Blogs from Binh Duong, Southeast, Vietnam, Asia

We recently spent a lazy Sunday in Thu Dau Mot. It was a beautiful day and we decided to take the small ferry across the River Saigon to see what was on the other side. The answer was, honestly, not a lot! It was nice though and sharing the rickety wooden raft with half a dozen or so bikes was an experience. It only cost a few pence to travel over so it wasn't a problem. On the other side we saw a small artisan factory making new religious statues. There was a wedding but we were not invited in! We also saw some wriggling insects outside a shop which are, presumably, a snack for the more adventurous eater!! Back on the busier side of the river it was nice to see the local youngsters fishing ... read more

Russ has been busy socialising with his students! On 30 October they had a wild Halloween party. The boy band and girl dancers were brilliant and the fashion show organised by the University was amazing. Sadly we had just returned from Saigon and the camera batteries were exhausted after half an hour. The crab soup wasn't too bad, although one student did refer to it as "crap" soup in a later essay!! The following week we met up with a whole load of students at Dai Nam Wonderland, the local version of Disneyland!! We had expected to stay for an hour before politely making our excuses and leaving. We ended up staying the whole day - well, until the monsoon rains arrived at around 3pm anyway. It was kitsch but it was cool. The "Gates of ... read more

It all happened so suddenly! One day we were sat in our apartment in Tunisia when we saw a job advertised in Vietnam. Within 12 hours we had been offered the job. Yes, we deliberated a bit and did a lot of research, but eventually we accepted and here we are! It's all very, VERY different!!! We decided to travel in relative comfort with Qatar Airways and can thoroughly recommend them if you need to travel for 17 hours! Immigration wasn't a huge problem despite one of us packing the required photos into checked in baggage. Luckily they are used to stupid travellers doing stupid things and have a digital camera at hand for just such emergencies!! We had pre-arranged a transfer to our hotel via Viator which worked out much smoother than we expected. They ... read more

Dai Nam Park is situated about 40km away from Ho Chi Minh City. Opened in September 2008 it aims to be the leading tourist attraction by 2010. An optimistic dream, but even now even when it is still not quite complete you can see the potential. It is a huge complex with a hotel, shopping mall, open zoo, theme park, beach area and temple. Some say it looks cheap, but I found it to be a beautiful retreat and a good way to spend a day. My journey began, as so many do these days, in Ho Chi Minh City near Ben Thanh market (well my hotel is there). I had researched the buses to Dai Nam Park (yes, I really did think about using public transport much to the amusement of some of the other ... read more