Viet Bac Hotel Hanoi

... to be quite tricky as most of the shows were already sold out for the whole weekend. Luckily we were able to get 2 separate seats for to show which has just begun. So we went to see the performance immediately and it was a really worth it. After the show we had a nice Vietnamese dinner and a couple of beers before heading back to our hotel.

The next morning we were picked up by a shuttle bus at 8.00 AM which drove us to Halong City. It took us around 4 hours and the ...

... Good luck i hear you say - i need more than luck!...Then to China for a somewhat shortened trip there, but as long as I stand on that wall I'll be happy. Once that happens and I get on the plane, there will be tears shed. That's for certain...I will fill you in on that last leg of my journey in an extra entry to be continued in a pub or park or living room somewhere in the vicinity of the U.K.

Until then...stay safe...





marco sparco

... on the Junk boat we had another day trip planned. We went to a few temples about a 2.5hr drive south of Hanoi, and then onto Tam Coc which means 3 caves. Here we jumped on small boats and two ladies rowed us 6 km down the river taking us through the 3 caves. It was pretty crazy how strong these ladies must be cos its a LONG LONG way! Sometimes they would use their feet to row with - you can see some photos of this on facebook too ... its quite a talent! That night we had our ...

... consisted of several small huts with low, straw
roofs, two common areas (one for eating meals), two toilets, one
shower, a volleyball court, and several hammocks. There were two
additional guides on the island, assigned to assisting with the water
sports. Unfortunately, the boat was broken so we were not able to go
tubing like we had planned. We had a great day though. After lunch, we
relaxed on the beach, switching between lounging on the sand and wading
in ...

... of the beach, we missed our plan of Sapa for a few days. During my first trip, I was excited about Vietnam and very disappointed by Thailand, whereas today 14 years later, the reverse occurs. Thailand has greatly modernized and we travel with confidence while Vietnam still little accustomed to tourists, can be corrupt and willing to exhaust the goose that lays golden eggs.
We leave Vietnam to join our friends Eve and we invite Benedict home in Hong Kong for a week.

... to be charming and "local." During day 2 in Hanoi, we picked up where we left off. We walked around the old French quarter to see old colonial buildings. We didn't see much and weren't too impressed, but we were intrigued by the Cuban Embassy. Of course, being from the US this is a novelty and might be the closest I get to "Cuban Soil" in the near future. Inside the French Quarter we visited the Hoa Lo Prison, affectionately known to Americans as the ...

Since the 17th century, the fertile land in the North of the Tien River has been reclaimed and developed by generations of inhabitants into an area with rich rice fields, fruit gardens, and busy trade along the river banks. Gradually, the brisk market towns of My Tho and Go Cong emerged in the fertile Cuu Long (Mekong) River Delta. This area is Tien Giang Province. Taking a ride for 75km from Ho Chi Minh City along Highway 1A you will arrive at My ...

... min etter jeg dro derifra. Vi bestemte oss for å komme oss ut av byen litt og booket en 3-dagers tur til Halong Bay. Dette var gull for meg. Etter 1 måned med kun storbyer var jeg klar for en litt mer rolig hverdag. Halong Bay er akkurat det. Som medlem av UNESCO World Heritage består øygruppen av 2000 små og større øyer der turisme og fisking omtrent er det eneste som foregår. Vi ble kjent med de andre i reisefølget som viste seg å være en god gjeng. Totalt var vi 10 ...

... 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 ...

... to London in a few weeks and hope that someone somewhere can work some magic to fix it.

In case anyone can help... whenever you put the card in a PC or a camera it says "card error" and asks if we want to "format" the card. I know that agreeing to this will completely wipe the images if that are still on the card, so I keep saying no, but I'm worried that it also might mean that the card is already blank, i.e. there are no ...