Good Reports?

Hi all,

I've just read all of AndyH73's reports from when he went to Vietnam, after I saw it recommended on another thread - it was definitely worthy of its praise, a really good read (cheers Andy, if you still read this branch). Can anyone recommend any other authors to search? I find reading what's already out there saves me needing to fill up this branch with a million questions, as I find most the answers to my questions in other people's reports, as well as answers to questions I hadn't even thought of asking yet!
I'm going to HCMC for three months in May, but I'm interested in all parts of Vietnam, and trips to places outside Vietnam (esp. Camobdia and Laos).
Cheers,
Will

I was a big fan of BomChaCha's reports - more like a blog than a trip report, but he went into great detail about street food, people, incidents, and he went quite far off the beaten track. He had an idyosyncratic way of looking at things, and was very honest about his feelings about travelling - sometimes he got stressed out over little things ... but he was always worth reading ...

kim_h and MickeyMike for mature, unbiased and truthfulness.

Read the FAQ's from Hongha at the top of this Branch. Get some excellent info on where to go, what to see, where to eat etc.

Hi Will,

I'm in detox program at present and my liver is just recovering, only just I might add!! hahaha! (Only kidding!!)

Been busy planning my next adventure so I've been scanning other sites for information myself. Having a little break over Easter and driving to Adelaide for the Rugby Sevens. But major plans in place for a four month round the world trip. Gotta live the dream!!!!

Still get on here when I can mate. Thanks very much for the compliment. Glad it helped.

I'm like you, I tend to get alot more out of reading reports from people, and there have been some excellent ones on here, to gather useful information and advice. And some are just great reads in hearing what people have done!

If you have any specific questions just ask, always happy to help out.

We miss Vietnam so much we actually went and saw Miss Saigon last night!! haha!!

All the best and happy travels.

Cheers Andy.

Search author "Hanno", a German expat living in Can Tho. He made some great reports on the Mekong Delta (Tra Vinh and Mui Ca Mau southern tip of Vietnam). I tried to find the link where he posted some info about Mui Ca Mau but the thread may have been deleted. Maybe you send him a pm. I also keep one of his reports in my file.

Hi - I thought phredmn wrote good trip reports for cycling in the Mekong and trekking in Bac Ha. Also a good read were those from sweetrose6. I too have found trip reports very helpful (big fan of your's Andy).

All the best

Hongha's FAQ is the place to look, as mentioned above. phredmn/julies also had this to say about VN, but chose not to post it on LP Vietnam. This gives a more realistic visual.

Now for the downside. The country is extremely dirty, noisy, jam-packed with people, full of litter, and generally filthy. We saw a lot of very interesting things but nothing we would refer to as charming. The poverty and living conditions are absolutely incredible. Count your blessings that you were not born in a third world country. I think everyone should, at some time, make a trip to see how the majority of the people in the world live so as to gain a perspective on how truly well-off and privileged we in the West are. Every photo you’ve seen in National Geographic or in a solicitation for donations to worldwide charities is absolutely true. We saw 3 year olds barefoot and with no trousers on in 50 degree weather. We saw people cooking over firepits in the corner of their mud huts. We saw people using the Mekong River for cooking, cleaning, washing, defecating, fishing etc. We saw families of 5 all riding on the same motorbike because they were lucky enough to be able to afford this mode of transportation. We saw children who do not attend school because their parents can’t pay the annual $100 tuition.

Do we regret the trip? Not in the least! Would we go back for a second visit? I don’t know. Frankly this is the only trip where we have ever looked at each other and said that we were ready to go home before the end of the trip. This happened to us about day 13 out of 15 days. Perhaps it is because we opted for a trip that was difficult physically and exposed us to the true gritty conditions rather than the “tourist nice” places where visitors are pampered and catered to. Put it this way, I’m now perusing the Europe board again and thinking of another trip there rather than another Asian destination for our next trip. The idea of sitting around relaxing in a nice café in an appealing setting with a bottle of wine sounds pretty good right now.

Purely because I'm nosey, Ron: if they decided not to post it on LP, where did you find it then?

Don't drink milk in hot weather (it's a bad choice).

I have read the FAQs (did that first) and phredmn's reports - all very good. Thanks everyone for all the others.

I really want to audition for the Saigon Symphony Orchestra while I'm out in HCMC, does anyone know if they have a website or anything? Everytime I google it I get a long list of hits for anyone in the world who's performing Miss Saigon!

Ron, really: extremely dirty, noisy, jam-packed with people, full of litter, and generally filthy??? We must have been to a different Vietnam! I couldn't agree less with any of these observations, but I suppose as all observations go they find their roots in your perception and frame of reference. Maybe you've never travelled to a non-Wetsern country before and maybe you are from some remote part in the Mid-West and used to miles and miles of empty space :-). In that case I suppose some Vietnamese towns can seem full.

But back to the OP: for a nice blog on Vietnam you could read the Vietnam part of this blog. Have a great trip!

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<hr>Ron, really: extremely dirty, noisy, jam-packed with people, full of litter, and generally filthy??? We must have been to a different Vietnam!<hr></blockquote>

Minimi, I don't think Ron is necessarily putting those words forward as his own: he's saying that it was part of Phred's report, obviously cross-posted on another forum, with the "offending" section removed. Personally, while I loved Vietnam, I'd say there is an ELEMENT of truth in the observation ... certainly noisy and jam-packed with people ... and even, I'm afraid, subject to littering ... less than Indonesia, but more than Australia, for sure ... I'm always interested to read people's impressions, if they are honest and thoughtful, even if they aren't positive ... You don't necessarily agree, but - well, it's like seeing an art class with 20 people, all sketching the same model ... remarkable how each person sees something different ... some see ugliness, others see ... non-ugliness ... Yeah, everyone DOES go to a different Vietnam ...

jakarta boy ... there you go getting deep again.... even profound ...mmmm

I have learned that when travelling in Asia ... you need toleave behind your values and measures of wealth and poverty... of privacy and tact... and check out why they do things the way they do ..

maybe my "eye" has adjusted... but I have to say that i find Vietnam very clean..... rubbish seems to be gathered regularly and burned in little piles ...or collected regularly ... and the way food is dispayed in markets... is a work of art and respect .... Hue market is an excellent example.

you need to be carefulll ... on my first visit there ... being a fire nervous OZ girl... I stepped on a burning piece of paprer one morning .... it was on the srteet in front of s house ... in my ignorance I extinguished the spirit offering for the day leaving the house in peril !!!!

Sorry Celestine ... not enough sleep and too much coffee does that to me ... I wasn't doing it on purpose... but I do agree about how your eye adjusts ... you know ... self-revelation time ... I do some work in a business that is peripherally related to tourism in Indonesia ... and after living here for many years, I realized that I had no idea anymore of how tourists who just arrived in the country saw a new place ... which inspired me to do this very rapid series of trips to the different SEAsian countries ... really, it was all about trying to see with the eyes of a newcomer to the region ... I find most photographers take their most interesting photos when they first come to a new country ... although sheer FUN has probably also been a major motivating force ... sorry for drifting off topic again ... did I say something about too much coffee and not enough sleep??

Ah, yes, trip reports: I was going to promote Somsai's blog again ... but that's Laos ... really, Somsai, this is embarrassing ... I might ask you to autograph a copy for me ... Also, Celestine herself ... she's the big red head ... with a sketchbook ... has some nice Vietnam and Laos reports to her credit ... interesting observations and useful information ... apart from an odd preference for yellow taxis that I never really got to the bottom of ... And look for the venerable Seat61 for anything on trains ... although he usually just puts in a cameo appearance, not full reports ... too busy with his own, absolutely excellent website, I suspect ... Mrmookie doesn't really do trip reports either ... more like Dorothy Parker ... the master of the sharp one liner ... (Best line - DP, that is, not MrM: "This is not a book that should be tossed lightly aside: it should be thrown with a great deal of force.") ... TicoTim brings a certain boisterous joi de vivre to his reports ... and sometimes includes useful information ... SweetRose is probably best for anyone looking for anything on travelling with a family ... HongHa gives maximum information value in terms of sound-to-noise ratio ... And there are heaps of others who just do one or two good reports and then go back to their day jobs ... All credit to the quiet souls who contribute in peace and then leave in peace ...

#10, isn't that the exact same point that I was making: that all observations are formed by the oberver and his (or her) frame of reference? This means that whilst I don't share aforementioned observations (which I incorrectly attributed to Ron - sorry for that! - although he does describe the observations as 'realistic' ), I'm not claiming to have the one true view of Vietnam. Because my views of Vietnam are also influenced by my frame of reference as much as everyone elses.

What is this new penchant for using three fullstops (periods, if you're american) where one usually suffices?

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<hr>What is this new penchant for using three fullstops (periods, if you're american) where one usually suffices?<hr></blockquote>

I don't have a copy of the Chicago Style Guide at hand, but three periods (or full stops if you're Australian) is a perfectly acceptable way of indicating a pause, or an ellipse. It is also used when quoting text, to indicate that you are omitting a phrase or several words. In this context, it's a pause, an indrawn breath, an indication that the writer is collecting his thoughts ... Something less conclusive than a single full stop, a trailing away rather than a sharp brake ... I used to use dashes a lot, but they seem a bit spiky... Anyway, either bear with me on that or skip on through to the next post ...

Ah! The Chicago Manual of Style is now available online! A great resource for would-be writers! It says this about three full stops:

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<hr>11.59 Deliberately incomplete sentence: Three dots are used at the end of a sentence that is deliberately left grammatically incomplete.<hr></blockquote>

Hope that helps! (The use of exclamation marks will be covered in the next lesson ... )

Bomchacha was a great report writer here. I wish he would go on another trip. He had such an open attitude and just reported what he saw and how he felt. Not just a source of information but a great example of how to get the most out of travel.

gingbouy, I saw the original report on Fodor's a fews months back. It created a big stir on the Asia and Europe boards.

Minimi, as you noticed, they were not my words. But can you really say you didn't see any of what they described? BTW, I'm not from the midwest and I lived in SE Asia for over 4 years.

That blog is very funny Minimi, cheers for the link.

Thanks for the lesson Jakarta boy, I've never seen it used in that way before, I've only ever seen it as a 'to be continued' or trailing away sort of thing when put at the end of a sentence, not regularly punctuating thoughts. I thought perhaps you were just stoned. On the other hand, I'm not sure I'd ever turn to an American book for guidance on English, he he. Two nations divided by a common language, and all that sort of thing. I'll stick with my Oxford companion I think...

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<hr>I thought perhaps you were just stoned.<hr></blockquote>

No such luck! Just too much work and coffee! The world looks like a sunnier place today, and I feel a few cold beers ... not spliffs, those days are behind me ... coming my way as soon as I can put a clean t-shirt on ...

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<hr>I'll stick with my Oxford companion I think...<hr></blockquote>

While the OED is THE best dictionary in the world ... even right-minded Americans agree on that ... The Chicago Manual of Style is absolutely THE best style guide ... every good publishing house or publishing business has a copy ... even the British ones ...

Ha ha, ok then. I suppose I'd better acquaint myself with one someday. My girlfriend is a Chicagoan, so I'm sure she'll be pleased to see it appear on my bookshelf.