Blogs from Vietnam, Asia - page 11

I had waved goodbye to the Philippines, and was on a mission to experience all of what lower-budget Asia had to offer. Mirroring my stay in the Philippines, this was also my second ever stay in Vietnam, but this time around, all of it incorporated previously-unfamiliar cities and areas starting with the coastal resort town of Nha Trang. The town itself is something of a visitor's paradise, as the ever-popular beachfront and development flanking it is perhaps the town's main draw card. A cracking beachfront hotel made it a highly promising start to the Vietnamese episode, and the town is easily explored on foot, with enough in the way of features to make a short stay entirely worthwhile. The market area might appear somewhat rundown, but in reality, this is a town which has attracted the ... read more

Nathan here, staring down the clock at leaving this pristine, verdant gem of an island known as Cat Ba, the forgotten staging ground to all things Ha Long Bay, 5 minutes off the mainland coast of Vietnam's Haiphong province, due east and downriver about two hours from Hanoi. Renting a scooter instead of opting for organized tours was the way to go for us, whipping around the immaculate roadways that impressively cover most of Vietnam's rural interior, blasting tunes on bluetooth as we've yet to hit one dead spot in our $22/mo unlimited coverage mobile plans. (Side note: the Vietnamese take no issue with abusive karaoke volumes or any unresteicted decibels of Latin hip hop (its hot with the kids here, too) when it eminates from a sound stage, but roll up on a scooter and ... read more

I (Nathan) write this first post from a mildewy stayover we had to find in Sa Pa at 4am. Bonus: we took the night bus an hour in the wrong direction. Chalk that up to miscommunication, but its a cool misty area in the mountains at the gateway to many hill tribe communities, which is why we're here. I digress. This post is about Hanoi. The endeavor that began on 25 May at 12:05 pm in Dallas arrived at 9:50pm on 26 May, Hanoi time. The layover in Tokyo was decent considering everything is still shut down there due to Covid precautions. There was one restaurant open serving 5 things, otherwise you basically had duty free. We ate and drank well, believe it or not on the American flight to Tokyo because I requested the Hindu ... read more

Today Huy took us to the city where he grew up. Da Nang was the place where the first U.S. combat troops landed when the Marines came ashore in March 1965. Da Nang marks the halfway point between the capital in the north, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City in the south. It’s the fourth largest city in Vietnam. Huy explained how over the past 20 years the city has regenerated itself. Along with the gorgeous Han river, flowing through Da Nang city like a delicate ribbon, bridges are some of Da Nang's most famous specialties. Built in 1997 and opened in 2000, Han River Bridge is known as the first modern bridge designed by Vietnamese architects and local workers, also, the first swing bridge ever in Vietnam. Becoming a significant cultural spot, it not only ... read more

Huy took us out in a kayak to discover a cocopalm (water coconut) forest. The weather was perfect for a very relaxing trip although of course we were sitting at home while Huy was doing all the paddling. We saw the large water coconut fruits and learnt how these palms are so important for the eco system in the area. We passed a fisherman who was casting his net and who will return tomorrow & hopefully find the net full of fish. Starting near the river mouth we then went through a small narrow gate to get inside the calm waterway on our way to the abandoned village. It was very muddy as we landed, there was another small boat moored which we later found was being used by two women who were collecting vegetables from ... read more