Category: Vietnam
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Hue and south: Hundreds of Magnificent Tombs!
Hue was a really pleasant place to spend a couple days. In addition to being a vibrant but relaxed city, the weather has improved markedly as we’ve moved south. The north was marked by lots of grey skies and misty conditions. Down in Hue we actually saw blue skies and defined clouds, which was amazing.…
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Vietnamese language: very hard!
Chris and I have (maybe) learned how to say thank you in Vietnamese and even be understood. We had some of the same issues in Slovakia, if you recall. The use of accents in both languages is extensive. Vietnamese is a tonal language, which is very hard for English speakers to learn. Each Vietnamese syllable…
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From Ninh Binh to Hue: a 10-hour train journey
We had a great 3 days in Tam Cỗc. We visited the sites, enjoyed the vibe and had a good time exploring small roads by bike. We went for dinner to the same restaurant 3 nights in a row. The food and location was great, plus the owner charmed us with her energy. She even…
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Mua Cave and a beautiful view
We were just looking to explore a bit today and get a few miles in by bike, so we decided to ride first to Mua Cave just 3 miles away and then to go on to Bia Dihn Pagoda another 5 miles distant. Lonely Planet noted that Mua Cave was pretty unimpressive, but that the…
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Tràng An and Cute Water Buffalos
Each bike tour has it’s own rhythms, and the one we are on now, Vietnam, is no different. However, it used to be that our tours followed one method of travel, where we rode as far as we could on any given day, arriving tired and hungry, stayed overnight wherever we landed and then took…
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Bamboo Chopstick Factory and Bún chả
Our map identified an attraction about 10 miles away called the Bamboo Chopsticks Factory, which sounded interesting. Actually, it might sound every more interesting in Vietnamese: “Công Ty Chế Biến Nông Lâm Sản Đạm Mai”. Definitely not trying to pronounce that! If you want to see more pics than mine, you can find some in…
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Onward from Hanoi – back on the bike!
Currently there are roughly 6.5 million motorbikes and scooters on Hanoi’s roads. The use of bicycles, once the dominant transport mode in the city, decreased dramatically as motorbikes and cars became more popular: in 1995, 47% of journeys were made by bicycle; in 2008, the figure had dropped to only 3%. The figure now must…
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Ha Long Bay: Over-visited but amazing
Ha Long Bay is one of the “must see” destinations in northern Vietnam, and the pictures I looked at were amazing. There are a dizzying number of travel operators offering tours, but we ended up taking one that was recommended in our Lonely Planet guidebook called Vega tours, which we thought worked out well. Something…
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Second day in Hanoi…what shall we see?
The day dawned grimly grey and drizzling, and so we were in no hurry to get out. It seems that this time of year brings extended periods of grey weather that just hangs. There is little wind and so the mist and clouds stay. But, we’re in Hanoi and so we head out to explore…
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First full day in Hanoi – exploring
There’s lot to do in Hanoi and so we chose what we wanted to do for the day. Visiting the Old Quarter sounded interesting, and so we set off in the mid-morning. Google said it well: Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, is known for its centuries-old architecture and a rich culture with Southeast Asian, Chinese…