Blogs from Vietnam, Asia - page 1332

It’s been a while now since I was in Sapa or at least it seems like it although it’s only been a week. So much has happened since getting to Hanoi. However, I want to talk about Sapa before getting on to the rest. I got up to Sapa after crossing the border from China at Lao Cai on June 1st and I spent three days just wandering around the area and getting used to Vietnam. The highlight was on the second day, when I rented a motorbike and spent the riding through the hills past water falls and small villages, but also down into the valley to see some of the tribal villages of the Hmong and Dzao people. Sapa is only 50 kilometers or so away from the Chinese border, up in the mountains. ... read more

We had to spend 4 days in Hanoi to await our visa extensions - yes, that's how long it take and it costs USD20 each, and you have to go through your guesthouse - there is no option to arrange it directly with Immigration. So we thought we'd make the most of it and explore by foot, as is our wont. Hanoi is a lovely city with a beautiful lake and parks - some of them you need to pay an entrance fee to enter. We found sanctuary from the noisy streets in a little roof terrace restaurant whose staff we befriended over the few days we were there (Ning Bia). It was a great place to watch the daily life on the street in Hanoi - I was mesmerised one afternoon watching the motorbikes carrying ... read more

Spit. Roasted. Dog. No. I couldn't believe it either..so much for stereotypes not living up to reality..drifting along the narrow channels of the delta region near Can Tho brought a thousands sights but its this one that my mind keeps returning to and makes me blurt out at not entirely appropriate times 'can't believe we saw dog bbq!'. smelled damn good btw. needless to say it wasn't another addition to my list of new food i've experimented with... 5:30am sunrise over the Mekong chilled me out to the point i nearly lolled over the side of the tiny wooden boat we had commandeered...and the floating markets with their barges packed to the hilt with thousands of pineapples, melons, and unidentifyable fruit had my mouth watering... even at that time the river was teeming with life...people ... read more

More pics from HCMC, mostly from the War Remanants museum. There were alot of disturbing pictures that capturing them on my digicam won't do them justice so I opted rather remember them in my mind where it is much more alive. So just happy pictures (mostly)... read more

Sunday 11th June Paul - A late night once again with Argentina Vs Ivory Coast getting a watch. Reasonable game, much better than England Vs Paraguay. Even the Vietnamese were not impressed with the English, one guy describing them as "fucking horrible, I betted 20,000 dong on them to win by more than two!". Pretty much spot on for someone who's first language definately isn't English. Peter Crouch should not be in the team for the next game, he just cannot play at International Level. And Lampard and Gerrard as a centre midfield partnership just does not work but I think Sven is oblivious to this. Anyway... Seems like Vietnam is completely football crazy! Big screens on the beach and everyone seems to be playing football at every opportunity.Which makes for a cracking atmosphere for ... read more