I remember years ago when my Dad went to America. I was fascinated by the Dangers And Annoyances section in his guidebook. Its still the first page I turn too when reading about far away countries today.
While eating breakfast this morning, I read an old guidebook of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos from the early nineties. [...]
I met Jenn on the bus to Cambodia, a fellow traveller from Canada. We sat on the bus and watched Vietnam become Cambodia.
At the border, I had to pay $5 for my expired Visa but other than that it was cool. We had to wait for an hour while the Vietnam authorities held our passports, [...]
I had spent 4 days of Christmas in Saigon, mostly sitting on sofas hanging around in a coffee shop with a free cinema upstairs. I watched Frost/Nixon and Che Part One plus a load of ‘traveller films’ like The Quiet American and The Killing Fields. All good stuff and being in the region gives them [...]
The roadie for the Vietnamese Phonofiction prepares their instruments.
I arrived in Saigon at 5am as the city was waking up. I jumped off the bus, barged past the touts and found a coffee shop that had just about opened. I ordered a cappuccino and read about Ho Chi Minh City.
After breakfast I went to a nearby travel agency and booked myself on a [...]
I had just passed my diving course and had time to kill before my 10 hour bus ride to Saigon. I decided to hang around the beach.
I was there for about an hour when a bloke walked passed, said hello, and asked where I was from. Not an unusual question but he didn’t appear to [...]
Despite the rumors of biker gangs and ladyboy muggers, I decided to stay in Nha Trang for 4 more days while I learned to dive.
The course could be completed in 3 days but the people at Rainbow Divers recommended taking 4 at no extra cost.
The first day was spent learning the theory, watching DVDs, reading, [...]
From Hue I took a cyclo (3 wheeled bicycle taxi) to the train station to catch the 01.34 to Nha Trang. The streets were dead and the driver was so dodgy; trying to sell me weed and then heading off on a detour so I could buy him a coffee to keep him awake.
I managed [...]
Saturday 13 December, I arrived in the ancient capital of Hue on a bus from Hoi An.
I spent two days there. The first day I went on a tour of the Demilitarized Zone, the scene of some of the worst fighting during the American war (as the Vietnamese rightly call it). The tour was conducted by [...]
