travel I came across your travel blog and enjoyed it very much. It is too bad that you have to travel to all of these places by yourself, but thank you for sharing.
From Olympia, Washington, USA
Once again thanks for a very well written and informative blog. One of the Sydney newspapers ran a story last weekend about Cần Thơ and tours on the Mekong, but it was not as informative as your blog. Lorenza and I will probably visit Vietnam again in February 2010, so your blgs are very helpful. Take care!
Agree with you that English is useless in China. I have been Xiamen, China for 5 days and felt worried so much. Even receptionist in 4* hotel they could not communicate with me well. I did not dare to jump to a bus and hard to find a street since all is in Chine characters. Only one thing could help is a small Chinese communication dictionary. It is a really interesting experience.
Thanks for sharing your feelings Dear Red River,
Thank you so much for sharing these deep emotions about your life. Travelling is one of the best way to see, touch and feel life flowing between our fingers and appreciate every second of it wherever we are, whatever we do, whoever we are and will be.
Patrick
so special You are so special and I see myself reflected on your lines when you show your emotions. I would love to meet your grandmother. I will be there next November, I still don´t know excatly when. I have my visa for Vietnam. Lots of love and a huge hug from Argentina. Graciela.
Got the first one finished Hi there, I talked with you about my interest in costumes for my Barbies of the world. I am a grandmother who just turned 60 but have always loved dolls. costumes, and beauty of any kind, so combine them in my creations. I finished my first one of Vietnam. It is a white ao doa, (did I spell that right?), that the students wear. She looks great. I even have a small hat (purchased in the Philippines) for her to wear. In looking at the pictures again I think I need to make the pants more loose at the bottom. Next I am going to try to make a fancy one. Thanks for the picture ideas. You are beautiful in your ao doas.
My favorite ao dai September 15th 2009 Van Nguyen
Hi, I really love your pics on the site.Ao dai is the most beautiful dress for the Vietnamese's girls and women.When you wear aodai on, you have your own personality.It is not only secretly attractive but also very sexy .And the views are the most beautiful as well.I wish i could see some pics of ao dai from 55 to 60 year old ladies.Thank
Lovely Hi, I am an American who lived in the Philippines for eight years with my family. I collect Barbie dolls of the world and when I can't find a national custume represented then I sew one. I was looking for images of vietnam and came across your site. Lovely pictures- and your dresses are beautiful. I am going to try to sew two without patterns so wish me luck! Thank You
Going Solo! Hey.. I came to your page cause when Im browsing about Vietnam. Yes, Im going to your country next month... Actually not just to your country, to your city Hanoi as well.
Well, dont worry keep travelling. I love travelling as well.. and yes you so right when you said that sometimes its not easy to find someone who will agree to travel with you especially if its far! Its not always easy to match your schedule with other people.. plus money matters. Everyone has their own things to do and commitment to stick with.
Anyway, cause of those reasons i sometimes travel alone too. I know being an asian (im asian too) its still rare to see girl travelling alone. My last solo trip was last year, went around some countries in Europe...ALONE!
Things you can enjoy by going solo is that you free to chose itinerary as you like... freedom to stay in one place as long as you want.. in what kind of hotel, etc etc.. trust me, you cant get this luxury by traveling in group. I tried to organize travel with some of my coworkers to Vietnam. It supposed to be 8 of us... and ohhh boyyyy! Seriously.. it mucccchhh easier organizing your own trip! So what i can say.... either going solo or with companion, there still thing you can enjoy from both trip. So, as long as you enjoy.. Go for it!
Reply to Long Thai What would be the best time to visit North West Vietnam ? - April, May, September and October in my opinion. In other months it may be foggy, cold or rain resulting in the landslides. How about the H'Mong Hoa people in Bắc Hà ? - Some can speak a little Vietnamese. When I asked them "Is this thang co food?" and they understood my question. I heard that Dong Van Sunday market in Ha Giang province is more interesting than Bac Ha Sunday market. However, it's difficult to find a room in Dong Van on Saturday night and you have to travel far away to get to this town. The normal route to the northernmost province is Ha Giang - Meo Vac - Dong Van - Lung Cu. I also want to do this route someday in the future.
Bắc Hà experience Thanks for sharing your experience in Bắc Hà. We have not been there yet but we will visit it next time. We have been in Sapa in Jul/2009 and the scenery is so beautiful there with its rice terrace fields and the ethnic people mainly black H'Mong and Red Dao. What would be the best time to visit North West Vietnam ? In July, it was pouring and we can hardly see anything. Luckily, it was sunny the last day so we can visit Cat Cat village and Ham Rong. I also observed that the black H'Mong people does not speak Vietnamese language people at all compared to the Red Dao people where they can understand and even reply back to you in Vietnamese. How about the H'Mong Hoa people in Bắc Hà ?
H'mong minority Thanks for your report and photos. Bản Phố village looks like somewhere in Japanese rural area. I wonder how they think about the other side of H'mong people in China each other.
The old houses Different generations of Vietnamese people still live at the old houses. It's very easy to demolish them and build up the modern ones, but they are still preserving the old houses as well as traditional customs.
First village in Vietnam It's impressive your photos show Chinese letters at some houses Vietnam people used before. I wonder the old villagers keep the use for daily life instead of the present romanized Vietnamese.
Wishing a happy future to the couples of newly weds !
Duong Lam Very interesting blog and great photos. The architecture reminds me of the old part of the 'furniture village' I visited in 2008, not far from Hanoi. I have read that it is possible to devote a whole holiday to exploring the many villages in the Red River delta. In the UK old houses of this type are very expensive and mainly occupied now by retired people. The result is the loss of the traditional village community as schools close owing to young couple being unable to afford to live there.
I am a Hanoi_girl who loves to travel. When working for a Japanese construction company in Hanoi, I had the chance to travel to 28 countries and to all the 63 provinces in Vietnam, including 25 trips to Huế city. Egypt, Mongolia and Italy are my love, and other favorite countries are Australia, France, New Zealand, Nepal, Fiji, Japan, India, Indonesia, Belgium, Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China (8 trips, 15 cities), South Korea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Cambodia (3 trips), Brunei Darussalam, the United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Laos (3 trips), Malaysia (4 trips), Singap... full info
Arun Rohila
non-member comment
travel
I came across your travel blog and enjoyed it very much. It is too bad that you have to travel to all of these places by yourself, but thank you for sharing. From Olympia, Washington, USA