2014-02-26 Buy of me…Buy of me! 2008 I was in Sapa on a motorcycle tour with four guys and a guide. I loved it became hooked on Vietnam. I walked down the main street with my friend Andreas who lives in Austin Texas. When walking through the main street of Sapa you are continually accosted by females dressed in traditional Black Hmong or Red Zhou attire trying to sell you their handicrafts. The females range in age from perhaps 4 to 50 years old. The word...

Far North Vietnam. 2014-02-24 Plans are only plans and "see what goes ", (Jerome) was a good way to adapt. I have been back and forth from Hanoi to Sapa then back to Hanoi and again back to Sapa. I have decided not to go to Laos this time and to stay with my friend Eddy in the small village of Tavan; 13 km from Sapa. Tavan is a village located a bit lower than Sapa's altitude of 1600 meters. The Plan of going to Laos I let go in favour to be with and assist m...

2014-02-20 Tommy Revisited Some of the readers have asked me about Tommy and how it was going with him. Let's go back one year ( you can visit last year’s blog and and go to entry 28 and the following days, to see what was happing around the time. Eddy’s and Hi-en’s son Tommy was about one month old and had been in the hospital since birth and was steadily going backward insomuch that his life hung in the balance, the reality was that quick...

2014-02-19 Sapa The weather in Hanoi can be very cold. "Cold" is a word definitely missing from my wish list as I hate it. Hanoi was cold and it rained, I made arrangements with the Hostel to leave my bike there incl. most of my gear and decided take a bus north instead. My destination was Sapa to see my friend Eddy of which I will tell you a bit more later. Sapa is a tribal area where you can find several minority people, Black Hmong, White Hmong, Red Zhou ...

Hanoi 2014-02-18 I have to admit that I prefer Hanoi over Saigon for several reasons. Hanoi is where the exotic old mixes with modernism in a different way. The best part of town is "The Old quarter", with its warren of streets. Rather than destroying old buildings to raise modern new ones, here you notice that restoring at least the outer façade of a building ensures that the city keeps its charm. The narrow streets now swarm with 1000's and 1000’s ...