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Gánh Hàng Rong – The mobile boui boui in Vietnam
Sitting on a 10cm high plastic chair in the street, I am eating one of my favorite desserts in Hoi An when a group of French tourists pass by. They are both intrigued by my dessert, which looks like an uncooked tofu, and by the size of the chairs, which is as small as a brick.If these chairs are so small, it is because they allow the saleswoman to store everything in her two baskets, each hanging on a long bamboo stem, and “walk” her boui boui from one street to another. The Vietnamese call this kind of walking boui boui, and ephemeral, “Gánh Hàng Rong”.Gánh Hàng Rong, the name…
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Chiang Mai (Thailand): What to visit, Travel Travel Guide, Addresses & Tips
Unlike the southern islands of Thailand, Chiang Mai offers mountain scenery and a cuisine slightly different from the southern islands. Here is the list of our favorites and what to visit in the region To know For me, Chiang Mai is a starting point to other cities in Northern Thailand. The city is a bit polluted, not very pedestrian friendly (except in the evening). If you come all the way from Bangkok just to spend 2 days in the North, I tell you sincerely: it’s not worth it! Come to Chiang Mai if you plan to go then to Luang Prabang, or spend a few days in the surrounding cities…
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Our long stay in Hanoi (Vietnam)
After a month in Chiang Mai, we are in Ha Noi – MY hometown, to celebrate the Vietnamese New Year. As soon as we arrive at the airport, we realize that the wait at the immigration office will be long. Vietnamese living abroad are slowly starting to return to Vietnam. After 45 minutes of waiting, we finally manage to get out. JB quickly buys a SIM card while I withdraw money next door. 50 000VND fee to withdraw only 3 million VND (1.6% fee) – at VPBank, there is no fee, but their ATM isn’t present at the airport. We then take a cab to my parents’ house, who lent…
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How to celebrate Tết (the Lunar New Year) in Ha Noi, Vietnam? – Travel Diary 2018
Sorry to disappear for so long. You know, sometimes I get a little bored when I travel (especially at night), and I take the opportunity to blog. But when I’m in MY city, MY country, I’m not bored for a second. There are so many things to eat, so many friends and cousins to see again, so much shopping to do… that I let go of my blog. After Chiang Mai, JB and I went to Hanoi, my hometown, the best of the best of Vietnam, of Asia, finally of the world. This is only my personal opinion because most tourists (and especially JB) don’t agree with me. Of course,…
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Everything in my (women’s) Backpack for the Round the World Tour – 26L + 10L – 7/8kg
I am often asked what I put in my bag to have only between 7 and 8kg of luggage. After 6 months of traveling and extreme temperatures (from 2 degrees in New Zealand to 42 degrees in Qatar), I finally have the ideal bag with exactly what I need, I stabilize between 7.3kg (when I wear the trail shoes on me) and 8kg (when I wear the sandals and leave the trail shoes in the bag). For the contents of JB’s man bag, it is here. Note: my everyday backpack can be stored in my main bag at any time. This is especially useful when there is a risk of…
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Mai Chau (Vietnam): an alternative to Sapa
That’s it, we are in Vietnam, in Hanoi at my parents’ house. For our first getaway in Vietnam, we chose to go to Mai Chau, a valley nested in a mountainous zone still little exploited Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary Ba Vì As we are by car, we make a small detour to Ba Vì, an area known for its cow’s milk and dairy products. It’s not easy in Vietnam to find an area suitable for raising dairy cows. Milk cows don’t eat the same food as buffaloes. Farmers have to trade their rice fields for grass to feed their cash cows We…
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Chiang Mai (Thailand): Silk and paper umbrellas, Silver Temple: continuation and end
In spite of our 4 weeks in Chiang Mai, we spend so many weekends in the surroundings that we have the impression that we have not visited anything of the city So, we take advantage of our last 2 days in Chiang Mai to visit the top attractions in our wish list First of all, you have to go and see the famous handcrafted umbrellas of Chiang Mai Umbrella Making Centre We first go through the souvenir store which is extremely tempting because the prices are very correct (between 2€ and 10€, depending on the size of the umbrellas). Super cheap for handmade umbrellas In the garden, beautiful umbrellas are…
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Pai (Thailand): Canyon, Mountains & Zenitude
Just back from Luang Prabang, I’m getting ready to go to Pai for the weekend with JB. We would have liked to leave early in the morning, but as I missed my plane, we leave only in the afternoon around 3 pm. We have just enough time to make the trip by scooter before the sun sets at 6pm. Note: Recently, I have had questions about the accessibility of a particular location for people with reduced mobility. As tourist guides don’t always talk about it, from now on, I will add details about the accessibility of places in the “Practical advice” section. Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips…
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I tested the Face Care in Chiang Mai: addresses of institutes, advice, opinions, best face care Chiang Mai
I seem to be travelling around the world to test the best massage addresses, beauty salons and cosmetics. My pretext would be to give you the best addresses and beauty secrets from all over the world. Hehe 😀 To see my favorite addresses in Seville, please click here My favorite addresses in Hanoi, it’s this way My favorite addresses in Budapest, it’s this way Medical tourism is developing more and more in Asia, especially in Thailand where the prices are rather soft and the know-how recognized. Many Americans come here to get botox injections, lip filler, laser stain removal or to beautify their eyebrows. Girls from other Asian countries come…
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Luang Prabang (Laos): Kuang Si waterfalls, Sunset, how I missed my plane, an unexpected encounter
Oun is an old friend. I’ve already gone on vacation with him to Barcelona, and to Saint Raphael. We get along super well and have a similar travel rhythm. Learning that he would soon be moving to Luang Prabang, I could only regret our choice to leave Luang Prabang for Chiang Mai because of the speed of the Internet connection. But on Monday night, he writes me on Facebook “we’re in Bangkok, we’re going to Luang Prabang tomorrow, are you sure you don’t want to come? We won’t have the opportunity to see each other for a very long time. My mother is there too, she’s coming to see her…
