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Keeping a city’s hope alive, one barrel at a time
It is not often you walk into a brewery, order a pint, and then casually saunter off, blissfully unaware of its history. Like Sarajevksa Pivara Brewery.
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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 Reunification Express
First things first. There is no Reunification Express. At least not officially. It is called the North–South Railway. Covering 1,726 kms, it is the main railway line that connects the political capital of Hanoi with the commercial capital of Saigon. View of the South China sea A bit of history first Construction of the line linking these two cities began during the French rule in 1899. It took nearly 40 years for its completion, finally connecting the cities in 1936. However, the line was continuously sabotaged and bombarded during the Vietnamese fight with the French, and later during the Vietnam War. It wasn’t after the war finally ended, in 1975,…
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Vietnam introduces e-visa
I was in Vietnam in the last week of December, 2018. This was my second trip to the country, having visited, again exactly 11 years earlier, the last week of December, 2007. At that time, as a resident of Dubai, I had applied for my visa at the consulate. Once my Excel sheet itinerary had been scrutinised, and tickets checked, I was issued with a single-entry visa valid for one month. This time though, I opted for an e-visa. For those not in the know, this is something that Vietnam has just introduced for tourists from a list of 46 countries. If you are among the lucky ones, then opt…
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Give me my bowl of pho
If there’s one dish I can have for breakfast, lunch and dinner in Vietnam, then pho it is for me. A bowl of pho After all that walking around the Old Quarter in Hanoi, dodging motorists on their mopeds and bikes, and generally making sure you’ve crossed onto the other side of the road safely, why not stop by and indulge with a portion of pho. Preparing a bowl of pho If there’s one dish I can have for breakfast, lunch and dinner in Vietnam, then pho it is for me. Pronounced as fe (like in fern), it’s a soup with broth, noodles, herbs and chunks of meat. Hungry eyes…
