Given that we spent two additional half days in Hanoi, it felt only right to add a little more about the city, perhaps omitted the first time around. Firstly, you see a good deal of western tourists on the streets of the colonial center, but they are alternative types, and not too abrasive. But you also see some others, more typical well-off tourists we came across in Moscow, Beijing, Shanghai etc. With the chaos and difficulty navigating the streets and crossi...

Il nostro volo da Hong Kong e' atterrato ad Hanoi poco prima di mezzanotte. Dopo aver sbrigato le faccende burocratiche siamo usciti nella notte vietnamita e abbiamo trovato il nostro taxi, mandato dall'albergo per evitare fregature che pare siano molto frequenti. Il tragitto dall'aeroporto alla citta' e' stato un po' surreale: l'autista guidava pianissimo e non ha aperto bocca una volta, l'illuminazione stradale era scarsissima e non c'era in giro quasi nessun...

Cliched, I know, but its difficult to avoid, although titles were extremely plentiful: Welcome to Indochina, Bienvenue in Indochine, something along the lines of the 'real asia' that Anna used, but probably not anything aimed at "soldier boys". Assuming that trade has moved mainly to Vietnam, there were no offers for sucky sucky, but instead countless things you could get for 'five dolla'. Our journey into the southeast asian peninsula began at a simple hotel, ...