Category Archives: Elsewhere

HCMC

Posted on 9 Mar 2019 by lornaofarabia

Our last stop in Vietnam was Ho Chi Minh City, still sometimes called by its old name of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City is a lot of syllables). HCMC is modern, stylish, urban, and also full of history. Andreas had … Continue reading →

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Mekong Delta

Posted on 7 Mar 2019 by lornaofarabia

We spent most of our week in Vietnam in urban areas – Hanoi, Hue, Hoi An, and HCMC – so I was pleased to fit in a day in the Mekong delta countryside. Andreas and I don’t take a lot … Continue reading →

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Hội An

Posted on 6 Mar 2019 by lornaofarabia

The travel guides describe Hoi An as a laid-back town, a well preserved example of an ancient trading city. What they don’t mention is that those 600 year old shops are now filled with key rings, joke T-shirts, brand name … Continue reading →

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Hải Vân Pass

Posted on 5 Mar 2019 by lornaofarabia

Our next destination was Hoi An, billed as an old trading port city with a well-preserved historic district. There is a bus from Hue but I read that if we took it we would miss the best of the scenery … Continue reading →

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Huế

Posted on 5 Mar 2019 by lornaofarabia

We nearly missed our train over these crispy pancakes. If we had, it would almost have been worth it. They are a Hanoi specialty and they are very very tasty. But as it turned out, we ate our pancake dinner … Continue reading →

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Ha Long

Posted on 4 Mar 2019 by lornaofarabia

Any “10 top things to do in Vietnam” list will tell you that a Ha Long cruise is essential. Towering rainforest-topped islands rising out of the misty bay make for an atmospheric and highly Instagrammable situation. Not that I Instagram … Continue reading →

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Hanoi

Posted on 3 Mar 2019 by lornaofarabia

We haven’t traveled much in Asia. The omission is intentional; it’s long been our plan to move to southeast Asia and explore from there. But we just signed on for our eighth year in Africa, so maybe it’s time to … Continue reading →

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In fair Verona, where we lay our scene…

Posted on 18 Apr 2017 by lornaofarabia

There are lots of great things about living in Cairo, and one of them is that we have easy access to many other great places.  Cheap non-stop flights are available to (for example) Turkey and Greece and France. We carefully examined the bargain airline offerings before … Continue reading →

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Kathakali

Posted on 11 Mar 2017 by lornaofarabia

Kerala is home to a unique theatre form called kathakali. By chance, Andreas was studying kathakali just a few weeks ago as part of an IB theatre teaching training course, so he was very excited at the prospect of seeing a live performance. Kathakali developed in southern … Continue reading →

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Backwaters

Posted on 9 Mar 2017 by lornaofarabia

If you mention Kerala to anyone who’s been there, chances are the first thing they will say is “houseboats.” For many generations people in Kerala used wooden boats called kettuvallam to transport goods to larger port towns like Cochin. These days rice … Continue reading →

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