Author Archives: Archana
Halong Bay: Touristy? Yes. Worth it? Yes.
You can’t really talk about Hanoi without mentioning Halong Bay. And you can’t really walk around Hanoi’s Old Quarter without seeing a tour ad for it. We weren’t sure we even wanted to go to Halong, a bay of 1,969 limestone karsts that were recently added to the Wonders of the World list. It seemed … Continue reading
Getting to know Hanoi, Vietnam
Things locals in Hanoi like: Riding motorbikes, street food, drinking Bia Ha Noi (the local draft beer), sunflower seeds and Apple products. These are the concrete observations I’ve made after about a week in Vietnam’s capital. They’re random and scattered, much like the city itself. Hanoi is a wild place, and it’s much different than … Continue reading
On adjustment issues and becoming (a little) jaded
Before I delve into stories about our Vietnam adventures — FYI we have had some really rad ones so far — I have to admit something: Adjusting to Asia has been hard. Asia is much rougher around the edges than South America, and as it turns out, I’m having a little more trouble getting into … Continue reading
Eating my way through Hong Kong like a local
We’re now in Vietnam, and I’m realizing just how hard it is to do as the locals do without a friend to guide us through the chaotic streets. It reminds me how lucky we were to have Fareesa hand pick all of our restaurants in Hong Kong. We named the cuisine, she found us a … Continue reading
What to do in Hong Kong when you’re not ordering bottle service (and where to go when you are)
I feel a little bad for stereotyping Hong Kong as all party-party, drink-drink. Of course, those things play a big, BIG role in HK life*, but as I mentioned, there’s so much more to this set of islands.** Our friend, host and acting tour guide, Fareesa, outlined plenty of fun things to do in the … Continue reading
Hong Kong: A week at a glance
I lived in New York. This should be easy, I thought. But as I soon realized, I knew very little about this shiny east-meets-west city — and was probably less equipped than ever to take Hong Kong in after three months of extreme chillaxing in Honolulu. We landed in Hong Kong last Tuesday night, and … Continue reading
The Packing List, 8 months later
Archana’s Packing List Backpack: Farpoint 55L small/medium (40L + 15L daypack attached) Clothes (in 3 Eagle Creek packing cubes – ahh, the wonders of rolling!)
Goodbye and mahalo, Hawaii. We’ll miss you more than you know.
This segment of our trip has been completely different than the others. To be honest, we never had trouble leaving a place (except maybe El Bolson, Argentina). Of course we met great people in South America, but here in Hawaii, there is a rooted bond, foremost to our friends — friends who took us under … Continue reading
