travels with an ageing punkrocker/publisher
Today was the first full day in Hoi An, and we certainly did consumerism proud. If you take away the whole UNESCO world heritage listing of the old town the business of Hoi An is business, specifically making stuff: clothes, jewellery, glasses, more clothes, and other shiny things. The hotel breakfast is okay, nothing too flash but enough to take […]
Read moreWe kicked off our last day in Hanoi with the standard hotel breakfast, before plunging forth into mid-morning traffic in search of S****ucks, so L could add the special Vietnam mug to our collection (I was also tempted to get the Hanoi mug, as it’s bright orange on the inside, and we don’t have any that colour, but I’m not […]
Read moreOur last full day in Hanoi. I read an article recently that of all tourists to Vietnam, only 10-20% return for another visit. And we’ve seen the signs of this in the reactions of locals — many are surprised to hear that we’ve been here before. I know the world is a big place, with so many wonderful sights still […]
Read moreWell, a little bit quieter anyway. Last night we looked over our balcony and the street was shoulder to shoulder, even the mopeds (which probably weren’t supposed to be on the “walking” street) were forced to a crawl. Today, we could see the street below. There were the usual street vendors, pho and bun cha for those starting the new […]
Read moreBy the time I finish this post it’ll have gone midnight at home, banishing 2017 and starting 2018. Hanoi, an hour behind, will still be partying, the streets below will still be packed with revellers, and fireworks yet to start. The bit I’m still not sure about is that Vietnam has it’s own lunar new year, this year it’s 16 […]
Read moreToday was a long day. As Mick Thomas wrote, “There’s no point writing postcards on your bad days”, so I’ll try to keep it short. L and I got almost no sleep last night. The combination of hard bed and threat of sleeping through alarms and missing the 7.20am train kept us restless. We made it to the train with […]
Read moreYup. Due to Life, the universe, and everything, I haven’t used my passport in over 2 years. I’ve lost my gold frequent flyer status, and have 6 months to rescue my silver. Some days it feels the furthest I’ve been lately is Mandurah, and regardless of what my ipod plays it doesn’t look like the cover of Born Sandy Devotional […]
Read moreToday was our last full day in HCMC, my last proper day of holidays (at least for now). L feeling a whole lot better, not 100% though, so after a pretty good hotel breakfast (pho, and lots of other little bites — and unlike the last hotel, no baconfail) we headed out for a wander and last shop. L got […]
Read moreFull day in HCMC/Saigon (actually no one calls it Ho Chi Minh City, it gets used for official things, but everyone still calls it Saigon). I’ve lost count of what day we’re up to on this trip, but it was Thursday (I think). Had breakfast with the few remaining members of our tour, same wretched hotel breakfast made palatable by […]
Read moreWoke up in the heat of the Mekong Delta for the last day of the Intrepid Food Adventures tour of Vietnam (though I’m probably going to do a summary tour post in a day or so once I’ve had some reflection time). Had a fabulous final breakfast of omlette and fresh baguettes, home made jam, coffee, and fruit (I think). […]
Read moreHotel breakfast as covered previously, pho the only saving grace but even then probably the winner of the worst meal of the trip – Hoi An hotel takeaway at least had the excuse of it having to be packable. Then it’s on the bus to the Mekong delta, minus a quick delay while the police shook down the bus driver […]
Read moreI’ve been avoiding talking about the American/Vietnam war mostly, as I’m here for food not politics. Heading south, it’s harder to avoid, there are still scars and remnants and today’s tour was war heavy. Probably a good think L wasn’t 100% so took a rest day in the rather poor quality hotel room. Up early in Hoi An to bus […]
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