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…

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,…

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…

Nha Trang is one of the most awaited destinations of our world tour, I went there twice, years ago, and I kept excellent memories of it. The return to Nha Trang this time is like a slap in the face as the city has changed so much and has become a tourist destination Part 1: Travel Diary Part 2: Practical Tips Part 1: Travel Diary We left Mui Ne at 8am by bus to arrive around 1pm in Nha Trang (bus with couchettes please) It rains for part of the trip. There are storms in progress and planned for a week, not in Nha Trang but in Central Vietnam. On…

I have always dreamed of going to Mui Ne. It was spoken to me as a destination so far away and difficult to access (no airport nearby) that for a long time, I thought it was on an island lol 😀 Mui Ne, which is 5 hours from HCM city, is known for its sand dunes, its kitesurfers (it is rare to have beaches with so much wind in Vietnam) and incidentally for its seafood. I was a bit disappointed by the beaches of Mui Ne because I forgot that this city was known for its dunes and not for its beaches. I don’t know why my brain added “clear…

The cheapest flight from Manila lands at 0:20 am in Ho Chi Minh City. Usually, we always take care to arrive in a new city before 7pm, but Ho Chi Minh city is an exception (1) because I am Vietnamese, and (2) because Ho Chi Minh city is a city that doesn’t sleep. Why is the city (formerly Saigon) named Ho Chi Minh City? There are several cities that can bear his name: the capital Ha Noi, his birthplace (Nghe An) and Saigon. But it was Saigon that was chosen (40 years ago – 1976, one year after the liberation of the South), to bear his name, for several reasons…

I found it fun to take JB to places I used to go when I was a kid. It makes me feel like a pilgrimage, and for him, an opportunity to get to know me a little more Sam Son is one of those places that marked my childhood. My parents are civil servants and it is customary for each department of the ministry to organize inexpensive vacations for their employees and their families. This is still the case today and I still enjoy it sometimes When I was little, Vietnam was very poor and suffered from the American embargo. Going on vacation was unaffordable. Flying was unimaginable. Each department…