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

[CrazyZeus1]

Our local guide, Tony, confirmed that they use cilantro, also called corriander, in most dishes. Lemongrass was another frequently used one. Interesting that our dining experiences (even on our own with street food, at local restauraunts apart from ABD, and at hotels on our own) used a lot of these same ingredients. Glad you didn't find many in your experiences! Just wanted to give a heads up for folks who take the ABD as to what we experienced. It became a running joke within our group of what we woudl find cilantro in

 

[CrazyZeus1]

This is a really helpful article that explains some herbs you may find in your food over there. Cliantro/Corriander is at the top of the list
http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/vietnamese-herb-primer.html

Did you know....about 10% of the population has a genetic abnormality that tastes cilantro as soap? Hubby tastes soap in any dish that has even the smallest speck of it in there. I tried to sneak a pumpkin soup past him in Laos that was a puree but tasted strongly of cilantro, but he tasted it right away. ha!

 

[acndis]

We loved this trip. I think it's absolutely ABD at its finest. We loved all three countries but especially Vietnam. As for the food, it was absolutely great everywhere we went and very authentic. We are foodies and love exotic stuff (though we skipped the tarantulas in Cambodia). I still dream about that lunch we had after the Cu Chi tunnels. So good in beautiful surroundings. CrazyZeus1, you are bringing back GREAT memories!

 

[CrazyZeus1]

We loved this trip. I think it's absolutely ABD at its finest. We loved all three countries but especially Vietnam. As for the food, it was absolutely great everywhere we went and very authentic. We are foodies and love exotic stuff (though we skipped the tarantulas in Cambodia). I still dream about that lunch we had after the Cu Chi tunnels. So good in beautiful surroundings. CrazyZeus1, you are bringing back GREAT memories!

Ha! We were the crazies that ate ALL the critters on Pub Street! Tarantulas, snakes, crickets, scorpions, frogs! Totally loved going with the ABD group because if it was on our own I probably wouldn't have done any of it! hahahaha

 

[Cousin Orville]

Yuck! Were any of them actually tasty? I did the snake wine or rubbing alcohol - can't remember which.

I do love Vietnamese food. We get a lot of it living in Houston which has a huge Vietnamese population. We actually just had a trendy high end Vietnamese restaurant, Le Colonial, open up that is very much stylized after the Metropole. Makes me long for the real thing though.

 

[acndis]

We loved this trip. I think it's absolutely ABD at its finest. We loved all three countries but especially Vietnam. As for the food, it was absolutely great everywhere we went and very authentic. We are foodies and love exotic stuff (though we skipped the tarantulas in Cambodia). I still dream about that lunch we had after the Cu Chi tunnels. So good in beautiful surroundings. CrazyZeus1, you are bringing back GREAT memories!

Ha! We were the crazies that ate ALL the critters on Pub Street! Tarantulas, snakes, crickets, scorpions, frogs! Totally loved going with the ABD group because if it was on our own I probably wouldn't have done any of it! hahahaha

I have no words. You are just awesome! Don't tell me you LIKED the silk worms!

This trip is so great. It has spoiled us for many other destinations. We now really only look at the 'exotics'.

 

[Cousin Orville]

We now really only look at the 'exotics'.

Those are the best.

 

[Cendure's French Silk]

Did you only have 1 local guide or a different one for each country? How many adventurers were in your group and how did the internal flights work?

 

[OhanaCuz]

Ha! We were the crazies that ate ALL the critters on Pub Street! Tarantulas, snakes, crickets, scorpions, frogs! Totally loved going with the ABD group because if it was on our own I probably wouldn't have done any of it! hahahaha

That is some epic peer pressure!

 

[RebelHawk]

My wife and I have this trip on our To Do ABD list and are looking forward to exotic foods as much the destinations itself. If you're an exotic food fan then I would recommend the ABD Peru trip. My wife and I did this last year and in addition to trying more variants of corn and potato then you can imagine we loved alpaca and of course cuy, aka guinea pig.

 

[sayhello]

My wife and I have this trip on our To Do ABD list and are looking forward to exotic foods as much the destinations itself. If you're an exotic food fan then I would recommend the ABD Peru trip. My wife and I did this last year and in addition to trying more variants of corn and potato then you can imagine we loved alpaca and of course cuy, aka guinea pig.

View attachment 231365

Peru is high on my list!

Sayhello

 

[CrazyZeus1]

I

We loved this trip. I think it's absolutely ABD at its finest. We loved all three countries but especially Vietnam. As for the food, it was absolutely great everywhere we went and very authentic. We are foodies and love exotic stuff (though we skipped the tarantulas in Cambodia). I still dream about that lunch we had after the Cu Chi tunnels. So good in beautiful surroundings. CrazyZeus1, you are bringing back GREAT memories!

I have no words. You are just awesome! Don't tell me you LIKED the silk worms!

This trip is so great. It has spoiled us for many other destinations. We now really only look at the 'exotics'.

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?!

 

[CrazyZeus1]

Did you only have 1 local guide or a different one for each country? How many adventurers were in your group and how did the internal flights work?

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!

 

[CrazyZeus1]

My wife and I have this trip on our To Do ABD list and are looking forward to exotic foods as much the destinations itself. If you're an exotic food fan then I would recommend the ABD Peru trip. My wife and I did this last year and in addition to trying more variants of corn and potato then you can imagine we loved alpaca and of course cuy, aka guinea pig.

View attachment 231365

That is EXCELLENT!!!!!! We ate guinea pig in Ecuador highlands, but ours was already cooked and diced....I love this presentation! We are afraid of the Peru trip because of the altitude....how was that for you guys?!

 

[CrazyZeus1]

Yuck! Were any of them actually tasty? I did the snake wine or rubbing alcohol - can't remember which.

I do love Vietnamese food. We get a lot of it living in Houston which has a huge Vietnamese population. We actually just had a trendy high end Vietnamese restaurant, Le Colonial, open up that is very much stylized after the Metropole. Makes me long for the real thing though.

I'm a weirdo and liked everything! The tarantulas tasted like beef jerkey to me, the snakes tasted like chicken, the scorpion I just ate the pinchers (our little friend ate the rear end and said it tasted like poo! haha), the crickets I could live without but could eat if I had to. We had the banana wine and snake wine...both which tasted like gasoline to me! hahahahaha....but hey, you're there...have to try it! Right?!

 

[RebelHawk]

That is EXCELLENT!!!!!! We ate guinea pig in Ecuador highlands, but ours was already cooked and diced....I love this presentation! We are afraid of the Peru trip because of the altitude....how was that for you guys?!

Also fearing the altitude we went to our Dr before our trip and got some altitude sickness pills that we ended up not needing. I certainly felt the effects on our first day when we hit Cusco but adjusted in a day. For me it was just a shortness of breath and feeling very tired quickly. From our group of 40 we only had one person that needed oxygen to help her adjust and ironically she was a very fit young adult. It took her a couple of days to adjust but she was a adjust in a couple of days. Machu Picchu was a bucket list location for us and boy was it awe-inspiring. NYC next month and Greece in 2018 (as soon as they release the dates).

Link to the trip report I posted with pics.
http://www.disboards.com/threads/peru-–-adult-only-20-–-29-sept-2016-trip-report.3549595/

 

[CrazyZeus1]

Also fearing the altitude we went to our Dr before our trip and got some altitude sickness pills that we ended up not needing. I certainly felt the effects on our first day when we hit Cusco but adjusted in a day. For me it was just a shortness of breath and feeling very tired quickly. From our group of 40 we only had one person that needed oxygen to help her adjust and ironically she was a very fit young adult. It took her a couple of days to adjust but she was a adjust in a couple of days. Machu Picchu was a bucket list location for us and boy was it awe-inspiring. NYC next month and Greece in 2018 (as soon as they release the dates).

Link to the trip report I posted with pics.
http://www.disboards.com/threads/peru-–-adult-only-20-–-29-sept-2016-trip-report.3549595/

We spent a week at Breckenridge and our cabin was at 10,030ft and all 3 of us had altitude issues....headaches, not hungry, couldn't sleep, hard to breathe. We're all healthy and fit! So...the 11,000+ ft of the Peru trip is what worries me....maybe we'll talk with doc about the pills. I'll check out your report too..thx for the link!

 

[Cousin Orville]

We spent a week at Breckenridge and our cabin was at 10,030ft and all 3 of us had altitude issues....headaches, not hungry, couldn't sleep, hard to breathe. We're all healthy and fit! So...the 11,000+ ft of the Peru trip is what worries me....maybe we'll talk with doc about the pills. I'll check out your report too..thx for the link!

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.

 

[CrazyZeus1]

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.

We found we ok there too in Zermatt...I think It's the extended time at higher elevations that cause the issue. I'm so torn!

 

[sayhello]

We found we ok there too in Zermatt...I think It's the extended time at higher elevations that cause the issue. I'm so torn!

This concerns me, too. I'd've done Peru ages ago if it wasn't for the fear of the altitude. Still not sure, but I really want to go.

Sayhello