I no longer have a mobile phone. The phone in my hotel room is dead. The staff won’t let me use the phone at reception, but they do ask the hotel next door. They won’t let me use theirs, either. I can’t buy Skype credit due to some bug/quirk/feature of their online billing system. These [...]
District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, is quite a nice place at 6am. Hardly anybody hassles me (maybe it’s because anybody who arrives here by bus at this time of day has probably travelled the length of Vietnam already and is unshakeable), it’s cool, and there’s hardly any traffic. Picking a hotel was as simple [...]
Spent the morning SCUBA diving. I’ve always loved anything that gives me an extra axis of freedom, and today was no exception. Warm water, beautiful marine life, and a fairly enteraining crew. I also skin-dived to 10m to get some sand from the bottom, which was probably a new record for me.
The Vietnamese postal system [...]
Just a quick note to say that I’m in Nha Trang. Seems like a fairly relaxed place, despite its size. Lots of Asian tourists, and a fair share of Westerners too. Not so atmospheric, but that’s ok. After arriving on the bus at about 6:30am, I spent the rest of the day sleeping, swimming, playing [...]
We picked the hottest day in weeks to visit the Champa ruins at My Son. Truly, it was as hot and sticky as midsummer in Townsville, and despite my suncream, I got a little burned (the first time on this trip). It was a good day nonetheless, although both Georg and I admitted that [...]
Spent yesterday wandering around Hoi An. Got measured up for some shirts and jeans to replace the ones stolen/lost/destroyed by hotel laundry in Hanoi (quite annoyed, I loved those Levis). While I’m at it, I’m getting a nice leather jacket tailor made.
Good food here, too. The Hoi An specialties and the standard Vietnamese fare seem [...]
I’m still alive.
Spent nine hours on the back of Georg’s bike, yesterday. I think we covered about 160km. It was tough going. We had intended to take the tunnel through the Hai Van range between Huê and Đà Nẵng, but upon arrived found out that it was closed to motorcycles, forcing us to take the [...]
This is my second evening in the quite lovely city of Hué (or Huê in the local script, which I haven’t quite got the hang of). The train from Hanoi was a forgettable experience (12 hours on the top of three bunks, mostly in the dark, but not uncomfortable), but I made friends with Roy [...]
It’s funny how I’ve just started to enjoy this city, on what is due to be my last day here. I spent a lovely Wednesday and Thursday crusing aboard a junk on Ha Long Bay. It all felt rather luxurious – the constant supply of seafood, the cabin to myself, the sundeck. The highlight for [...]
I realized that at some point recently, I crossed the half-way mark of my time in Asia.
Starting a two-day cruise of Ha Long Bay tomorrow morning. Should be good. After that, a sleeper from Hanoi to Hue and from there, bus to Hoi An.
Spent today wandering Hanoi. Circumnavigated Hoan Kiem Lake, visited the Hanoi Museum [...]