Articles from this Category
9 August 2012
With the Tune Hotel’s checkout extended from 1000 till 1100, we thought we’d have a leisurely morning having breakfast and repacking so we’d bring just the minimum to Pulau Perhentian Besar (literally Big “Stop” Island). After checking out, we were to taxi to Kuala Besut. Kim didn’t want to take a first or second generation […]
8 August 2012
Above: Dedicated queues for men, women and families at the supermarket. It was an early start with a 0545 wake up. The hotel kindly offered us breakfast before their normal serving time and despite us having eaten our entitlement yesterday. We can certainly recommend the Hanoi Holiday Diamond Hotel; the staff are amazing. They bend […]
7 August 2012
Above: Typical Hanoi street in the old area near our hotel. We arrived in Hanoi around 0430 and taxied to the hotel where we camped in the lobby briefly. I did a lot of errands on the internet so time flew and soon breakfast was served. As we have an early departure tomorrow, I asked […]
6 August 2012
Above: On the road from Sapa to Lao Cai. We had a late departure at 2015 on the night train from Sapa back to Hanoi. We had considered doing a walk or a motorbike ride to another village but the weather wasn’t conducive. We did our morning in slow motion and checked out at midday. […]
5 August 2012
Sunday is market day at Bac Ha. It is meant to be the most colourful market n Vietnam so we decided it couldn’t be missed. With a 0730 pick-up, we were up around 0630 to catch breakfast at 0700. We got to Bac Ha (via Lao Cai) at 1030. The actual driving time was around […]
4 August 2012
We woke to a modern arrangement of Fur Elise piped in through the PA around 0530. There are worse ways to be woken up. Our arrival into Lao Cai (next to the Chinese border) was uneventful. We found the shuttle desk for Sapa easily and bought our tickets. We waited briefly for the van to […]
3 August 2012
There’s nothing touristy in Hanoi that we wanted to do as we “did it all” only a year ago. Perfect for shopping and relaxation then! Over the last couple of years, I find myself holding pages further and further away as I read. Last year, Kim found glasses in Hanoi to be of extremely good […]
2 August 2012
We had chosen the 1730 flight to Hanoi to avoid an early wake-up. The day went pretty quickly with a walk around town, checking-out, a massage and late lunch before using the shuttle to the airport. The shuttle at VND40,000 per person was a great deal as taxi would have been rather pricey with the 30km […]
1 August 2012
We rented a motorbike to explore the area today. First stop was Crazy House, a house-cum-hostel designed by a Vietnamese lady-architect who graduated from Moscow. The style is similar to Gaudi and Hunderrwasser. Each hostel room is in a different style and there are walkways linking the different buildings. Some big strong Russian men were […]
31 July 2012
Above: Downtown Dalat. It was either a 0630 bus or a 1230 one from Mui Ne to Dalat. That proved to be an easy decision for the latter. It turned out to be a door-to-door service like the last bus; we were picked up outside our hotel around 1300 as the bus had to do […]