Vienam/Cambodia/Laos ABD-- Happy to answer questions!

[acndis]

I

I LOVE LOVED LOVED the silk worms!!!! I stayed back at the table and filled my plate! I also liked the durian...did you guys get to try that?!

The durian, I loved! It was great. So glad you had Chris. He is amazing.

I also got hooked on Singapore Slings while I was in Hanoi. Loved the lounge at the top of the hotel! It was so cool how they only had alcohol from Russia! No Jack Daniels, etc. The whole experience is just amazing!

 

[acndis]

This is my concern with Peru as well. I'm nervous as we in Houston are coming from sea level. We went up the Gornergrat in Zermatt ~10,000 ft and that was ok. Air was a bit thin, but we didn't get sick. But then that was not as high as Cusco and we were only there for ~1hr.

It will bother you but not for long. I was fine but my son had a few incidents! Don't not go for this reason! This is one of the best itineraries! You will love it and it's a great value!

 

[Cendure's French Silk]

We had our US based ABD guide, Chris, and then we had a local Vietnamese-born guide, Tony, that followed to all 3 countries. We had 25ish in our group (can't remember exactly). The internal flights are always as painless as possible with ABD! They tell you what time to have your luggage outside of your room in the morning, they pick it up, and usually you just see it in your next hotel room. Sometimes you have to grab it at the airport depending on the itenerary, and then ABD loads it on a cart right there at the luggage claim. As far as flight logistics, we all arrive at the airport together, ABD handles all the passports/boarding passes and once everythign is squared away they pass them out to us. We go through security and sometimes have access to the VIP lounges through ABD. ABD assigns the seats, but our family of 3 is usually together, or it's 2 together and 1 apart depending on the layout of the aircraft. Once you arrive, you just meet everyone at the exit of the plane and the guides take it from there

Thanks for your answer. I haven't been back on the boards, work and Easter got in the way. We've done a couple of other ABD's, but never one with internal flights so had just been wondering how that was handled. A few more questions. In Viet Nam, did you visit Hue at all which is the old Imperial City? The Imperial Palace there is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Also what about Ha Long Bay. Also, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. Both of those would be on my to-do list for any trip to Viet Nam. Also for Cambodia, do you actually tour Angkor Wat or just go there, my travel companion is big on temples and that would be a major selling point for her. Do you get to climb to the top or just tour the lower level. Did you go for sunrise which I've read is a really big tourist thing. What about the Tomb Raider temple, I think it's called Ta Prohm, does ABD go there. Also there's one with faces on it. Bayon? I know these are 3 temples that would be big on her tour list. We're not really familiar with Laos so that would be a bonus country for us.

 

[CrazyZeus1]

Thanks for your answer. I haven't been back on the boards, work and Easter got in the way. We've done a couple of other ABD's, but never one with internal flights so had just been wondering how that was handled. A few more questions. In Viet Nam, did you visit Hue at all which is the old Imperial City? The Imperial Palace there is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Also what about Ha Long Bay. Also, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. Both of those would be on my to-do list for any trip to Viet Nam. Also for Cambodia, do you actually tour Angkor Wat or just go there, my travel companion is big on temples and that would be a major selling point for her. Do you get to climb to the top or just tour the lower level. Did you go for sunrise which I've read is a really big tourist thing. What about the Tomb Raider temple, I think it's called Ta Prohm, does ABD go there. Also there's one with faces on it. Bayon? I know these are 3 temples that would be big on her tour list. We're not really familiar with Laos so that would be a bonus country for us.

We did not visit Hue. In Cambodia, we took a tour of Angkor Wat, and we climbed all the way up. Sunrise visits weren't an organized group activity, but the guides took anyone that wanted to go! You get a 3 day Temple Pass so you can also go on your own every morning you're there if you wish. We visited Ta Prohm as well as Bayon. We had a very detailed tour of Bayon whild we loved!

 

[OhanaCuz]

The durian, I loved! It was great. So glad you had Chris. He is amazing.

I tried that with some friends at a Vietnamese restaurant and it was so funny seeing the range of reactions. Some people (like me) thought it smelled appalling and tasted horrible. Another girl who liked it thought it smelled "sweet", which blew my mind.

 

[CrazyZeus1]

I tried that with some friends at a Vietnamese restaurant and it was so funny seeing the range of reactions. Some people (like me) thought it smelled appalling and tasted horrible. Another girl who liked it thought it smelled "sweet", which blew my mind.

My husband took a huge bite and nearly vomited....to him it was like eating ammonia! It smelled and tasted like extra-ripe canteloupe to me!

 

[CrazyZeus1]

Also, they use cardamom and star anise, not cilantro. Must have been the restaurants you were dining in trying to make what they thought would be palatable for American tastes, which wouldn't surprise me given our past experiences with ABD. The restaurants we dined in on our trip in February (non-ABD tour) actually didn't use heavy spices at all and if they did use spices, they used cardamom and star anise. It's all in my blog.

Just wanted to revisit this after reading your review of your non-ABD trip of Vietnam. We were never served things like oysters in mayo or fish pizza. Our dining options as a group were authentic and delicious! We did dig into a Burger King meal at the airport though during one of the flights....YUM! Salty fries! But our meals were never "dumbed down" for Americans...which kind of sounds like you're making a dig at American tastes. As far as spices, I assume you saw the blog post I included about one of the most prevalent herbs being...cilantro/corriander! I'm just guessing you didn't realize it was in so many things you were eating. I saw you had gone to KOTO in Hanoi and I think my meal there was one of the favorite on the trip! I had some bowl thing with rice noodles, meat, peanuts, a vinegar sauce, greens, veggies, I have no idea what else but it was AMAZING!! Love that so many people are learning skills they can employ themselves with, and that ABD took us there to experience their talents!

 

[OhanaCuz]

My husband took a huge bite and nearly vomited....to him it was like eating ammonia! It smelled and tasted like extra-ripe canteloupe to me!

I had heard the expression "smelling like Hell and tasting like Heaven" concerning durian so I took a big bite of it. I would like to have words with the person who came up with that phrase.

 

[sayhello]

I had heard the expression "smelling like Hell and tasting like Heaven" concerning durian so I took a big bite of it. I would like to have words with the person who came up with that phrase.

Isn't that the fruit that even Andrew Zimmern couldn't eat?

Sayhello

 

[OhanaCuz]

Isn't that the fruit that even Andrew Zimmern couldn't eat?

Sayhello

Not sure but this is it!

 

[CrazyZeus1]

Isn't that the fruit that even Andrew Zimmern couldn't eat?

Sayhello

Yes! That's how our family knew what it was and were afraid to try it! hahahaha.... The hotels won't allow it in the hotel either (at least ours had a sign that said no durians, jackfruits, or mangosteens).

 

[OhanaCuz]

 

[CrazyZeus1]

Speaking of food...here's two of my most memorable and favorite dishes I had!
This was a noodle bowl at KOTO (Know One Teach One) in Hanoi. It was the BEST thing I ate the entire trip!!


And this was the most unique thing that I ate that was also AMAZING! The chef at Brother's prepared these for us after our cooking class. He pan fried the silk worms with basil, onions, peanuts, and fish sauce. Lots of people were brave and tried a silk worm, but I may have been the only one that LOVED it and loaded my plate with them (as seen here!) I would order this as a meal...it was that good!

 

[AquaDame]

Lots of people were brave and tried a silk worm, but I may have been the only one that LOVED it and loaded my plate with them (as seen here!) I would order this as a meal...it was that good!

I'm by no means a picky eater.. love onions, cilantro is fine, all kinds of meat, fish, veggies, fruits etc. I can't remember the last time I asked for anything to be left out or off and I had eel livers when I was in Japan (did not like them but hey I tried it). I know though that I will never be able to eat insects. Especially not tarantulas since I hate spiders.

 

[sayhello]

I'm by no means a picky eater.. love onions, cilantro is fine, all kinds of meat, fish, veggies, fruits etc. I can't remember the last time I asked for anything to be left out or off and I had eel livers when I was in Japan (did not like them but hey I tried it). I know though that I will never be able to eat insects. Especially not tarantulas since I hate spiders.

I totally agree with this!!! I ate haggis and blood pudding in Scotland (and loved both!) but insects??? SPIDERS??? NO!

Sayhello

 

[CrazyZeus1]

I'm by no means a picky eater.. love onions, cilantro is fine, all kinds of meat, fish, veggies, fruits etc. I can't remember the last time I asked for anything to be left out or off and I had eel livers when I was in Japan (did not like them but hey I tried it). I know though that I will never be able to eat insects. Especially not tarantulas since I hate spiders.

I totally agree with this!!! I ate haggis and blood pudding in Scotland (and loved both!) but insects??? SPIDERS??? NO!

Sayhello

I wasn't sure if I could do it, but after the first bug, you just go DOWN THE HATCH! I'm always afraid of the texture more than the taste. Most things end up being either crunchy or leathery-chewey so nothing weird. I think the thing that gave me the most pause was the giant grubs in Ecuador....the head was shiny and black and about the size of a marble and I was just so afraid of the texture. But the roasted ones were REALLY good and I just had to pop it in my mouth quickly without thinking what it was!

 

[sayhello]

I wasn't sure if I could do it, but after the first bug, you just go DOWN THE HATCH! I'm always afraid of the texture more than the taste. Most things end up being either crunchy or leathery-chewey so nothing weird. I think the thing that gave me the most pause was the giant grubs in Ecuador....the head was shiny and black and about the size of a marble and I was just so afraid of the texture. But the roasted ones were REALLY good and I just had to pop it in my mouth quickly without thinking what it was!

You realize this just makes me less likely to try them, right?

Sayhello

 

[AquaDame]

Yep... getting it in my mouth IS the insurmountable part!

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

I'm planning to try some of the more exotic offerings in China, but we'll see when I actually get there. It's definitely the brain to mouth issue.

 

[DCPhotoGal]

Ok, food-related question here: I don't eat pork and have a shellfish allergy, so Vietnamese restaurants are often a challenge for me, at least here in the States. Was there a lot of pork dishes on this trip, and do you think oyster sauce or something similar might be an issue? This trip is next on our list, as soon as we can make the dates work for our schedule.