For the first time in my life, I was travelling abroad – and in a sunny part of the world – on my birthday (also Xmas day). I decided to spend it the best way I could: in the Caribbean! We took a VIVA air Colombia flight from Medellín to San Andres, 150km from the Nicaraguan coast. Beware the taxi from the city to the airport … Continue reading 3 days in Providencia, Colombia
Salento is a green paradise in the middle of Colombia. The colourful pueblo located at an altitude of 2000m is surrounded by lovely mountains and vegetation. Arriving form Cali, I had to take 2 buses: one to Pereira and then one to Salento. Quite a long trip: 6 hours (if everything goes right…). We were stopped for about more than an hour because of road … Continue reading 3 days in Salento
Bogotá is an interesting starting point for a trip in Colombia but no need to plan to stay there for more than 2-3 days. There are only very few areas that are worth a visit. The must is La Candelaria, the historic colonial district. I flew with KLM from Brussels via Amsterdam. Decent flight and not too long. I reached the old center with a … Continue reading 2 days in Bogotá
Preparing my trip, I realised that August is not the best period in Vietnam. However, for personal reasons, I couldn’t change the date of my trip. After reading a lot of the best places to go during this month, I decided not to go to lovely Hanoi and focus on central and Southern Vietnam. As a Belgian, I needed a visa to get in the … Continue reading A week in Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh (most Vietnamese still call it Saigon) was not my favourite stop on our 7-day trip in Vietnam but it wasour best option to flight back home. And indeed, we felt the city was very busy and noisy and unfortunately not charming but I was still happy to pass by: Ho Chi Minh has a vibrant night life and an interesting history. We … Continue reading 2 days in Ho Chi Minh
Nha Trang is a beach town packed with Russian tourists (don’t be surprised to see signs in cyrillic at every crossroad) but with a micro climate that makes the weather particularly good. We arrived in Nha Trang with a night train (SE5) from Hue during our 7-day trip in Vietnam. We took the most expensive tickets in a 4-berth air-conditioned cabin to maximise our chances to have … Continue reading 2 days in Nha Trang
Hue was the second stop on my week-long trip to Vietnam. We took a bus with The Sinh Tourist from Hoi An to Hue. The trip lasted only 3 hours (instead of 4) and was very nice. I discovered sleeper busses… and slept pretty well! Hue is a big and busy city that feels much less cozy and traditional than central Hoi An. A small shock … Continue reading 2 days in Hue
Hoi An is definitely the prettiest city of our 7-day trip in Vietnam, although extremely touristic. The action mainly happens in the Old Town around the canal. Lots of pretty shops, bars and restaurants in old French colonial houses. It’s also one of the 8 Vietnamese sites listed as at the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Restaurants: Typical: we tested (and were convinced by) the local … Continue reading 2 days in Hoi An
