Tag Archives: South East Asia

Hanoi

We stepped off the train in Hanoi at 5am in the morning and were greeted by the chill of a misty platform which was quickly filling up with taxi and tuk-tuk drivers. We had been advised to always go with … Continue reading

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The Reunification Express

The Reunification Express (now more commonly referred to as the “North-South Railway” outside of the tourist brochures) runs from Saigon to Hanoi – spanning 1,000 miles of beautiful pastureland, countryside and hilltops. The railway was constructed in the thirties by … Continue reading

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Night Herons and Elephants of the Forgotten City in Huế

Huế is a town with a rich history and a turbulent past which has dragged it through everything from the feudal dynasty of the Nguyễn Lords in 17th-19th centuries through to the Tet offensive and massacre at Huế by Communist forces in … Continue reading

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The Fabric of Hoi An

Hoi An is a small town, almost half way between Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon and Hanoi on the East coast of Vietnam. Very accessible by train and then bus or taxi from nearby Danang, it provides a compelling antidote to … Continue reading

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Crossing the Mekong Delta into Vietnam

The ‘new’ border crossing (newly open to tourists that is) at Ha Tien is basically not much more than a dirt track with a tiny passport control shack and a giant casino (aka the ‘Ha Tien Vegas’) on the Cambodian … Continue reading

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Kampot Pepper and Le Bout du Monde in Kep

The riverside idyll of Kampot lies just an hour and a half’s drive west from Sihanoukville. There used to be a train which ran between the two every other day but the passenger line has been suspended due to bad … Continue reading

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