Worldwide Crawl 2023-7

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Worldwide Crawl 2023-7 Hyunsook & Barry (all-in) Slow Travel through East Asia. The Tampa condo is rented; the car sold.

Ho Truc Bach, Hanoi. The nighttime view of the Restaurant Street and Island across from our place, at night.
11/10/2026

Ho Truc Bach, Hanoi. The nighttime view of the Restaurant Street and Island across from our place, at night.

Ho Truc Bach, Hanoi. Cool little island across from our place. Peppered with cafes and restaurants. I love this place Ma...
11/10/2026

Ho Truc Bach, Hanoi. Cool little island across from our place. Peppered with cafes and restaurants. I love this place Ma Xó cafe, for both breakfast and lunch. Great menu.

Tây Hồ (Lake), Hanoi – Took a short scouting jog around the lake this morning, only a couple miles. Buddhist temples a...
08/10/2026

Tây Hồ (Lake), Hanoi – Took a short scouting jog around the lake this morning, only a couple miles. Buddhist temples all around.

A significant landmark on the road that cuts through the lake, is a marker of the day that Hanoi shot down a number of US planes during the Viet-American War, specifically the downing of LCDR John McCain (Senator).

Tây Hồ (Lake), Hanoi – Made the move from Saigon to Hanoi, we are staying in an AirBnB in a serviced residence apartmen...
08/10/2026

Tây Hồ (Lake), Hanoi – Made the move from Saigon to Hanoi, we are staying in an AirBnB in a serviced residence apartment building on the Southside of this major Hanoi lake. The most famous lake (tourist perspective) is Bien Hoa Lake where the Old Quarter is and most tourists reside. Tây Hồ is way more residential/local, with a much smaller number of tourists and where many ex-pats live. Compared to Saigon, Hanoi is way more comfortable at a temp range of 74-87F, as well as slower paced.

The local area right around our building is very cool. The lake out front and vibrant local area with a small traditional market right out front. 100m out, is a small island out on the lake offering some very interesting strolls, restaurants and cafés. Have to take a bus to the Old Quarter and Bien Hoa, no problem, way saner around the Tây Hồ area.

The Grand Ho Tram, Vietnam – We took a perfect little 4-day excursion out of Ho Chi Minh (HCM) to this beach-front 5-sta...
27/09/2026

The Grand Ho Tram, Vietnam – We took a perfect little 4-day excursion out of Ho Chi Minh (HCM) to this beach-front 5-star resort and entertainment complex located about 2.5hrs south of HCM. Back to HCM for 6 days, then off to Hanoi.

It's comprised of 2 IHG Hotel properties and an apartment/villa complex. We stayed at the Intercontinental Grand, the other hotel is the Holiday Inn Resorts. We have good status with the IHG group and used points which also got us a couple of room upgrades (corner room with ocean views), along with their great breakfast buffet.

The hotel also offers a casino, a (mediocre) fitness center, 7 restaurants, spa, nightclub, lots of resort style pools and a beautiful stretch of beach. The Grand even provides a shuttle bus from HCN to Ho Tram and back!

Vietnamese Coffee Culture - The second largest coffee bean exporter in the world. Cafe density is huge and if you includ...
22/09/2026

Vietnamese Coffee Culture - The second largest coffee bean exporter in the world. Cafe density is huge and if you include the multitude of informal street stands, maybe the largest.

One of the many things I love about Vietnam is robusta coffee, especially blended with arabica. Arabica provides some character (fruity/woody) and robusta the very dark roast for body.

Trouble is, every time I come back to Vietnam, I find it harder to get robusta coffee. In fact if you are in any city in Vietnam and step into most any modern cafe, no robusta. I had to dig to find it and found that you can most certainly get it at informal (unofficial) street stands and a few of the legacy franchises such as Cộng Cà Phê. Not as fancy, but heck, why hit cafes that are no different from ur hometown while in Vietnam. Of course, as 'slow travelers', our hometown is wherever in the world we are at, technically: Tampa, Florida; NYC, NY; Seoul, Korea.

Little HaNoi Egg Coffee, Saigon - Found my go-to breakfast cafe in Ho Chi Minh! Cool but warm & intimate. Great menu at...
20/09/2026

Little HaNoi Egg Coffee, Saigon - Found my go-to breakfast cafe in Ho Chi Minh! Cool but warm & intimate. Great menu at very good prices. Very authentic egg coffee (Hanoi specialty). Pancake platter was fantastic. Loads of mango/bananas, bacon, salad and eggs for d180 ($7)! Only problem, pancakes are not freshly made, although tasty. I have seen that this is the norm in Vietnam (less then fresh pancakes).

Independence Palace, Saigon - The home and workplace of the president of the former Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam)....
19/09/2026

Independence Palace, Saigon - The home and workplace of the president of the former Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). It was also the site of the Fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975 that ended the Vietnam War, when a North Vietnam tank dramatically crashed through its gates. The picture was broadcast around the world, I remember!

The exterior areas are the attraction, beautiful building built on a gorgeous park area. Nice cafe on the grounds.

War Remnants Museum, Saigon – My third trip/pilgrimage, the museum is dedicated to the two Indochina Wars that occurred ...
19/09/2026

War Remnants Museum, Saigon – My third trip/pilgrimage, the museum is dedicated to the two Indochina Wars that occurred in Vietnam. The first being the French-Indochina (1946-54), but the emphasis is on the American-Vietnam War (1965-75).

There were two prior versions of the museum open in 1975, the “Exhibition House for US and Puppet Crimes” (“Puppet” = Republic of Vietnam Government). In 1990 the name was changed to “Exhibition House for Crimes of War and Aggression”. The name was changed again after normalization of diplomatic relations with the United States, and the end of the US embargo the year before to its present name “War Remnants Museum”.

Some of the major exhibitions include the display of heavy air/land weaponry in the front courtyard; war correspondent contributions; Agent Orange & Chemical Warfare; War Crimes and the Anti-War Demonstrations in the US that virtually ended the war.

Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) – Our 4th stay in 4 years, very much on our established ‘slow travel’ itinerary. After a beautiful...
16/09/2026

Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) – Our 4th stay in 4 years, very much on our established ‘slow travel’ itinerary. After a beautifully calming beach stay in Nha Trang, we are back in the big city. The city sights & sounds, fast-pace, motorbike beep-beep, street food, city walks, beautiful parks, free transportation, shopping…crazy busy. As a former New Yorker/Seoulite, I know most of the buzz, but much of it is pure Saigon.

AirBnB this time in District 3. Saigon is broken into separate districts of which District 1 is tourist central (or hell). District 3 borders D1 and offers the War Remnants Museum (the Vietnam-American War) and Independence Palace (seat of the former South Vietnam government). I have posted pictures a few times over the last few years, will do so again as we move through our stay.

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Nha Trang

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