Day 28 18 May 2013 Hanoi The important things in life After spending most of the morning writing my stuff, I received a call from Eddy Verdriet. Ed and I met in Sapa two years ago and only spoke to each other for about 7 to 10 minutes, which was enough to know that we connected easily. I had seen him at the markets earlier in the day where he was enquiring about Hmong materials. I thought he was a tourist like me but found out during our brief conversation th...

Day 27 May 17 2013 Hanoi Good days and Bad days I didn't feel like writing at the end of the day. (27/5) I only made the following entry on face book. Today, one day later I give it another go 8 am Got up and had breakfast 10am Spent two hours trying to find the Mongolian Embassy only 3.5 km away 12 noon, after 1.5 hours searching for the address commended dentist 1.30 pm had a haircut 2 .00pm Saw my friend Minh Hoang, of Off-road Vietnam 4.00 pm Back to th...

Day 26 May 16 2013 Nihn Binh to Hanoi To have a lonely planet is almost a must as the advice and recommendations from other travelers can save a lot of grief and time. Nihn Bihn is famous for its limestone Karsts rock formations. Halong Bay on Land it is referred to in various brochures and travel books. So let's have a look at it. About 5 km out of town there is a place where one can get into a rowing boat and be taken along waterways to view the limestone fo...

Day 25 15 May 2013 Ha Tinh to Ninh Binh Day 25 May 15 2013 Ninh Binh There is something about motorcycling many people don't understand or simply never think about at home but more so here in Vietnam There are no words to describe the harrowing, heart racing, bare knuckle exhilaration of driving a motorcycle in Vietnam. It's two worlds consisting of the crazy rat race maze of the cities, and the death defying low speed motoring down a narrow highway that...

Day 24 May 14 2013 Hue to Ha Thin Recently I (re) befriended an old schoolmate called Ted Wesselius who I shared my school bench with in grade 5. We were friends in those day and made contact again about 50 years later via the Dutch School bank (school bench) website. We have shared many a stories already and share the same witty sense of humor. Why is this relevant? Ted is married to a Vietnamese lady who hails from Hue and had asked me a while ago to see her...