Where Globe-Trotting meets Beach-Combing
We were carted around all over Vietnam and Cambodia; meaning, we spent a lot of time looking out of car windows. Each city looked different, felt different, smelled different. Saigon was crowded crowded crowded. We saw two guys on a scooter balancing several full-sized glass doors. Everywhere we saw moms riding with their very small…
It’s not like this was our first rainy day in Vietnam, but it was certainly the rainy-est. We’d hoped to have one day to zen out on the beach—a beautiful, exotic beach—like we haven’t done since we moved to Asia. But it rained pretty much every day we were in Vietnam; Cambodia was our only…
Hoi An was interesting. Not for its ancient history, but rather for its glimpse into modern tourism destinations. Hoi An has effectively quarantined tourists into the charming Old Quarter, where delicious western-style Vietnamese restaurants (meaning places where you eat at a table instead of crouched around a pot on the street corner), tailors and souvenir…
Rain splattered the car windows as the road climbed up into the mountains from water-logged rice paddies sprawling along the sea. A bonsai tree in a painted white and blue pot rested on a balcony above a vibrant rooster pecking the cement porch of a house painted chartreuse. A herd of cattle temporarily blocked the…
Upon meeting our final tour guide at the Hue airport, it became immediately clear that at no point would we understand each other. He began by introducing our itinerary, saying we would first visit the toms, yes, toms, you know toms? Empara toms. Yes, toms? Then the Citadel, followed by lan. By lan. Lan? Ok…
“So I have a ticket.”“Yes.”“And it’s paid.”“Yes.”“So I have a paid ticket.”“Yes.”“And I can’t get on this flight?”“Yes, that’s right.” For no reason, Vietnam Airlines gave us a lot of trouble checking in at 5am for our flight from Hanoi to Hue. The airline said the tour company paid with a credit card and without…
“A family of dragons watched stoically as Chinese invaders attacked the land that would soon become Vietnam. Amidst the fighting a cry arose, begging the dragons for help. The mother dragon flashed into action, descending over the waters and dropping diamonds and jade into a jagged barrier that would keep the enemy at bay. The…
