What's over there?
DANANG, VIETNAM – We’ve crawled out of bed before dawn plenty of times to catch an international flight. But getting up at 5 a.m. to drive less than 10 kilometers up the road? That seemed a bit much.
With most international borders still closed, our near-term travel plans now feature so-called ‘staycations’ and short trips to places closer to home. Last week we joined a few expat friends to do just that.
DANANG, VIETNAM – We’ve sampled a lot of beer since we arrived in Vietnam almost two and a half years ago. Some good, some not so good, and some truly awful…
Continue reading “Quest for Beer: Vietnam: What’s in a name?”
DA NANG, VIET NAM – It all started with a text message from our friend Linda. “Are you coming to the party at the pool?”
Party at the pool? “Oh yeah, I vaguely remember something about a year-end New Year’s party at the My An Sport Center on the 11th. Is that tonight?” I asked.
DA NANG, VIET NAM – “Banh Bao! Banh Bao!” A pre-recorded shout echoes off the neighboring buildings as the motorcycle food peddler putt-putts down the street. Flames burst from the back of his side-saddle warming oven. On top of the oven is a glass case filled with warm, yummy steamed buns.
For a foreigner from a Western country, seeing open flames from a motorcycle-mounted wood-fired oven… Well, that is just plain crazy!
But it’s just another typical everyday occurrence in this Vietnamese city.
DANANG, VIETNAM – During the entire seven months Melanie and I lived in Hanoi I don’t think we were ever seriously at risk for getting a sunburn.
Most days in Hanoi the sky was sort of a dull gray. Sometimes we were pretty sure the sun must be lurking up there somewhere, and occasionally the sky might have a slightly bluish tint or a few fluffy clouds, but mainly it was just a dingy gray.
But things are a little different now that we’ve moved to Danang. Let me explain…
Continue reading “Look, up in the sky… It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s… the sun?”