Well, this is it. My last day in Hanoi for a very long time. It’s unlikely I’ll make it back here until 2009 at the earliest if my plans for next year come off. I am really, really going to miss this place. I’m about to pack all my stuff up then go and do [...]

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Just a quick catchup. I’ve made some plans, seen some friends and realised once again how much I like Hanoi. Not a lot has happened, but… who cares? I’ve spent a couple of nights out at the Bia Hoi, as ever, and taken new arrivals to the Pho place around the corner. I’ve discovered that [...]

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As you should be aware, I’m doing a charity walk in aid of Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation in August/September this year. A couple of nights ago I mentioned this to Mike, one of the owners of the Hanoi Backpacker’s Hostel. Mike was a) drunk and b) generous and straight away said “put us down for [...]

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It didn’t break that promise. I was woken as promised/threatened at 6am for a healthy noodle soup breakfast. Just before 7am we started the assault on Mt Fansipan. Briefly through forest and onto mountain path, the route seemed not too troublesome. We ambled past some mountain goats (I’m assuming they were mountain goats. Goats. On [...]

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Hanoi has it in for me. You may recall the last time I flew out, just as I was about to walk to the bus stop the heavens opened. Well guess what happened this time as I was waiting to leave and catch the train? Fortunately a taxi to the station was included in my [...]

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A day or three ago I got an email from Prashant who looked after Hans and I in Bangalore in January. I think he was worried about me as he’d not heard from me in a while! In honesty things have just been hectic and I know I’ve been lax in my contact with many [...]

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Again I’ll be honest – I’ve not done much in Hanoi since I got here. Except simply enjoy myself and pop round a couple of old haunts. Yesterday I had lunch at the Phở place around the corner. They’ve now got the menus in English as well as Vietnamese, though I still just have the [...]

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Yeah, back here again after a restful couple of days in Singapore. A quick catch-up as it really was restful: I lazed around the hostel, updating blogs and emailing people. Went on the walk around Bugis with Karen and a bunch of tourists (hey – I keep forgetting I am a tourist) for the second [...]

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After a fairly uneventful flight that reminded me more of The Big One at Blackpool pleasure beach than floating gently on a cloud (not the pilot’s fault, flipping turbulence), I landed for the third time at Changi Airport. The route to the ATM and the MRT are now routine, as is approaching the guard to [...]

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I had a very slight runaround and got some good information while I was doing this, so thought I might as well pop the info up here as I can’t find anything as specific elsewhere online. Please note that the prices are as of the date of this post. Visa prices fluctuate and also vary [...]

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