Blogs from Hanoi, Red River Delta, Vietnam, Asia - page 3

In Hanoi we were staying in an exquisite little place, the Essence Spa Hotel, right in the heart of the Old Quarter. We had stayed at it's sister hotel here last time, the Essence Palace, and had enjoyed it so much we booked again not realising there were two of them. Initially we were disappointed at the change but realised after a day or two that it was probably an even better choice but not by much. Both are in the Old Quarter and right in the heart of the hustle and bustle of naked commerce and gritty daily life. It’s been much cooler in Hanoi than Saigon. Almost half the temperature - one day’s high 19° compared to 31 in Saigon. It has warmed up over the few days getting up to 29 now. Lyn ... read more

Pour que Noël reste La fête magique de l'année, nous avons décidé qu'elle le soit pleinement ! Nous n'avons plus vu Leslie depuis bientôt 3 ans 1/2... trop c'est trop... alors prenons l'avion et fonçons vers le bonheur.... Noël réunira aussi le frère et la soeur cette année... Deux fois plutôt qu'une : OUI Noël sera LA fête de l'année... Leur maman a tout de suite réagi positivement à l'annonce de notre visite... Nous sommes attendus LES bras ouverts ! Ceux qui voyagent avec nous de par ce blog savent que nous ne partons jamais quelque part sans passer par autre part.... Nous arrivons donc à Hanoi afin de connaître cette partie du pays que nous ne connaissons pas encore... pour continuer notre route vers Saigon en une dizaine de jours... Tout un chemin afin que ... read more

They say the third time is a charm. Well, this is my third visit (and perhaps last visit) to the famous French colonial city in the north of Vietnam, Hanoi. What is it about Hanoi? Food, buzzing night life, silk, friendly young people, crazy traffic, exquisite handicrafts, it all adds up to a few days on interesting meals and adventures. I have a feeling we will be concentrating on the food. But the beer and coffee are also quite good here. But the food, yes, the influence of the French, the culturally bound food and traditions, the newer cuisine. It adds up to lots of eating and drinking. We have already tried some of the better places in the city. It is time to check out the lesser known, and perhaps more innovative cuisine of this ... read more

Can you believe this? According to the Traffic police department, in 2016, there were more than 21 000 traffic accidents and almost 9000 people died. So, there are around 24.5 people die per day because of traffic accidents in Vietnam. This number doesn’t include injured people. I do not want to scare you with those numbers, but I must admit that traffic accidents happen regularly in Vietnam. We have driven through parts of Vietnam, from Hanoi to Halong Bay, for instance. And a few other side ... read more

If you visit North Vietnam, it's hard not to use Hanoi as as base. Luckily, the Old Quarter alone has plenty to see. The streets are pretty crowded with motorbikes but it isn't too hard to walk around. I had been in India before this though, so it's all relative. When you walk into a street and a motorbike is coming, they don't speed up, blare on the horn, ride directly at you, and swerve at the last moment; instead, they slow down as if you're a human being. Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum was closed when I walked there on a Friday, so I'm batting 1000 after missing Lenin the same way a few years ago. But the complex around the site is nice for a walk, as international embassy areas usually are. The 1-mile loop ... read more