Saturday, Oct 29 We took a predawn flight from Danang to Saigon (now called Hoi Chi Mihn City, but I still find Saigon rolls off the tongue better), then a quick tour of the Chinese wholesale market.  We have been to local markets around the world, and seen wholesale food and flower markets before, but […]

Posted Oct 28, 2011 Etienne picked us for before dawn for another photo tour this morning.  We started by taking a local ferry across the river.  The ferry was an experience in itself, filled to overflowing with scooters and people, it recalled images seen in news images of overladen boats capsizing in Thailand or elsewhere […]

At Hoi An, we stayed at the Palm Garden Resort, a 5-star hotel.  We had a very nice room with a view of the beach.  It was perfect in almost every way.  Unfortunately, it was also way out of town.  The taxi ride was only $5 each way, but took about 20 minutes and meant […]

We flew from Hanoi to Hue last night, and were met by Lan, our final Vietnam guide. The Gerbera Hue hotel was rated 4 star, but felt more like 5 star, and had a river front view. One surprising feature was the shower, which had a large glass window separating it from the bedroom, giving […]

We spent last night on the sleeper train from Sapa back to Hanoi.  “Sleeper” is a bit of a misnomer, as it is pretty hard to get much sleep while being nearly tossed out of your bunk each time you pull into or out of a station, which happens a couple times an hour during […]

Saturday, Oct 22 We did two hikes through the mountains and villages surrounding Sapa, ending with a homestay in Tavan that night, guided by Ziang.  This was considered a moderate hike, but carrying everything for an overnight stay, including computer and cameras, left us with sore knees by the time we arrived at the home […]

Hanoi – evening of Oct 19: We are not really fans of big cities, so that has to be taken into account for our reaction.  We only stayed in Hanoi for a little over a day, and were glad to leave it behind. For starters, we arrived to find nobody waiting for us.  Our last […]

We were generally very happy with all our hotels throughout Cambodia and Vietnam, with one very glaring exception.  This post is really only of interest to anyone considering going to Can Tho, Vietnam, and is a warning to avoid the Golf Hotel. This is the letter of complaint I sent to our trip organizer.  Warren […]

Sorry for the long delay between posts. Between nights with no electricity, nights with no internet, and simply nights with no personal energy, a week has gone by since the last mailing.  I wrote dribs and drabs here and there, but am many days behind.  Let’s see how far we can catch up tonight, though […]

I had always been taught that the Aztec king Montezuma never left Mexico.  Well, I now have plenty of proof that the history books are wrong.  He clearly made it to Cambodia… or at least his revenge has…  Evelyn says that I have always had an iron stomach, but it appears to be developing some […]