Leaving Hoi An for the southern 'capital' of Vietnam was quite a drastic change in every respect. While other places in Vietnam can be called the imperial center or political center, Ho Chi Minh city is the country's economic heart, not just in its industrial role, but also as the cosmopolitan city of trade and finance. Despite many particularly vietnamese qualities, Ho Chi Minh city is becoming more and more like the other big cities in the region; KFC's, Pizz...

I nostri 5 giorni a Hoi An sono stati una vera goduria. Siamo arrivati dopo 5 ore di autobus, sudati, assonnati e (tutti e due) con problemi di stomaco, e, dopo un pranzo veloce al bar dell'albergo, ci siamo messi a letto con il proposito di "riposare" un po', ma ci siamo svegliati che era ora di cena. La tentazione di rimetterci a dormire era forte, ma abbiamo resistito e abbiamo affrontato i 5 minuti a piedi che ci separavano dal centro storico di Hoi An. La ...

Imagine a town where every building is at least 100 years old, and where those buildings have either been restored to their original splendor and are now hotels, restaurants, or bars, or they have been aged by tropical rain and the constant creeping of tropical vegetation. You place that town in Vietnam and you have Hoi An. But having 100+ year old houses is not descriptive enough, as these although mostly being French colonial structures, are also Japanese, gi...

The vietnamese imperial capital was one of the sights I was looking forward to the most on our trip, since its gradeur has faded a good deal, mainly because of destruction during the wars Vietnam struggled through against the US and France, the latter of which was to be the most destructive, as we would later find out. With things in decay, fewer tourists would be around, and it would be an enjoyable visit, and this in fact proved to be the case. The city is di...

Hue ce la siamo davvero sudata. E dico in senso stretto. Siamo arrivati verso le 10 di mattina dopo un viaggio in treno, ben diverso da tutti gli altri viaggi in treno che abbiamo alle spalle. Prenotando all'ultimo momento momento, abbiamo trovato posto solo in uno scompartimento da 6, dove i letti erano dure panche di legno con sopra buttato un materasso striminzito e putrido. L'aria condizionata era a dir poco blanda e le finestre sigillate, per cui, dopo una...