Vietnam: Final Musings From The Journey Home

I’m on my way home now, suspended somewhere over the Pacific as I write this. And what a trip this has been. Sometimes these wrap-up posts (when I write them) are compilations of tips and minor stories, but this one is more ruminative. I’m trying to assemble my thoughts and feelings into something coherent, and […]

Winding Things Up In Hanoi

Last night’s dinner was followed by karaoke. The food on the boat is OK – but not what I’ve had in Hanoi (I’m still haunted by the memory of that green papaya salad from the first night) or even on the trail in SaPa. Anyway, some time after Hotel California, I excused myself to my […]

In Which I Embrace My Anxieties

The overnight train pulled into Hanoi at 430 AM and I climbed out in search of the hotel where I was to spend the next few hours. The travel agent booked it as the only real option near the train station given the scenario, but I just didn’t have a good feeling about the place, […]

Some Values Are Universal

There was some sort of animal living the ceiling of my bedroom last night. I don’t think it was a large creature, but rather a small one. Perhaps a burrowing insect of some sort – maybe even a family of termites or carpenter ants – I’m assuming they have some variety of both here. Whatever […]

In Which I Remember How Challenging Hiking Can Be

This wasn’t a European train by any means. It was a noisy and staggering primordial creature of iron, steel, and simulated wood grain, and it heaved in exaggerated movements from side to side on the 8 hour overnight ride. On occasion, the train from Hanoi to SaPa bleated like a strangled donkey, and frequent loud […]

They Save Umbilical Cords Here

With the slightest of groans and the merest of lurches the overnight train started to move, pulling out of the station in Hanoi. I will spend tonight on the rails, in a four bed berth that I share with two travelers from Holland and a young Vietnamese man who does not speak English. I am […]