Author: danawanders

Day 6: Of All the Xe Om Drivers in All of Hue…

August 22, 2016 / danawanders / 4 Comments

Yesterday, Bill asked me what I was doing today. I told him going to Hoi An. He asked whether it was via motorbike. I said it was. He said I should cancel and let him take me. I told him I had paid upfront (as I did for about half my tours) and it was …

Continue reading “Day 6: Of All the Xe Om Drivers in All of Hue…”

Day 5: Hue and Countryside

August 21, 2016 / danawanders / 6 Comments

Broken record time: Another amazing day that I can’t even begin to describe how lucky I am to have experienced. Bill picked me up promptly this morning for a motorbike tour of Hue and the surrounding countryside to include the Thanh Toan Bridge, three tombs of Nguyen Dynasty emperors, and the Imperial City. First off, …

Continue reading “Day 5: Hue and Countryside”

Day 4: Hue

August 20, 2016 / danawanders / 4 Comments

The overnight train was not as bad as I feared (but still somewhat stressful), and I slept more than I thought I would. The only other time I took an overnight train, from Munich to Paris, I didn’t even sleep for one minute, and this despite the fact that I had had an overnight flight …

Continue reading “Day 4: Hue”

Day 3: Hanoi and the Tropical Storm That Won’t End

August 19, 2016 / danawanders / 10 Comments

Today was mostly a bunch of nothing, really. It started out well. The storm (which raged for an hour last night before just turning to rain) was gone and the rain had abated, so I headed out, wanting to be at the Hoa Lo Prison (Hanoi Hilton) by the time it opened at 8. I …

Continue reading “Day 3: Hanoi and the Tropical Storm That Won’t End”

Day 2: Disaster Strikes in the Rice Paddy!

August 18, 2016 / danawanders / 10 Comments

First off, Mom, I’m not going to call to save some minutes, but I’m safely tucked away in my hotel room for the night. I have a feeling that I’m going to sound like a broken record, but today was another amazing day, even with the rice paddy “disaster,” lol! I’m still bummed about Halong …

Continue reading “Day 2: Disaster Strikes in the Rice Paddy!”

Day 1: Hanoi

August 17, 2016 / danawanders / 6 Comments

An absolutely amazing day! I can’t even describe how wonderful it was. My guide, Nathan, met me at 5 am to show me around the Old Quarter, the French Quarter, wet markets (selling fruits, vegetables, frogs, snails, eels, just-butchered meat, and flowers, among other things), and the Long Bien Bridge. It was so dark and …

Continue reading “Day 1: Hanoi”

Arriving in Hanoi

August 16, 2016 / danawanders / 5 Comments

So far, so good! The airport was nowhere as chaotic as I thought it would be. I was second in line for passport control, my bag was fifth off the conveyor, and no line at customs. So, from the time I stepped off the plane until I was out front meeting my driver (arranged by …

Continue reading “Arriving in Hanoi”

Building My “Brand”

June 3, 2016 / danawanders / 0 Comments

Now that I’ve got a fancy new blog and fancy new social media accounts, it was time to create a travel card I can give to people I meet on my travels so they can contact me later. I have a beach-themed one I normally use, but it’s just my name and email. I wanted …

Continue reading “Building My “Brand””

Vietnam Says I Can Visit!

June 2, 2016 / danawanders / 0 Comments

My beautiful 1-month, single-entry travel visa obtained from the Vietnam Embassy in Washington, DC. Isn’t she pretty? 🙂