A lot of us Melbournians love to escape to the warmth during our winter months. Contrary to what some people may think, it does get pretty cold in Melbourne during winter, and it also gets wet! So Queensland, a short two-hour flight away is a great place to escape to during our winter. Over the recent Queen’s birthday long weekend, we decided to fly to the Fraser...
Vietnam was a country that we had wanted to visit for quite some time, but somehow we never got around to it. There are just so many places in the world to visit, right? But now that we’ve finally made it there, we have nothing but praise for this country. We had a fabulous time in Vietnam and we enjoyed every second of it. With just over 2 weeks to spend there, we...
For many countries, tourism is a vital part of their economy, so it’s fantastic that so many of us want to travel and see the world. I personally believe that travelling is one of the best things anyone can do to broaden their horizons and to appreciate different cultures and ways of life. There is nothing wrong with being a tourist, and you can be any type of...
Found right in the middle of the country, Hue (pronounced Hway) is very often overlooked by visitors to Vietnam. But this ancient imperial capital is totally worth the detour, even for a short stay. Situated on the banks of the Perfume River, Hue was the seat of Nguyễn Dynasty emperors from 1802 to 1945. It’s a city rich in history and even though many of Hue’s...
When our alarm went off at 4.30 am, we were both fast asleep. Waking up that early is always hard. But we managed to drag ourselves out of bed and met our tour guide outside the front of our hotel. We were off to catch the sunrise at the My Son Sanctuary, a set of ruins from the ancient Cham Kingdom, found a little over an hour outside of Hoi An. The reason we chose...
Halong Bay is Vietnam’s most popular tourist attraction and one that simply has to be on any visitor’s Vietnam itinerary. This breathtaking natural wonder is renowned for its emerald waters, its thousands of sheer limestone karsts and for its tiny islets topped by rainforests. The region known as Halong Bay spans over 1,500 square kilometres and is actually...
Some places are so easy to like. But I’m not going to lie, Hanoi is not one of them. After a very early wake-up call to catch our flight from Danang, we arrived in Hanoi to catch the first morning light. We were tired, cranky (well I was!) and quite sad after leaving Hoi An behind us. I had been told great things about Hanoi; but my first glimpse of it, as we were...
The ancient town of Hoi An used to be a major trading port. Now, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the most visited places in Vietnam. This fact alone might be a turn-off. After all, who likes a place full of tourists? We certainly don’t, but we’d heard so many nice things about Hoi An that we had to include it in our Vietnam itinerary. I’m so glad that we...
Ho Chi Minh City, also known as Saigon, is Vietnam’s largest city, and its financial and commercial hub. This sprawling city has a population of over 8.5 million people, half of which are under the age of 35. It’s a young city and one of the fastest growing cities in Asia. Cranes dot Ho Chi Minh City’s skyline. Many more apartments, shopping centres, offices and even...
As animal lovers, the highlights of any trip we take are our encounters with wildlife. Over the years we’ve been lucky enough to come across many different species of animals, birds and marine life on our travels. This has ranged from green turtles and monk seals in Hawaii to wild elephants in Sri Lanka. But we still have a long list of wildlife encounters on our...