Hue: an ancient city, some emperors tombs, and did somebody mention a war?
Monday, July 31st, 2006
I spent less than a day in Hanoi after Sa Pa, leaving that evening for the overnight trip to Hue on the central coast of Vietnam.
Archive for July, 2006
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Sa Pa and a very big mountain….
Saturday, July 29th, 2006My first train journey of the trip: it’s much easier to get onboard one here than in India. I’ve chosen hard sleeper class (well actually this is all that was available) for the overnight journey to Lao Cai next to the Chinese border: the jumping off point for Sa Pa.
Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba Island
Friday, July 21st, 2006A few hours north of Ha Noi is Halong Bay, limestone karst islands sticking out of the south China Seas.
The way to do it is spend a couple of days on a junk style boat, sailing amongst the ... [Continue reading this entry]
Three times in Hanoi
Sunday, July 16th, 2006
Welcome to communist Vietnam, and the frantic city of Ha Noi. Before and between trips out to Ha Long Bay and Sa Pa, I spent a few days in Hanoi, capital of Vietnam. It's a big, noisy, busy city, but has ... [Continue reading this entry]
27 people, 7 baskets of fish and a small cage of chicken… The long, long road to Hanoi
Saturday, July 15th, 2006Most people might consider it more sensible, being near Cambodia, to go there first, and then go to Vietnam afterwards. But this would involve an expensive flight back to Bangkok, so it seemed a good idea to travel from southern ... [Continue reading this entry]
Si Phan Don: the “4000 Islands”
Friday, July 14th, 2006
The journey started with a VIP bus ride down to a place called Pakse in southern Laos. The buses are all decorated with cartoons and flashing lights, the inside had frilly curtains, padded (fake) leather ceilings and more bright lights. ... [Continue reading this entry]
Boring, boring, Vientiane
Tuesday, July 11th, 2006
Looking for a bit of adventure, it was time to go for the public transport. Crammed in, 3 to a seat, it was good to feel like you were back in real Asia again! Vientiane is the capital of Laos, ... [Continue reading this entry]
It’s a bit wet here…
Monday, July 3rd, 2006
We arrived in Vang Vieng, just as the dusty single street town was washed over (on an at least once daily occurence) with a torrential tropical storm. Some days you could see below the clouds onto the jungle covered limestone ... [Continue reading this entry]
Luang Prabang
Saturday, July 1st, 2006
Once again it's low season, which (like in India) means you can stay in some rather nice hotels for a fraction of what they'd usually cost. Unfortunately, this one was extra cheap due to the building site below the rooms....!
Luang ... [Continue reading this entry]
Nick