Blogs from Hai Phong, Red River Delta, Vietnam, Asia - page 5

Halong Bay was a 'must do' for us in Vietnam despite all the negative reports we had heard on it, so it was with slight trepidation that we booked a trip on a junk boat to see the famous karsts. We shopped around the many travel agencies in Hanoi to find one we were happy with and one which could arrange a one day tour of the bay for us but instead of returning to Hanoi, it would then drop us on the island of Cat Ba where we could spend a few days at our leisure...these few days coincided with my Birthday and turned out to be the highlight of our trip so far and the best decision we could have made! So, after hunting around Hanoi for ages for a travel agent who we ... read more

A beautiful Sunday morning means a day trip with the other expats and some Vietnamese friends. The sun was shining so we thought what better way to finish off the weekend than to head for the beach. The trip was much quicker than the first time we went as this time we could drive ourselves. We must have looked like a motorbike gang of strange foreigners speeding down the road. Instead of wasting the whole day lazing on the beach we decided to explore the new resort being built and the mountain around it. It was a good climb up, but the beautiful sights from the top were well worth it. It was a strange place up the mountain. Everywhere in the wooded area we could spot weird statues of animals, monsters, disney characters and dinosaurs. ... read more

14 November to 16 November 2012 - Cát Bà island is a very popular tourist destination in northern Vietnam. This was my 5th visit to the island. On my first trip to Cát Bà island in summer 1997, there was no electricity and the locals had to use generators at night. When the boat was approaching the pier, I saw simple houses along the coastline and rock mountains behind them. When I woke up in the morning, I saw a great view of fishing boats in the mist from the window of my room. It is 15 years since my first visit to this island, so it has been very developed since those days. I traveled by bus to Bai Cháy pier and paid US$10 (VND 200,000) for a boat ticket to Cát Bà island. The ... read more

Wooohooooo!! New house all to ourselves. It has 4 floors, beautiful marble tyles, a nice kitchen, 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and a prayer room (soon to be converted to bedroom number 5 for when more teachers arrive). It is so good to have privacy and air con! I can now shut myself away and lie in a nice cool room to do my work or just relax. The first thing we did was scrub the place from top to bottom, making sure that the place was spotless before we settled in properly. Then after a quick look around we made a list of things the house needed and headed to the nearby BigC to get the essentials - blankets, pillows, cutlery, dishes, pots, a rice cooker ... the list went on. We got back from the ... read more

Ok, so yesterday was our first payday (Can we get a woop woop). So being confident and comfortable in our wealth we decided to treat ourselves to some good old western food for dinner. We went straight from work to one of the only western style restaurants in Hai Phong "Texas BBQ" (situated next to the expat bar Julies). It was absolutly glorious!!! A medium pizza each, and trust us, it was delicious. After washing the pizzas down with a Hanoi beer we walked (slowly, and carefully nursing our food babies as we were so stuffed with pizza) back to the Ngan family house which I live in, only to find out that it was Mr Ngan's birthday ... and that we were invited to eat with them. Our first instincts were to cry because we ... read more