Blogs from Đống Đa District, Hanoi, Red River Delta, Vietnam, Asia

How many of you have stayed at a hotel, AirBnB, rental condo, or hostel that has a free book library? By free book, I mean leaving a book of yours, and taking a different one. Other names for these are free community library, free lending library, and take one, leave one. I have seen them in other places as well, on cute little Cul de sacs in my neighborhood, the YMCA, and Friends of the Library. Trading books has probably been around even before the public library. Maybe old Ben Franklin was onto something? Though it is contested, most of us credit Ben Franklin in 1731 for starting the first free public library in the (future) United States. Growing up, we always had a library card. On Fridays, when my Mom did the weekly grocery shopping, ... read more

So here we are in Hanoi. The capital of Vietnam. It was from here Ho Chi Minh led the Viet Kong to victory in what locals refer to as the American War. You can see his preserved remains in an imposing citadel in the city centre. We didn't get to see him last time we were here, but this time, if it's on the cards, we shall pay ’Uncle Ho’ a visit on the 2nd of April. For now, we're all settled in the Belle Vie Hotel and have had an initial exploratory stroll around the city. Hanoi is just as I remember it. That is utter, utter madness. A symphony of chaos that’s rapidly running down to inevitable entropy as the city eventually becomes chock full. It‘s not massively attractive either. It has an incoherent ... read more

24 hours ago I was standing outside Harrison's departure gate in Auckland International airport wondering to myself, why and what the hell am I doing? Unfortunately the waves of being homesick hit hard, and right now, I don't understand what made me want to fly to S.E Asia all by myself. I'm hoping that a decent nights sleep and some local street food (I know, I know) will ease my anxiety. Little things that I have come to realise so far - I packed WAY TOO MUCH - Walking around isn't as scary as people say, condensed milk in coffee is amazing. My first personal motto is 'This is my trip and I can do what I want'. Let me explain; After dropping my outrageously big bag in my hostel locker, I put on my brave ... read more

Ich steige in den fahrenden Bus ein. Mitten auf der Straße war jemand ausgestiegen um mir beim Einladen meines Rucksacks zu helfen. Anschließend wurde ich die Treppen in den großen Bus hochgeschoben. Ich laufe durch den vollen, klimatisierten Bus und setze mich auf einen der freien Plätze auf der Rückbank. Der Bus ist voll mit Chinesen. Wir fahren durch die Stadt und es steigen noch einige wenige Europäer zu. Gequetscht sitzen wir im kalten Bus und fahren Richtung Halong Bucht. Wir halten nach 90 Minuten an einem touristischen Shop mit überzogenen Preisen bevor es weitergeht. Nach 3 Stunden trifft der Bus in der Bucht ein. Die einzigen wenigen Reisenden in meinem Alter steigen aus und werden einer neuen Reisegruppe zugeteilt. An der Bucht tummeln sich Menschenmassen, die warten auf ihre Boote gebracht zu werden. Ich sitze ... read more

We Arrived here in Hanoi at 6 am. The hotel said we couldnt check in till 10 or so , so they let us use thier spa to shower in what a treat that was. Than we had breakfast had about 200 items on buffet so from strvation to gluttony!! Susie says more tthan 200 costs 20 bucks but means we only eat once s day normally just snack the rest of day. hai loa prision is a block from our hotel sio we spent an hour touring it It was openeded in 1890s held revolutionaries over the years and during the vietnam war held American pilots including Sen McCain fior 5 years it was not a nice place They put dissidents in shackles in celks somr were shot or giuiitioned back in the 30s , ... read more