Blogs from Northwest, Vietnam, Asia - page 2

Hành trình chinh phục những đỉnh núi... Hành trình đó ư- hành trình khiến tôi hết sức kinh ngạc vì vẻ đẹp tuyệt vời của Việt Nam- mảnh đất nơi tôi sinh ra và lớn lên. Bắt đầu từ Hải Dương- Bắc Giang- Lạng Sơn- Bắc Cạn- Cao Bằng- Hà Giang- Lào Cai- Lai Châu- Điện Biên- Lào:). Hành trình đó khiến tôi ngạc nhiên như thế này nè: - Cảnh hồ Ba Bể đẹp yên bình từ làng nhà sàn ven hồ. - Là khu chợ miền núi rẻ kinh khủng với đủ thứ đồ ăn - Là Cao Bằng - vẻ đẹp khiến tôi ngạc nhiên- xét về tổng thể tôi thích Cao Bằng nhất trong tất cả các tỉnh phía Bắc vì chưa có nhiều khách du lịch, thác Bản Giốc bọt tung ... read more

Any one whose been to Halong Bay probably gets the significance of the number 1,969. Its the recorded number of islands in Halong Bay. But we had to get there first. Early Wednesday morning in Hanoi and feeling very organised. Packs closed and locked and heading up for breakfast at 7:30am. Bit over the breakfasts at the May De Ville. Three is enough. Food is good and there is a chef doing fresh eggs (cooking, not laying) and omelettes. Just time for a change. There's a first world problem right there, bored with your breakfast options. Driver was picking us up at 8:30 am. He, rather 'the gang' turned up at 8:20 am. We were ready. The gang is 18 of our travel companions for the next day or so. Lots of Australians, trio of Argentinian ... read more

Es ist 3:30 und ich sitze in einem australischen Pub in Hanoi. Vergeblich habe ich versucht etwas zu bestellen, doch die Bedienung schläft neben mir auf dem Sofa. Um 8:00 werde ich für eine 3-Tages-Tour in die Halong Bucht abgeholt und kann die letzten Tage daher nochmal Revuee passieren lassen. Am Donnerstag Abend hatte ich den Nachtbus nach Hanoi genommen. Bereits um 6:30 kam ich in der Hauptstadt Vietnams an. Ich setzte mich in ein kleines Straßencafe. Gegen 9:00 suchte ich das Büro von Manh auf. Bei ihm hatte ich via Facebook meine Touren nach Sapa und den Bootstrip in die Halong Bucht gebucht. Ich entledigte mich meines schweren Gepäcks und machte mich auf ins Getümmel. Es war bewölkt, doch es war trocken! Ein absolutes Highlight nach vielen Regentagen. Ich lief durch die vielen kleinen Straßen, ... read more

It feels like an injustice to write about the two highlights of Vietnam in one post; but alas, that is how things have come to pass. It does however, leave no doubt that I have saved Vietnam's best for last. The first of Vietnam's two blockbusters involved taking a bus-boat-bus - a bit more developed than the jeep-boat-jeep that I took in Costa Rica - to Cat Ba Island, which will soon be just one bus, once a new mega-long bridge is completed that will reduce the journey from Hanoi to a mere two hours. However, it wasn't Cat Ba Island itself that was the main attraction (even if it does have some sights of its own as well as a plethora of activities to try), but the famous archipelago of Ha Long Bay. Most tourists ... read more

We left Hanoi for the four hour drive to Mai Chau on a small tourist bus, US$18 a seat, and it was not the most comfortable trip as the seats were small, made for tiny Asian frames. And they are small people. Even in today's modern world with different eating habits and more money they all are lovely and slim. The rest of the passengers were young backpackers on a two day tour to the region - as usual they slept all the way or fiddled with their phones. Not that there was a lot to see for the first couple of hours as we were just driving along the main highway. The Mai Chau valley is 135 klms from Hanoi and is renowned for its' stilt houses and rice fields. The small town of Mai ... read more