Blogs from Red River Delta, Vietnam, Asia - page 5

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

Today we left Thailand and headed to Vietnam. Our flight out of Phuket was not until 1:30 so we leisurely ate breakfast at a nearby café before taking a taxi to the airport. Once at the airport,p we made use of our Priority Pass Lounge access and scarfed down the meager offerings available at the Phuket airport. We connected through Bangkok and again used our lounge access. The Miracle loungein Bangkok was very good. They had green curry, Brad’s favorite, and Leo beer, our favorite. We cooled our heels at the lounge for as long as we could before we boarded our flight. We touched down in Hanoi and cleared customs with our pre-arranged work visas (Habitat for Humanity required us to get a work visa). We exchanged a few USD for Dong and purchased data ... read more

Eigentlich wollte ich nach Ho Chi Minh direkt nach Dalat fahren, jedoch war das Wetter dort wirklich nicht sehr angenehm über diese Tage. Daher und auch weil Sammy, der Kollege von Kambodscha, ebenfalls bereits in Hoi An ist, buchte ich kurzerhand einen Flug und reiste nach Dalang. Von dort ging es dann nach Hoi An. Hoi An ist vor allem bekannt für seine Altstadt, die wohl als einzige vom Krieg verschont blieb. Einst wichtige Handelsstadt an der Seidenstrasse ist die Stadt heute ein Highlight in Zentral Vietnam. Ich kam bei Nacht an, sah also auf den ersten Blick nicht besonders viel und wurde direkt vor meinem Homestay ausgeladen und sogleich freundlich von der Familie begrüsst. Aus meinem Zimmer sah ich direkt auf den Fluss Hoi An, dies bemerkte ich am nächsten Morgen als ich auf der ... read more

Hanoi and Hoi An Here comes the third blog entry from our trip in Southeast Asia earlier this year. After we left Laos we went on to Vietnam. We spent almost two weeks there and we will now start telling you about what we saw and did during those days. We will this time not tell our story chronologically. We have pulled out a few things which we will write about separately. We'll start with telling you about what we did in Hanoi. Hanoi The Imperial Citadel The Imperial Citadel was part of the royal palace for 800 years from early 11th century until early 19th century. Many of the original palace buildings are not there anymore so the site isn't as grand and impressive as it could have been. But if you are in Hanoi ... read more

We have an evening flight back to HCMC so can squeeze in a whistlestop tour of Hanoi. We take a taxi to Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum. The driver takes a circuitous route; a large loop round the city followed by a full circuit of the mausoleum. Even with this detour, the fare comes to less than £2. The mausoleum is closed on Fridays, but you can still visit the complex. I hoped this would make it less crowded but it’s heaving, particularly with school groups, who all smile and wave as they pass. The complex includes the presidential palace, the house on stilts, where Ho Chi Minh preferred to live, his collection of official vehicles, a museum and One Pillar Pagoda (a pagoda built on a single pillar on a lake). The gardens where Ho Chi ... read more