Arrival into the City of Hue - It was evening and we were greeted with exceptional service by the service staff of our hotel called, Villa Hue. It is actually a training hotel for tourism in Vietnam. However, you would not recognize it as a training hotel. The hotel was highly recommended by others and by our tour company. The hotel is of 4-5 star rating. Martyn would be a little jealous if he were to see the beauty and experience the service of this place. The following morning we set out for a partial day tour of several historical sites, including tombs from previous emperors and the famous Thien Mu Pagoda, the symbolic icon of Hue placed on a hillside along the Perfume river. Hue is the old imperial city of Vietnam. It was also ... read more

April 4th and 5th . . . Upon arrival into Hanoi at 5 am after our overnight train, we were greeted by darkness and light rain. Everyone in the train berth still sleeps. I peer out through the mottled window looking for signs of life. Hanoi is not only awake, but an outdoor market that covers several blocks is already bustling with commerce. The train slows. We had yet to see any existence of blue sky while in Hanoi. This is not necessarily a bad thing since the cloud cover minimized any excessive heat and humidity. We have had minimal rain throughout our time in Hanoi - the weather has been in our favor for venturing off in this big city. That same morning, after breakfast, we headed off to the Northeast coast of Vietnam - ... read more

By the time we completed our first day trek around the Sapa region, we were all exhausted. As a reminder, we slept on an overnight train the night before and got little sleep. We were hoping by morning the thick mist enveloping the entire region, occluding the supposedly spectacular views, would have lifted and we would have been greeted by a blue morning sky displaying the valleys and mountains surrounding us. The town of Sapa reminds me of the largest town in the Himalayas in Nepal called Namche Bazaar - the last largest town along the Everest Base Camp trail. The town is full of cafes, hotels and markets galore. Of course, the town has blossomed because of tourism, but it is obvious that we are foreigners visiting the lives of the mountainous villages in Vietnam. ... read more