Cricket's Nomad Tips

Vietnam

I went here on a 2-week solo trip when I was leaving Australia, headed back to live in the US in Summer 2007.

I only did North Vietnam, but would love to do the central coast - Hoi An and the Mekong Delta.  This is an absolutely amazing country.  I can't wait to go back.

Top 5 Days

1. Sapa - I went with a guide on the overnight train to stay in this hilltop town on the Laotian and Chinese border.  The area has little markets where the mountain people live.  From there, we went into some tiny villages with Chinese communities.  No electricity and a woman looked at me and screamed and brought me a sun umbrella.  She thought I was going to burn up because I was so white.
2. Halong Bay - This is a mysterious body of water filled with islands, islets and huge rocks sprouting out of the water.  You explore the area on a junkboat, where you stop to swim and kayak in the caves.
3. Hit the Internet Cafes - I was astounded at the fact that there are still blacklisted sites that are not allowed in the country.  The streets are so young and vibrant, that you forget this is still a communist country.
4. Markets and Cooking Class - This may be my favorite food in the world.  Go to a street market and grab the fixings to cook a fresh meal.  Pho and fresh spring rolls are amazing.
5. The Hanoi French Quarter -This was ruled by the French when Hanoi was the capital of French Indonesia (1887-1954). This area is filled with tree-lined, wide-open boulevards that are so elegant, abeit run down.

Top 5 High Style, Low Maintenance Hotels

1. Sofitel Metropolitan Hanoi - This is a swanky hotel restored to its 1920s heritage with tons of character in the heart of Hanoi.  Ask for one of the rooms in the old wing.  You can walk to eats, shopping and arts from right here.
2. The Life Resort Quy Nhon - I did a week-long yoga retreat here.  Probably not worth going this far out of the way, but special.
3. Junk Boat on Halong Bay - This is a must and not far from Hanoi.  Stay overnight on one of the boats, I did the Emaraude.  Nice cabins and the bay is amazing. High style, low maintenance on the water.
4. Victoria Express - Stay overnight in the sleeping cars to get up to Sapa, a Hill town in the North.
5. The Victoria Hotel - Wonderful food, up on a mountain in Sapa.  Full of charm.

Top 5 Foodie Finds

1. Cha Ca La Vong - In Hanoi, they only serve Cha Ca, which is a lovely fried fish dish.  
2. Street Eats - You can get the most amazing Pho from street vendors for $3 a pop.
3. Green Tangarine - A delightful little French villa in Hanoi.
4. Bamboo Bar - In the Sofitel.
5. Deck at the Victoria - I had the most amazing food, all served with fresh herbs in Sapa.  I ordered the imperial rolls every meal.

Top 5 Tips

1. Guide - Pay for a guide.  For about $15 a day, an English-speaking guide will help you get the know the area.  For an extra $20/day, you get a driver that will take you outside the city, to Halong Bay, etc...  Worth it to learn more history.
2. Cambodia - If you are headed all the way to Vietnam, definitely include a plane ride to Cambodia.
3. Read Up Country - By Nelson Demille.  This is a fiction thriller, but has great insight into the area.
4. The American War - Read your history about what we call the War in Vietnam.  It is appalling  what we did here.
5. Hang with the Teens- This is the fastest growing area for under 30s in the world.  Vibrant streets filled with educated youth that are predicting the fall of Communism.  In a street market in Hanoi, a young girl with broked English eyes lit up when I told her I worked at Yahoo!  She gasped and said, "You just lost your leader." That is how I learned Terry Semel was out.

Top 5 Misses

1. Dog - Make sure you don't eat it.
2. Mopeds in Hanoi - Walking across the street is like playing  a game of frogger.  They will run you right over.
3. Visa - You have to get one weeks in advance.
4. Communism - Amazing this is still a communist country.  It isn't popluar with the kids who want change.
5. Shopping - I was not at all interested in the little trinkets and art.

Singapore

liI've been here for work five times, and it isn't one of my favorites.  It is quite sterile - like "Its a Small World" for Asia.   If you are there for work, I recommend heading on a one-hour ferry to the Banyan Tree.  Did this in March 2007 with my Yahoo! friends Bennett, Patrick and Meg.  So relaxing and fun - part atmosphere, more about amazing friends.

Top 5 Days

1. Indonesia - Take a 1-hour ferry over to Bintan and go to the Banyan Tree.
2. Little India – packed with finds, has been compared to its mother country, but sanitized in the Singapore way.
3. Tanjong Pagar – Peak around, as this is a great mix of colonial style, mixed with Chinese and Indian Temples.
4. Raffles area – Named after Sir Stanford Raffles, who colonized the area.  Worth a walk about.
5. Sultan Road – Fun, energetic bar area.  I’m already too old to enjoy it – unless I go for an urban cougar night to mingle with the 22 year olds.

Top 5 High Style, Low Maintenance Hotels

1. Ritz Carlton – Only cause they have bathtubs overlooking the city. (Not low maintenance).
2. Raffles – a bit stuffy, but the home of the Singapore Sling gets extra credit.
3. The Fullerton – used to be a tax office.  Lovely.
4. Banyan Tree – In Bintan.  This place is wonderful to relax.  Friends and I got our own villa with an infinity pool.  The spa services are amazing and the water is warm and perfect.  You feel like you are a world away.
5. New Majestic – Never been, but a friend recommended this as an alternative to the larger hotels.

Top 5 Foodie Finds

1. Singapore Sling – these were created at the Long Bar at Raffles. 
2. Dim Sum – Also called Yum Cha.  I could eat these little hearts of delight all day long.
3. Sticky Rice – A cool Thai restaurant.
4. Crab – This is the specialty of the area.
5. Dinner on the Rocks – Friends and I did this at the Banyan Tree.  They set up a beautiful table on the rocks on the beach.  Nothing around but good wine, food and friends.

Top 5 Misses

1. Night Safari – you do see real animals but it is all so staged that everyone
2. Opulence – Feels like Hong Kong or Beverly Hills in that people love their material goods.  Major brands like Burberry, Dolce and Gabbanna and Tiffanys are all over the place.
3. Orchard Road – Not my style of shopping. 
4. Nightlife – Just never found my spots here.
5. Stay Inside – Air con is the bomb here cause it is hot and muggy.

Top 5 Tips

1. Get in, get out – The big advantage is that you can get to other great Asian cities easily.  The town is so squeaky clean that I haven’t seen the soul. 
2. Dim sum and noodles for breakfast -- Why not?
3. Take cabs – there are car services but they offered a $35 flat rate when our cab was only $5.50.
4. ? – I haven’t read much about the history of this area to recommend anything.  Maybe that’s why I haven’t connected to the people and area.  My bad.
5. Tipping – Skip it, no need to tip here.

Isle de Pins, New Caledonia

New Caledonia / Isle de Pins
April 2007
I wouldn't recommend New Caledonia's main island, but a puddle jump over to Isle de Pins is worth a getaway.  This is just so hard to get to.  Did a lovely, relaxing trip with my Aussie friend, Steven.

Top 5 Days

1. Kayak - straight from the beach you can power over to tiny islands.
2. Swimming - our bungalow had steps down into the water.  A morning swim is lovely.
3. Spa - Balinese Massage
4. Pack a beach picnic - Take a boat to an even smaller island of pine trees
5. Sit on your lovely deck with a book.  You feel like you are on the end of the earth.

Top 5 High Style, Low Maintenance Hotels
We only stayed at 2 hotels and the other is on the misses list

1. Le Meridian Isle de Pins - we had an amazing bungalow looking over the water out an island filled with palm trees.  The perfect sized resort - only 32 rooms and you are totally isolated here.

Top 5 Foodie Finds

1. French Wine - Great French Wine Everywhere
2. Sushi - local sashimi is great
3. Dinner on the Deck - with a view this lovely, why go out to dinner?
4. Breakfast pastries - the French know how to do it up.
5. Seafood - fresh, as it can be caught straight from the hotels

Top 5 Misses

1. Noumea - yuk.  Casinos.  McDonald's.  Big Chain Hotels.
2. Le Meridian Noumea - maybe the worst hotel I've stayed at in the Starwood system.
3. French attitude - definitely not service oriented (except at Isle de Pins hotel)
4. Prices - the conversion from US and AUS is high, so everything is expensive.
5. Tourism - never heard of New Caledonia?  Yep, at least on the main island they don't cater to tourism.

Top 5 Tips

1. Island Transport - It took us forever to figure out how to get a flight to the Islands.  Have the hotel do it for you.
2. Pines - yep, this is a unique island called the "jewel of the pacific."  Have never seen an island like it.
3. French Dictionary - Very few people speak English, so we wished we had one when
4. Get New Caledonia Dollars - before arrival.  ATM'S and banks are hard to find.
5. Natives - are beautiful and an exotic mix of native tribes with French influence.

Cambodia

March 2007 - Got to take a sidetrip here from a Yahoo! Conference in Singapore with Meg Garlinghouse.  Angkor Wat has always been on top of my places to visit.  What an amazing country - put it at the top of you list.  Stayed in Siem Reap, so we were close to Angkor Wat.

Top 5 Days

1. Angkor Wat - The mother of all temples.  Get there at 5 am to avoid the crowds and the heat.  This is on my top places of the world.
2. Floating Villages - Take a boat ride down the river to the land of true nomads.  These folks rarely see land, as their homes are on stilts in the water.  Have a drink watching the sun set on the water.
3. Markets - Wander through the markets to pick up local pottery, wood carvings and linens.
4. Spa - Spend a day at Hotel de la Paix with fresh fruit for breakfast, a Thai-style massage and dip in the pool.
5. Other Temples - Check out Bayon, the Passages of Elephants and the temple where Tomb Raider was filmed.

Top 5 "High Style, Low Maintenance" Hotels

Hotel de la Paix - one of my favorites in the world.  Don't stay anywhere else.  Fits my high style, low maintenance description perfectly.  Amazing service, spa, vibe, food and outdoor dining with fire pits everywhere.  In the heart of the city, so you can walk to all the local spots.  iPods in every room that have tours of Angkor Wat that you can take with you.

Top 5 Restaurants

1. Khmer Kitchen - We had 3 courses and 4 beers for $11.  Really.
2. FCC - A great local hotel to grab a cool dinner.
3. Markets - Grab fruit and nuts during the day.
4. Khmer Set - A 9-course meal with mini plates at the Hotel.
5. Raffles - This is famous, so worth a lunch or dinner here.

Top 5 Misses

1. Artisan Markets - these are sanitized for western travelers and prices marked up. Hit the local markets.
2. The heat - get up early and stay inside during mid-day.  Cooking here.
3. Local peddlers - many locals rely on tourism to live.  So they are quite aggressive to sell things and help you.
4. Khmer Rouge - 1.7 million Cambodians were killed in a mass genocide by Pol Pot in the late 1970s.  Hard to believe this happened during my lifetime.  Don't miss watching the Killing Fields and reading the history before you visit.
5. Discrimination - Just like all countries, many Cambodians have prejudices against other countries.  They have a real disdain for the Thai.  In 2003, a Thai movie star said Cambodia should give Angkor Wat back to the Thai people.  Within 10 minutes, all the Thai restaurants, embassies and local shops were burned.

Top 5 Tips

1. Killing Fields - Watch to help understand the turmoil of the 70s.
2. First They Killed My Father - Written by a gal my age, Loung Ung, about the Khmer Rouge genocide.  The author lost most of her family to Pol Pot.
3. Visa - get one on line before you visit.
4. Plan with the seasons - hot as hell in April.  Come when it is not scorching.
5. Hotel de la Paix Concierge - if you plan this, you don't have to plan anything in advance.  They will do it all for you.  They hook up tour guides, drivers, restaurants and spas.