Vignettes of the World
My Travel Journal
“Like its elegantly designed streets and architecture, most Vietnamese generally regard the food from Hue to be the most refined in all of the country.” Songs of Sapa at 78. Luke Nguyen on Vietnamese Food For anyone interested in the food of Vietnam, I recommend …
Perhaps throughout this tour I was most impressed by every gate that marked the entrances to the structures of the Imperial Enclosure. It seemed to me that protective walls surrounded every quarter and there would be a gate in the northern and southern entrances. This …
The Co Ha Gardens After asking for some directions, I found the Co Ha Gardens. These gardens were developed by the first four Emperors of the Nguyen Dynasty. Although, at some point in history, they fell into disrepair, the Vietnamese have restored most of them. …
The Dien Tho Residence The Dien Tho Residence was where the Queen Mother of Vietnam’s Emperor lived. The lives of women have always interested me, and so I chose to go westward for a walk. Indeed, in this morning hour there were few tourists there. …
I woke at 7:30 and had breakfast at the hostel. Breakfast was an egg pancake (they called it an omelet), a bread roll, some fruits and coffee with milk. At that point in my trip I still wondered, at every Vietnamese meal, why it was …
I do try, to the extent I can, to learn some Vietnamese. And I can only learn it by associating it with English, Cantonese and Mandarin. As the Vietnamese pronounce it, “Hue” is the English pronunciation of “hwei” the tone is a combination of the …
I must see Mr. T. He has the stories of the DMZ as a veteran. So I chose Hue as my fourth trip to Vietnam. On this first morning in Danang I had coffee, worked a bit more, and had lunch at the Happy Bread …
What’s with me and unmetered taxi’s? The guy came up to me at the airport and quoted đ200,000. I thought that included the airport tax but it was an extra đ70,000. I simply did not have the guts to bargain. On arrival at the hostel …
Since the 19th century, Danang has replaced Hoi An as the preeminent trading port in central Vietnam. It remains as such today. In terms of the American War in Vietnam, Danang was the first location in South Vietnam that received the U.S. Marines. Apparently, this …
