Saturday 21 November 2009 - Some friends visited Hanoi, so we rented a taxi and traveled 40km to two villages in Thanh Oai commune. The first village we visited is the Vác village where the locals make bird cages and paper fans. We visited 3 houses and saw the locals drying fans in the sun or making bird cages of different shapes. The next village is more interesting. Our taxi went along the Nhuệ river and we passed by Cự Khê village then stopped at the gate into Cự Đà village. This village is famous for its finely preserved architecture. It [View Full Entry]

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This is my 100th blog and the message I would like to share is "When we are young, let's have our own dreams and make them come true". This blog is about the young Vietnamese in the "traitimvietnamonline" travel forum (traitim means "heart") who have traveled throughout Vietnam by motorbike and were back home with their wonderful photos. They may be students or anyone, who have a passion for travel the same as we do, and they have been to remote destinations that I've not known. The forum is written in Vietnamese. I am not a member of that forum and [View Full Entry]

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Sunday 1 November 2009 - I traveled with my colleagues to the Thành Chương's Viet Palace which is located 35km from Hanoi's center. Mr. Thành Chương was born in 1949 in a northern province. As a famous artist in Vietnam, he has earned millions of USDs from selling his paintings and he has also collected antiques for years. He bought 10,000m2 of land in Sóc Sơn district, flattened a hill and started building various works of art in his own realm during 2001-2003. Mr. Thành Chương has devoted most of his property, energy, heart and mind to the construction of t [View Full Entry]

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There are 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam, of which the Viet (or Kinh) is the largest group (making up 86.2% of the country's population). The Viet people mainly live in the Red River Delta, the central coast region, the Mekong Delta and major cities. The other 53 ethnic minority groups are scattered over mountainous areas or plains spreading from the North to the South. My photos in this blog were mainly taken in north west Vietnam where I've met the Thai, Red Dzao, Black H'mong and Flowery H'mong people. While traveling along the National Highway No. 9 in Quảng Trị province, [View Full Entry]

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In May 2007 during my transit time from Brunei to Hanoi, I had to stay for a night in Kuala Lumpur. While I was walking down a street in Bukit Bingtang to find a hotel or guest house, I passed by a Vietnamese restaurant in the area. It was easily recognized since the Vietnamese propaganda were hung up for decorating both outside and inside the restaurant. I went into the restaurant and asked a boy there if he could speak Vietnamese. He answered me in Vietnamese with southern accent and advised me to ask the hotel next to the restaurant. For [View Full Entry]

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A trip may be ruined or not, it depends much on how we deal with the people we meet. While I don't deny that I too was hassled by persistent touts and beggars, or overcharged by hotels, travel agents and local drivers, and hurt by some westerners who judged me based on my nationality and said rude words to me, I still can say that 90% of the people I've met when traveling are great ones. Everyone tells me stories of their lives, and even if they are happy or sad, I always learn something from them. There are numerous stories [View Full Entry]

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So I have survived the hottest summer with pimples all over my face. Now autumn is the favorite season for me and all Hanoians. From September to December, the weather here is very pleasant, sun shines during the day and it's cool at night. Due to the El Nino, it's warmer this year. Some days the temperature in Hanoi reaches 32°C, while often it's only 16-25°C. Autumn also is an aspiration for many interesting songs about Hanoi, especially when the musicians, who composed the songs, live far away from the city and they miss the special atmosphere here. There were 4 [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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26 September 2009 - After traveling for 2 hours by plane from Hanoi to Cần Thơ, 4 hours by bus from Cần Thơ - Sóc Trăng - Bạc Liêu - Cà Mau and then 2 hours by water taxi to the southern tip, finally I stepped onto the Cà Mau cape (Mũi Cà Mau), which is the southernmost point of Vietnam. This is one of my dreams that came true. As some of you have not been to Vietnam, let me explain a little bit about Vietnam. The country looks like an "S" shape, it borders with China in the north, [View Full Entry]

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26 and 27 September 2009 - We spent a night in Bạc Liêu town after visiting the southernmost point of Vietnam. In this blog, I don't have beautiful photos of landscape or temples. I will write about two men in Bạc Liêu province, who were very famous during the first half of the 20th century. What I write here is more familiar to Vietnamese, so I will try to explain what I know with my limited English vocabulary. I hope you understand a little bit about the culture of another region of Vietnam. There are some overseas Vietnamese, who used to [View Full Entry]

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