To be perfectly honest, Phil and I were sad to leave Vietnam. After staying in a country for two and a half months, you get used to certain things about the place. You start to learn some norms and customs, as much as one can as a visitor to a foreign land where you don’tContinueContinue reading “We’re Not All Anthony Bourdain (and that’s OK)”
Tag Archives: asia
Vietnam: The Coffee!
I am a big fan of coffee. I love the stuff; hot and black in the morning and iced and creamy in the afternoon. Almost every country we have visited in SE Asia has had a decent coffee culture and many coffee shops, but Vietnam’s is the most robust, and the most Robusta! I mentionedContinueContinue reading “Vietnam: The Coffee!”
Vietnam: Women in Wartime
One of the things I have been most affected by during our time in Vietnam is the role of Vietnamese women, in war and the sacrifices they made for their country and their people, especially over their more than 40-year fight for independence. There is a well known Vietnamese traditional saying and cultural proveberb thatContinueContinue reading “Vietnam: Women in Wartime”
Side trek to Hoi An
Hoi An is a city about 45 minutes drive south of Da Nang, known for its historic ancient town, yellow painted colonial buildings, and picturesque bright green rice fields. It is also known for its many tailors offering custom pieces with a short turn around time. When we were having cold feet about committing toContinueContinue reading “Side trek to Hoi An”
Da Nang: The Food
We ate a lot of great food during our time in Da Nang. One of our first meals was at a seafood spot nearish to our hotel called Hai San Chudinh. I mentioned in my first Da Nang blog that we stayed across from Man Thai Beach which has less tourists than the popular MyContinueContinue reading “Da Nang: The Food”
Jakarta and Singapore
Our last stop in Indonesia was Jakarta. I did not love Jakarta. It was a big, polluted city and hard to get around because of the intense traffic. At times it was worse than Los Angeles traffic and brought back horrible memories of the year I commuted two hours (but only 34 miles) each wayContinueContinue reading “Jakarta and Singapore”
Yogyakarta
We took the train from Surabaya to Yogyakarta (pronounced Jogjakarta and locals call it Jog-jah). It was only a few hours and the train was air conditioned and roomy, which made for a comfy ride. We were in Jogja for a week and what a week it was! Here are some of my favorite activitiesContinueContinue reading “Yogyakarta”
Java Here We Come: Surabaya
After leaving Bali, we flew to Surabaya in Java. We really packed a lot in only 4 days, and here are the highlights. Phil wrote a few posts about our time in Surabaya. You can access the first here. 1. The Hotel Majapahit Our hotel in Surabaya was so old-school fancy. It felt very luxuriousContinueContinue reading “Java Here We Come: Surabaya”
Bali, Bye Bye Bye (Bye! Bye!)
Our last stop in Bali was Kuta. We would only be there for two days and chose it because it’s near the airport and we wanted to ensure we made our flight to Surabaya on time. Our hotel in Kuta was a guest house which is kind of like a cross between a home stayContinueContinue reading “Bali, Bye Bye Bye (Bye! Bye!)”
Going Back to Bali Part 3
As I mentioned in my last post, we had to make a change to our original Balinese itinerary due to a visa issue. Instead of being able to renew our Visa online (as we had 30 more days planned), we had to go in-person, to the immigration office in Denpasar, the capital of Bali. AfterContinueContinue reading “Going Back to Bali Part 3”
