I’m finally done with my first job here in Vietnam. I was surprisingly busy. Didn’t think it would really take so much of my time! But alas, it did, and this blog did suffer as a result. In any case, today has been my first day off. I’m free till saturday, but I hope to do better next time around.
One thing that baffles me every time are the children here in Vietnam. They’re fantastic little critters. They’re full of cheer and very smart. And easy to photograph. Easy because they like it and they’re hella photogenic. And they are everywhere. More than 50% of Vietnam’s population is under 25.
So this is ideal for an easy welcome-back series. Here you are. Eight of my favorite children photos of the last month here in this beautiful country. Let me know what you think. And thanks for sticking around.
Click here to keep reading…
Filed under Asia, Vietnam, On the Road.
I’m currently at Doha International Airport, just south of the capital of Qatar. It’s my first time in the Middle East and, despite it only being an hour layover, it really is a fascinating place to be.
I landed just before 6 o’clock in the morning, local time. Qatar Airways was fantastic. We were transported by bus to the main terminal, and so I just a few breaths of genuine Qatar air. And even before 6 in the morning, this stuff is hot. Another something that had slipped my general understanding is that Doha lies on the edge of a desert. Not like those in California. I mean a real desert like those in the Nights of Arabia.
It’s also the first airport where I’ve witnessed Islam being practiced in very visible, open rooms along the sides of the main terminal. Great views of the surrounding areas. And it has free Wi-Fi. But the bathrooms are disgusting.
Question to Mr Oil Sheik: If you make such a great airline, beutiful cities, and free Wi-Fi, why can’t you go that extra step to profide decent bathrooms?
In any case, I’m hoping to compile a short little presentation of my experiences flying the Amsterdam-Doha-Ho Chi Minh City route. Next stop: Vietnam!
Filed under Asia, On the Road, Qatar.
I have a ton of blogs in my feed reader (around 110), so only a third are actually travel related. One such unrelated blog is the famous Boing Boing. A few days ago they reported that the academy award-winning documentary A Story of Healing has been released under a creative commons license. I had never heard of it before then. If the story hadn’t featured a woman in a non quai thao (traditional hat), I would have probably skipped it.
In 1997, a Dewey-Obenchain film crew accompanied an Interplast volunteer surgical team to An Giang province in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. The filmmakers donated their services to document the team’s experiences and produce “A Story of Healing,” which earned the 1997 Academy Award for best documentary, short subject. The 28-minute film is followed by a short epilogue (after the credits) which follows-up on two patients 16 months after their surgeries.
And with that I bring you A Story of Healing.
Filed under Timen Talks, Asia, Vietnam.
I recently started reading Christopher Skinner’s travel updates on his travel weblog. His most recent entry talks about his experience is Sapa and more specifically details a point that I have given a lot of thought after my visit there almost a year ago: the minorities selling their wares to tourists.
The above picture displays this activity. The minority villagers make their way to Sapa with blankets and other such crafts and approach tourists with efforts to sell the items. This activity is not unique to Sapa or Vietnam. Such activities are as old as tourism itself and happen all over the world. But there is a very dishonest truth to these particular wares that most tourists are unaware of. Click here to keep reading…
Filed under Asia, Travel Tips, Vietnam.
