Lest you think that travel is nonstop glamour and excitement, here’s a nutshell summary of my day today: My train arrived at the station in Hanoi just before 5am. I’d managed a bit more sleep on the return train, so…
More from Sapa
We woke up with the rooster’s crow at dawn, and promptly went back to sleep for another three hours or so. It was warm under the blankets and freezing outside, so getting out of bed was difficult, to say the…
Highlands, hiking and hill tribes
Party on the Sapa Express Last night, I took the overnight sleeper train from Hanoi to Lao Cai station, up in the mountains of northwestern Vietnam. The train was an interesting experience, to say the least. No announcements or information…
Education and brainwashing
Day two in Hanoi, and I haven’t been run over by a motorbike yet. Wow, I’m practically a local! I woke up early this morning and enjoyed another giant buffet breakfast. Being over my jet lag and fairly well oriented…
It’s a mad, mad city
Greetings from Hanoi’s Old Quarter, a maze of one-way streets and free-flowing chaos. Shops, hotels, travel agents, merchants, street stalls selling pho and other foods, taxi drivers, buses, tourists, locals going about their business… and the motorbikes. The millions of…