Ha Giang – first glimpse
I recently had the most fantastic week cruising around taking photos in Hagiang Province, Vietnam. This mountainous region in the country’s north is just simply stunning and the people amazing. It was intended that the Sunday market in Meo Vac was to be the highlight of the trip, however I can honestly say each [...]
Colourful Cao Dai
Hailing from Southern Vietnam with saints that include Victor Hugo, the ‘father of modern China’, Sun Yat-sen and Vietnamese Poet, Nguyen Binh Khiem, the colourful Cao Dai have a set of beliefs and teachings that seem to be a bit of a mish-mash of all the major religions. Founded less than 100 years ago on [...]
The Nam Hai, Hoi An Beach, Vietnam
Slated as Vietnam’s premiere luxury resort, The Nam Hai certainly has pretty much attained the right formula. The grounds and rooms are both beautifully designed and practically laid out taking advantage of both classic Vietnamese architecture and the stunning beachfront location. Each unit is stylishly appointed enjoying ocean views with attentive, well trained staff to [...]
Living it up in Vietnam
What a fantastic month! Yes, the posts have been a little thin on the ground this year…. sorry about that! Too, too much to do. Finished up in Shanghai after a wonderful 5 months, unfortunately I ended being so busy for a lot of the time it really impacted on everything and is part of [...]
Charming Hoi An
Hoi An has not lost even one iota of its charm. There have been many but few changes to this ancient World Heritage site over the past 10 years. I still found myself gasping at just how beautiful and appealing the architecture is in the old town. It also took me a day to realize [...]
Cruising in Saigon
Stepping out of Hanoi’s old quarter onto the streets of Saigon is a bit of shock. Saigon is alive with frantic activity. The streets buzz constantly with steady streams of motorbikes and with Sunday night being one of those “out cruising with the family evenings” you see many of the passers by smiling and simply [...]
Happy Birthday Hanoi
It has been 10 years since I last visited Hanoi and I must say it was great to be back. The city seems to retain a traditional vitality and wonderful atmosphere in the old quarter with so many street vendors carting colourful baskets of fruit and flowers amongst the rustic French colonial architecture lining the [...]
Christmas Day on Halong Bay
After a tedious bus journey from Hanoi it was as if Mother Nature had snapped her fingers the moment we arrived in Bai Chay. Looming gray clouds parted giving way to dazzling rays of winter sunshine that started to slip through just as we stepped onto one of Bhaya’s traditional junk styled cruise boats. We [...]
Christmas Eve 2009 in Hanoi, Vietnam
This was the last place I expected to be overwhelmed by atmosphere on a western religious holiday. Crowds had started to gather in the square in front of St Josephs cathedral in the old quarter from around 5pm. Strangely enough the gates around the cathedral were securely bolted. We found out later that the church [...]
Train from Nanning to Hanoi
The overnight train service running daily between Nanning and Hanoi is very comfortable in Chinese soft sleeper carriages however don’t look forward to getting too much sleep. Departure from Nanning is currently at 6.45 pm, with arrival in Pingxiang a little after 10pm for Chinese border control formalities which took around 90 minutes. [...]
Guangxi’s Detian Falls
The magnificent Detian Falls located on the China/Vietnam border shines with vivid, jewel like colour and is definitely worth a visit. So much more attractive than just your standard trickle of water running over a cliff, Detian is some 200 metres wide and has three tiers of water rushing over its various edges. Despite the [...]
