Blogs from Northwest, Vietnam, Asia - page 12

Asia » Vietnam » Northwest May 22nd 2013

The impetus for my sudden decision to take off on a brief trip around Vietnam and Laos was a ‘promotional’ air fare from Air Asia, which allowed me to get there and back for an amazing AUD400. And by flying out on a Saturday and returning on a Wednesday, I was able to get in a 10 day visit while only needing cover for 1 week of my Thursday/Friday teaching. While each flight certainly fell into the ‘no frills’ category, and the need to transit each way via KL was a bit of a pain, in general all flights were relatively painless. While I had been to Hanoi a couple of times previously, and had done the Halong Bay bit, I had never been to Sapa and had always had a desire to do so, so ... read more

That Which We Don't Have Time to Realize We've Lost - Sapa, Vietnam

Asia » Vietnam » Northwest » Lao Cai » Sapa May 13th 2013

Rice Terraces Near Cat Cat Village

jaiyen

If Sapa is the phantom presence you can never quite grasp, one whose impending absence haunts you even as you sit in the soft, quaint majesty of it's powerful mountains and sprawling valleys, then what hope is there for those of us who have come and left - can such longing ever be quenched? or will there always be a sense of emptiness for that which once was and may never be again. But that is now, sitting over the glistening lake at the entrance to the city, a lake which strangely enough we had been so busy that we had heretofore yet to acknowledge it's noble existence, now being only hours until our departure - our entrance five days earlier was much less triumphant, no great trumpeteers to mark our entrance as our somber parade ... read more

Travels with Mumma - published in World Travel Buzz

Asia » Vietnam » Northwest May 9th 2013

JoshoB

http://worldtravelbuzz.com/travels-mumma-intergenerational-travel-vietnam/... read more

Vietnam and my birthday!

Asia » Vietnam » Northwest May 9th 2013

Enjoying the street food

Boom On Tour

Wow, after 3 weeks in China I hadn't realised how much I missed talking to English speaking people! It has really made me realise just how few Westerners I didn't see in China. I made my way to Vietnam by bus, a 8 hour journey crossing the border, I was so excited as Vietnam has been on my hitlist for so long and I have heard so many great things about the country, culture and landscape. The journey was as interesting as always, I got chatting to the Vietnamese girl next to me who translated everything the driver said which was good especially when the army got on to check passports! We drove to the Chinese border, got out and got ushered into a bigger version of a golf buggy to go to immigration, passports stamped ... read more

Home stay

Asia » Vietnam » Northwest » Lao Cai » Sapa March 15th 2013

Sydney Side Jimmy

Summary: Home Stay - H'mong villiage Read more...... read more

Sa pa

Asia » Vietnam » Northwest » Lao Cai » Sapa March 14th 2013

Sydney Side Jimmy

Summary: Hanoi to Lao Cai Read more...... read more

Vietnam...travel route

Asia » Vietnam » Northwest March 14th 2013

Suoi Tien Theme Park

60 degrees north

After months of research for our second road trip through Vietnam we decided on the following circuit. Saigon 3 nights : The Evergreen Hotel - great, clean, location location, helpful staff, upgrade and interesting for meandering. Park outside. Dal Lat 3 nights : Dreams 1 - Domestic flight with VASCO one way - clean, brilliant breakfast, jacuzzi is a bonus, location ok, good for meandering 2 nights would be enough. Picked up with Vietnam-easyriders.com for 4 day pillion back through the highlands down Cambodian border back to Saigon......Lee, Chau and Quang were brilliant with us old foggies. Use this company it is very good and Lee helped with the Dreams booking for me. Saigon 2 nights : The Four Roses Hotel - love this place in district 3. French theme but old fashioned character very house ... read more

Hanoi

Asia » Vietnam » Northwest March 11th 2013

image

Steml02

The bus ride that I was suppose to fear was pleasant enough. I passed out and before I knew it I was there. Where are these horror stories coming from? With a destination in mind I grabbed my bags and started walking, but not before chewing down on some more street food. I "chatted" it up with some locals who knows what they were having me say and then moved on. I found my hostel and instantly started working on getting my flit home so I could run to get my India visa. Time flies when you have a deadline and the Internet is crazy. With 30minutes to spare the first public form of transportation I chose to take outside of the main buses dropped me off at the French embassy. I ran to the Indian ... read more

India Visa in Hanoi

Asia » Vietnam » Northwest March 11th 2013

Steml02

I apparently don't know what region any of the places in Vietnam I went to are in, but I'm talking about Hanoi! Ok I figured I'd write this in case anyone else is in need of info for getting their India visa while vacationing in Hanoi. Turns out it is incredibly easy to get your visa, it just takes a few days. First fill out the online application and print it out. When you are filling it out make sure you have the right embassy. I had originally filled it out for Bangkok and needed to do it a second time for Hanoi. You have to have your flights in and out of the country booked and have a copy of those plans along with where you are planning to stay. It says you need two ... read more

Byebye Vietnam

Asia » Vietnam » Northwest » Lao Cai » Sapa March 9th 2013

Rizieres en terrasses

Agadou Nguyen

Allo tout le monde J'ai quitte le Vietnam le 7 mars avec une pointe de nostalgie. J'ai beaucoup aime le pays et j'aurais aime rester plus longtemps mais de nouvelles destinations m'attendaient! Avant de partir, nous sommes alles a Sapa passer 3 jours. On a pris le train de nuit et en arrivant, on avait booke une randonnee de 2 jours dans les petits villages autour avec nuit chez l'habitant. C'etait vraiment magnifique! On se promenait a travers les rizieres en terrasses. Le seul hic, c'est qu'il n'y avait pas de riz qui poussait snif snif, moi qui croyait que j'allais enfin voir ca. On etait trop tot, le riz est cultive seulement une fois par annee dans cette region puisqu'il fait plus froid. Je devrai donc revenir entre mai et septembre :) Dans la journee, ... read more

Brief history of Vietnam

The conquest of Vietnam by France began in 1858 and was completed by 1884. It became part of French Indochina in 1887. Independence was declared after World War II, but the French continued to rule until 1954 when they were defeated by Communist forc...more history

Forum Topics for Northwest

Ba Na Hill Station Vie...Posts: 1

Advice on how to travel...Posts: 9

Visa helpPosts: 22

Where/when to go in a 2...Posts: 21

Help with Travel Plans ...Posts: 15

Some General Questions ...Posts: 11

Need your advicePosts: 4

2 Motorbikes RequiredPosts: 9

Help in planning a rout...Posts: 3

Blogs of travel with ch...Posts: 9

To the ones who love tr...Posts: 1