vietnam
The Expeditioner’s May Travel Photo Contest Winner: Hanoi Eatery
Dear Hanoi, you can have your cacophony of unrelenting horns. Me? I’ll revel in the bliss that is your cuisine. This month’s photo contest winner, Jonathan Hall, did just that. In his own words: Hanoi’s dining scene can be daunting at first as there are rarely any menus. You just walk along until you see […]
8 Coffee Shops In Saigon You Need To Try
Travelers who’ve downed a cup of joe in Southeast Asia know that the stuff’s good — really good — but not like what you’re used to at home. Given the coffee’s brewed from extra-bold beans and served in a climate where the last thing you crave while you’re sweating through your shirt is a hot […]
Vietnam By Bike: The Greatest Trip On Earth
Let’s pretend for a moment that I’m a jacked-up, grease-loving, motorhead that feels at home in leather pants. I would boast of my vehicular chariot’s duel exhausts, 454 “ponies under the hood,” and chrome-plated deely-bops. I’d even have the Kia logo tattooed on my right forearm. Also, I can get away with a Kia tattoo […]
December’s “Christmas Around The World” Photo Contest Winner: A Ho Chi Minh City Santa Hat
It never ceases to amaze us when two people are on the same page, let alone 8 million. We learned from our December photo contest at our Flickr group, that this is exactly the case every December in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City. Our Christmas-themed contest winner comes from AMASC and is titled “Balloon Gazing.” […]
October’s “Adventure Travel” Photo Contest Winner
This month’s contest winner brings back memories for some of us at The Expeditioner. With Matt recently back from his escapades through Cambodia and Vietnam, he can vouch for me when I say that routine travel in SE Asia can, in it of itself, be considered “adventure travel” in the most literal of terms. This […]
SE Asia Trip Dispatch: Part Three (Saigon Part Duex)
On June 11, 1963, Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc set himself on fire to protest the treatment of monks by American-backed President Ngo Dinh Diem. This act led to the steep decline of the support of the President, and is widely believed to be the end of his reign, culminating in his assassination in November […]
SE Asia Trip Dispatch: Part Two (Saigon: First Impressions)
Jet lag does some strange things to the mind on the road. Waking up, sweating in the middle of the night, with no chance of falling back asleep, it sends your mind into some dark corners of the world, switching off all pleasure receptors and robbing you of all that you hold dear. But, alas, […]
SE Asia Trip Dispatch: Part One (When A Layover Becomes A Trip)
There are a couple of things you should keep in mind when planning to include a massive layover during your trip. One: despite its reputation, layovers are good. Especially when they’re in a city you’ve never been to before. Especially when it’s Saturday night. And especially when you have two weeks ahead of you to […]
Phu Quoc, Vietnam: Visit Before It Becomes Phuket
“Like Phuket before it became Phuket.” Anyone notice how this saying is quickly becoming the de facto description to use to describe an island in Southeast Asia that is, amazingly, undeveloped and seemingly undiscovered by tourists? (I recently wrote about this article about Boracay, Philippines — an island that also got the Phuket treatment). This […]
The Quest To Avoid Tourists In Vietnam Continues
If you basically draw a line between the northern and southern tips of Vietnam, then mark the exact middle, you’ll find Da Nang, the former U.S. stronghold during the Vietnam (or American, depending on which country you were living in) War, and now an increasingly popular destination for travelers looking for a getaway in the […]