My Top Ten Buildings in Hanoi

One of the things I love most about Hanoi is its architecture. It has a charm and character unlike anywhere else. Many cities in South East Asia have become all too generic, with the… Continue reading →

Sniffing out art in Hanoi

As we are nearing the end of our time in Hanoi, I realize one of the great things about Hanoi which I haven’t shared yet is its art scene. In 1925 the French… Continue reading →

A Bend in the River – The Dyke and The Bridge

  Hanoi means ‘bend in the river’, although to most visitors the river seems to barely feature in the city scape of today, in stark contrast to when the city was founded by Ly… Continue reading →

An Old Quarter Walk and a Dog in a Conical Hat…

Two weeks ago, Piers’ god mother (and husband – both very good family friends) came to visit. We had a fantastic time showing them around as they were probably some of the most… Continue reading →

Sunny walks over Tet

Hanoi has once again been gripped by cold and grey weather, but last week, over Tet, it was unseasonably mild. Here are some photos from around Hanoi. Another ‘you see something new in… Continue reading →

The last days in Yangon and Kalaw

One of the things I loved about our trip to Burma was always marvelling at the multitude of influences we saw in architecture, food, and religion. The Indian influence is particularly strong, presumably… Continue reading →

Cycling to Duong Lam Village

It’s been a pretty busy two weeks since the Angkor Half Marathon. On Sunday, Hanoi held its own smaller half marathon organized by the Red River Runners. I thought doing another half marathon… Continue reading →

The Luang Prabang Half Marathon

On October 5th Luang Prabang, Laos hosted its first half marathon: La Procession. All the money raised went towards Friends International’s program in Laos which is working to protect and empower youths in… Continue reading →

Decay and the city – Khartoum

Last weekend I went to an exhibit at Hanoi’s Goethe Institute – ‘The city – Becoming and Decaying’ – with 176 photographs displayed from cities around the world from the German photographer agency – OSTKREUZ. It… Continue reading →

Tran Phu Street: A Vietnamese Neighborhood

Tran Phu St runs westwards from the edge of Hanoi’s old quarter for just under a mile. Although not a long street, it has much of the bustle and variety that makes Hanoi… Continue reading →