New Year in Cambodia and Laos
This month, starting on the 15th of April, we’ll be ringing in the New Year once again in Burma, Cambodia and Laos. In countries…
Hoi An Lantern Festival: 2016 dates
As you’ll certainly know if you’re a regular reader of our blog, we love Hoi An. The ancient, UNESCO-registered port town in central Vietnam…
Tết: A survival guide
Tết, short for Tết Nguyên Đán (Feast of the First Morning of the First Day) is the Vietnamese Lunar New Year – the biggest and most important…
Hanoi vs. Saigon
If you’re planning on visiting Vietnam, the chances are that the northern capital Hanoi and southern hub of Ho Chi Minh City (AKA Saigon)…
All aboard Vietnam’s new five-star train
There once was a time when the 31-hour trip from Hanoi to Saigon by train via the 1,726 km (1,072 mi) Reunification Railway was…
Vietnam to slash entrance fees to its famous caves
The national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site of Phong Nha-Ke Bang in Vietnam (which we recently mentioned in Five lesser-known destinations to visit in…
Vietnam at the forefront of LGBT rights in Southeast Asia
On New Year’s Day 2015, Vietnam repealed its ban on gay marriage – putting it leaps and bounds ahead of its Southeast Asian neighbours…
New traffic restrictions make for a safer, cleaner Saigon
There may be nine million bicycles in Beijing (if Katie Melua is to be believed), but according to Thanh Nien News reporting last week,…