Blogs from Northeast, Vietnam, Asia

Xin Chao ! Bonjour! 2h d’avion plus tard, nous voici à Haïphong, dans le nord du Viêt Nam. Instant culturel pour vous présenter la ville (source: Wikipédia): Haiphong est une ville portuaire importante depuis plusieurs siècles : c'était l'un des centres marchands du Tonkin. Les Français l'avaient surnommée la « Venise du Tonkin ». Haïphong a été fondée en 1887 par les colons français. En 1888, le président de la Troisième République française, Sadi Carnot, a promulgué un décret pour établir Haïphong. De 1954 à 1975, Haïphong est devenue la principale base navale française en Indochine. Le Sud était dédié à la famille de mon père lors de notre arrivée à Saïgon. . Le Nord est désormais consacré à la recherche de l’histoire familiale du côté de ma mère… D’après les archives de mon grand-père, mes ... read more

Y bueno aquí estamos retomando el blog despues de …. 7 años…. y no me dí ni cuenta cómo sobreviví tantos años sin viajar y la verdad es que desde que llegué a Santiago fue un poco desafiante volver a activar el instinto de viaje, he andado aún un poco torpe en cosas que antes siempre tenía presente o que pensaba de antemano, pero bueno espero ir mejorando mientras transcurre el viaje. La pasada por Santiago que pensé que me sobraría tiempo para hacer algunas cosas al final se hizo muy corta, creo que no habia considerado las distancias y el tráfico, al final se alcanza a hacer 1 o 2 cosas en el día. Pero bueno me saltaré esa parte para ir directo al día de partida, creo que este destino ha sido el que ... read more

Nathan here, staring down the clock at leaving this pristine, verdant gem of an island known as Cat Ba, the forgotten staging ground to all things Ha Long Bay, 5 minutes off the mainland coast of Vietnam's Haiphong province, due east and downriver about two hours from Hanoi. Renting a scooter instead of opting for organized tours was the way to go for us, whipping around the immaculate roadways that impressively cover most of Vietnam's rural interior, blasting tunes on bluetooth as we've yet to hit one dead spot in our $22/mo unlimited coverage mobile plans. (Side note: the Vietnamese take no issue with abusive karaoke volumes or any unresteicted decibels of Latin hip hop (its hot with the kids here, too) when it eminates from a sound stage, but roll up on a scooter and ... read more

We were woken at about 4.00am by a massive bang and we looked out to see a biblical storm going on. Thunder and lightning, which was extremely close and extremely loud. We could see the flashes of light, but not the lightning itself as there were thick, grey clouds and rain was pelting down. It wasn’t looking good for the rest of the day, particularly as we had been warned that if the lightning got too bad, we would be going back to port and the day would be a right-off. We went back to sleep and were woken by some more noise at 6.00am, but this time it was our alarm (yes, we are getting up at 6.00am on holiday) as there is Tai Chi on the deck for everyone who gets up in time. ... read more

An overnight trip through Halong Bay was a highlight of the trip. The pictures will speak for themselves and show the natural beauty of the area. I was also able to visit the Surprising Cave system, one of the biggest in Vietnam (though the biggest cave system in the world is south of here). Absolutely beautiful views, fun fellow passengers, and a cute ship made for an interesting trip.... read more