Blogs from Vietnam, Asia - page 1358

Finally, we left Bangkok for Hanoi. The flight took only an hour and 50 minutes. The guesthouse arranged a taxi to collect us at the airport (US$10) and it was very convenient. The drive took one hour to reach the guesthouse which was more or less a converted shophouse. Cloudy, humid, and cool, Hanoi is a pleasant city. Most people motorbike around, honking at everything they see. There are Toyotas, Daewoos, and a few Mercedez. Crossing the streets require a lot of care, but it's not as dangerous as it looks. So far, everyone we encoutered have been pleasant, which was surprising as we heard so much bad things about Vietnamese. We find people here charming, helpful and full of smiles. And things are cheap here, cheaper than Bangkok. We are told that most products in ... read more

Happy birthday!... read more

Hue is an interesting city, with the Perfume River neatly disecting the city and as the former capitol of the counrty, the heart of the city surrounded by a defensive fortifation consisting of an enormous brick wall that runs a total of 6 miles around. On top of all this, is a fortified citadel is a walled off area within the walled of area that encloses several acres. All in all, the city provides ample fair for just nosing about. On my first day spent my time wandering the streets and poking around some fairly interesting museums. The following day, on the recommendation of some friends, I bought a ticket to the citadel. The city of Hue was fiercly contested in the Vietnam War, and as a result of the heavy bombing a large part of ... read more

4th - 7th April Having arrived in Lao Cai train station we got a bus to Sapa and found a bargain of a room. They dropped us off at a new hotel and because they were so desperate for customers they halved the price of the room. We got a brand new, really nice room in a hotel with an amazing view overlooking the valley for $6! Sweet. Today was really just about getting to know Sapa and finding the right trek. We wanted to find a trek that would take us to the middle of no where and we explained that we didn't want to see another tourist for 3 days. We eventually found a place offering this and took it. After which we climbed this rather large hill that looks over the valley ... read more

Leaving Nha Trang at some ridiculous time of the morning (Ok it was scheduled to leave early but didn't) we spent over 12 hours stuck on a bus with a driver with smelly feet to reach Hoi An. Actually, it wasn't that bad and the countryside made it all worthwhile. Arriving in Hoi An it seemed like every foreign tourist had converged on the City with most hostels and guesthouses full or charging inane prices. After an hour or two wandering round (lucky we had all the beautiful lanterns to light our way) we did manage to find a place and come morning were moved to an even nicer room with a great view over the rooftops. The best of Hoi An was just wandering round the Old Town, checking out the temples, assembly halls, and ... read more