Sapa, Vietnam

Highlands of Sapa: an area 200km away from the Chinese boarder. The scenery surrounding Sapa includes the infamous cascading rice terraces, Fansipan (highest peak in Vietnam & Indochina) cloaked in mist, and the hill tribe minorities of the Black H'mong and Red Dzao people who hike 5-7 hours into town to sell & trade handmade goods. I did a day trek to Cat Cat & Sin Chai villages, & a 2 day-1 night homestay through Y Ling Ho, Lao Chai, Ta Van, Ban Ho villages & Giang Ta Chai waterfall.

Hue, Vietnam

Hue, former imperial capital of Vietnam: remains of the Citadel from French forces in 1885 & Tet Offensive in 1968, Tu Dam Pagoda, & tombs of Nguyen dynasty (1802-1945). The Citadel: Flag Tower, Imperial Enclosure, Nine Holy Cannons, Nine Dynastic Urns, Forbidden Purple City, & Tinh Tam Lake. Tu Dam Pagoda was the center of Buddhist anti-Diem & anti war movements during the 1960's. The Nguyen tombs are extravagant mausoleums consisting of 5 parts: pavilion, temple, sepulchre, courtyard, & pond.

Hoi An, Vietnam

The beauty of Hoi An. The lantern lit streets at night. The lure of the tailors and shoe cobblers. The My Son Ruins. The Frenchmen roaming around. I stayed far too long.

China Beach (Danang), Vietnam

China Beach at Hoa's Place; 20 feet the deserted Vietnam-War-made-famous China Beach. The family style dinners. I'll miss that place. The magic of Marble Mountains. I'll be back. Promise.

The Vietnam Coastline Trip Started in Nha Trang, Vietnam

March marked the much anticipated coastline trip from Saigon-Hanoi, Vietnam. I’ve wanted to take this solo trip since I was sixteen. From Saigon, I traveled up the coast to: Nha Trang, China Beach near Danang, Hoi An, Hue, Hanoi, Sapa, and Halong Bay and Cat Bat Island. Vietnam is the most consistently beautiful country I have ever traveled through and it has everything a traveler could want. Some highlights: custom made shoes, jackets, and evening gowns in Hoi at unbelievable prices, purchasing cultured sea water peals for dirt cheap in Nha Trang, eating ten kinds of mussels and clams in one sitting, all you can drink beers at my hostel in Hue, spraining my ankle during a 3 day hike in the rain in the highlands of Sapa, walking through a cave the size of 3 football fields in Halong Bay, and getting a permanent reminder of Vietnam (motorcycle burn). March was also when I received all three UK graduate universities’
acceptances that I applied to; all in international development masters programs. That was news enough to get my mother to sustain from her “you need to get married” speech for another year. However, I am still waiting to hear back from the Swedish universities; I haven’t given up on marrying into a free healthcare and education system.