Ways and roads, faraway cities
“Care for some music?” the driver asked, as we entered the cab.He ignited the engine and began driving.The first accords of Hotel California played as we made our way through the broad streets. I was stuck to the window, trying to look at anything I could – the loaded bikes, the traffic, the gardens, people, […]
Saigon is huge and crazy and I didn’t see enough of it.Some things still remind me of it. Lemongrass oil to keep the mosquitos away and sooth their bites. The strong minty smell of Tiger Balm, as you rub it on your feet to battle a cold. A silly child’s song, Jasmine tea. It always […]
Morning at the docks. The sea is not quiet, the ferry is jerking on the waves. Before we set sail, a severe woman was giving sick-bags to anyone who requests them. A woman sat next to me, nodded and smiled politely, and then began vomiting violently into her bag.We went outside to get some fresh […]
We stayed in Phú Quốc for a week, which was way more than we planned on. Maybe it was an end-of-journey tiredness, that made us immerse into any kind of routine, and feel at home in places that were never our home. We had our favorite restaurants and cafes, the regular people we’ve seen on the […]
It took about four hours on the bumpy roads to get to Rạch Giá, in a bus filled to the brim with people.A van took us from the central station towards the hotel by the shore, passing bridges and rivers with houses built right on the water. After a bit of a walk, we got to […]
We got up early and had coffee at the lobby with Miss Vy, and then went to the travel agency where we booked the bus ticket the previous day.The same clerk was there and she rode with us on a van that went to the bus station, and then showed us where to go and […]
Before nine we were on the bikes again, back on the roads.The sun was beaming and strange tan marks began to form on my thighs.We stopped here and there at monuments for the war fatalities, and on a narrow road inside a jungle. Quan showed us a small rough fruit you can eat its soft inside and said […]
We got up at seven-thirty, got dressed and went downstairs for a hot coffee and bread with butter at the lobby.I looked at the town, that on daytime seemed different – a main road, a square, small houses. Next to us sat the blonde who traveled alone and had coffee with her guide, and I […]
If the strong tasty coffee we had at the hotel didn’t wake me up, the motorcycle’s growls on the rugged road and the wind on my face sure did.After about thirty minutes of driving out of town, we stopped at a rose farm, where we got off the bikes and Nip told us about his […]
I walked alone and listened to music, and tried to find the Crazy House – a place I saw marked on the map they gave us at the hotel but didn’t really know what it was.I found the place after looking for it for a long time in a maze of small streets and alleys.At […]
On the two and a half days Quoc and Giang were in Đà Lạt they took us to restaurants, cafes and bars we would never have found on our own. It made me grateful again about the decision to leave the fancy hotel in Nha Trang, and move to their cute one. On the first […]
After breakfast, we checked out and sat outside with our backpacks and had coffee.The Easy Riders showed up – Mister Lam, with flames painted on the front of his heavy motorcycle, and Yen, with a big red motorcycle.They began loading our bags on their bikes as Quoc and his wife Giang were also getting ready […]
I went on wandering by myself in Nha Trang. Black clouds appeared in the distance and I was getting hungry, but I had to find an ATM first. Right as it began raining, I went inside a touristic restaurant with an English and Russian menu and ordered a beer and spring rolls. I looked at […]
For breakfast that day, we hadphở bò at a street restaurant. Then we came back for coffee at a woman with a small wagon under the hotel. By nine-thirty the tour guide came and led us to the van, which was already full of Asian and Australian tourists, and we drove towards the port. The […]
We had a hard time finding dinner on our first night in Nha-Trang, since the area where we stayed was a bit desolate. After walking around, we found a busy place that served good phở. Then we looked for beer. A place in an alley appeared to have a happy vibe, so we sat there […]
On the last full day at Hội An we went as usual to the beach. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by a small shack on the side of the road where they served Cao lầu and cold beer. A dip in the pool and a nap at the hot hours, and […]
In one of the days at Hội An, we had coffee with Etienne, the French photographer we’ve met weeks before on the way from Bắc Hà to Hanoi. He said in the European state of mind, people lack the motivation to create something of their own, and there is too much bureaucracy. Everybody raised an […]
In the morning a driver in a tall black van arrived and took us to where the bus station. While we drove by the big river, he told us that he’s Catholic and there are many Catholics like him in Vietnam, along with many Buddhists, but no Muslims at all. We arrived pretty quickly to […]
We woke up early and went to have coffee by the sea. It was exactly a month into the trip. The days before the flight, and Thailand, and my life with the old job, they all seemed like ages ago. We took a cab to the city center and went to the market. It had […]
We really liked Huế but it was time to move on. We decided that the next destination will be Đà Nẵng, a big city with a beach. In the morning, after we booked the next hotel, we had coffee and sat by the river with books. A young woman approached us and wanted to chat to practice […]
The next morning, a note from Quan was waiting for us in the lobby. Written in neat handwriting, it said that his friend will meet us there at four-thirty. We went to eat Bún bò Huế, a soup similar to Phở but with different seasoning and thicker Bún noodles, and it’s served mainly at Huế or Souther. […]
It was strange to get back to Hanoi after we thought we said goodbye from it for good. After a brief shower at the hotel we went outside to eat at a place ran by a married couple, who sold fried meat in a baguette in the middle of the street. The woman sits in […]
Our room’s porch viewed the town and the mountains around, and roosters called each morning. There weren’t many restaurants around, and the hotel’s restaurant was the biggest, so it attracted many people. It was not bad, too. It was Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year. I guess many Israelis used the opportunity to go on […]
After two days, we began to feel strange at Sapa. I downloaded Trip Advisor and read some reviews about the hotel we stayed at, with creepy stories about the tall man with the yellow teeth in the reception. Additionally, we shared a porch with the neighboring room, where some noisy locals stayed and got drunk […]
On the morning of the trip, we got up early, packed everything and had coffee at the hotel’s lobby. One of the hotel’s workers, a woman with a narrow face, made us sandwiches for the ride and packed them, and then waited with us. The bus to the North arrived, and we began making our […]
It was so comforting to go back to Hanoi’s hot and sweaty hug, that we decided to stay there for an extra day. Belle from the hotel greeted us with a smile and upgraded our room again. It was rainy and the skies were grey on the way back from Hạ Long Bay. I listened […]
The first and last time I had oysters was when I was 12, on a family trip to Rome. I wanted to eat as many strange foods as possible, so later on, I could watch my friends’ faces as I tell them about it. So on the first night, I had pasta with oysters. It […]
After almost a week in Hanoi, we wanted to get to Hạ Long Bay. The only thing I knew about this place was that you can travel there only with a boat. We had no clue how to get and travel there, so we asked Belle, the receptionist of our hotel. She booked for us […]
When I look back, the days in Hanoi look like a dream. When I think about the streets with the bubbling pots and the colorful lights it seems close, as if you can just hop on a bus and be there, without all the flights, connections and visas. Some restaurants and cafes were actually inside […]
Before dawn, we caught a bright pink taxi that took as to the MDK, a small busy airport for domestic flights only. We stood in a long and curved line together with people from countries I’ve never heard of before. I was worried we’ll be short in the time since the place was packed, but […]
Before I start, here are a few things about Thailand. When you look at pictures of the beaches the skies are always blue, but the truth is that most of the times the skies are grey. On sunny days the sun is fierce and it’s tough to walk outside. The second thing, is that from […]
I woke up early and sat on the porch for a while, looking at the sea and the islands in the distance. After Roni woke up we went up the steep paths that led out of the beach and towards the town in the center of the island. We walked on the main street that […]
In the morning we went back to the old lady with the crooked teeth for coffee. A man with a floral apron stood by a tiny wagon and sold various dishes of fried rice, so we took one with pork and a fried egg. Then we packed our thing and waited at the hotel’s lobby […]
After a well-needed good night’s sleep, we woke up to a fresh day and went to find coffee and breakfast. The whole scenery outside was completely changed and there were no remains from the night, only normal everyday city life. Inside a quiet alley, a few women were frying and serving chicken on skewers, so […]
The flight to Thailand felt like forever. Pretty early the lights were off and it was quiet as most people fell asleep, only rustles and faint whispers could be heard. I was reading one of the books I took with me, The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux, but couldn’t concentrate. I imagined the usual […]
It’s nine PM in Moscow. We are in the lounge at the grey airport, sipping white wine with a hint of funky flavor, and waiting for the flight. Probably about 14 hours had passed since I woke up at home that day, and it already seemed like ages ago. Some last arrangments – picking up […]
