Hanoi Queen 2

... pole, said woman puts the pole on Ros's shoulder saying "photo?". ros now avoids these women like the plague!

Ros:

annoying things:
* where the heck have the 7/11s gone?? this wonderful little aircon shop selling all things useful that is everywhere in asia (and, in fact, much of the world) oh no, the communists won't let 7/11 in! we have to go to water-and-biscuit-selling street to find useful things. and i've *no* idea where i'm going to get ...

Vietnam tourism industry is slowly but surely picking up over the years. Known for it's scenic natural views, it's one place nature lovers must not miss. As a matter of fact, I am doing a bit of research on Vietnam tours as I intend to travel Vietnam, either by tour or backpacking sometime next year (well, I need to save enough money for the trip!).

I'm trying to find a package that ...

... with full of blossom in Sapa.

Sapa is the land with 6 settled - down ethnic minority groups. Each group has a different culture with festivals as “Roong Poc” of the Giay in Ta Van village. Every year, on the Dragon day of lunar first month of the year, Giay people open the Roong Poc festival to pray fruitful crops, peace for people, growth of animals and favorable weather.
Besides, there are also “Sai San” festival of H’mong and “Dancing ...

In our Independent day, I had a day off from work and joined a cultural tour to some famous traditional villages of Hanoi with ODC travel which was recommended by my friends. It was an amazing trip and I got many travel experience when I had the chance to visit and interact with the local.

My group had 12 members came from UAS, Canada, Japan and Vietnam joined this tour and accompanied by a very helpful and knowlegeable guide. Our route was Bat ...

Yowza today seemed like a long day - 6 classes in a row. It started pretty good with a grade 1/2 international class of english speaking/understanding kids. Then I had a fun 5th grade group but then in rolled 26 1st graders (the lab has 24 working computers - 1 is in repair). None of these little monsters I mean children spoke english or understood a thing I said. The VN interpreter was a big help but those short attention spans were running rampant in the class ...

... us). It was a nice change from mixing exclusively with other travelers and afforded us a bit more insight into the Vietnamese people. (When we could understand them)


She owned the beetle

The nightlife in Hanoi was strange. It would go from the busiest place on earth to a ghost town in the space of twenty minutes. Some sort of ...

Day 1: Hanoi – Ba Be Lake
Leave Hanoi for Ba Be
Lake at 8:00 am. we make a stop to visit museum of ethnology in Thai
Nguyen City. Have lunch in Bac Kan town before keep on driving to Ba Be
Lake. Check in the hotel at 5 pm and enjoy your free time in the park.


Day 2: Ba Be Lake
After breakfast, we will take
5 hours boat trip along the Nang River to visit Puong Cave. Then we go
to see Dau Dang ...

... the lake and even a portable gym on the road with bench presses and weights. Some people just come to sit and talk on the benches its a real buzz of activity.About 7pm the government loud speakers come on with announcement and weird patriotic music to summons the labour force to work.
The old quarter is absolutely mad from about 6.30 in the morning till late at night with a huge ...

... countries. Upon arrival in Hanoi we were harassed by a tout who's hotel we did not choose. While some of the other touts later apologized for his rudeness, we find that shopkeepers and others often shout insults or demand to know why we choose not to do business with someone else and not with them. Not a wise policy in our opinion, as it gives us great opportunity to come up with creative insults as to why we went with vendor A instead of vendor B, often much to the amusement of ...

... to Catholism, which was introduced by the French, around the 1940's. A small replica existed of the nativity and a large replica of St. Niclaus delivering presents on a bicycle could be found. It was a little strange, especially since the face mask used was a little bit frightening. I'll let the picture do the talking. A short rain interval, and a spot of lunch was in order before looking around the outdoor exhibits. The museum trail would lead ...