The Botanical Garden of Hanoi was created in 1890 by French landscape architects. At that time it stretched over an area of 33 hectares. Although today it has shrunk to about two thirds of the original size, it is among the most important green lungs of the Vietnamese capital. The...
South of Hue lays the 20 km long Hai Van Pass. During the Vietnam War the pass was one of the most embattled areas. He is almost 496 meters high and often draped in clouds. Thus came the name: cloud pass. In the meantime you can also get through a...
Bà Trần Thị Viết Trần Thị Viết will be 119 years in 2011 but her memories of events and people from the las three centuries are still clear. The oldest woman of Vietnam, whose offspring includes almost 500 grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren, counts to one of the country’s heroic mothers....
Since all flights were booked out from Hanoi to Hue, I took the night train. Although the 650 km to Hue took 15 hours, it seemed not to be so long for me. I booked a four-compartment for 30 USD. (In comparison, the six-compartment cost only 3 USD less and...
Despite the lousy weather at the moment, Hanoi looks like a ocean of white blossoms. Every year around this time, the trees of Dalbergia tonkinensis are full abloom. They are also known as Hoa Sua (milk flowers). The evergreen trees belong to the family of leguminous plants. As the most...
Last Sunday I took a day trip to Tam Coc. At 8 o’clock in the morning tour guide Thu picked me up with a minibus from the hotel. Along with 14 other German, Australian and Vietnamese tourists I squashed myself into the tiny vehicle with only 15 seats. No space...
The spectacle presented in the streets of Hanoi is still fascinating and exciting for me. The daily life in Vietnam takes place almost completely outside. Streets and sidewalks turn into a stage. If I walk down the street, I find myself suddenly surrounded by a curious sight: A barber, who...
An entire city is concerned. Concerned about a turtle, one of the last four surviving turtles of this kind. I talk about the famous turtle in Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi. The “sacred turtle” is an example of living history, a symbol of Vietnam’s independence from the heel of the...
With the New Year’s festival in Vietnam actually the spring is welcomed. Currently, we still have deepest winter. The coldness doesn’t want to disappear, but that cannot harm the good atmosphere. In these days the markets and shops are full of people who buy food and beverages, clothes and New...
After two days in Huế we took a rented car with a driver on the way to Đà Nẵng. Actually, it is much cheaper to travel this route by train, but we had planned to make some intermediate stops. Bathe at the Elephant Springs Our first stop were the so-called...