Blogs from Red River Delta, Vietnam, Asia - page 11

Geo: 21.0243, 105.855Vietnam Standard Time, or VST for short, is defined as UTC + 7. However, it's not always about time zones when used in reference to developing nations. Quite often, it's a joke - India is a prime example, where people jokingly define Indian Standard Time as how Indians are always late for everything! So Vietnam would surely be the same, right? You would never expect for anything to be on time in a country like Vietnam, where its discount air carrier is a comedy of errors. Check online, and there are nothing but negative reviews of VietJet, where delays of 5-6 hours are not uncommon, unacceptable given the fact that flights within Vietnam are never more than a couple of hours. The staff occasionally even jokingly explain that the delays are due to the ... read more

We arrived here late at night on the 24/9 to check in to our quaintly, glamorous, character, Essence Palace Hotel in the Old Quarter of Hanoi. As it was a Saturday night the Old Quarter was humming. It's a maze of narrow streets and alleys and they were jammed tight with, of course, motor scooters along with any other vehicles that were mad enough to brave it, mainly taxis like ours. Our room is small so we have requested an upgrade and they have obliged but not until the last two days as they are full. The staff were warm and welcoming. Went to bed. Next day Lyn left for work at 8.15. The life of the overseas international recruiter is not all glamorous! She had an Educational Fair in another hotel a few kilometres away. ... read more

The French quarter borders lake Hoan kiem to the south east and is an altogether quieter and more sophisticated part of the city with wide, tree-lined boulevards, and flash hotels and eateries and shops to keep the rich from getting bored. It has none of the hustle and bustle and vibrancy of the narrow streets of the Old Quarter. The grandest of the hotels looks to be the Hotel Metropole, built in 1901, with Bentleys, Mercedes and Lexus parked outside it is still the place to see and be seen. As in Paris, the streets in the French quarter all converge on one spot, in this case at the very elegant Opera House. After stopping for coffee in a cafe in the park beside the opera house it was back to reality and a lunch of ... read more

Packed our bags and checked out of the hotel then headed off to the Vietnamese women's museum which, from the posters in the entrance way looked suspiciously like the museum of hairy legged feminism but did in fact turn out to be very interesting. It covered everything from the varying marriage customs in the differing ethnic groups through child birth, naming ceremonies and bringing up of children. They also covered off the Vietnamese women's part in the various conflicts and the dress and customs of the many ethnic minorities. Well worth having a look despite initial impressions. At that point we were in dire need of sustenance and found a great patisserie just over the road. Suitably fortified with freshly baked croissants and all manner of other goodies along with a couple of coffees we ventured ... read more

Yesterday was another test of endurance with a 14 hour train trip. It wasn't all bad though, the scenery in the north of Vietnam is very different to the Plains and rice fields of the South. They still have rice fields but also have stunning mountains and karsts and rivers flowing through narrow valleys with water buffalo everywhere. The journey was also made more bearable by the 12 year old girl in the seat next who had been learning English at school for only 2 years but was a great conversationalist. With a bit of help from Google translate we got on famously as she told me all about Vietnam, Ba Na hill station in particular, where her family had just been on holiday, and Vinh city where she lives. As we neared Vinh city she ... read more