When Jes and I began our big 6 month trip in 2013, it took us about 5 days to actually acclimatize to the new time zone and pace of life. We were in Bangkok at that time, and I remember that we’d get so exhausted by mid afternoon that we would go back to […]
Read More Sleepless in SaigonSapa was one of those places where people unanimously told us it was a “must see” for its picturesque vistas and diversity of ethnic minority groups living in the area. But we’d also met many tourists who made the trek out to Sapa only to find themselves in heavy rains or mist so thick you […]
Read More Terrace trekking in SapaThere are some places we visit where learning about the history or back story of a place really enhances our appreciation for what we’re seeing. But then there are other times when no guide or history lesson is really required to still be impressed. In the case of Halong Bay, it was the latter. I […]
Read More Cruising through Halong BayWe’re no food experts, but we do love to eat. And since we went on a serious Vietnamese street food binge while we were in Hanoi (thanks are in order to the amazing authors of some of our fave blogs, Stickyrice and EatingAsia, for all the guidance), we decided to put together our top 10 […]
Read More Chanman’s Top 10 Hanoi Street EatsWe love big cities. Cities are where we seem to feel most at home. We spent over six days in Hanoi, most of them overcast and wet but we still managed to fall in love with this city. Really it was a combination of a very walkable city, a dynamic local scene, a great variety of […]
Read More Finding food heaven in HanoiSo I’d been the one who insisted on traveling during Chinese/Lunar New Year because I thought it would provide for an enhanced local experience. And while we did have a great time enjoying the lantern festival and fireworks in Hoi An, traveling during this period really has resulted in some unfortunate travel trade-offs for us […]
Read More Delayed in Dong Hoi for a few too many hoursNext up for us was to continue our path north through Vietnam and head to the Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park near a small village called Son Trach. Phong Nha means “cave of teeth” and this is exactly what we came to see – some of Asia’s oldest karst mountains housing a few hundred caves […]
Read More Exploring the Crazy Caves of Phong Nha Ke Bang National ParkHeeded by warnings that it would be difficult to travel in and around Tet, we opted to stay put in Hoi An for 6 nights and spend our new year’s eve there. We’d heard many great things from friends about the charm of this little Unesco Heritage town, so we were definitely looking forward to […]
Read More Chúc mừng năm mới from Hoi An!Warning! very long post to follow… Is it too early to call it? We just might have had our best travel experience ever. If it isn’t the highlight of our 6 month trip, it’s for sure landing in the Top 3. I’m not quite sure where to begin. Jesse’s obsessive reading and researching on what […]
Read More Six days on the back of a motorcycle? Why Not!Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City, was our first stop in Vietnam. Sadly, we were only there for about 12 hours because we had to keep heading north in order to get to the city of Dalat by the next day. We were constrained by the fact that Tet (Vietnamese New Year) was fast approaching […]
Read More A few short hours in Saigon
chanman travels 