Indochina Queen Hotel Hanoi

... ethniques (Hmong, Dao, Nung...) qui y vivent encore de manière traditionnelle mais n'ont pas échappé au progrès et au tourisme de masse. La plupart de ces villages ont l'électricité, quelques télés et les téléphones portables sont nombreux. Néanmoins ils continuent à vivre sommairement en famille dans leur maison de bois sur pilotis, à porter leur costume traditionnel, et à vivre au rythme du travail des champs et des marchés en ville qui leur permettent de ...

... find a spot. Mopeds weave around you while the shop owners bring out 10p beers when you´ve run out. Occasional police scares mean everyone jumps onto the pavement to avoid getting the shop owners a big fine for using the road as their bar.

Booked our trip for Sapa and Halong bay, but tropical storms should make landfall on Sunday so fingers crossed we actually get to do the Bay.

... br>majority of the museum focused on its use during the 1950s during the
Vietnamese struggle for Independence from France. We found the American
exhibits comical - there are several pictures of John McCain (he was
imprisoned here during his service) having a grand old time in the
prison, as well as several pictures of the POWs decorating Christmas
trees, playing cards, and having what looks like a great time in
prison (or that is what they want us to believe). We ...

TW - When I left you we were about to depart for our 3 night 2 day trip to Sapa. This meant an overnight train to Lao Cai, a town that holds nothing for a tourist except the train station that is the gateway to the surrounding hills. The train journey itself was ok. We were four to a cabin, which was cramped, but we played cards and chatted and all managed to get at least a small amount of sleep. We were woken up at 4.30, thinking we had an hour to go, only to see ourselves arriving ...

... are rigged to show a much higher price than the distance traveled warrants. We were explicitly clear that we didn't want to use the f-ing meter, and we agreed on a flat price. YET this guy was trying to get us to use the meter! We firmly told him, no, you agreed to 70,000 dong and we're not going to use the meter. He kept insisting that we should because it would be cheaper. Inevitably, before we reached our destination, the meter reflected a ...

... such as Hoa Loc mango (in Cai Be District), Vinh Kim star-apple (in Chau Thanh District), Go Cong cherry, Co Co shaddock, Tan Phuoc pineapple and Cho Gao blue dragon. Tien Giang Province has many natural fishing grounds that yield high productivity. In recent years, the province has developed the raising of catfish, tiger prawns and other valuable aquatic products. In Go Cong District, fishermen, who were engaged in fetching oysters on the thick ...

... to all the other places i have been in SE Asia and it was raining too so all the people I bumped into were complaining about the weather. I love it! It is the first time I have not been sweating profusely before 10am!!! I couldnt check in until 11am so I left my bag and went to explore Hanoi. I first of all walked to Hoan Kiem lake (not far from the hostel) but didnt get far before stopping off for a coffee (vietnamese coffee is great!). I strolled around the lake, visiting ...

... collection of colorful silk lanterns. The least-liked was Inviolable Spring with music by Stravinsky. The story was about a witch who tried to trick simple villagers into sacrificing a virgin for better crops. But I loved them all. Big surprise.

Cheo is popular opera. At Cheo Hanoi Theater, the goal is to introduce folk art. I saw six acts
depicting traditional Vietnamese lifestyle. Each act had about a half dozen actors, dressed in colorful ...

... I could think was BLOODY AIRPORT RETAILERS! ;)

Luang Prabang airport is set inside lush green mountains and you had to walk from the terminal to get to the plane, which was a tiny little twin propeller job.

Of course I warned Katie that you get thrown around like a pinball in these things if it gets windy, even if there hadn't been a breath of wind all day! I'm that sure she appreciated the advice ;)

We ...

... forth to Thailand all the time like I already did earlier in the year. Since it’s almost impossible going clock-wise, I try again counter-clockwise. Then I find out that there’s a short hop of a flight across the border into Nanning for only $60, so I decide to do that. China’s still virgin territory for travel, so that little jaunt may ease an otherwise bumpy ride on an old Vietnamese bus, that and some creepy desolate border post. I ...