Trekking to top of Black Virgin mountain – one of the famous peaks in Viet Nam – is a cool experience. The mountain should be in your check list, just 3-hour drive from the city center. I still remember my first ever night, when I was at the top of the highest mountain of the south of Viet Nam. After a long trek through many terrains, finally my team reached the camp site in the evening, wet and fatigued. It’s Ba Den (Black Virgin) mountain trekking memories in my mind, still fresh and clear. You’re a trekking lover, and in the south of Viet Nam, don’t miss Ba Den (Black Virgin), it should be…

Some people consider traveling as a cure for their love hurts. Is it really good or just an over-estimated expectation? I talked to a friend in 24h store in my neighborhood this afternoon. She was in deep sorrow and tended to hurt herself with a lot of pain. Well, She hit the table hard and insistently she couldn’t get out of the hole, a deep sorrow for a long long time like hands holding her back. She knew what is right or wrong. But “the matter of heart, it doesn’t easily change.” Then she told me how she’d cured her pain. She’d taken several rides to the same place: Can Gio coastal…

15 Manila travel facts cover whole my first experience in the capital of  Phillipines, that help you know more about this place, from communication, people, food, smell to pick-pocket situation.  1. Communication You’ll feel very friendly when most of the local can speak quite a standard English, very easy to understand. It’s really a plus for Phillipines travel experience when you can query almost things from directions, foods, public transportation, or social chit-chat… You can go local really really deep and have more budget choice. Great!! Talking with the local is also interesting. When strolling around Rizal park, I came up with a little girl – Jennie – asking me to…

“ Hey, slow it down, what do ya want from me” I remember the lyric of the song “What do you want from me”. And it’s a question I give myself: “What do you want from me”. No guide, no tips, just my small thought in this post. I get inspired by an idea that I should travel to every countries in the world before anyone in my hometown does (so I’ll become the first one). So I tried as fast as I could to make it come true. And you know. I got burnt out, yesterday, when I was trying to produce posts to my blog and work to earn a…

Once I was trolling along the coastal line in Vung Tau, right below the statue of Jesus Christ, and see two boys around a little hole. I asked them what they were doing and the answer was to catch mantis shrimps. I’ve eaten many mantis shrimps in Viet Nam. The first time I’ve enjoyed them was years ago, in a mixture of chilly and other delightsome spices. I can’t speak the names but very love the way they color and spice up dishes. You should try some shrimp dishes, spiced up, and served hot with dipping sauces, which is very popular in Ho Chi Minh city. The vietnamese call them…

When I received a potato crisp pack from the girl, then I realized that “Giving” means “taking somehow, somewhere and sometime later, by chance”. Here’s my story At the end of my busy day of Nghinh Ong festival, I was resting on a hammock, in the local coffee shop, which locates nearby the central park of town. It was a exhausting day and I was really really burnt out. I just wanted some rest, preparing for the next day. Everybody occupied their own hammocks, ready to take a sleep after the long day of activities. I was sleepy and nearly shut my eyelids down, then I noticed 2 girls looking around. They…

My Con Dao travel story covers how I met some travel friends, got to amazing trails, beaches and coffee around island and a sacred night in Hang Duong cemetery. After a night onboard, I head toward the town for accommodation. My bike stopped at a garden-like hostel, with a sign board “Uyen’s house” in simply black-and-white style. After few minutes check-in, I went to dorm room. It was nice. Read More: Guide to Hostels for Beginners My next-bed roommate was an 40s-something woman, she traveled alone. When I asked her recommendations, then she showed me some trails in national park, where to ask for permission papers and for most, where to get the useful map, just on…

Weird food is always a funny topic to be mentioned. It’s like a challenge for travelers. “Dare you try this crazy dish?” “Oh, come on, dude. You can do it” and then looking at faces with different emotional expressions. In the festival, when I was wandering on my beloved bike, then I noticed a signboard mention a dish “pig eye soup”. Oh come on, it’s truly WEIRD FOOD. I ran away, for 1 minute, then I turned back. I think that this was an awesome way to enrich my travel experience. By the way, I had a story to tell. It was a small stall, some man sat and enjoy their…

Con Dao prisons is very well-known. Actually, the island was built for only purpose – imprison. So it is interesting to do a short trip. I also covers the previous night when I had chance visiting Hang Duong mass cemetery at night. Very memorable moments in these. It was raining, no lightning, but grey clouds covered whole sky, which was very suitable for a day exploring somethings haunting. There are several prison. The first one, locating in town is Phu Hai. You can park your bikes/ cars right at front of the prison. There’s a ticket booth to the left of the gate. Ticket price is 20 000 (12/2016), you receive a…

The Con dao travel guide covers how to get to and get around the island, some facts about night on ship, foods and what to do to explore the paradise. My first time in Con Dao was so amazing that I decide to write a “short” travel guide. Hopefully it helps you plan for your trip. This is a beautiful remote island in Vietnam that any travelers should visit once-in-a-lifetime. Travel to Con Dao A. Air There’s no budget flight on HCMC-Con Dao. The only airline is Vietnam Airline, national fleet, price ranges around 80 usd/ one-way. The airport is quite far from the town, so if you’ve booked hotel, kindly…