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Category: Vietnam

  • Asia in the rearview

    Starting and ending my Asian adventure in Bangkok was ideal in that it showed me how the last couple months changed my outlook. When I arrived, I thought the city was big, loud, dirty, and full of aggressive locals trying to squeeze every penny they can from foreigners. Twelve weeks later, I still think all…

  • Sapa

    Located in northern Vietnam, not far from the Chinese border, Sapa is best known for its ethnic minorities and terraced rice paddies. The Black Hmong and Red Zhao are the two largest minorities and you can tell them apart by the red headscarves worn by Zhao women. I didn’t take pictures of the locals in…

  • Hanoi

    Big, busy cities are not my favorite places to visit in developing countries. Hanoi definitely falls into this category. It is the second largest city in Vietnam and is full of motorbikes (and motorbike drivers), people, and noise. Visitors tend to use Hanoi only as a base for going to Halong Bay and Sapa. Most…

  • Halong Bay

    Halong Bay is one of the “must see” places in Vietnam, and for good reason. The place is truly majestic. It is a series of islands varying in size with towering limestone cliffs. I spent considerable time researching ways to do the bay. It seemed that a travel agency was the best route and that…

  • Hue

    There were two places in Vietnam I was told to skip or only visit briefly: Saigon and Hue. These were also the two cities in Vietnam that I had local friends of friends to show me around. I ended up having a great time in both. Hue is a relatively small city, with around 300,000…

  • Hoi An

    Hoi An is definitely a tourist town, but I LOVE it. Despite having an economy centered on visitors, there are a lot of local people here. It isn’t like Venice, with its Disney front and no one actual residents. Even the historic houses that you can tour have current occupants. There is an incredible balance…

  • Morning Glory Cooking School

    I had never taken a cooking class in my life and have wanted to for a while. Hoi An is one of the best places for food in Vietnam and I figured it would be the perfect place for my first class. I did my usual thorough research online and decided on the Morning Glory…

  • Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

    HCMC is supposed to be big, fast, loud, and scary. My friend Mari, connected me with a Vietnamese friend that lives in HCMC to show me around. Tanaka san, was an incredible guide and host and made my experience in HCMC a great one! Tanaka has a Vietnamese name, but he is fluent in Japanese…

  • Can Tho

    Most people travel through Vietnam from north to south, then move on to Cambodia. I, of course, did the opposite. I went from Kep, Cambodia to Vietnam via the “Ha Tien Crossing.” Getting through the border was very easy and my first stop in Vietnam was Can Tho. Can Tho is the largest city in…