Dear Ngoc

We hope your Luna New Year celebrations went well and that you enjoyed your holiday with family and friends.

Brian and I had an unforgettable 8 weeks away. We loved Vietnam and Cambodia. Both countries have come through a turbulent and tragic period in their history and are emerging as popular tourist destinations. Without realising, we chose the perfect time for travel, including some memorable "off the beaten track experiences". There were very few tourists about, Covid left its mark and many Asian countries have still travel restrictions in place. The people of Vietnam and Cambodia are specially lovely, kind and welcoming to visitors. We were lucky to be able to travel for that length of time.

As promised I am writing a report for you and will also write a review on trip advisor. Our trip to Vietnam and Cambodia exceeded our expectations. There were so many highlights and special moments: like Hanoi, Moon Garden, Ninh Binh, The Mekong Delta and Ho Chi Minh city in Vietnam

Our guides and drivers were excellent. Do Quang in Hanoi and Ninh Binh. We had lots of fun with Linda in Hue and Hoian, despite the rain. Our absolute favourite guide was Lonh in Cambodia. We were with him and his driver Thnou for about 15 days. We became a family and Lonh our Cambodian son.

For me Siem Reap Cambodia was a very special place. The temples of Angkor must be one of the worlds most magnificent sights. On our free days we visited the Made in Cambodia Market. It is run by local artisans and everything is made in Cambodia and some traders are victims of landmines. We also visited APOPO, a non profit organisation, that trains African Giant pouched rats  "HeroRats" to detect landmines.It was an amazing experience to see the rats at work. There is also a landmine museum founded by ex-child soldier Aki Ra as a way to tell the world about the horrors of landmines. We were lucky enough to meet the man himself.

Visiting Kompong Cham, Mondilkiri Province, the Elephant Valley Project, ethnic minority groups like the Bunong people and Ratanakiri Province will remain in our memory for ever.

I thought you might like a report about the hotels. Most of them met our expectation:

La Siesta Classic Ma May Hanoi: lovely, good location, nice and friendly staff, good breakfast. Moon Garden Ky Son village: nice home stay, would stay again, Tam Coc Rice fields Ninh Binh: we did not like. We were the only guests when we arrived. Rooms are below standards, not very clean, I don't know what the room charges were. Food was terrible, breakfast okay. Would not recommend, and would not stay again.The weather was not nice so it made it even worse. Halong Bay La Regina Royal Cruise : loved the room, nice experience. Ancient Hue Garden Houses: absolutely wonderful place. highly recommend it. We only saw it in the rain, but still a beautiful experience, nice breakfast.  La Siesta Resort & Spa. Hoian: one of our favourite cities, good hotel and location and nice breakfast. Rain,Rain!! Hotel Arts Saigon M Gallery Ho Chi Minh city: beautiful hotel in the centre of Saigon. We only stayed one night. Would recommend it highly. Good breakfast.Salinda Resort Phu Quoc Island: a wonderful stay at Salinda, everything was perfect, excellent staff and service. The staff seem like one happy family when you talk to them. They worked very hard to make Christmas special for all their guests. Would love to go back and highly recommend it.  The resort  is owned by a Vietnamese family. Jaya House River Park Park Siem Reap: beautiful hotel with amazing service, The first plastic free hotel in Cambodia.  Everything was just delightful and a lot of personal touches An absolutely wonderful 7 days stay. Would love to go back. Bambu Hotel Battambang: an okay hotel, English owner, very dark rooms and noisy music from nearby. La Rose Boutique Hotel Phnom Penh: We ended up staying in the Rose Suites as the other hotel was still closed after Covid. Nice hotel, big room, breakfast okay. Mayura Hill Resort Mondulkiri: Staying at this resort was a very bad experience. No complaints about the room. It was big, had a bath and shower, but not enough hot water for 2 people to have a shower. We complained, but nothing was done about it. I found out about the room rates $149.00 per night. We had very bad service, poor food choices, no fruit available and we felt totally isolated and neglected in a resort run by untrained staff. The resort is even mentioned in the lonely planet as overpriced and calling the cottages "villas". I expect Covid is partly to blame.The weather was not very nice, but the whole place looks very run down. Terre Rouge Ratanakiri Lodge: nice colonial style hotel with a lovely view of the lake from the restaurant. It has a rustic charm. Rajabori Villa: sister hotel, similar style to Terre Rouge. Wish we could have stayed 2 nights to have time to explore the island.

I hope this report is of use to you and Brian and I hope we can come back maybe next year. Keep in touch.

With our best wishes

Carla and Brian