Travel in Vietnam

bhuddist pagoda, ho chi minh city
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Sometimes it’s best to get lost while traveling

During a nighttime stroll, we had become lost in the dimly lit, maze-like streets of old Saigon. A series of turns led us into a narrow alley whose sole purpose seemed to be connecting to other alleys. The winding streets felt as though laid…
Nguyen Hue Flower Street-Year of the Dragon
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The Tet Flower Festival in Ho Chi Minh City

Tet, the Lunar New Year in Vietnam, is the most important holiday of the year. For me it is also the prettiest. There are displays of blossoms throughout the city, along with fireworks displays on New Year's Eve. In Ho Chi Minh City the crowning…
My Lai Memorial

Footprints at My Lai

On a gray, overcast day I was driving by endless miles of verdant green rice paddies to the central Vietnamese hamlet of Son My. In 1968 this was the site of the notorious incident known as the My Lai Massacre; when American soldiers killed…
US Helicopter on roof-vietnam museum

Echoes of distant thunder: Visiting Vietnam today

The echoes of war have gradually faded in Vietnam as the country has rebounded from decades of conflict to create a thriving modern economy; one sign of the forward looking times, former adversaries are now welcomed. There are plenty of ways…
Kokorec best sandwich turkey
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The 11 best sandwiches in the world, which one costs only 35 cents?

Sandwiches are one of the universal foods, they're cheap and convenient. We ate way too many of them on our trip and offer up the 11 best sandwiches in the world. 1) Shawarma in Jerusalem A shawarma is a Middle Eastern sandwich made from meats…
Hoi An Vietnamese food tofu custard lady
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Vietnamese food: Taking it to the street

From Hoi An, Vietnam ~ One of the reasons to travel the world is to taste the wide varieties of food out there. Vietnamese food is one of my favorites and the best examples are often sold by street vendors. However, before leaving on our journey…
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Pictures: Seeing the forest and the trees

I'm usually not much of a nature boy, saving the passion of the outdoors for my forester brother. But in the Southern Hemisphere I couldn't help take pictures of trees that are really different from the ones at home. The tree picture above…
Kim Il Sung mausoleum Pyongyang
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Visiting the mausoleums of Mao, Ho and Kim

Communist governments feel compelled to preserve the corpses of their founders and keep them on display for public viewing. It's their way of sustaining the cult of personality that keeps the current regimes in place. In the past…

Pictures from the frenetic streets of Hanoi

Our hotel in Hanoi was in the Old Quarter, a frenzied and chaotic labyrinth of streets that rambled like they had been laid out by a toddler chasing a rabbit. Each street specializes in selling a certain product. Apparently our…
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To travel cheaply, go where it’s cheap

Cheap travel is often a challenge, but how would you like to live in a land of 35 cent hoagies, $25 gourmet meals for two and beers for a buck? A place where the dollar stretches so far it could cover the entire country. That’s daily life…

I miss Saigon

From Michael ~ Yesterday, on our last day in Saigon, I strolled around the city streets for one final look. I miss Saigon already. Its current name is Ho Chi Minh City, but it was in the news a lot when I was a kid and it will always be…