What a gift our trip to Sapa was! On our own again without our friend Mary, we arrived in Sapa by the night train from Hanoi at 5:30am to cool temperatures. Well, cool to us; they were nothing like the frigid (-35 degrees), snowy weather many of our friends had reported from home in Canada. Upon arrival at our hotel, Fansipan View, we immediately became friends with the manager, Thuyen and her Dutch friend Monique. Next thing we knew we were enjoying dinner s...

At first we didn't like Hanoi, however, it did grow on us. It is impossible to describe the chaotic madness of the city but once you hook into its rhythm it has a kind of curious charm that is quite compelling. Wandering, or should I say dodge-walking, the streets of Hanoi for two days took us to some of the tourist sites including a memorable experience at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. With guards snapping at us to queue here, march forward there, keep silent, ha...

This was a trip well worth the effort of diverting from the beaten path of most visitors to Vietnam. The national park tour, our accommodations and the beauty of the surrounding rice paddies and villages made this a memorable stop. We had received an email from the Phong Nha Farm Stay with many instructions and information aimed at managing our expectations and ensuring we realized this was an out-of-the-way spot. Taking the very comfortable 5-hour train ride fr...

Since we had taken a 'sleeper bus' during the day journey to Mui Ne, we thought we were well prepared to take a sleeper bus overnight from Mui Ne to Hoi An. When will we learn that nothing is predictable in Asia or in the way we travel? The bus ride was 17.5 hours long (2:30pm-8:00am). The highlights included: beautiful coastline scenery (fishing villages, ocean landscape, rice paddies, sand dunes)scary road conditions and trafficnon-stop, penetrating blow-horn b...

I feel a sense of space and contentment. Warm breezes, a beach side hut, swimming in big waves, and delicious food everywhere we eat. Pho is the national soup, eaten at breakfast and other times of the day. The stock is the key. I've tried pho many times and had the best pho stock at a local, sand-floored restaurant here. It was absolutely amazingly delicious! Food in Vietnam is the best.... We share laughter daily with the Vietnamese people - from our favourite...