Blogs from North Central Coast, Vietnam, Asia - page 7

L'arrivée à Dalat, ville du Sud Vietnam est très dépaysante. J'ai en effet plus l'impression d'être arrivé dans les Alpes que nulle part ailleurs. La température a chuté d'une petite dizaine de degrés, les routes montagneuses sont devenues sinueuses et escarpées, et des forêts de pins bordent maintenant la route. Avec son marché fourni et la petite rivière qui serpente un peu partout, la ville en elle même est plutôt sympa et possède un charme certain. J'y retrouve Nils et Louise que j'avais croisés au Cambodge quelques jours plus tôt. Contrairement à moi, ils bossent en voyageant, sur un projet consistant à faire un reportage sur une action citoyenne à vertu sociale et/ou écologique dans chaque pays qu'ils visitent. Je les ai raté en Thaïlande et rapidement croisés au Cambodge, mais je les retrouve un peu ... read more

We arrived at our hostel in Da Nang, which is another coastal city. We got settled and went out for another motorbike ride. We had spent a little over $5 on the motorbike rental and wanted to get the full value of the money out of it, after all. We drove along the coast up to the peninsula. On the way, it started raining, so we pulled over at a little cafe where no one spoke English. I tried to ask for coffee. I tried to ask for Coca Cola. I tried to ask for tea. They gave me warm beer. Once it stopped raining, we continued on up some mountain roads with beautiful views of Da Nang. We drove up a very sketchy steep narrow concrete road for a long time. At one point, the ... read more

We mastered walking across the streets. Once you see a 3 Metre break among the buses, scooters and bikes you just walk straight ahead in a steady pace. Works best when there's someone bigger and taller than you or an elderly Vietnamese person leading the way. We saw typical tourist spots provided by Viking: Ho chi Minh mausoleum, palace and regular living quarters, the Temple of Learning, and Museum of Vietnamese ethnology (good gift shop). The rest of the time the 4 of us wader ed through the old town and around the lake taking a thousand pictures of people carrying outrageous amounts of things on scooters, people squatting on tiny stools having lunch, interesting items to sell, people welding, sewing, painting, building right on the sidewalk. In fact sidewalks were either scooter parking lots, food ... read more

Early start. I waLked In and proceeded in to Terminal 1 @ Narita and I was one of three people there. It was really really early when I got there. I checked and headed to Tully's for a Caffè mocha and a donut. After an hour I checked in to the counter and located the Secretariat for our trip. Two hours later we were on our way. The flight was 5 hours but smooth. They served lunch, hot, on real plates. I met a new frnd Sahito. A very nice young guy who was headed to Hanoi for vacation. We got to know one another during the flight to pass time. Five hours later we landed. Immigration lines were terrible and long. behind me was a trio folks who didn't believe in giving one their personal ... read more

Saturday, 4 July we had a 3.5 hr transfer by car via Danang which looks like an up and coming seaside destination. After unpacking we walked into Hoi An and visited the Old Town. First stop was a Japanese enclosed bridge first constructed 1590. It was flattened by the French to enable vehicles to cross but was restored in 1986. Hoi An is a mecca for clothes shoppers, especially those wanting tailored suits. Next we visited a typical Viet house, Tan Ky House -owned by same family for 7 generations. In 1964 it was flooded to above my height as shown by a marker on the wall. There were also Chinese poems in inlaid mother of pearl On the walls. From there we walked to Quan Than House which is 3 centuries old, again with Chinese ... read more