April 15, 2019
Recently, I went on a trip to Central Vietnam — I’d been itching to get back to Hue City, which I visited in 2010 on my first trip to Vietnam. It was a well-deserved break and coming off the back of a stressful time, including health issues among other things. The trip itself was super relaxing because I went with…
April 5, 2019
I recently wrote about things I used to hate about travelling, but now love. Actually, it’s more in line with “hate less” than “love”. One of these things is travel planning. I used to leave it all up to my travel agent and tour companies, but now — after Bali, where I first organised my own travel — I plan…
February 10, 2019
I visited in Cao Bang Province in 2017 and it could have killed me. You can read about the whys and wherefores here. Needless to say, it was pretty scary and a solid reminder that press trips are often not what they’re cracked up to be. And because I couldn’t write a glowing review, I submitted my pictures… which were…
February 4, 2019
Tet — Lunar New Year — is a very special time in Hanoi. This year, I went for a wander around the Flower Market, close to Dong Xuan Market in the Old Quarter. This is something that local Hanoians do with their friends and family. The area is alive with colour and noise, and at this time of year, much…
January 28, 2019
If you are planning on visiting Myanmar and you are short on time (as I was), here are my suggestions for the top things to do in each location. I visited Myanmar in 2018 and spent 8 days there — 2 nights each in Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan and Inle Lake. I’l be honest and say that I wish I spent…
January 25, 2019
Apart from two trips — a short weekend trip to Dalat, Vietnam in 2017 and a longer one to Myanmar in 2018 — I have always travelled solo (apart from significant others, who don’t count). In 2010, when I initially started travelling, it was from necessity, but now travelling alone is my preferred way to travel. It was my trip…
October 7, 2018
Everything you need to know about the Tonle Sap Lake scam (and why I will never go back to Scambodia). There are a few locations in Asia that have been on my bucket list for ages: Myanmar, Luang Prabang (in Laos), Chiang Mai (in Thailand) and Siem Reap/Angkor Wat (in Cambodia). I decided to remedy that this year. In May,…
June 9, 2018
I loved Inle Lake. Thank God, because I was beginning to wonder why people raved about Myanmar so much (and was pretty much over it by this time). During my stay at Inle Lake, I discovered my Myanmar mojo — and not before time, because this was the last stop on the itinerary. The people were friendly and kind —…
June 2, 2018
Like Mandalay, Bagan was one of my least favourite places in Myanmar and I think being there in low season may have been the reason, although I can’t be entirely sure. With fewer tourists, and less earning capacity, money was tight, which meant we were hounded to buy, buy, buy everywhere we went. It was more than irritating — the…
May 26, 2018
I have to be honest and say that Mandalay was one of my least favourite places in Myanmar. It was hot, and challenging in a number of ways. It was here that I started to wonder where the lovely Myanmar people were that everyone raved about (and this was from tourist services touch point perspective). I found there was a…
May 19, 2018
> When I visited Yangon the first time, I wasn’t impressed with the capital, but to be fair, I did no sight-seeing because I just went from meeting to site visit to meeting and spent a lot of time in taxis on Yangon’s gridlocked roads. When a friend wanted to tick Myanmar off her travel bucket list and asked me…
December 13, 2017
Last weekend, I visited Yangon, Myanmar for work. I was only there for three days, two nights, so it really was a fly in, fly out visit. It’s a two-hour flight from Vietnam (depending on whether you fly in from Saigon or Hanoi), where I am based. As a heads up, I did not one touristy thing. No sightseeing, no…
June 25, 2017
Friends and friends of friends who travel to Hanoi often ask me what they should do in this wonderful, vibrant city. Hanoi is more than the Old Quarter (which is interesting in and of itself), more than traffic (which is not as bad as Saigon), more than the pho (which is awesome). So to save time, energy and repetition on…
December 22, 2016
I have been living in Hanoi for just over three weeks, and it’s been crazy-amazing and challenging. I’ve found out things about myself that I didn’t think would apply here, because, well, I’m not in Australia. But I am me whether I am in Australia or Vietnam or the Antarctic—who knew?! Here’s what I’ve been up to (and not) since my…
December 3, 2016
I’m here in Vietnam for at least 3 months, volunteering for KOTO. For those of you who don’t know the story, when I was in Vietnam in 2010, as part of the tour I was on we visited KOTO Restaurant in Hanoi for lunch. KOTO (which stands for Know One, Teach One) was started by an Australian, Jimmy Pham, who—while…
November 26, 2016
I arrived in Penang from Bali on Friday, 18 November, exhausted from a (very) early start and a long day of travelling, mostly spent hanging around waiting for my flight at Changi Airport. I’d arranged for a driver to take me to my hotel, and it was with much gratitude I saw my name when I exited into arrivals from…
November 18, 2016
Despite the stressful start to my journey, my two weeks relaxing in Bali have been a gift, aside from a bout of diarrhea that I always seem to get while I’m here. Here’s a rundown of what I got up to, which actually hasn’t been very much except writing, writing and more writing! Ubud I spent the first couple of…
November 16, 2016
I had not travelled Tiger Air before my trip back to Bali on the 5th of November. I assumed that it would be like travelling other low-fare carriers like Virgin (who I sent a big F*CK YOU to last year) and Jetstar. I was right, but it was worse. Much, much worse. So here’s my review of Tiger Air, in…
September 27, 2016
I travelled to Japan in 2014, for Cherry Blossom. Japan was one of the easiest trips I’ve done… and I thought it would be the hardest because I was travelling completely on my own and I spoke no Japanese. It was easy because the train system was so fabulous, and there were English signs everywhere. The Nakasendo Way was the…
September 13, 2016
I have been travelling internationally since 2010, when I took my first trip to Vietnam. It was challenging, exciting, awful and wonderful all at the same time. I’ve always wanted to go back to Vietnam and spend more time there, and that will be happening this November. I’ll be living there for at least three months, possibly more. It got…