Blogs from Vietnam, Asia - page 1338

We were b-aaad. How else can I describe the experience of having this kind of purchasing power??? 3 suits, 6 shirts, linen pants, car coat for Thai and 2 suits, silk suit, 4 shirts, pants, chinese jacket, 2 silk dresses and a hand painted Ao Dai (traditional Vietnamese dress) for Bianca. All custom made and tailored in 2 DAYS for far far less than one suit from Holt Renfrew!!! You want stress try explaining hand stitched lapels and coin pockets in your jacket pockets to a Vietnamese woman who is wheeling and dealing with 5 different customers at the same time. Na, our tailor, was on fire. She was not afraid to tell you if she didn't think something would suit you, and would bark orders to her "people" in rapid speed. She had a memory ... read more

The last few days we spent in Hanoi included a trip to see the Thang Long water puppet theatre just on the edge of Hoan Kiem Lake and around the corner from our hotel. I’d seen the show before and knew the kids would like it. Will was especially thrilled with some of the animal puppets. Viv thought it was just “ok”. The puppeteers are behind a screen working the puppets in front. The whole thing takes place in a pool of water. On the side is a group of musicians and singers. Sorry, I didn’t take the camera, but next time I will. It’s a great folk art from the rice paddies of Vietnam. After a week Hanoi, we succeeded in doing what we had planned to do, namely meet the people at the university, ... read more

Hanoi, Vietnam. There are loads of 'bia hoi' (fresh beer) joints that sell really good draught beer that's brewed without preservatives... the beers cost 7 pence (yes, seven!) per glass! Needless to say, we spent rather a lot of our time at such establishments, and due to the lack of preservatives, the hangovers were not to bad either... hurrah!!!... read more

We've been here for a few days now, spent 3 nights in the city and did a couple days in Halong Bay (write about there in another blog). We've added photos to the last Bangkok blog as well for you to check out. We arrived the night of the 28th (Saturday) on a late flight. Eight of us non-Asians ended up congregating together after the baggage claim, all kind of looking around to figure out where we go, where we get money, and turning away the touts trying to offer us rides. We ended up getting a taxi with an English couple. They had actually booked a room at a hotel so we figured we'd just try to stay at the same one since it was nearly 10pm. Kind of dodgy getting a taxi, and we ... read more

We arrived right in the middle of the backpacker area of Saigon (as the locals still refer to it) in the early evening giving us enough time to check into a guesthouse and get some food before getting some much-needed sleep. The Pham Ngu Lao area (still no idea how you say it!) is definitely geared up to tourists - plenty of western food and crafts shops - but has it's fair share of locals enjoying the cheap beer so it's a pretty nice atmosphere. On our first full day here we decided to visit the War Crimes Museum which is an undeniably one-sided look at the Vietnam war (it used to be called the Musem of Chinese and American War Crimes) and doesn't give a particularly good overview of the war, but it has some ... read more