Destination Guide
While living in Vietnam I found there frequently wasn't much information or decent photos of places to visit off the beaten track available on the internet - it may be easy to find information on towns on the Sinh Cafe routes but beyond that places were often something of a mystery.
It also seemed that many of the guides I came across didn't express the sheer beauty of the country, with dry descriptions and little information beyond where to sleep. I want to try and correct that with this blog and travel guide - although it is still early days - and plan to cover plenty of the hidden locations that make Vietnam so special.
Still, I'm not a fountain of all knowlege by any means, and I would welcome anyone who is so inclined to send in their own stories, tips and advice to the website to help it grow into an authoritative guide on travel in Vietnam. Similarly if you have questions about your upcoming visit please make contact and I'll do my best to offer any tips I can think of.
In the meantime, start reading about the wonderful destinations we do cover!
Back to Saigon
Submitted by nomad on Mon, 09/08/2008 - 22:49.It's been quite a busy week - I handed in my notice last week, booked my tickets on Wednesday and we will be returning to Vietnam at the start of November - very exciting stuff. It's been over a year since we were in Saigon last and it feels like a very long time indeed!
Posts like the aroma of Saigon from Chris Harvey are making me rather impatient, as does rainy days in Saigon from EatingAsia - not to mention the great photos by Simon Kutcher at Saigon Today which have kept me going for most of the past year.. just a few more weeks to go!
Still, I need to crack on and get some more travel content finished for the site - it was always the plan to include more interesting, out of the way places on this site and right now it reads like a Sinh Cafe itinerary for a time stretched traveller.
Don't forget your travel insurance!
Submitted by nomad on Fri, 08/22/2008 - 10:33.Yes, it seems very basic indeed, but it is amazing how many people 'forget' to buy travel insurance before they leave for faraway shores. Perhaps its a particularly British trait - we're used to our government covering us across Europe so when we venture further we just don't think - but getting stuck on the wrong side of the world with no insurance is no joke when the worst happens.
A friend of mine came to visit me in Saigon - he'd been working on a yacht from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean and so had been covered by his employer for that stretch of the journey. He decided to leave his job and come and visit, but didn't think to get cover for the rest of his travels. One night in Saigon he came off his motorbike and managed to break his jaw in five places - very nasty but it could have been far worse. It still meant getting his jaw wired shut for six weeks and metal plates in his mouth, as well as a whopping medical bill for thousands of pounds.
Happily he is healed and scar free, but I doubt he'll make the same mistake again. I felt very sorry for the family when I read this article in the Telegraph - a family was left with a £25,000 medical bill when a motorbike accident landed their son in hospital.
Airlines add fuel surcharge for domestic flights
Submitted by nomad on Thu, 08/21/2008 - 10:35.From August 15th domestic airlines including Vietnam Airlines, Jetstar Pacific and Vasco will start adding a fuel surcharge to flights to help beat increased costs. Charges will range from $3 to $11 depending on the distance travelled, and will help offset some of the losses made by the airlines this year.
The rainy season
Submitted by nomad on Thu, 07/17/2008 - 17:59.It's the rainy season in South Vietnam from late May through to October, and the amount of water that falls is truely spectacular. Here's some of our favourite pictures from Flickr!
Saigon River Pollution So Bad It Corrodes Ships
Submitted by nomad on Tue, 07/15/2008 - 09:54.
The pollution in the Go Dau port on the Thi Vai river, south of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, is so bad that Japanese cargo ships are refusing to dock for fears it will corrode the hulls of their boats.
On your bike!
Submitted by nomad on Wed, 05/14/2008 - 15:44.One thing I could never get over in Viet Nam was the sheer variety of things people carried on their motorbikes. Whether panes of glass, crates of eggs, animals, washing machines or even refrigerators it was all fair game!
Frosted Glass (credit: IpsoFoto)
Tour operators in Vietnam
There's no shortage of tour operators in Vietnam, so we plan to list some of the more unusual amongst them.
Backpacker Tours
Known and loved by many, these offer reliably cheap tours around the country
Luxury Travel
Responsible Travel
Vietnam Blogs + Websites
As I miss Vietnam a great deal, I love keeping tabs on what is happening in Vietnam by reading blogs of people who are still there. Here's a quick run down of some of my favourites - let me know if there's anything I've missed!
News in Vietnam
Thanh Nien - Possibly my favourite as it often has a fair amount of analysis - certainly a lot more than you'd find in Viet Nam News!
VietNamNet Bridge - Translates and publishes news from a wide range of sources
Vietnamese Food
Gastronomy provides lots of reviews and photos of great street food from around Saigon and Asia as a whole.. I'm quite jealous of how much she gets about, actually!
Sticky Rice blogs on tasty treats from around Hanoi
Noodlepie doesn't live in Saigon anymore but still blogs about Vietnam from time to time - still very useful if you're craving a particular dish though as you can look up your favourites and get suggestions on good places to eat them
Vietnam's Development
Vietnam Streets - the blog of the excellent Blue Dragon Children's Foundation in Hanoi, contains some amazing stories about the lives of children in Vietnam
Information
For information on travelling within Vietnam, highlights about the culture and more
