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Author Archives: Becky
Why I’ll Miss Saigon…
Well, actually, I’ll miss all of Vietnam but who can refuse a good pun when the opportunity arises? Looking back at the three or so weeks we spent in Vietnam, I feel soooo grateful to have been able to do so many amazing things (the Sapa O’Chau trip, and the Easy Rider trip with Bo, especially) but our last few days in Saigon with the wonderful Rosie and Rick were a wicked send-off. Above you can see us looking extremely …
VIDEO BLOG: Easy Riding with Bo in Vietnam (beware: geckos were harmed in the making of this blog)
“If you go to Vietnam, make sure you go off with the Easy Riders,” said… absolutely everyone. So when we got to the coastal city of Nha Trang we walked around and talked to everyone claiming to work for Easy Riders (there were many), until we met someone who doesn’t… but who seemed like a lot of fun anyway. A video speaks a thousand photos, so here’s the video: Heading off on a motorbike and scooter to Dalat and back …
Posted in Random Ramblings, Southeast Asia, Travelling, Vietnam Tagged Dalat, Easy Rider, Nha Trang, True Friends Leave a comment
Musings on the earth…
Sometimes I think, in places like this, where the ocean meets the sky in a thousand shades of blue, that each force competes with the other. The ocean says to the sky, I can travel faster, sparkle without stars, sweep people up in a majestic underworld otherwise unseen and make them breathe in bubbles. And the sky says, well, that’s all very impressive. I only sparkle by night, my treasures are infinite but undiscovered and when I move, I myself …
My Son, an eskimo and a rabid monkey in Vietnam… (day tripping from Hoi An)
“Remember this is Yellow. Bus. Number. 9″ bellowed Dung from the front of the stuffy bouncing vehicle as we trundled, honked and swerved our way down the road from Hoi An to My Son. Dung (pronounced Yung) has been a guide for two years and is pretty much the most enthusiastic human I’ve ever encountered. He probably speaks the best English I’ve heard anyone speak here in Vietnam too, although I got the distinct feeling he learnt it by watching …
Posted in Random Ramblings, Southeast Asia, Travelling, Uncategorized, Vietnam Tagged Hoi An, My Son, tour, Vietnam Leave a comment
Tangled up in Vietnam: why Hoi An is like a Disney movie…
All around me, women of different ages and different generations are wedging candles into piles of white sand inside tiny cardboard rafts. The sun is setting in old Hoi An, Vietnam and slowly, as the silver linings of every cloud are highlighted for all to see in a blaze of indigo, pink and amber, the candles flicker their way along the water, bought for a dollar apiece and set free by the hands of young lovers making wishes on the …
Posted in Random Ramblings, Southeast Asia, Travelling, Vietnam Tagged Disney, Hoi An, Tangled Leave a comment
Best bus in Vietnam (or ever, anywhere!)
This is a bus with no seats; just beds on it. It is literally a moving sleepover on wheels! One by one as people got on just now the gasps of utter delight from backpackers all over town were akin to those of a group of playschool children being taken on a theme park ride. “Reeeeally? We get to ride on this??? Cooooooool!!!” (Or maybe that was just me – I do get excited easily). We paid the equivalent of …
White fungus drinks, grilled geckos and a side of dog, please…
It pained me greatly to see my good friends, the geckos splayed out today in a corner store, not defying gravity by clinging to walls but flattened and presumably ready for consumption in plastic bags here in Hue, Vietnam. Look at them! If anyone had tried to do this to Monet last year in Bali I would have stuck them on a stick and fried them! Monet was my friend. We spoke nightly as he hung out behind the painting …
Posted in Southeast Asia, Travelling, Uncategorized, Vietnam Comments Off
Sapa O’Chau trekking and a hot tub time machine…
Yes, that’s right. A hot tub time machine. It’s definitely a time machine because when I was immersed in a frothy mixture of bubbles and hot steamed herbs in a tub in the corner of a smoky wooden house, I was also in a tiny village called Ta Phin in the hills of Sapa, Vietnam. The Red Dao people who live here are well known for their expertise in herbal medicine, and use plants from the land to treat different …
Posted in Southeast Asia, Travelling, Uncategorized, Vietnam Tagged H'mong, Sapa, Sapa O'Chau, trekking, Vietnam Comments Off
A little bit of Harry Potter magic in Vietnam: taking the overnight train from Hanoi to Lao Cai
“You’re a wizard, Harry.” That’s what I swear I heard coming from the mouth of every stranger as we followed a random Vietnamese man across the dark and dirty train station in Hanoi (I forgot to take a night shot so I pinched this daytime one from another site). Like Harry Potter heading off to Hogwarts we were about to spend the night on a sleeper train to Lao Cai, before heading on to Sapa for our trekking with the organisation …
How to book the best Halong Bay tour in Vietnam…
Trust me, there are hundreds of shady outfits out there, dodgy tour operators in Hanoi who will take your money and happily let you board a chunk of rotten plank, and feed you dog as you do your best not to fall overboard your ‘cruise ship’ in Halong Bay. If you want to see this place, it pays to do it properly. We heard several horror stories and did some extensive research before booking with Blue Dragon Tours and the …
Posted in Southeast Asia, Travelling, Vietnam Tagged Blue Dragon tours, cruise, Ha Lon Bay, Halong Bay Comments Off
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