Page 2 of theRedRiver Travel Blog Posts


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theRedRiver
March 12th 2013

This was my third visit to Bình Thuận province which is one of my favorite destinations in the South Central Coast of Vietnam. On this trip I spent a week visiting Phú Quý island and other famous tourist sites. It had been 5 years since my last visit in 2008. There have been so many Russian tourists coming to this province during the past few years and now they make up 70% of foreign tourists. I saw them everywhere, in Phan Thiết city, in buses and at other tourist sites. Phan Thiết is the capital city of Bình Thuận province. It’s a pleasant place to visit as the beach is only 3km away from the city. Foods are good and inexpensive. The local government has set up a good bus system which enables tourists to go ... read more



Phú Quý island

Published: March 5th 2013Asia » Vietnam » South Central Coast » Binh Thuan
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theRedRiver
March 5th 2013

When I was traveling on Lý Sơn island last July, I met a French tourist. He asked me “Have you ever been to Phú Quý island?”. I had no idea where this island was. After I was back home, I searched information through Google and found that this island is located in Bình Thuận province. I decided that I would visit this island when possible. At last I made it and this was the 16th island of Vietnam that I have been to. The visit to this island depends much on the weather (wind) and water flow. Sometimes people were stuck on the island for weeks because there was no boat going back to the mainland. I must say that this was a hard trip because it takes a long time to travel by ship and ... read more



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theRedRiver
March 1st 2013

I was traveling in the Central Highlands of Vietnam by local bus and motorbike during the last four days (25 to 28 February 2013). It was my third visit to this interesting region. My last two trips were made in 1998 and 2009. On this trip I visited four provinces, two of them are located in the Central Highlands, and they were the last provinces of Vietnam in my must-see list. Now I can say that I have been to all the 63 provinces of Vietnam. It took me 17 years to make this dream come true. As the motorbike taxi service was expensive, I couldn’t go to the villages of the ethnic minority people who live far from the towns. I took local buses to the major city/town of the provinces and walked around to ... read more



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theRedRiver
February 23rd 2013

Twenty years had passed since my first trip to Sài Gòn (aka Hồ Chí Minh city). In March 1993 when I visited the city for the first time, I didn't hear much northern accent, but now I could hear northern, central and southern accents everywhere. The city's population is now 10 million people. Many of them are immigrants from other provinces. Like a Vietnamese saying "Đất lành chim đậu" (a peaceful land where birds fly to), Sài Gòn is the most developed city in Vietnam. It is also a good place to do business and investment. There are more opportunities and various choices for the people to find jobs and develop their careers. During the past 20 years, I have made about 20 trips to Sài Gòn, sometimes on business, but most of the time I ... read more



Biên Hòa city

Published: February 21st 2013Asia » Vietnam » Southeast » Dong Nai » Bien Hoa
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theRedRiver
February 20th 2013

18 & 19 February 2013 - This is Part 3 of my 6-day solo trip in southern Vietnam by local bus and motorbike. When I arrived in Trà Vinh city in the Mekong Delta, I saw a board with word “Đồng Nai” at the bus station. I decided to make a short visit to this province before going back to Sài Gòn. Biên Hòa is the capital city of Đồng Nai province. It is located 60km from Sài Gòn. There are some industrial parks in this province and many northern Vietnamese work there. I have passed by this province several times before but never really visited it. The bus ride from Sài Gòn (Bến xe miền Tây bus station) to Biên Hóa (Bus No. 601) takes two hours although the distance is only 60km. A bus ... read more



Trà Vinh city

Published: February 22nd 2013Asia » Vietnam » Mekong River Delta » Tra Vinh
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theRedRiver
February 18th 2013

17 & 18 February 2013 - This is Part 2 of my 6-day solo trip in southern Vietnam by local bus and motorbike. I traveled from Rạch Giá to Cần Thơ by bus and stayed a night in this city. Cần Thơ is the biggest city in the Mekong Delta. I have been to this city three times before, so I didn’t spend much time there. Next morning I took a bus to Trà Vinh province. This is the 61th province in Vietnam that I visited. Trà Vinh is a poor province in the Mekong Delta. 70% of the population are Khmer ethnic minority people. It took me two and a half hours to travel 110km from Cần Thơ to Trà Vinh city. I hired a motorbike taxi driver at the bus station to show me ... read more



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theRedRiver
February 18th 2013

14 to 16 February 2013 - This is Part 1 of my 6-day solo trip in the Mekong Delta from 14 to 19 February 2013. On this trip I traveled by local bus and motorbike. I have been to the Mekong Delta many times in the past, however there were some new places I wished to see. After I celebrated the New Year’s Eve (Tết) with my family in Sài Gòn and made a short trip to Phnom Penh, I took a bus to Hà Tiên. This town is located 342km southwest of Sài Gòn and only 7km from the Vietnam – Cambodia international border crossing. It is also famous for beaches and beautiful landscape. I left my passport in Sài Gòn, so it was pity I couldn’t make a trip to Kep, Kampot and Sihanoukville, ... read more



Phnom Penh

Published: February 13th 2013Asia » Cambodia » South » Phnom Penh
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theRedRiver
February 13th 2013

11 & 12 February 2013 – I traveled with my parents to Phnom Penh. It is 10 years since my first trip to Cambodia in December 2002, so it has been developed since those days. My parents are at age 70s, so they cannot travel overland to Siem Reap (700km from Sài Gòn to Siem Reap). We decided to make a short trip to Phnom Penh and it’s inexpensive to travel by bus. When we went to Sapaco bus company, the tickets were sold out before the holiday (Tết new year in Vietnam). We had to pay more for bus tickets at Sinh Tourist and we also booked a triple room for a night. We left Sài Gòn for Phnom Penh at 6:40am on the second day of Tết. There were four Sinh Tourist buses going ... read more



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theRedRiver
February 10th 2013

Greetings from Sài Gòn and Happy New Year! This is a special Tết (Vietnamese lunar new year) for our family. My sister, who lives in Sài Gòn, had a baby boy two months ago. My nephew is half Vietnamese and half Swedish as my sister married a Swedish man working in the same company two years ago. We decided that all members of our family would fly from Hanoi to Sài Gòn and celebrate Tết with her this year. We had never experienced Tết in Sài Gòn, so this would be an interesting experience for all of us, as my sister always flew back to Hanoi and celebrated new year with our family. Saturday 9 February 2013 was the last day of the old year (the Year of the Dragon). It is so hot in southern ... read more



Five years on Travel Blog

Published: January 7th 2010Asia » Vietnam » Red River Delta » Hanoi
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theRedRiver
January 7th 2013

7 January 2013 - Time flies so fast. It has been 5 years since I joined Travel Blog, but I feel like it was just yesterday. Over the past 5 years, I have made 8 trips abroad to 8 countries and uncountable trips in Vietnam. I have also published 166 blogs and uploaded 6,300 photos. Today I celebrate my 5 year participation in Travel Blog. I would like to thank Alistair (the founder of Travel Blog) again for his help so many times and for his great works to develop this website. I would also like to take this chance to thank 120 regular readers who have recommended me and followed my travel stories for a long time. How did I find out this website? Back to January 2008. I had been a regular poster on ... read more






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