Yesterday’s Southeast Asia recap focusing on food and transport shows two of the more typical blog topics when it comes to travel. Often, I find that I take pictures of signage and random things (like funny looking dogs) and forget to compile and post them. In reality, these little oddities and humorous mistranslations are one […]
Vietnam
Southeast Asia Recap: Food and Transport
Last week, my friend Lauren (aka my southeast Asia travel buddy) and I caught up over lunch. We first traveled abroad together in Africa in 2008 and then in southeast Asia in 2010. We threw out ideas for a future trip (maybe in 2012… see a pattern?) but mostly reminisced about ridiculous times and favorite […]
Sapa: My Favorite Place in Vietnam
Vietnam was a tough country for me to travel through. There were a few towns I really liked, (Dalat and Hoi An) but excluding hotel workers, I didn’t find the people to be overly friendly, and it was mass tourism everywhere. Our last stop was in northern Vietnam in the mountainous town of Sapa– and […]
Visiting Uncle Ho’s Mausoleum in Hanoi
We had no choice. We were going to have to spend a night in Hanoi even though we had hoped to avoid it. Our Ha Long Bay tour got back in the late afternoon, and we needed to deal with money exchange and the post office before setting out on an overnight train to Sapa. […]
Hoards of Tourists in Ha Long Bay
Oh Ha Long Bay, so flooded with tourists that you can’t remember what country you’re in, and you suspect that you’re in a huge, floating, raucous college bar. The most popular way to see Ha Long Bay is on a junk boat tour booked from Hanoi. I had read terrible things about it, and if […]
Dalat: The Paris of Vietnam
Dalat is commonly referred to as the ‘Paris of Vietnam’. It’s not your typical Vietnamese town with its wedding shops, bakeries, and even its own version of the Eiffel Tower. Although it draws some foreign tourists, it is a hot tourist spot for the Vietnamese. Located in the mountains, it has a cooler climate, a […]