It was an early start to our second day, and for good reason; we had booked ourselves onto a cooking class with the intention of learning some classic Vietnamese dishes, and part of the experience was visiting a local market to source fresh ingredients for use in our studies. After a quick breakfast at the nearby Sozo Cafe, we were met by our guide, a young law student with excellent English called Lieu, who led us off by taxi to meet our teacher for the morning.

After negotiating our way through rush-hour traffic, we found ourselves at a quieter back-street,… (more)

Leaving the tourist shopping centre of Hoi-An behind, we’ve travelled further south by air to the place formerly known as Saigon, ex-southern capital of Vietnam and now referred to by many as Ho Chi Minh City.  We arrived here two days ago, and have been staying at the An An Hotel 2, a run of the mill but perfectly serviceable hotel in District 1. It’s not the plushest of areas, but there’s plenty to get excited about after the sun (and temperature) goes down.

We spent most of the first day in our usual pattern of settling in, wandering around… (more)

We’ve travelled south 130km from our last port of call in Hue, and have been staying in the historic trading-port town of Hoi-An, very close to the city of Da Nang and a few kilometres from the beach. The vibe here is very low key and easy-going, with just the expected low-level soft sell from the locals interrupting your casual stroll or road-side frappucini.

Much of our stay here has been focussed on shopping, eating and general moseying, activities for which the place seems finely tuned; the old town is taken up either by stylish cafes or restaurants, and… (more)

We’ve travelled south about 700km from the capital, and have spent the past few days hanging out in Hue, historic city of the Nguyen dynasty, feudal capital and UNESCO world heritage site. After the damp and overcast conditions in Hanoi, the weather is hot and gloriously sunny, which isn’t really much of shock given the geography and the distance we’ve travelled. We’re staying in Villa Hue, a very modern and quite luxurious hotel, enthusiastically staffed by students from Hue Tourism School.

We’ve been taking it easy during our stay here, wandering around the various palaces and temples absorbing the history and architecture. We spent… (more)

It’s been a series of false starts since we arrived in Vietnam, and our arrival in Hanoi hasn’t done much to buck that trend; after recovering our from our stomach upsets, we’ve now both managed to come down with heavy colds, so our activities here have been curtailed somewhat. However, whilst not as intrepid as we might’ve liked, we’ve been managing to make it out of the hotel and onto the streets to explore.

We’ve spent most of our time in Hanoi retreading familiar ground, returning to the old quarter for shopping, revisiting the Temple of Literature and stopping by… (more)

We’ve just spent our first night in Hanoi, after arriving early last night by car. We’re staying at the Holiday Hotel on Hang Manh Street, which in itself is nothing special but is right in the thick of things in the Old Quarter.

It took us about 4 hours in total to travel here from Mai Chau, and by the time we arrived rush hour had begun and the roads were saturated with cars and motorbikes. Getting around by motorised vehicle is an organic experience to put it mildly - the term “right of way” doesn’t seem to exist here,… (more)

After a bit of a false start to the trip thanks to an early (but thankfully minor) bout of Delhi belly, we’re hanging out in our room in the Mai Chau Lodge awaiting the coach to Hanoi. It’s unfortunate that we haven’t managed to do the things we came here for, but hopefully our gastric troubles are behind us now and I’m looking forward to sampling some of the native street cuisine the capital is so famous for.

I have some mixed feelings about our accommodations here in Mai Chau; The lodge is very modern and comfortable, with all… (more)

After a brief overnight stop in Kuala Lumpur, we’re in the air and on the last leg of our outbound journey to our first port of call in Hanoi. Jet-lag, a lack of sleep and an insanely early flight means we’re a little worse for wear, but looking forward to getting ourselves re-aquatinted with the place that left such a lasting impression on us on our last short visit to the region.

It was an uneventful 13-hour flight from Stanstead, flying on the relatively new AirAisa X budget airline. As a no-frills entity, practically everything after the cost of the… (more)