounding on their horns to clear the lane of anybody ahead upon which they're encroaching - quite annoying if I'm honest, but what can you do. I do my best to take my mind off things and take in the scenery along the route. It quickly becomes apparent besides being fond of food and eating in many fashions in forms, everywhere and all hours of the day - Vietnamese love their hammocks. All the roadside venues, bars, restaurants have roofed outdoor seating areas with a swath of hammocks for clientele, very interesting.

After just over three hours we pull up to the Can Tho bus-station. Turns out the obnoxious horn honking paid off and the driver got us there over an hour early, not bad! Off the bus we see a "Mai-Linh" taxi pass us, so we flag it down as apparently this company besides VinaSun is they only other trustworthy dispatcher. No sooner are we in and buckled do the station stuff stop the car and tell us we can't use Mai-Linh here. I'm confused and take it as a potential scam scenario fully wary. They usher us into some other brand of taxi and send us towards the address we gave them. Researching on my phone during the brief cab-ride I learn that this brand has an agreement with the station for pickups and thus exclusivity rights to that regard.

Not even ten minutes later we pull up at our new digs - The Nyguen Shack. An aside, Nyguen Shack is a "chain" or consortium is better perhaps of "home-stay" style accommodation throughout Vietnam (I think they have 5 or 6 locations in total) that fosters sustainable and eco-friendly tourism and all that, while offering a view into traditional Vietnamese sights and ways of life for guests. Basically it's a place nestled among a swath of Mekong tributaries made of multiple bamboo huts and structures.

The reception area is an giant open air but roofed such hut. The staff promptly welcome us, and explain the whole concept, they're offerings of tours etc. and inform us our bungalow will be ready shortly. The receptionist offers us a complimentary drink of Vietnamese-style sweetened lime juice, wow this stuff is amazing and I can think of few things more refreshing amidst blaring heat. There's also some house pets running around, a few younger puppies, the mother dog, and some cats. I play with the pups to pass the time until our hostess informs us that our room is ready.

The hostess guides us across the property to our new digs. We take it all in, there's lush foliage of gardens around the property - the smell of Vietnamese coriander among others clings to the air, we cross a small pool of the converging rivers over a rope-bridge which is pretty fun and mildly harrowing at the same time. A long-tail boat occupied by two traditionally dressed locals (the hats and all) bearing a load of bananas floats by lazily. Down a row of stand alone, detached bungalows, we're led to the last one on the stretch. A modest but beautiful thatched hut, that really gives an feeling of authenticity. Fans galore, overhead lights, a partially outdoor bathroom/shower and a covered deck on the back with two hammocks, right on the waterfront.

We get settled in the room, and it doesn't take long for the whacky-tabaccy to make an appearance and we laze in our hammocks contently stoned. We look around at the local flora and fauna, beautiful flowering trees on the front-side, on the muddy banks of the river I see something small scamper across. I get down on the deck and hang my head over, it's a mudskipper (amphibious fish, that is well aptly named), further inspections reveals there are quite a few of these cute, tiny and quirky fellas scampering around.

After long enough of being easily amused, munchies set in. So we lock up and go back to the main reception/bar/restaurant area. They hand us a menu which indicates the prices in both VND and USD. Even seeing the USD prices which I suspect are slightly padded I'm in awe of how cheap everything is. I order a chicken dish with Wasabi leaf wraps and a wasabi-based sauce, the missus gets Vietnamese style egg "poffertjes", both are delicious but the Wasabi dish in particular. I order a post lunch Caphe Sua to wake back up, wow this is the best coffee I've had all trip - and for Vietnam that's saying something.

Hanging in the lounge area, we make friends with a fellow guest from Canada, and sit back and enjoy a few beers alongside the tranquil idyllic scenery of the Mekong. The home-stay offers a variety of guided tours they can arrange for you. So the missus and I opt for a sunset boat tour around the area. We are the only ones to sign-up so we have the romantic boat to ourselves. well us plus our piloting Vietnamese tour-guide who speaks minimal English. It's nice to see the way the people live on the land (or water) out here in the rural reaches of the Mekong. Vietnamese children are bathing in the river banks all along the route, every time they see us (well at least me, the missus is half-Asian so her less so) they rush wading into the shallows, waving and screaming "eeeelllooo", which makes for good entertainment.

Back at the lodge we wrap up the evening with some more delicious food, and even tastier drinks. The whip me up a "Jack-o-lada" a boozy daquiri of sorts made from the local Jackfruit, the booze is perfectly masked and the delicious fresh Jackruit makes for a most tasty beverage. We retire to the chambers and have a night cap joint on our deck before enveloping ourselves in the mosquito-net laden bed to catch some Zzzs.
Last edited by Nuggz on Fri 8th Mar 2019 12:01 pm, edited 2 times in total.
choppermike
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Re: Stoned & Sun-burned in South East Asia - Vietnam & Thailand

Post by choppermike »

Good reading there Nugs, and nice to get an "ACD" perspective on the situation in some of these distant locations ! ( For future ref. possibly ). I see you were both there, for some reason I thought you did this one solo ! Look forward to mores, see you next month :D
.. in the avoid curve :mrgreen:
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Nuggz
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Re: Stoned & Sun-burned in South East Asia - Vietnam & Thailand

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Day-4 Mekong Delta

For the second day in a row, my alarm rouses me from sweet slumber at some ungodly hour around 5AM, we're up and at 'em early this morning - because in addition to the Sunset boat cruise we had signed up for a "floating market tour" and to catch the spectacle in action and early departure is required.

As this is what is truly the "asscrack of dawn" as we so eloquently put it in the US of A, the sun has not even made it's appearance on the Eastern horizon. This tour is more filled up that the previous evening's. We all clamber into the long-tail but and launch into the river, puttering the the scarcely lit waterways. Joining us are a German couple and a solo Dutch guy, we chat with the "fellow" Dutchie in Nederlands for a bit on our journey to the market. The sky begins to brighten into daybreak around the time we pull onto one of the Mekong's main and larger tributaries - we're at the village of Can Tho, well known for its unique floating market. All the hawkers are out early this morning, our guide informs that people come down the river from hundreds of miles upstream each and every day to make ends meet selling their wares.

The goods primarily appear to be "wholesale" quantities of fresh fruits - jackfruits, pineapples, mangos, you name it. We putter around the main area and pull up to one boat - where our guide orders up some Caphe Sua to put us early risers in better spirits. After getting a good view and feel of the floating market, we continue onward down the Mekong and dock off on land at the main village, where there's also a market on land. Here we're without a doubt the lone Westerners, and the punters are out in full force to get their daily groceries. I find the land market to be much more interesting - there's more than just fruit, all sorts of live fish, duck, meats - even rat apparently (yikes). We go to a small factory producing coconut taffies as well as one that produces rice paper, which they let us try our hand and making.

(TO BE CONTINUED)
worldcitizen1723
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Re: Stoned & Sun-burned in South East Asia - Vietnam & Thailand

Post by worldcitizen1723 »

really enjoying your report
thanks for taking the time!
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Nuggz
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Re: Stoned & Sun-burned in South East Asia - Vietnam & Thailand

Post by Nuggz »

Day-4 (continued)

After a nice morning out at the market, we load back into the boat and putter back down the waterways to our homestay. It's not even 9AM yet, we go to the common-area and order some breakfast. I get a "Bahn Mi" (just Vietnamese for baguette/bread really) with bacon and eggs. The Vietnamese make great bread, likely a throwback from the French colonial days, but the preserved and expounded upon the tradition nicely. While I've been adoring the local cuisine thus far, the Western-ish brekkie of bacon and eggs on bread is a most welcome respite at this hour.

After we've filled our bellies, we talk further with our Dutch buddy from the tour. The property has a stable of bicycles available for the guests to explore the surrounding area. As if bringing all the Dutch stereotypes to a head, our newfound friend agrees to join us on a late morning cycling excursion - you can take the jongens out of Amsterdam...

We set off and take in the scenery, much like the sunset tour on the boat - this ride really allows us to take in the rural tranquility and way of life of the locals. We cycle past Buddhist shrines, modest adorned with hammocks on the front, leafy banana trees, half-rotting Jackfruits, stray dogs, smiling locals, cycling children, guiding our steel steeds across wobbly, makeshift bridges. This was one of my favorite activities of the entire trip truly, it felt the most off the beaten path, and the most authentic glance of local life which we had in either of the two countries visited.

After an hour or two journey we had back, quite exhausted. We have a light lunch, an afternoon J and an ensuing and well-earned weed nap. We awaken and just laze idly, enjoying the respite from constant activity that has been par for the course this whirlwind past four days. As the sun begins to dip in the horizon, we're blessed with a breathtaking sunset as the amber rays shrink beyond the horizon of ample bannatree leafage. We bid our farewell to fiery orb with some joints and local beers from the comfort of our hammocks, this is the life!

EPILOGUE - The Remainder of 'Nam.

We spend our last day and a half on the Mekong, just lazing around the property, enjoying sun, foliage, tranquil way of rural Vietnamese life and of course good food. On our departure date, we hail a cab back to the bus-station and catch the bus back to Saigon, of course ample horn-honkage provides a much needed nuisance and distraction on the four hour journey back to the city. Back in Saigon, we spend our last evening packing meticulously. My extensive neurotic research into reviews about everything and anything revealed that the budget airline (VietJetAirways.com) that we're taking to get to the Thai islands, is highly unreliable and all but guaranteed for a minimum 2+ hour delay and are nazis about the enforcement of baggage weight and dimensions. We really do some shuffling to keep both of our bags under weight. With that sorted we head out for a quick dinner of Udon noodles at a Japanese place around the corner, and finish the night with some hot-tub beers on the rooftop lounge of our hotel (same place we were before heading to Mekong).

The next morning we're up and at 'em yet again. We catch a grab to the airport, funnily enough we make it past baggage drop without drawing any ire or scrutiny, past security we burn through our remaining Vietnamese Dong. We snag a couple Caphe Sua's and some Bahn Mi sandwiches. The coffee is par for the course and tasty enough, the Bahn Mi's leave much to be desired. For our two coffees and sandwiches, we're set back the equivalent of nearly $30 USD, these prices aren't just expensive by Vietnamese standards - they're just fucking plain pricey, 'nuff said! After said extortion we make it to our gate and lo and behold our flight is off the ground and in the air without so much as a five minute taxiing delay. NEXT STOP - Phuket!
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Nuggz
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Re: Stoned & Sun-burned in South East Asia - Vietnam & Thailand [EDITED WITH PICS]

Post by Nuggz »

In Photograph - VIETNAM RECAP

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A Buddhist Shrine we stumbled upon on our first day walking around Saigon


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Cooling off, and seeking respite from the Saigon sun at the rooftop pool/lounge of our hotel


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Feasting on the culinary-delights of Vietnam




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Vietnamese-style buses, traveling in (relative) comfort


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A gorgeous sunset on the Mekong


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Our digs on the Mekong Delta

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Joints and hammock-time on the back deck of our bungalow


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Livin' my best life...



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"Chilli" one of the cute permanent residents of our home-stay property on the Mekong...


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Rural Vietnamese scenery, whilst cycling through the Mekong
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Nuggz
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Re: Stoned & Sun-burned in South East Asia - Vietnam & Thailand [EDITED WITH PICS]

Post by Nuggz »

Part-II: Thailand

Less than two hours after our wheels left the tarmac (on a surprisingly uneventful and smooth flight, against all odds and Tripadvisor reviews) we touched down at the Phuket airport. Now, Phuket is a very popular tourist destination - especially amongst the Thai islands (of the Aldaman Sea), however it is associated with a lot of the sleazy sex tourism and extortion/rackets scams through local merchants and law-enforcement, so our intention was not to stay here any longer than necessary.

We whisked past customs rather quickly, first things first withdraw some Thai Baht and get a new SIM card to replace our Vietnamese ones. We go to a Kiosk near the arrivals exit of the airport and within five minutes and less than $15 USD we have new Thai SIMS inserted and full 4G network data access at our fingertips, gotta give kudos to how easy and cheap it was to do in the airports in both countries. One thing we quickly notice is the aura of the locals here feels less sincere, hospitable and welcoming than in Vietnam. It seems, and is not surprising, that they have become rather jaded on the excess of Western tourism over the decades.

In any matter we hail a taxi/car service from the front of the airport, and take a 40 minute ride from the airport on the island's interior towards to the coast to the ferry-terminal. There seems to be a ferry to Ko Phi Phi departing shortly so a quick jog handover of Baht and we're on the boat. Ko Phi Phi, for those not aware, was the paradise island made famous by the wanderlust cult-classic - The Beach. Over the years it has become grossly overdeveloped and visited due to the notoriety fueled by said film - and thus became a hedonistic holiday goers dream as well as a poster-child for the perils of over-saturated tourism.

That said, it's still cited as a must visit because it's stunning beauty is largely unparalleled - there's a reason it is as popular as it is, after all. The vibe of our boat largely reflects the islands hedonistic rep, shirts are off, Chang beers are being knocked back in abundance, bikinis and Chang tank-tops galore. It feels like I'm en route to Ibiza East. I embrace the vibe shed my top layer and grab some cold ones to enjoy the ride. The sun is beating relentlessly, the only respite being the shady under deck or the occasional odd sea-spray onto the deck. The landmass of Phuket steadily fades into the horizon behind us, ahead slowly the iconic karst formations jut out of the turquoise waters to welcome us. As we pull into Ko Phi Phi it quickly becomes clear the dichotomy between the first-time visitors and the repeaters, all the newbs crane their necks, jaws agape in the stunning beauty of the enchanting pristine waters and massive rocks protruding from the sea.

(TO BE CONTINUED).
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Potimus
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Re: Stoned & Sun-burned in South East Asia - Vietnam & Thailand [EDITED WITH PICS]

Post by Potimus »

Beautifully written report man :D
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KeyMonCha
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Re: Stoned & Sun-burned in South East Asia - Vietnam & Thailand [EDITED WITH PICS]

Post by KeyMonCha »

DeLekkersteNUGS16 wrote: Mon 18th Mar 2019 02:44 pm
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Dude... You forgot to cover your face in one!!! :wink:

Seriously, though... This was an awesome report... The photos made it for me... Would never have thought of anywhere in South Asia as a Medicate-Vacate destination...

Cheers, Nugs!!! :thumbup:
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