Hello Saigon...Again

Our Cambodian tour guide and the border patrol guys were kind enough to help us arrange transportation back to Saigon in the form of another private car. Since we were paying a flat rate, what normally would have taken 8 hours took only 5, the driver serious hauled ass and we were thankful. We were now heading back to Saigon to figure how we would get Mike’s visa extended just so we could leave the country. It took nearly three days to figure out what to do with Mike’s visa. We visited the consulate, the immigration department, got a strict lecture on why we didn’t look at the dates more carefully and finally back to the hotel where we stayed at when the visa expired. We were told the hotel we stayed at when the visa expired would have to sponsor Mike in order to extend his visa just so he could leave the country. We were also told that if we had an airline ticket to leave the country it would expedite the paperwork and we wouldn’t have to wait the normal 7 days. That is where Mr. Dino came in. We think Mr. Dino was the son of the man who owned the Lien An Saigon Hotel. He made one phone call and all the arrangements for Mike’s visa were made and we could leave the country in less than 24 hours. But now the question was could we risk buying a ticket to Cambodia and possible be denied entry once we get there? After much debate we decided to purchase a ticket to Bangkok, Thailand instead because Thailand does not require a visa from US citizens to enter the country. And now it was a matter of just waiting for Mike’s passport to return with an extended date just so we could leave for Thailand. What an ordeal! But in the meantime that just meant we got an opportunity to see family we didn’t get a chance to see before.

And eat some more food.

And finalize paperwork for Mike’s scooter.

First up was a restaurant called Quan An Ngon (Street of Good Eats).

A great concept – take all the best street vendors and food from all over the city and place in one open air restaurant with the vendors and kitchen out in open food court-style for you to walk around and select from.Unfortunately the food looked much better than it tasted. This Mi Quang was bland and watered-down.Fortunately we were soon rewarded with good eats with one phone call to Anne’s Aunt & Uncle from France, wintering in Vietnam.

It was a 7 course beef dinner the first night and then dim sum the next morning.

And a bowl of Mi Vit (duck and egg-noodle soup) to make up for the poor rendition we had gotten at the Good Eats restaurant.

We even got to ride around in style to the restaurant.

Last, but not least we got to eat one last Donner kebab baguette.

Even though we weren’t going to make it to Cambodia and the temples at Angkor Wat we did get a chance to take in the sights of Saigon one last time, a city we have truly fallen in love with.

Gunning for the Border

After 5 days on Phu Quoc Island it was time to move on and Robyn was heading home to the US. She had wisely purchased an airplane ticket back to Saigon and the three of us - Mike, Anne and Phuoc were heading to Cambodia to see the famous temples of Angkor Wat. This time the ocean wasn’t as smooth as the day we arrived on the island and the hydrofoil bobbed up and down for the 2 and ½ hour ride to the mainland. In one word, the ride was hell. After several puke bags we arrived in Rach Gia, white faced and vowing to never to get on another hydrofoil again in our lifetimes. Word of advice to anyone going to Phu Quoc Island – FLY! When we arrived in Rach Gia we weren’t sure if we had it in us to continue traveling, but we were up for some more food from Ao Dai I restaurant. After some stomach soothing ginger filled porridge and another wonderful bowl of wonton noodle soup, we were rejuvenated and ready to make a run to the Cambodia/Vietnam border. The hotel we stayed at last time in Rach Gia had advertised they could assist in hiring a private car and for a mere $40 we had a private car to drive us the 3 hours to the bordertown of Chau Doc. The Vietnamese countryside was beautiful. We passed rice fields, little towns and numerous temples.

Chau Doc was a very quaint town full of life and character.

From our hotel balcony we could see all the makeshift food stalls and restaurants and we wanted to experience as much of it before heading to Cambodia the next morning.

Right behind our hotel was an open market with numerous local specialties.

In one evening we snacked our way through the flavors of the area.

Hamburger Baguette Sandwich Stall

Southern Style Seafood Soup

Buying Fruit

Eggrolls and bbq pork over rice noodles with cucumber and banana slices

Phuoc eating raw tamarind

Grilled Egg Vendor

Sautee Corn Vendor

Another interesting aspect of Chau Doc is the use of pull-bicycles as a major mode of transportation. Opposite to the cyclos in Saigon where the passengers sit in the front and the peddler in the back, the passengers sit in the back and are pulled by the cycler in the front, hence the name.The tour company we made arrangements with for our border crossing had hired two pull-bicycles to pick us up the following morning.We were planning to cross the border via the Mekong River and on a ferry, which we made sure was nothing like the hydrofoil from Phu Quoc.

The views from the river were breathtaking.

After we handed our passports over to the receptionist at the hotel in Chau Doc we were informed Mike’s visa had expired 10 days ago. What? How could that be? Well it turns out Anne’s visa is for 3 months because she is Vietnamese-American and Mike was issued a tourist visa, good for only 1 month. When we reached the Cambodia/Vietnam border we were promptly informed Cambodia would not accept Mike’s passport and that Vietnam would not allow Mike to leave the country because he was well over the 30 days the visa was good for. What does that mean? We were denied entry into Cambodia and had to head back to Saigon to sort it all out. So close and yet so far.Oh well at least we were heading back to a city we really liked, but weren’t sure how we were going to take care of this, but we would soon find out.

Phu Quoc Dogs

We like dogs, but up until recently we haven’t really wanted one of our own. That’s until we came across Buddy, a Phu Quoc Ridgeback. One of the world’s rarest breeds, they were all over the beach we stayed at in Phu Quoc and we quickly fell in love with them. Smart, sweet, calm, funny, and beautiful, these gorgeous dogs were the perfect size, shape, and temperament. The tallest ones came up to your knees, broad chested, slender, loyal and extremely mellow. 

We were quickly befriended by a gorgeous black male who followed us around, sat with us and basically kept an eye on us. It was as if we had known him before, so we named him Buddy. The owner of the resort we stayed at bred the dogs and for a mere $50 we could have been the proud owner of our very own Phu Quoc Dog. The all black puppies were seriously hard to resist, but knowing they would be in quarantine for a year made it out of the question for us. That and the special diet that required they eat sand and sea water with their meals. The Phu Quoc dogs have quickly become our favorite dog and hoping someday we'll find a breeder in the US.