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When I had the opportunity to use frequent flyer miles for an overseas trip, I decided to use them to go over a different sea than usual for a trip to Asia in November 2002. Here is a report on that trip to Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
TRIP TO ASIA, NOVEMBER 2002
Amc2004-09-13 14:42:34
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getting local currency and seeing about booking a trip to Siem Reap. I knew that U.S. dollars were widely accepted, but I could get a fairer deal with Vietnamese dong (VND). I had found on the Visa Web site that there were two networked ATMs in Saigon. I saw one on my arrival at the airport but decided to stick with my plan of going to an ATM in the city. Looking at Visa’s list after my trip I see that the same two are listed under Ho Chi Minh City, but others are listed under “HCM” and “Ho Chi Min.” I had long plotted my walk of two short blocks to the ATM at Mei Linh Square. Accomplishing it was another matter as I first faced the challenge of crossing the streets there. These wide boulevards had crosswalks, but were otherwise unregulated and I needed to build up the courage to cross. I reached the ATM and withdrew a million VND or about $65. I had heard that this could be an unwieldy wad of bills, but it was in 20 of their largest denomination bills of 50,000 VND or $3.25, so it wasn’t bad. This was an area, along the riverfront, showing the signs of foreign investment with new high-rises. Near the ATM was the entrance to a mall with a food court. I was ready for a late lunch and made my way up a few floors (needing to go past the stores on each floor) to the food court, and an English-speaking manager helped me out, so I could get dishes from different booths on one low-cost bill. CNN was on there; apparently it wasn’t political censorship keeping it out of my hotel room.
So now I would see about a Siem Reap trip. I had in mind to go to Ann’s Tours. The Rough Guide listed it as a highly recommended travel agency, listing it first probably only by alphabetical order, but I couldn’t locate the address on a map. I found buried in the Web site a mention that it was near the Ben Thanh market. Before leaving home, I’d e-mailed them a preliminary inquiry and got no reply. The Rough Guide listed several other agencies with clearer
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See photographs from:
Vietnam Gallery
,
Macau Gallery
,
Hong Kong Gallery
,
Cambodia Gallery
