FNG TRAVELS
HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS
IN VIETNAM

“FNG” for “F*king New Guy” was a derogatory term used to describe new recruits rotating in with an established combat unit during the Vietnam War. FNGs were shunned because they were raw and to a unit of bloodied battle-tested veterans FNGs were a liability. Not knowing what to do or even how to use their equipment in the jungle warfare of Vietnam led to higher attrition rates for new recruits and the old-timers counting the days to go home just didn’t want to risk their lives.

Conscription legislation limited a draftee’s tour of duty to two years. After a boot camp lasting 4-6 months, plus a month of travel to Vietnam, plus a month of accrued leave that a soldier earns for every year in the service, there was little more than a year for a draftee’s tour of duty. Rather than pulling whole units out they would rotate in the ‘FNGs’.

Right about now dear reader you’re probably saying: “WTF is Greg talking about FNGs?

TOUR OF DUTY

Well, we will be FNGs on this upcoming trip to Vietnam and Cambodia. Although we have been through plenty of “boot camps” having traveled quite extensively over the years, we are not at all familiar with the culture of either country and the language and negotiating our way from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh to Siem Reap, Cambodia would be very difficult if not impossible on our own. So, in a first for us we are taking a tour! Usually we just wing it, get to our destination, and enjoy the sights. The image we have of “tours” is of a moving constantly crowded melee that pauses somewhere before churning onward. That’s why we settled on Overseas Adventures Tours because this company specializes in small group tours. Limiting the tour to 16 individuals (we have 14 travelers in our particular group) we are assured that your favorite FNGs will not only survive their tour of duty but enjoy it as well. The pacing is different with our “Inside Vietnam” tour with O.A.T., and we will stay at 7 locations over 18 days, with an overnight stay on a traditional Vietnamese wooden boat on the picturesque Halong Bay.

O.A.T. TOURS

BROTHER CAN YOU SPARE A DONG?

The trip is not cheap, but at 294,599,983 VDN or Dong, nearly everything on the trip is included. International and domestic airfares, transfers, gratuities, meals are included as well as some very unexpectedly beautiful 4-star hotels.

According to the World Bank, since 1986 when Vietnam began their economic reform called Doi Moi (literally “restoration”), meant to push the country towards a “socialist-oriented market economy”, Vietnam has transformed from one of the world’s poorest countries to a middle-class economy. I’m sure there is still a dichotomy between rich and poor, but our hotels are shockingly gorgeous. So, whatever a “socialist-oriented market economy” is, it did save the country from the brink of economic collapse.

WORLD BANK VIETNAM OVERVIEW

EXPLAINING DOI MOI

NOT THE ‘HANOI HILTON’ / A QUICK LOOK AT OUR ITINERARY

MAY DE VILLE HOTEL
HANOI

Our first stop in Vietnam is Hanoi, where we will spend the first 6 days exploring the capital. We will stay at the May de Ville Luxury Hotel...and not the infamous Hao Lo Prison. Hao Lo means Hellfire, but the prison was dubbed the Hanoi Hilton by the American POWs held there during the war.

The prison itself was torn down, but one can visit the memorial to the original French Colonial prison, called the "Maison Centrale" with a room dedicated to the American War POWs.

MAY DE VILLE HOTEL, HANOI

HA LONG BAY CRUISE

After Hanoi we will travel by bus to the beautiful Ha Long Bay to take an overnight cruise on a traditional Vietnamese Junk. Ha Long is part of the Bay of Tonkin and is an UNESCO world heritage site with over 1,000 limestone islands and islets rising from turquoise waters.

Ha Long Bay

HUE

We will take a domestic flight to Hue. The Tet Offensive was centered around this city. For two days we’ll get to explore Hue and visit an orphanage. Our hotel is the Cherish Hotel a few blocks from the Perfume River. No…the evening’s entertainment will not be a viewing of Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket.

Cherish Hotel, Hue

CHERISH HOTEL, HUE

HOI AN

The Hoi An Central Boutique will be our home for the next couple of days in this coastal city and while there we take a boat cruise to the Thien Mu Pagoda, take a street food experience tour, stroll the UNESCO heritage ancient town which dates from the 13^th Century and walk over the Japanese Bridge and visit My Khe Beach, better known as China Beach from the television show of the same name.

Japanese Bridge, Hoi An

China Beach

HOI AN CENTRAL HOTEL

NHA TRANG

Another domestic flight will take us to this resort city known for its white sandy beaches. Nha Trang is evidently very popular with vacationing Russians.

Nha Trang

The Em Oi Boutique Hotel will be our home here, and perhaps the ultimate highlight of our trip to Vietnam will be a visit to a local family who makes bamboo chopsticks.

EM OI HOTEL

Dalat coffee

DALAT

To get to this city, nestled in the central highlands we need to take a three-hour bus ride and pass the region’s rice paddies. Nicknamed the “City of Eternal Spring,” Dalat has cooler temperatures and was once a summer getaway for the French. Most importantly though Dalat produces some of the best coffee in Vietnam, grown on the slopes of Langbiang Mountain and is an integral part of the culture in Dalat and served in all the cafes. We won’t have time to visit K’ho Coffee, but we will enjoy dinner with a local family. The centrally located Du Parc Hotel will be our hotel in Dalat.

KHO COFFEE DALAT

DU PARC HOTEL DALAT

HO CHI MINH CITY

One more domestic flight takes us to the final stop on the tour, Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon. We are staying at the Central Palace Hotel, about a kilometer from the American consulate. We go on a city-wide tour after we land and then we’ve got the rest of the day to ourselves.

O.A.T. suggests we discover the city by scooter. Driven by a student we’ll zip along the streets to see the city like a local.

Er, NFW for this FNG.

War Remnants Museum

Another suggestion is to visit the War Remnants Museum. Formerly known as the Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes, it was shortened to its present title in 1995 when diplomatic relations were normalized with the United States and a U.S. embargo of Vietnam was lifted. Some of the exhibits include American military equipment from that era, as well as a guillotine. The War Remnants Museum is one of the most popular museums in Vietnam.

The next day is spent on a sampan along the Mekong Delta and later we visit a coconut candy workshop!

Central Palace Hotel

Then it’s back to the sobering reality of war with a visit to the Cu Chi tunnels. Part of an extensive network of tunnels used by the Viet Cong for transportation of weapons and personnel and protection from aerial bombing. Not far from Saigon the tunnels featured living accommodations, kitchens, and medical facilities.

Because of our small group size, we’re evidently able to see parts of the tunnel system not normally accessible to American tourists.

Ci Chu Tunnels

CENTRAL PALACE HOTEL, SAIGON

HOLIDAY IN CAMBODIA

Overseas Adventure Tours offer “pre” and “post” trips to their “Inside Vietnam” adventure. We opted for a post-trip 5-day visit to Cambodia to visit Angkor Wat and the Legacy of the ancient Khmer Empire. Traveling to Cambodia will not be for the faint of heart. The genocide by the Khmer Rouge took millions of souls by some calculations and our hotel is less than 2 kilometers from the Killing Fields Genocide Museum at Siem Reap, now a resort town and the gateway to the UNESCO world heritage complex of Angkor Wat.

Cambodia flag

Angkor Wat is a massive Buddhist religious structure that was first erected as a Hindu Temple dedicated to Vishnu in the 12^th Century. It is considered the largest religious structure in the world. Angkor Wat is on the Cambodian flag.

We fly to Siem Reap, and we are staying at the Tara Angkor Hotel. We will visit the Killing Fields and Angkor Wat on different days and on our last day cruise Tonie Sap Lake and visit a floating village.

KILLING FIELDS MEMORIAL

TARA ANGKOR HOTEL, CAMBODIA

ANGKOR WAT

I cannot stress enough that without the guidance of O.A.T. we FNGs would not experience half of what this part of the world has to offer, so we welcome this departure from our usual way of traveling.

It’s worth your dong.

Thanks for reading and check back on our progress as we travel to Vietnam and Cambodia.

Love, Janet and greg