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Oh Calcutta
It’s a city that elicits various responses. Some swear by it, while others swear at it. This is Kolkata. A smile can brighten up anyone’s day I had first visited Kolkata in October of 2011, having just finished a week’s stay in Shillong. The idea was to meet with a friend, have a few drinks, and try see a city I’d wanted to visit for many years. As luck would have it, it was pouring. There were parts of the city that were no-go zones, including where my friend lived. So my time was spent at another friend’s home, close to the airport, on Park Street, which is as close…
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Ride to Pak Ou Caves and Whiskey Village
Fancy a boat ride on the Mekong? And then a shot of a drink that is going to jolt your senses? The stairs leading up to Pak Ou caves Why not do a half-day trip to Pak Ou Cave. The tour is combined with a visit to Whiskey Village. The tour itself is roughly around four hours, with the ride to the caves taking about two hours. Take a boat ride to Pak Ou caves Once you arrive, walk up the stairs and you will come to the first cave called Tham Ting. Just be careful as it is dimly lit. Make your way higher and you come to the…
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Go against the flow
There’s always one amongst us all. The one who does the exact opposite of what’s expected. The backbencher. The loner. The rebel. The one who breaks the rules because they’re meant to be broken. The one who veers to the left and thinks it’s right while everybody else is wrong because they are right. Right. There’s one amongst us all. And there’s a bit of that person in all of us. Right, Happy Hour, I say. Cheers to all! Like this post or want to read it later? Pin me.
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The extra passenger
Like this fella taking a free ride, standing on the back bumper of a taxi heading into Shillong. The driver didn’t seem to mind unless he wasn’t aware of his presence. Nor were the passengers concerned. There’s something universal about traveling like this, getting from place to place, without actually paying for your trip. Am sure we’ve all done it at least once. Sometime. Somewhere. Surely. 😉 Like this post or want to read it later? Pin me.
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Conversations by the canal
There’s nothing more enjoyable than having a conversation with a good friend or two, however banal the topic may be. Never mind the hordes of wide-eyed tourists, like myself, sailing by in gondolas, clicking snaps like this, so we can post them on social media later. 😇 Like this post or want to read it later? Pin me.
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Museum of Ethnology
The country’s biggest ethnic group may be the Viets – around 86% of the population. To understand more about the rest of the ethnic group, you would need to visit the furthest corners of Vietnam. Or, you could simply head to the Museum of Ethnology. Example of Hmong House An introduction A proposal to set up the museum was first approved on the 14th of December 1987. Constructed continued for a little under eight years, when on the 12th of November 1997, it opened its doors to the public. Sitting on a 10-acre property, about 8 km outside Hanoi, the exhibition building, in the shape of a Dong Son drum,…
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Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Complex
Ho Chi Minh is revered in Vietnam. He was both prime minister and president of North Vietnam and played a key role in the early stages of the Vietnam War. And what better way to honour a beloved leader than to embalm his body and have it on permanent display at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Ba Dinh Square with Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum in the background However, that is not what Uncle Ho, as he was popularly known as, wanted. Just before his death in 1969, he had left strict instructions that his ashes should be buried in the hills throughout both North and South Vietnam. However, his colleagues…
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The Imperial City
The Imperial City is, by far, the most prominent feature of the city of Hue. It sits on the Huong river, or the Perfume river as it popularly known as. It’s minutes away from the South China sea. And should be your first stop on a visit to Hue. The Vietnamese flag flutters atop the Citadel It’s exactly these features that caught the attention of Emperor Gia Long, the first ruler of the Nguyen Dynasty. Its proximity to the surrounding mountains also made it an ideal location. He went about setting a new capital in 1802, making Hue the administrative and military center of Vietnam. However, when the monarchy came…
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The Pagoda of the Celestial Lady
Thien Mu Pagoda, also called the Pagoda of the Celestial Lady, is a must for all those who visit the imperial city of Hue. Garden behind the temple with bonsai trees For reasons best known to us, we chose to walk the distance from town. While I would ordinarily walk around 7 kms without too much of a hassle, so long as it’s an easy walk, this proved to be a bit tedious for other reasons. It was drizzling and chilly, like it had been all that week, both in Hanoi, and now in Hue. Except for the Huong river, or the Perfume river as it is famously known as,…
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DMZ
All is quiet on the DMZ now. The bases and bunkers are no longer there. The country is one. And the area is a major tourist attraction. View of the Ben Hai river when driving However, it wasn’t always so. When the world’s powers convened in Geneva to try and sort out the mess the French had got themselves into in Indochina, Vietnam was split in half along the 17th parallel. A strip of land, running about 5kms on either side of the Ben Hai river separated a nation and its people. During the ensuing Vietnam War, the North Vietnamese and US-supported South fought ruthlessly, trying to gain an advantage…
