Blogs from Vietnam, Asia - page 10

Carmen was one of those generous spirited volunteers who you wish would have stayed longer. However she was also one of those fabulous volunteers who came for three months but managed to do six months of work so I am definitely not complaining. Like many of our self funded volunteers Carmen immersed herself into her volunteering and gave it 110%, she didn't treat it like a daily job where you clock on and off. At all times approaching her varied roles with the utmost professionalism and just the right amount of sensitivity. While volunteering for Lifestart Foundation in Hoi An Carmen had a wide range of duties and responsibilities. These included working at the Lifestart Foundation Workshop, greeting customers and guests, giving them information about our project work and promoting the Lifestart Foundation Tour. She helped ... read more

So here we are again on our travels and this time we are joining a 28 day tour around Indochina rather than travel independently as we usually do. The tour covers, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and then we will remain for a further 3 weeks in Siem Reap when the tour ends before heading off to the Maldives for a ‘holiday’!! We said goodbye to Geoff, Sharon and Maisie in Dubai where we had been for 6 weeks so it was sad to leave but we were so excited about returning to Asia after so long. We were held up at Dubai airport and sat on the tarmac for an hour whilst there was a medical emergency and therefore got into Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) later than expected and then had to wait ages for ... read more

We've been travelling really intensely these past few weeks, really packing a lot of things into our days so naturally I haven't had any time to sit at a computer and write a blog for a while. Out of the past eight nights, five of them have been spent on overnight sleeper buses! I seem to be leafing further and further back in my journel to find what I want to write about so I thought I'd just cover some of the best things and catch up with myself a little bit! Vietnam was a really incredible place and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. From the bonkers, mopeds-absolutely-everywhere madness of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to the incredibly peaceful and naturally beautiful beaches and islands further south it's a great place with some ... read more

13 to 16 March 2013 – I didn’t plan to visit Đà Lạt city. I was happy in Nha Trang beach city for a week, but then I lost my money at a market because of my carelessness. This made me sad, so I decided to do something that could make me feel better. I booked a bus ticket and moved on to Đà Lạt city. It is 15 years since my last (and also the first) visit to this city, so I wanted to see how the city has changed. Within two weeks, I traveled from the Central Highlands to the South Central Coast, then I came back to the Central Highlands again! Anyway, I had no fixed plan, so I could do whatever I wanted. Also, it's good to try different routes and get ... read more

It’s one of those places where you think you’re dead and gone to heaven and everything is going to be alright. I’m only seeing an uninterrupted expanse of beach stretching between the horizons of Danang and Hoi An. White sand to the surf. The water, it’s as calm as Hindu cows and warm like a bath. Sunlight filters through the water column all the way to the seabed. A fisherman comes out of the water in front of us. He’s clutching a dead sea snake which he stuffs into a bag. Lunch is fresh fish in a restaurant that is open air and right off the beach. The beach I’m on, it seems far enough removed from the rest of this shit world. I stop needing. Worrying. Wishing. Expecting more. Just being here is enough.... read more