Blogs from Ho Chi Minh City, Southeast, Vietnam, Asia - page 16

My flight was at 6:30 am from Taipei to Ho Chi Minh City, so after sleeping in the airport, I got on the plane and passed out. Easy flight. Day 1: Immigration was a fun thing. I had gotten my letter of approval and printed it and had passport photos and knew it all cost $45. I was ready. Except turns out they only take cash, and prefer USD. I had to leave the airport illegally, waving my debit card at anyone who asked going “ATM? ATM?” I found one and then had to get back into the airport and pay them and now I have a visa for 30 days. I got a cab to my hostel and after getting lost in the wicked narrow alleyways, I made it. I walked into the hostel and ... read more

The Vietnamese are cool people. I never thought that they would invite me to fire an AK47 at the Cu Chi Tunnels and pose like Rambo on an amoured vehicle. I've crawled through over 100 metres of tiny tunnels, seen the lethal traps and hidden down holes. It's fun now, despite the sweaty heat, but it would've been a horrible way to exist back in the 60s and 70's. The day didn't start so good. I had suspected that Qatar Airlines had more nasty surprises for us, but it still was a horrible shock to be poven right when our luggage didn't arrive with us when we finally got to Ho Chi Minh almost a day late. I was suspicious that when we asked staff in Doha and Kuala Lumpa if our luggage was being sent ... read more

Flying Air China, we landed just after midnight on 09 No 15 after 21 hrs in transit Vancouver to Beijing (Peking) Beijing to HCMC (Saigon). In our transfer through Beijing Airport; we found the Beijing International Airport did not turn on the heat until Mid November; considering Beijing just had snow the day before the airport was freezing cold; passengers were huddled together trying to keep warm; and airport staff had on full length wool coats perhaps this is a policy to conserve energy and keep pollution to a minimum ( ...!~?). We were prepared for the Vietnam heat and humidity not Beijing airports freezing temperatures ... we quickly donned all fleece sweaters and vests and light raincoats in an effort to keep warm and kept walking for 4 hrs on our layover. Looking out the ... read more

Good Morning Vietnam! I’m currently on a 12 hour bus Journey From Hoi An to Nha Trang so what better time to blog about my escapades in Vietnam so far. From Singapore I flew to Hanoi In Northern Vietnam as I intend to go south and across the border to Cambodia. Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam during rush hour the traffic is horrendous. I spent a few days in Hanoi ‘acclimatising taking full advantage of the 25,000 Dong beers- the Equivalent of 80p which is a stark contrast to my drink a few days earlier in Singapore. I did manage to see some sites as the hostel I stopped at organised a free walking tour. The tour was led by a local Vietnamese girl who was studying English. It was her first time running a ... read more

Hallo meine lieben. Ist ganz schön gewöhnungsbedürftig hier mit dem Wetter... 32 Grad und 75℅ Luftfeuchtigkeit zwingen mich zum täglichen Mittagsschlaf! Aber ich bin ja auf Urlaub. Ein Wahnsinn die Stadt. Trotz weniger Sehenswürdigkeiten, wie wir sie von zu Hause her kennen ist es wirklich spannend. War heute Früh mal mit meiner Tante die Gegend erkunden... Mit dem Fahrrad.oder Straßenverkehr ist hier gar nicht so ohne... Vorbei an unzähligen Frucht Verkaufsständen weiter durchs Villenviertel und wieder zurück. Bei diesen Straßenmärkten wird der Fisch ganz frisch morgens angeliefert und liegt dann sehr hygienisch auf alten Klapptischen- fast so wie beim Interspar ;) auf der anderen Straßenseite wird er dann, unter höchsten Hygienevorschriften, am Boden filletiert. Sieht sehr einladend aus ;) Wir haben allerdings auf diese Köstlichkeiten verzichtet und sind stattdessen in ein Lokal in ... read more