theRedRiver
Hanoi_girl Joined: January 7th 2008
Logged in: February 10th 2012
Logged in: February 10th 2012
I am very happy as I've been to some wonders of the world: the Pyramids and the Pharos in Egypt, the Taj Mahal in India, the Great Wall in China, the Borobudur temple in Indonesia, the Angkor temples in Cambodia, the 3,000 temples in Bagan - Myanmar, the Plain of Jars in Laos, the Stone Forest in south west China etc. Some modern cities like Tokyo, Yokohama, Dubai, Hongkong, Shanghai and Singapore also attracted me. I like this saying: "Go as far as you can see, and when you get there, you'll see farther."
137 blogs below are my travel stories in Vietnam and other countries, most of the time as a solo traveler. I hope I can share my feelings and experiences by writing about the trips and also about Vietnam. If you wish to contact me to ask about travel information, you can send me a private message on the right column of this page or through my email account vietnamtravelblog@yahoo.com
Cuộc đời là những chuyến đi. Mỗi đất nước tôi đã từng đến thăm, mỗi nơi tôi từng đặt chân tới, ở đó không chỉ có phong cảnh thiên nhiên kỳ vĩ hay những công trình tuyệt tác của nghệ thuật và văn hoá, mà chính những con người tôi đã gặp trong mỗi chặng hành trình và sự thân thiện của họ đã để lại trong tôi những ấn tượng sâu đậm không bao giờ quên được.
Travel Blog Posts
Vũng Rô bay in Phú Yên province
Tết 2012 (Vietnamese Lunar New Year) - the Year of the Dragon - I decided that it was time to go back to Nha Trang. It has been 12 years since my first trip to Nha Trang, so things have changed. Another reason for going back was that I wanted to see the sun and beaches. On my first trip to Nha Trang, I visited the major sites in the city and three islands, then traveled by bus to Đà Lạt highlands. This time I would like to see the Tết atmosphere in Nha Trang. Then I would go up north along the coastline to Tuy Hoà city as I would fly back home from there. This is my second visit to both Nha Trang and Tuy Hoà cities. Nha Trang is one of the most ... read more
Wall of a house in the village
Sunday 1 January 2012 - I rented a car with driver and traveled 70km to Thổ Hà village in Bắc Giang province. This is one of the poor provinces in northern Vietnam. Thổ Hà village used to be famous for the ceramic products, along with Bát Tràng and Phù Lãng ceramic villages. The ceramic works in Thổ Hà village lasted 8 centuries, from the 12th to 20th centuries. Since 1980 to date, the traditional work no longer existed and the locals changed to make rice papers and noodles, as well as raising pigs and making rice wine. The village is an interesting place for tourists and photographers owing to a number of the old houses and its location by the Cầu river. There is no rice field in the village and it's like an isolated island ... read more
Dragons made from flowers and fruits
Happy New Year 2012! Last weekend I had a 3-day holiday, so I decided to go to Hanoi's center for taking photos of the Hanoi Flower Festival and next day I rented a car and driver to visit a village in northern Vietnam. The weather was not great these days. It was cold and chilly, so my photos looked pretty dark. The Flower Festival 2012 lasted 4 days (from 30 Dec 2011 to 2 Jan 2012) and it was the 3rd flower festival which was organized in Hanoi. Again it was a good chance for the artists showing their creativity. The day before the Opening Ceremony was held, I went to the festival area because of some business and by chance saw the artists preparing their works. A crafstman nailed eggplants and fruits to the dragon ... read more
The Prime Minister and an MC at a new studio
On Wednesday 7 September 2011 the Inauguration Ceremony of the VTV Program Production Center (VTV means Vietnam Television) was held in Hanoi. At that time the civil works were completed, and the Vietnam Television Center Project was in the stage of equipment installation. Mr. Nguyễn Tấn Dũng, Prime Minster of Vietnam, also went to the site and made a speech at the ceremony. Then all visitors got into the new building and saw modern equipment inside the studios. It has been 5 years since I worked for the Vietnam Television Center Project. When I first came to the construction site, there was an empty land lot. During construction process there were various works such as piling work, substructure, superstructure, finishing work and equipment installation. There are 9 studios with modern equipment inside the 5-storey building and ... read more
Chương Mỹ brick towers
Last February, while I was waiting for a bus to Hội An from Đà Nẵng city, I saw a bus which was going toward Tam Kỳ. I knew nothing about this city, except the famous chicken rice food. This month I decided to go somewhere in Vietnam, and Tam Kỳ was my choice as this place was completely new to me. The week before my trip, the whole area was experiencing rain and flood. Fortunately, during my 4-day trip it was sunny and dry. It only rained on the last day of my trip when I flew back home. The flight from Hanoi to Chu Lai takes an hour. Chu Lai airport was a famous site during the American war. There was free car/bus service from the airport to Tam Kỳ city (32km) and Quảng Ngãi ... read more
Me in front of a ger at Terelj national park
Sunday June 26th 2011 was the most interesting birthday in my life. I used to dream of seeing Mongolian steppe and gers. On this day my dream came true. Myself and two Australian girls, whom I met at Khongor Guest House, traveled on a one day tour. We left Khongor Guest House at 9am and back at 4pm. Terelj national park is located 70km away from Ulaanbaatar. If I travel alone, I would have to pay US$80 for renting a 4-seater car with driver. As there were three of us on this trip, each had to pay US$42. I didn't do horse ride, so the guest house deducted US$4 for me. The landscape along the way was amazing. We stopped at the Turtle Rock for taking photos. After a short drive, we got into a group ... read more
A Mongolian girl at Altai BBQ restaurant
In March, I started applying for a tourist visa to Mongolia. The visa procedure applicable to Vietnamese is quite complicated. Khongor Guest House in Ulaanbaatar sent an invitation letter with my name and copy of my passport to Mongolian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After the letter was approved, it would be sent to Mongolian Embassy in Hanoi. Three weeks later, I contacted the Embassy and they said there was still no approval result for me. I decided to delay my trip to June. Air ticket to Mongolia from Vietnam is very expensive, US$1,200 round trip, and I had to take 5 flights on 4 different airlines (Vietnam Airlines, MIAT - Mongolian Airlines, Air China International and Southern China Airlines). 24 to 28 June 2011 - My 5-day trip ended up with one more day in Beijing, ... read more
Special Áo Dài
The Vietnamese traditional dress, "Áo Dài", is one of the most elegant and beautiful dresses for women. It’s very simple, consisting of a close-fitting blouse, with long panels in the front and back, that is worn over loose white trousers. As a Vietnamese girl who loves to travel abroad, sometimes I bring an Áo Dài to travel with me. Whenever I wear it, my Áo Dài always attracts friendly looks from both locals and travelers. I once got a message from an Irish poster in the Thorn Tree travel forum. He wrote to me "You must get a wonderful reaction from the local people when you wear your Áo Dài. I think you would stop the traffic, if you were to wear it walking down a street in Ireland." An Áo Dài can be worn with ... read more
View of islands from the Cape of Shark
After my 3-day trip to Côn Đảo archipelago from 16 to 18 May 2011, I must say that this is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen in Vietnam. The archipelago consists of 16 islands and islets in south east Vietnam (40 minute flight from Sài Gòn). Côn Đảo is not only famous for great beaches, but this place also used to be a horrific prison during the French and American wars from 1862 to 1975. Côn Sơn is the largest island of the archipelago with airport and town. The distance from airport to town is 15km. I hired a local motorbike driver to show me around the island during my stay. We spent the first day going to the Cape of Shark (Cá Mập point), Nhát beach and Bến Đầm port (fishing village ... read more
My sister in Vietnamese traditional dress
It has been 3 months since my last entry. I hope you get used to the new version of Travel Blog (version 3). I'm just back home from a trip to Sài Gòn for attending my sister's wedding. She decided to make only one party in Sài Gòn where she has lived for the last 12 years. There was neither engagement ceremony nor party in Hanoi, so myself, parents and another sister with her family flew to Sài Gòn a few days before the important event. The wedding party was held on Sunday 15 May at 5-star New World Hotel in Sài Gòn. There were 170 guests, of which 100 people are my sister's colleagues. She is the most successful person in my family. 12 years ago, when she decided to move to live in Sài ... read more
