VIETNAM January 2008   The picture that most Americans probably have of Vietnam was painted during the years of American military involvement there in the 1960's and 70's;  hot, steamy jungles, little Asian guys running around the jungle in black pajamas;  TV images of tons of bombs being dumped on endless miles of lush green jung...

Now this trip cost a lot of money...i don;t know exactly how much as I didn;t pay for it but we have pretty much been first class with guides the whole way. So it was with surprise that Mr Angh when coming to pick us up this morning for our trip out to Halong Bay demanded $120 cash before we could leave. We knew that there was a supplement ...

Just a quick note to let you all know that we arrived safe and sound in Hanoi today. It was a rather long day yesterday traveling from Kowloon to Macau by ferry, and then flying from Macau to Kuala Lumpur and then to Hanoi. Still - anything to save a buck! Hanoi is more....well.....nuts than I think either of us imagined. Good Lord there are a L...

We have one night in Hanoi before flying off to Hong Kong (and then New Jersey and Hawaii). While we were not completely enthusiatic about Hanoi our first time here, it was like coming back to an old friend this time. We shopped for some last-minute items, grabbed a final Vietnamese meal, and got ice cream along the lake. The weather is cooler, ...

Hanoi isn't so bad the second time around, I am getting used to it but I won't be sad to leave it behind I think. it's a great place just to watch what happens but it gets a bit weery being hassled all the time. I also keep forgetting just how noisy it really is and it does my head in all the beeping and horns all the time, there's just no need ...

We have just returned from a tour to Halong Bay - about three hours by minibus east of Hanoi to the coast.  This was quite an experience.  But first, I must apologize. We have no pictures because I had an accident with our camera.  It slipped out of my pocket yesterday into the ocean as we began a kayaking afte...

Hanoi is a a cool place.... except when it's Tet. No, but seriously. We spend a couple days in Hanoi and swing by the Hanoi Hilton where John McCain spent seven years of his life. The museum actually focuses mostly on the French colonial period and presents a detailed description of the struggle of the revolutionary patriots against the oppressi...

We got back to Hanoi and basically arranged our bus ticket further down South to Hue. It had been three months since we had seen a beach, we were getting desperate, damn it we were supposed to be on holiday!!! (I can almost hear the violins and the aching hearts) It was time to get beyond the 17th parallel to get some sun.

I've finally passed a very important travelling mile stone. Checking in my rucksack at Vientianne airport it weighed over 20 kgs! After a very bumpy flight we arrived in Vietnam and made our way into Hanoi where we booked into a very cheap, tall and thin guest house. First day in Vietnam and the first thing we discovered was that the traffic in ...

*Please note- this is a rather long travel pod entry. Be prepared to spend a few minutes reading it! As well, please take some time to check out photos I uploaded from this trip (on both Vietnam travelpods). Oh ya- enjoy!* If someone came up to me and asked me honestly what were my impression of Danang during the famous Tet holiday was, I'd have...