Walking through the streets of old Hoi An is a photographer’s dream – you can feel like a creative genius just by showing up. Ancient Town is filled with museums, Chinese and Japanese shophouses, art galleries, assembly halls and pagodas, bridges, old wells and masses of flowers. Every street is intersected with dozens of alleys, … More The exquisite beauty of perfect Hoi An
For those of you too young to get the reference, The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming! is a 1966 Norman Jewison comedy that played into American fears of a Russian invasion. Nha Trang is a Vietnamese beach town that is as famous for its long white crescent beach as it is for the very … More Nha Trang: The Russians are Coming!
Dalat became a vacation favourite of French Colonialists because of its temperate climate, abundant flowers and mountain and lakeside setting, and the name “Le Petit Paris” stuck. The French influence is still evident – many older Vietnamese speak French and the architecture and food have a strong Gallic stamp. Dalat is also known as the … More Dalat: Le Petit Paris, complete with Eiffel Tower
Number 214. The Continental Hotel, Saigon. This is the room Graham Greene stayed in while he wrote his epic novel, The Quiet American, about American involvement during the demise of French colonialism in Vietnam in the 1950s. And this is the Continental Hotel – I can imagine Greene parked at a corner table, drinking and … More Chasing Graham Greene: Finding history on every corner
Before I talk about Saigon I want to share a cautionary tale about the importance of checking your visa dates before you attempt to cross into Vietnam. I’m about to make a long story short (first time for everything). We went to the Vietnam embassy in Vancouver in November to arrange for our 3-month visas. … More Tales from Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)
One of the first things we noticed when we arrived in Phnom Penh was the skyline – green-clad buildings with cranes on every second corner. In fact, on our corner, we have three building projects on the go – a fact we missed in the TripAdvisor reviews until after we booked. It hasn’t really been … More The Lexus platoon, fake monks and Nagaworld: Phnom Penh’s rising
Phnom Penh is changing at a breakneck speed. The city feels modern, bustling and full of life. Old buildings are being renovated and new buildings are springing up on every corner. Nonetheless, the bloody and traumatic history of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime still figures prominently. The “attractions” that most tourists come to see are … More The Killing Fields: Simply Heartbreaking
Regarded as a smaller, sleepier version of Siem Reap, Battambang is same-but-different: beautifully preserved French architecture, a river running through it, a young and growing arts scene, NGOs and social enterprises galore. It is also all about the kids. This is a collection from a local photographer that captures the spirit of Cambodia’s children. They … More Battambang: Cambodia’s kinder, gentler city
While Siem Reap provides food, water and shelter for the temple hordes, it is very much a stand-alone city that deserves its own attention. It has a naturally pretty setting with a mopey tree-lined river that runs through the city and leafy streets filled with stately old buildings. It is undergoing a renaissance right now … More Siem Reap – cafes, art galleries and NGOs
We were on a don’t-miss-it pilgrimage to one of the world’s greatest (and most-visited) sites, armed with some preconceived notions that had been reinforced by fellow travellers. Many tourists skip the rest of Cambodia entirely, and hop over from Thailand or Vietnam to fit in their requisite one-to-three-day visit to Angkor Wat. In 1993 … More Overwhelmed in Angkor Wat
Leaving Ourselves Behind 