Getting There: Hanoi----->Singapore After three months traversing Vietnam, it was time for a little culture shock as we launched ourselves into the immaculate and very developed English-speaking island country and city state of Singapore, population 5.6 million. We flew on budget carrier, Scoot Airlines which is “the proud little sister of Singapore Airlines.” We appreciated them a lot because they…
The island nation of Singapore is a world class melting pot of cultures, religions and activity. For our first visit, we covered a lot of ground, but of course, only scratched the surface of all the things to do and see here. We acknowledge our summary is a bit limited because of this narrow time window. But, thanks to a…
Settling into Hoi An In early April 2024, we finally made it to the destination in Vietnam which seems to make everyone swoon who has ever been to the country, so we were eager to know if it would live up to its hype. The high value accommodation selection certainly did. For the week, we chose to stay on Cam…
Settling into Da Nang We firmly parked ourselves a block from the beach for a couple weeks in the seaside gem of Da Nang, where we could have definitely stayed longer. It felt like an undeniable blend of Rio de Janiero, Miami and Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It’s a super comfortable place to slow down and just be for awhile thanks…
Arriving to Hue & Our Accommodation After a very pleasant journey on the vintage railway, we arrived to the historic Hue train station at around 5 pm and caught a $2.40 Grab ride from the station to our apartment which bizarrely feels like it is dropped in France. Although it’s about a 25-minute walk to the center, it’s incredibly quiet…
From Hue turned May (2024) so it was time to call it a day in the central part of Vietnam, as we only had one more month on our visa. This would be the most extensive journey, and only overnight in the country which proved to have a few hiccups, though nothing extreme, for our $30 “VIP” sleeper bus tickets.…
Peaceful Homestay Mai Chau We thought things were idyllic in Tam Coc, but arriving to Mai Chau four hours northwest, took things to a whole other level. Mai Chau might just be as bucolic as it can possibly get…a rolling blanket of emerald rice paddies sprinkled with walking/bike paths, chickens clucking, (or doing other obnoxious chicken things), stilted wooden homes…
We had a lot of possibilities for our last few weeks in north Vietnam, but to be honest, things had been a bit challenging since Mandy’s stomach issues for both of us. Greg also had a head cold, and overall, we were just feeling a bit burnt out. This was further compounded by a four day mistake because we made…
