📁 Category: Vietnam

Vietnam travel guides, UNESCO sites, and personal stories from Ha Long Bay to Hoi An. Explore destinations and cultural insights.

Sapa - Tam Coc, Day 4: O Quy Ho Mountain Pass (Lao Cai)

Sapa – Tam Coc, Day 4: O Quy Ho Mountain Pass (Lao Cai)

It was raining in the morning which prevented us from going outside early as we expected. However, we were lucky that the rain stopped around 9 AM. We headed out to rent 2 motorbikes at a nearby hotel, then straight to the Ô Quý Hồ peak. We passed “Thác Bạc” (Silver Waterfall) but then we […]

Sapa - Tam Coc, Day 3: Cat Cat Village (Sapa)

Sapa – Tam Coc, Day 3: Cat Cat Village (Sapa)

We had breakfast and checked out of the hotel. The trek to Cát Cát Village started at 9:30 AM. The village was quite far from the center of Sapa as we leisurely walked for about 45 minutes to reach the place where the guide had to buy tickets. Around 11 AM, we reached the waterfall […]

Sapa - Tam Coc, Day 2: Ham Rong Mountain And The Sapa Stone Church

Sapa – Tam Coc, Day 2: Ham Rong Mountain And The Sapa Stone Church

Around 5:30 AM, we reached the Lao Cai train station. Even though there’s a person to pick us up, we had to wait for about an hour for the coach to Sapa to depart (maybe because the hotel needed to pick up passengers for another train which left later than ours). We checked in and […]

Sapa - Tam Coc, Day 1: Hanoi To Sapa

Sapa – Tam Coc, Day 1: Hanoi To Sapa

Because the VietJetAir plane to Hanoi was delayed several hours, we landed at Noi Bai airport quite early in the morning. We only reached the Hanoi Sports Hotel around 3 AM. We were all too tired and went to sleep right away. The alarm woke me up around 7 AM. We headed downstairs for breakfast. […]

Siem Reap – Phnom Penh, Day 1: On The Tour Bus To Cambodia

Siem Reap – Phnom Penh, Day 1: On The Tour Bus To Cambodia

I’d been to Cambodia with a friend once before, in February 2008, just a few months before Vietnam and Cambodia agreed on visa exemption for ordinary passport holders. At that time, we had our passport glued with a paper visa and paid 20 USD at the Moc Bai border gate. This time I went with […]

My 1995 Summer

My 1995 Summer

Lâu lắm rồi tôi không viết văn. Chính xác là 8 năm có lẻ, từ cái đợt thi vào đại học năm 2000. Trời, nhìn lại thấy 8 năm trôi qua nhanh quá. Giờ tự dưng muốn viết văn nhưng từ ngữ bay biến đâu cả. Trong một ngày nóng nực thế này, tôi muốn […]

Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Day 11: Garzê Monastery

Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Day 11: Garzê Monastery

We woke up very late around 8 AM. Didn’t know what to do so I listened to music while waiting for the rain to stop. As Alex wanted to go out, at 10 AM, we walked to a monastery nearby then another temple on the way we went to the mountains yesterday. 4 hours of […]

Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Day 10: Garzê Hiking

Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Day 10: Garzê Hiking

We climbed a mountain across a river from 8 AM to 4 PM. We started very early when there were clouds over them, but when we reached the top, it was all sunny. My big toes didn’t hurt me much like the hike in Kangding. My feet surely preferred walking on the grass to on […]