The Southeast Asia Travel Specialists Since 1999
Current Sites The Vietnam World Heritage List forms a limited, albeit solid, portfolio consisting of five cultural sites, two natural and, with the Trang An Landscape Complex, one mixed cultural and natural listing. Although not exactly an abundance the extensive war damage during the 60s and 70s, a high population density (almost 100 million citizens) accompanied by the widespread and…
Although certain purists may turn their noses up, some of the Flower Hmong gear to be seen on show these days at local markets such as Vietnam’s Bac Ha Sunday Market is quite remarkable. (The colourful Flower Hmong of Bac Ha are a subgroup of the Hmong ethnic group – in Vietnam often spelt H’Mong – who inhabit the area…
6 more countries including Australia, Canada and New Zealand have now been added to the list of nationalities eligible for the Vietnam visa online scheme. Rates are $25 for a single entry, 30-day visa with processing time set at 3 working days. Passport holders of 40 countries including the UK and Ireland are all already eligible for such e-visas and…
Today we’ll mostly be posting boat photos! The spectacular limestone scenery of Vietnam’s UNESCO-listed Trang An in Ninh Binh Province. The spectacular region certainly lives up to its name – ‘Halong in the paddy-fields’ – but unluckily the weather was a bit overcast on the day we visited so our photos conspicuously fail to do justice to the landscapes. With…
To round up our round-up of Southeast Asian World Heritage Sites last, but not by any means least, here’s a rundown on Vietnam World Heritage Sites as well as some of their would-be entries. Vietnam weighs in with seven sites currently inscribed on the list and whilst you may think that’s not a huge return on it’s spectacular and varied…
One of our very favourite spots in Vietnam, the picturesque town of Sapa lies amongst the high ranges of the ‘Tonkinese Alps’ in the far northwest of the country, close to the border with China. This small, mountain-top settlement became popular during the French era as a cool retreat for colonists from the rigours of the Hanoi climate. Now…
Xe Quit has always been one of our favourite stops on our 3-day Mekong Delta programme; – the dense, lush, impenetrable jungle with monkey shrieks and exotic bird squawks and the swampy, dark waters full of unidentified splashes and ripples just sum up how we’d always imagined the exotic-soundi0ng Mekong Delta to be in the days when it was just…
Plenty of great markets to wander around in Vietnam and indeed the wet market across the river from Can Tho is also a favourite but we do particularly like the Can Tho floating market (or Cai Rang to give it the correct name) because it is one of the increasingly rare, genuine ‘floating’ ones. The famous Damnoen Saduak market near…
Continuing westwards from the Flower Hmong of Ha Giang and Black Hmong of Lao Cai we reach Lai Chau Province and its colourful Red Hmong sub-group. Their villages are quite widely spread across the northern and central parts of the province, being replaced to the south and west by Tai and Lao sub groups. Occasional White Hmong villages can be…
The Black Hmong sub group of Northern Vietnam are particularly well known due to Sapa’s place on the well-trodden tourist trail. Although the town itself is actually inhabited by Vietnamese traders and cafe and hotel staff Sapa is totally swamped on most days by Hmong from the surrounding villages. You’ll also come across the distinctively dressed Red Dzao, the more…
Below, a photo fo a Flower Hmong girl taken at Bac Ha’s Sunday Market. Don’t intend to be patronising – these guys have as much right to a cellphone as anyone – but it does look incongruous next to their centuries-old traditional costumes! The ‘Flower Hmong’ or ‘Variegated Hmong’ is one of the numerous sub groups of the Hmong ethnic…
And here’s a photo of the famous ‘Japanese Bridge’ at Hoi An – for no reason other than we haven’t posted a Vietnam pic for a while! The 16th or 17th-century bridge is known as the ‘Japanese Bridge’ since it connected the Vietnamese Town with the enclave of Japanese traders and merchants on the other bank of the river. Hoi…