Archive for the 'Travel' Category

Pannonia

Kenny and I are headed to a friend’s wedding in Long Island this weekend, and then off for a two-week jaunt to Pannonia: Budapest and Croatia, possibly taking day trips to Bosnia and Montenegro. We’re planning on taking a laptop with us for this one, so I may post some photos and he may post […]

Central America

My brother is planning a trip to Central America in a few weeks. I wrote up a few recommendations for him based on my trip to Belize & Guatemala last May, and I thought that others planning similar trips might benefit as well. In general, Central America was a fantastic destination and Kenny and I […]

Different Honeymoon

A couple of nights ago, my friend’s friend (Julie) received a random unsolicited email from combinedtours@trips-southamerica.com. Upon opening the message, she saw the following embedded advertisement:

As you can imagine, Julie was very surprised to see a couple of faces she recognized in the image! As was Kara, to whom Julie forwarded the message, and as […]

On Being Chickentarian in Indochina

Being chickentarian* in Vietnam and Cambodia involved some challenges, but in general it wasn’t too difficult. I think that being vegetarian, on the other hand, would be much more difficult.
A few observations:

Interestingly, I had an easier time finding good chickentarian food in the north than in the South (perhaps nowhere was as easy as Hang […]

Ho Ho Ho Hoi An

We spent Xmas Eve in Hoi An. It was wonderful to be in a smallish, quiet town without hideous Christmas music blaring everywhere. We did encounter a few Santas though!

This kid was really excited that we asked him for a photo.
 

A white Santa
 
We had a quiet dinner at a restaurant near the waterfront (including a […]

Hang Ga

Five hundred years ago, many of the streets in Hanoi’s Old Quarter were named according to the goods that were sold here. Many of the streets have retained their names, although only a few of them still specialize in their original craft. Here are a few examples from the Rough Guide:

Street Name
Meaning
Modern Specialty

Hang Dau
Oil
Shoes

Hang Ma
Paper […]

The Hipsters Have Moved on to Laos

From the NYT travel section’s list of 53 Places to Go in 2008, via my Mom:
Vietnam and Cambodia are so 2007.

Good thing we’ll make it there before the year is up!
(Although this article contradicts itself: it claims that Vietnam is “so 2007,” then lists it later as one of the 53 places to go in […]

Vietnam/Cambodia Trip

We’re still trying to keep things flexible, but here’s the tentative itinerary:

Arrive in Hanoi on December 16, explore the city for a couple of days
Halong Bay cruise, then back to Hanoi
Fly down to the central coast: visit Hue, Hoi An, My Son (how much time we spend in this area may depend on weather)
A beach […]

One Day You’ll Find that I Have Gone

Back in May, I wrote that Kenny and I had intended to keep our itinerary for our Guatemala/Belize trip somewhat flexible — and then we ended up booking hotels for almost every night of the trip a few weeks before we left. We’re doing better at being spontaneous for Vietnam and Cambodia. We leave in […]

There are Oceans and Waves and Wires Between Us

Kenny and I have been planning a winter break trip to Vietnam and Cambodia (and by planning, I mean that we bought plane tickets back in June. Aside from that, we haven’t done much). But lately it seemed that forces were conspiring against us and our trip. (Warning: this is a long story. I won’t […]