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Hanoi Last Day
Can’t believe we have spent 54 days touring in SE Asia, but our memories of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia seem like a long time ago. We have been in Vietnam for 24 days and leave for “home” tomorrow and are we ready. What a good time we have had being waited on hand and foot…
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Hanoi Day Two
On this 53rd day we are scheduled for a Jeep adventure and we have asked to also visit the “Hanoi Hilton” where American soldiers and pilots were jailed, some for years. John McCain was the most famous inmate. The following documentary refers to the American POW’s. We wished that we had rushed through the Vietnamese…
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Hanoi Day One
We have only three days left in this amazing tour of SE Asia and are really looking forward to seeing more of Hanoi. So ends day one in Hanoi which only started after our four hour drive. Tomorrow will be even busier.
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Mai Chau
Mai Chau is a picturesque region in Hoa Binh province, in north-western Vietnam. Nestled in the heart of the mountains, this valley is renowned for its natural beauty, its verdant rice terraces and its rich cultural heritage. It is a little known tourist destination and we are going here for a two day rest before…
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Ninh Binh
While on our cruise we received a text from Black Tomato’s ground operations manager that our guide Sonny’s grandfather had died and he would be taking two days off. They did supply a substitute guide who met us at the arrivals terminal with our driver Mr. Tuan. We then started a 3.5 hour drive to…
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Ha Long Bay
Day 46, Sunday April 27 we have a 2.5 hour drive with our guide Sonny and driver Mr. Tuan from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay for a three day, two night cruise around HaLong Bay and environs. We will be driving through Haiphong on our way which is the third largest city in Vietnam and…
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Hanoi, First impressions
We fly from Hue into Hanoi which is the capital of Vietnam. We will spend one night here before driving to HaLong Bay for two nights on a boat and then another two nights near Ninh Binh. We then return to Hanoi for our final three nights of this tour. This is only one day…
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Hue Vietnam
We are driving from Hoi An to Hue on April 23 which is the 42nd day of our tour. The drive is predicted to be 3.5 hours. Hue is a significant city to Americans due to its history of the battle of Hue which was one of the bloodiest and longest of the war as…
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Hoi An
We have moved from South Vietnam to the central part of the country. Hoi An is a UNESCO recognized city. This is from UNESCO’s web site. Hoi An Ancient Town is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a South-East Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century. Its buildings and its street plan…
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Bai San Ho
We really have no idea where we are spending the next three nights but we fly into Quy Nhon which is a coastal city and the capital of Bình Định province. A driver from Zannier Hotel Bãi San Hô is supposed to meet us but apparently our flight was rescheduled and landed about an hour…
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Ho Chi Minh City III
Our first day here was quite intense and very busy. Day two is meant to be mostly a day of leisure and is Palm Sunday so we are electing to attend mass at Notre Dame Cathedral as it is not open except for services. It is in a few year process of renovations and only…
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Ho Chi Min City II
Our first mornings activities were quite interesting and intense. We had too many pictures and too much to say so have split our day one into two separate blogs. This is the second half of the day, which is also quite busy. This second half of day one in Saigon was much less intense. We…
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Ho Chi Minh City
Moving on to our last country on Friday April 11, which is day 30 out of 55 of our SE Asia tour. One would think that at some point we would get tired of that much touring but our schedule varies enough with some short days and other days completely on our own. Some days…
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Phnom Penh Day 2
Our first day in Phnom Penh started out tough with the Killing Fields Museum but ended on a high note with Wann and his food tasting tour of the city at night. Our guide handed us off to another guide on the morning of day two, this one an architect who is taking us on…
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Phnom Penh Day 1
This is going to be a very difficult experience to write about as our morning was spent at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum before moving on to another Royal Palace and Pagoda. The day ended on a high note though so here goes trying to make it through this day. Moving away from our grisly…