"Vinh is for sure not a winner" There were five of us leaving the hostel in the small minibus that picked us up about one hour late. Jared, Mohan, Paul and I were going to Vinh, about 8 hours by bus, and Chris, an Englishman going to Hue, about 4 hours further south. We got on a sleeper bus, so there were some kinds of beds in there. One row of bunk beds along the windows, and one in the middle, creating two ales for the staff to walk around in and the...

"Voices in my head!" After walking around in the streets and back alley markets of Vinh, we sat in the hostel to let the lunch digest. We were to meet up at the hotel at 6 PM, but we were there at five. At six they told us to wait for the receptionist who sold us the ticket; she should be there around 7 PM. We tried some street food, hoping not to get sick on the bus ride. I had a good feeling about the bus, but there was no way to tell weather it ...

"Vinh is for sure not a winner" There were five of us leaving the hostel in the small minibus that picked us up about one hour late. Jared, Mohan, Paul and I were going to Vinh, about 8 hours by bus, and Chris, an Englishman going to Hue, about 4 hours further south. We got on a sleeper bus, so there were some kind of beds in the bus. One row of bunk beds along the windows, and one in the middle, creating two ales for the staff to walk around in, a...

"Completing the strike" In Moscow I saw Lenin. In Beijing I saw Mao. In Hanoi I saw Ho Chi Minh. Three communist leaders, still cherished in their own countries, they were all mystical figures that for decades to come will be read and written about all over the world. Upon arrival in Hanoi I heard some rumors that Ho Chi Minh was not available at the moment. Some said the mausoleum was closed off to tourists because of the Spring Festival, some s...

"The city of celebrations" Hanoi has a lot of celebrations going on at the moment, and I am very happy I got the time to see some of them. The city is celebrating 1000 years old, the Communist party is celebrating its 80th anniversary, Chinese New Year was coming up and some of the guys in my hostel were celebrating their birthdays. The city is rigged with lights, lanterns, thousands of communist flags, pictures of Ho Chi Minh, and actually vario...