Michael Powell's Blog, page 25

The Dangers of Traveling in Vietnam

In seven years on the road, Jürgen and I had never once used our travel insurance. With all the adventures we’ve had, from an encounter with quicksand in Bolivia to paragliding in Macedonia, that’s a great track record. But in Vietnam, the streak came to a definitive end. Here, we’ve had to use our travel insurance three times. It’s not just us; we’ve seen more injuries, accidents and illnesses in Vietnam, than in our previous sixteen destinations combined.

Many of the injuries we saw were s...

Here’s the Thing About Eating Dog in Vietnam…

WARNING: This article contains an image of a dead, cooked dog. Don’t scroll down if you want to avoid seeing this.

Before arriving, we’d read a lot about the Vietnamese penchant for chowing down on “man’s best friend”. However, during our three months in Saigon, we hadn’t seen a single plate of dog being offered anywhere, and decided the stories were exaggerated. But it turns out that, in the north, they do eat dog. And it’s not exactly uncommon.

We didn’t have to wait long, before encounter...

Rooftop Bars in Hanoi

With its smaller, more historic downtown, Hanoi doesn’t have quite as many rooftop bars as Saigon. But there are still options… and over the course of 91 days, we discovered some great places to get a birds-eye view of Vietnam’s capital.

The Rooftop

The first rooftop bar we visited in Hanoi was, naturally enough, The Rooftop. We just typed “Rooftop” into our phones, and this is what came up. With a location near the train station on the 19th floor, it doesn’t boast the most compelling view,...

A Final Day in Ha Giang

It was with reluctance that we got back on our motorbikes, and put Du Gìa in our rear view mirrors. Our next stop would return us to Ha Giang, and complete our tour with Chu Chu. This trip had been incredible, and it was to be our final adventure in Vietnam. Not just four days, but six months were coming to an end, and it was hard to stomach.

But we weren’t so depressed that we couldn’t enjoy the scenery. This stretch of our trip provided us with some of the most amazing landscapes we’d seen...

A Walk Through Du Gìa

After a long, rainy day on the road, we arrived at the Du Gìa Homestay as dusk was settling in. This town is a popular stop during tours of Ha Giang, and we met a few other travelers, and heard their tales of woe. The next morning, we arose early for a walk through the sleepy town.

We knew that hiring Chu Chu had been a wise decision, but this was really hammered home during our stay in Du Gìa. We were among the first arrive in our homestay, but as the evening wore on, more and more guests a...

From Đồng Văn to Yên Minh

Our third day on the road in Ha Giang was spent in a battle with frequent cloud bursts. Up until now, we’d been having great weather, so it didn’t feel right to complain, especially since the slower pace gave us more time to appreciate the province’s unbelievable scenery.

We woke up early in Đồng Văn, and went to a place called the Old Town Market for breakfast. When it was built in the early 19th century, this was meant to be the town’s primary market hall, but it turned out to be too small...

The H’mong Opium Palace

Halfway between the Thấm Mã Pass and the Lũng Cú Flagpole, we made a stop at the Opium Palace of the H’mong. We were pretty excited about this. Of all the places which we’ve visited in our years of travel, almost none of them have had a name as intriguing as the “Opium Palace of the H’mong”.

The palace was built by the reigning H’mong King in 1902, during the French rule of Vietnam. From the very beginning it was envisioned as a base of operation for the H’mong people’s most lucrative ventur...

The Thấm Mã Pass and the Lũng Cú Flagpole

After having visited the Tam Sơn market on Sunday morning, we got back on our motorbikes and set off toward the north… to the very north. Today, Chu Chu would be taking us to Vietnam’s border with China, marked by the Lũng Cú Flagpole. Along the way, we’d see some incredible scenery, especially at the Thấm Mã Pass.

It was going to be a long day of driving, so we settled back and enjoyed the views. The great advantage to hiring a driver, and especially to hiring a driver as competent and care...

Tam Sơn’s Crazy Sunday Market

We woke up early on Sunday morning, but probably later than every other person within a fifty-mile radius of Tam Sơn. Today, you see, was market day. And groups from all around Ha Giang would be pouring into town to sell, buy, eat, and socialize.

Our day started with delicious crepes for breakfast at the Quản Bạ homestay. In the short time we’d spent with them, we felt already like we were part of the family, and saying goodbye was honestly sad. We took some pictures, and then were on our wa...

The Linen Weaving Village of Lùng Tám

After having visited the Twin Mountains, our tour continued into Lùng Tám, one of the bigger towns in picturesque Quản Bạ valley region. This village of colorfully-attired H’mong people is dedicated to weaving and the fabrication of linen products.

As soon as we arrived in Lùng Tám, we knew that this village takes its linen-making seriously. Almost every woman we saw was carrying a spool, spinning threads as she walked to the shop, or while sitting at the cafe with friends. We watched some c...