On the road with Family

March has been a fun month.  Visit from family and a few extra days off from work. To keep travel to minimum, we spent March 12 - 14 in Vung Tau.  We hired a private car which picks us up at our door and returned via a high speed boat.  The drive there took about 2 hours.  Our hotel/resort was called Lan Rung.

The resort had a small rocky beach and one late afternoon we enjoyed riding some waves and watching the sun set.  The next day we took a cable car up one of the hills to an amusement park.  It was getting a bit tired looking and could use a bit of updating.  There were few people there and so we pretty much had the run of the place.  J decided to try zip lining.  We chose not to.  The best attraction was an Alpine down hill sled which you could control yourself.  All 4 of us took it many times.

On our last day we took the 5 minute ride to the huge beach.  It stretches for as far as you can see.  We rented chairs, an umbrella and bought a beautiful kite.  There is always a steady wind by the ocean.

kite flying

 The next weekend I had a 3 day weekend and we again took a personal driver to go to Cat Tien National Park.  It is about a 3-4 hour drive into the interior.  Our accommodations were next to the park.  A 10 minute walk to the gate and the 3 minute ferry ride to the other side and into the park.  Gibbon monkeys which are endangered are a feature here.  You can hear their haunting call early in the morning.  A very bizarre call.  We saw the rescued monkeys and the ones which are being introduced back into the park.  Frank saw a black copra on his bike ride and an oriental snake. We rented bikes to get around and explore some of the park.

our ferry

A BIG tree.  Lots of bird sounds and managed to actually see a few colourful ones.

relaxing in the late afternoon at our lodge.  Game of cards and some cold drinks.

Ended the week and the visit with roof top drinks at the Pullman Hotel and then dinner at L'Usine's French Bistro.  Ahhhh:)

Mekong, March 5

We hired a personal driver to pick us up right after work on Friday.  This saves time since we get picked up right at the apartment and driven to our exact location - no in between taxis and buses.  We booked a rustic bamboo shack on a small river in the Mekong area.

View from our balcony.

Simple but clean and comfortable.

We enjoyed the quiet surroundings and spent most of our 2 days relaxing in the hammocks and reading and eating.

The dining area.  We were invited to try the food tour to sample rat, frog, and crocodile. The only tour we did do was a late afternoon boat ride as the sun was setting.

We boated on a traditional wooden boat.  There was a floating market that was offered that left at 5:30am.  Again we just preferred to stay put this time.  Maybe next time we return. The facility had a suspension bridge across the river which connected to the rest of this 'Homestay'.

On Sunday we did made good use of the bicycles provided and we cycled along narrow roads and through numerous hamlets and dwellings along the winding rivers.  We saw children playing freely everywhere and folks bathing in the muddy waters (along with the floating garbage).  It was a real glimpse into everyday rural life.