Blogs from Red River Delta, Vietnam, Asia - page 9

Arriving from Haiphong into Ninh Binh after a two hour minibus ride I found a nice little hotel for the nicer price of $100,000VND and set out to wander this pleasant little city. It was the official "Liberation Day" here in Vietnam and many families were outside in the parks or on their patios eating and drinking and enjoying their time off. It was nice to see a little bit of daily life going by in front of me as I strolled. I made it to the market where all manner of produce, meats, and fish were on offer as well. Markets are always an interesting place to walk around. It seems that thier is always something someone is willing to buy and eat and I usually have no idea what it is. My reason for ... read more

Nous voilà à la fin d'un long et beau voyage à travers les pays de l'Indochine. On est à Hanoï, dans un petit guesthouse charmant, le Happy Moon, en plein cœur du vieux quartier. De notre balcon on admire la rue passablement tranquille et agitée en même temps. On aime bien cette ville, son vieux quartier grouillant jour et nuit, les grands boulevards flanqués de magnifiques arbres du quartier colonial, ses lacs et ses pagodes. Il y a un offre culinaire incroyable, pour tous les goûts et tous les budgets. On peut se promener longtemps à Hanoï sans jamais s'ennuyer. Et on peut magasiner jusqu'à l'épuisement, ha! ha! Nous avons visité le fameux Temple de la littérature (première université du Vietnam datant de l'année 1070!!!! dédiée à l'enseignement confucéen) ou les jeunes gradués viennent encore immortaliser ... read more

Our last Vietnam adventure was a four day, two night trip on a teakwood boat to Bai Tu Long Bay with Indochina Junk. Tom, always the master planner, had decided long ago that we’d be happier without a crowd of tourists, so he reserved a one-stateroom boat. Bai Tu Long Bay is a less crowded area off HaLong Bay, which has become more and more crowded with tourists over the past 9 years. Thanks to Tom’s planning, we sailed in luxury on the Princess Junk, with a crew of four (captain, mechanic, chef and guide) taking care –very good care – of us. The weather was foggy and cool, so we spent a good deal of time inside the small dining room cabin, rather than on one of the two decks. Trips out into the bays ... read more

In search of a theme for my photography I decided to take photos of washing. Not someone's dirty washing you understand, but clean and out in the sun to dry. I had once tried this before when I took my daughters to South America over 13 years ago. I had taken some classics but fairly early on our three-month trip I had left my camera in a bus. It had been so hot and I had undone my bag to get out a tissue to wipe my perspiring brow. The heat must have addled my brain. When we were at the waterfall cooling off I realised I could not find the camera in my backpack. It was never seen again and neither were the washing photos. Most of the clothes belong to small children. Worldwide they ... read more

The last few days have been hectic, with little or no WIFI. We had a few days in Vientiane ( capital of Laos), not much to say about it really, other than we said goodbye to 7 of our recent travelling companions. We had a 45 minute flight to Hanoi, take off, served a sandwich and drink, clear up and land. The immigration officials looked foreboding in their ornate uniforms, but straight through no problems. After we met the new members of the group, our guide, Charlie (well it had to be didn't it? If you don't get that then watch Good Morning Vietnam or Appocolypse Now), took us to a local restaurant where we got an entertaining entre into Vietnamese food. The walk back was even more interesting, the streets were packed with people, some ... read more