“I can’t believe it!” gasped David. “That little old street corner soup woman just scammed me!” The little old lady cackled and pocketed the 80,000 Dong she had charged for our two bowls of normally 20,000 Dong ($1) noodles and beef. “Now I’ve learned my lesson to ask the price before I eat the food!” David exclaimed. “You can blame my tourist face,” I said sympathetically, having gotten [...Read More!]
This photo, left, of three grizzled rickshaw drivers posing jauntily for the camera in Hue, Vietnam, may be my favorite pic of the month!
My friend, David, had heard that Hue is particularly stunning at night by rickshaw, so we piled upon the rickety shaw and were arduously peddled by a wheezing old man for miles upon miles through the old Emperor’s stomping grounds.
This is particularly hilarious given that both David and [...Read More!]
Here is a stark difference between Thailand and Vietnam: The Convenience Store Scene. In Thailand, every two hops you take you will smash against a 7-Eleven. Multinational colonization is pulsing strong in Thailand!
On the positive side of this situation, globalization allows any tourist to satisfy her Big Gulp craving from the top to the bottom of Thailand.
Unfortunately, however, this multinational dominance also meant that most of my Thai temple [...Read More!]
Fashion-obsessed folks: keep a napkin poised by your mouth to wipe the drool this article will induce.
Hoi An, Vietnam has been in the news recently for being under four feet of rainwater from a typhoon. Shell-shocked tourists recalled the five days they spent, trapped on the highest floor of their hotels, endlessly playing cards and slurping instant noodles.
Normally, however, Hoi An is famous for a more colorful, delightful reason: custom-made [...Read More!]
“Be prepared for a long journey,” warns the Lonely Planet guidebook, “As the twelve-hour bus ride between Nha Trang and Hoi An is typically described as “prison” or “hell”.”
Look at these photos of the “sleeping bus”… It’s like you’ve tragically stumbled into a seething warren of dentist chairs from the 70s, ready to attack you!
There is a toilet, but it is locked and chained with a sign that reads, “Not to [...Read More!]
Nha Trang is rightly considered the biggest beach destination of Vietnam. Miles of sandy beaches, soothingly warm ocean waves, a huge range of hotels and restaurants for any budget… Nha Trang is a good time. To enhance your experience here, any traveler will tell you: take the six dollar all-day boat trip. Let’s hop aboard and see all the goodies this escapade entails!
1. The boat trip may be [...Read More!]
Vietnam has, in many ways, kicked my butt. It has also, incidentally, grabbed my butt. Despite all the stresses of traveling in this country, though, I declare that Vietnam is my favorite country that I have been in so far this trip. Why? Because it has BACKBONE. It is pulsingly alive with its own culture and with a fire to keep on rising.
Now, praise be to [...Read More!]
Let’s continue this groping theme for one more article, shall we? This time with a gender role flip!
Carey, a New Zealander who has been traveling the world for many months, sauntered home to his Nha Trang hotel late the other night. He had just had a riotously fun evening with friends at a beach cafe, and was ready for sleep.
Suddenly, a sexy Vietnamese woman blocked his path.
“Hello,” she said, [...Read More!]
Well. I hope you all have been reading parts one through seven of this Central Highlands motorcycle saga, because that context is important to understand the full dimensions of what happened next.
It was the evening of day three of Lulu and my four days on a motorcycle across Vietnam. I had just cried from exhaustion after traipsing through four jungle waterfalls by the border with Cambodia, and Lulu was [...Read More!]
This is the point of the four day motorcycle ride through Vietnam’s Central Highlands (see my expression to the right) where things started to go downhill.
For hours, Lulu and I drove deeper and deeper into the Vietnamese jungle, towards the famed four waterfalls. The day wore on and the sun pounded down. Lulu pointed, as we drove, to a clearing in the thick green. “Cambodia just over there,” [...Read More!]