Blogs from Hoa Binh, Northwest, Vietnam, Asia

Hoi An, this little city was once considered the best port city for trade by Chinese and Japanese merchants. The Hoi An lantern festival is very popular but during the current Covid situation the number of lanterns and visitors were much reduced but despite that it was still very magical and with a boat trip along the river where Hieu & Spring set two lanterns into the river, giving special offerings and good wishes to particular members of the voyagers on board. A very poignant moment. This tradition started centuries ago, where on the full moon people from all over the region would come to participate. Our tour ended in a beautiful coffee shop where we had views across this ancient town.... read more

Mai Chau dalen en langstrakt dal hvor der bor flere af de i alt 54 forskellige etniske minoriteter. For at få et indtryk af de forskellige minoriteter besøgte vi flere familier og blev inviteret ind og se deres beboelse. Husene var bygget på pæle da der i flere tilfælde har været oversvømmelse i dalen. Denne byggestil er blevet udviklet over mange hundrede år og bruges af flere forskellige minoriteter. Første besøg var en frokost hos en Hvid Thai familie. Efter frokosten fik vi lov til at gå op på første sal for at se deres beboelse. Den består en sove afdeling og et familie alter og et skab med TV og familiens få egendele. Efter besøget gik vi en smuk tur langs rismarkerne hvor man er i gang med at afslutte høsten og vandbøflerne for lov ... read more

As I gaze out of the doors across the paddy fields my thoughts remain indistinct. Gauzy, flimsy and somewhat opaque - like the mosquito net covering our mattress in the communal stilt house in Mai Chau. Not quite the homestay I had imagined but is anything what we really imagine? Yesterday we had cycled 14km around the local villages and paddy fields ending up in the market, a bustling, thriving centre for Tet purchases. We had bought baskets of goodies for our homestays back in Hanoi, joining in the spirit of things, watching the locals stock up on food for the four day celebration. We ate com lam, a winter delicacy of sticky rice rammed into a bamboo holder and grilled until cooked served with peanuts and salt and sipped dark caramel flavoured Vietnamese coffee. At ... read more

Následující kapitola pojednává o tom, jak se naši výletníci konečně vymaní z gravitační sféry Hanoje a zamíří na jih. Po několika desítkách kilometrů rovně mezi banány zahnou doprava opět do kopců mezi národnostní menšiny. Tentokrát zamíří mezi Muongy a Bílé Thaje, v jejichž tradičním obydlí na kůlech stráví noc. V této kapitole dojde rovněž k jednomu nečekanému a dramatickému zvratu. (Sledujte bedlivě fotodokumentaci.) Když jsme z Viet Tri (čti Vietči) dorazili do Hoa Binh, byli jsme ohromeni monumentalitou zdejší socialistické architektury (jde o hl. město celé oblasti) a tvrdostí našich sedel. Abychom ulevili otlačeným zadnicím a namoženým kvadricepsům, rozhodli jsme se zůstat ve městě 2 dny a navštívit nedaleké vyhlášené termální prameny. Vyrazili jsme tedy nalehko nějakých 30 kiláčků boční silnicí malebně se vinoucí mezi kopečky. Zde se patří zmínit jistou skutečnost. Štěpán m... read more

Weekend 12 to 14 September 2014 - My father organized a 3-day trip for our family and his friends to Kim Bôi hot spring which is located in northwest Vietnam, 80km away from Hanoi. It is exactly 6 years since my first trip to this place and I was happy to go back and see how it has changed. Kim Bôi hot spring is a popular destination for north Vietnamese from September to December, when the weather is cooler. Its mineral water is suitable for drinking, bathing and useful in medical treatments. It’s not an open air stream. The mineral water is pumped into public or private pools and you choose the pool. A ticket for public pool is VND 50,000 (about US$ 2.5). There are private pools for 2 or 13 people and they are ... read more