While Hanoi has much to see, it is also easy and worthwhile to get out of town. The tourism industry in Vietnam in a model of efficiency and organization. Small storefronts pepper the Old Quarter offering up a menu of daytrips and overnight choices, all at reasonable prices, and complemented in the virtual marketplace where… Read More Bending With the Wind
Pleasant memories of my younger days, warmed by 15 years of nostalgia, led to Hanoi’s selection for a fall trip. With just over a week on the ground, Hannah and I opted to base ourselves in the long-running Vietnamese capital, a tireless yet pleasant city set along the curving floodplain of the Red River. Revisiting… Read More Open Door Renovations
Hanoi is all about motos, EVERYONE rides a moto. Consequently, the noise of their motors and horns fill the main streets most of the day and night along with their exhaust fumes. Zak was particularly adamant that I should experience a ride and thus far have “enjoyed” two rides. The last sojourn was this morning on our… Read More MOTOS, MOTOS, MOTOS
As alluded to previously, our hope was to reach Savannakhet before the sun came down on us. This seemed relatively straightforward, a seemingly direct line between Vinh and our destination were there. As can happen in Asia, simplicity was overrated. The journey began with us seeking out a ride at 2.30am in Vinh. Cracking out… Read More 24 Hours In Motion
Spring festival vacation snuck up upon me, and soon after my final class I met with Tori at the train station and we were off to guangzhou. from there, after being stared at eating dinner, we boarded a night train to Nanning, our final stop in China. We passed the day as any Chinese would:… Read More Like a Well-Worn Shoe
I’m interrupting Tori’s writing on the rest of our time in China in order to get recollections on Vietnam down before they fade too far from my own memory. Hopefully an unfaithful chronology will not be a deterrent. We got into Hanoi early in the morning, following an interesting night by train from Nanning that… Read More Once more unto the heat
Leaving Hanoi, we hopped rides on the back of a pair of motos whose ambitious drivers careened around slower vehicles, in a race against time to get us to the train station. We boarded our 30-hour train bound for the bottom end of the country, prepared for a 2 night and 1 day excursion down… Read More Saigon: Where Americans don’t get stared at
Our second stop involved flying into Hanoi at night, landing in the dreary darkness near the airport and passing through the messy, sprawling outer boundaries of the Vietnamese capitol in a fast-moving taxi. We were deposited in the care of a young Vietnamese woman from our guesthouse in the midst of a swirling whirlpool of… Read More I love the smell of motos in the evening
Zak Abroad 