This week, Breaking Travel News reported on the growth of tourism in emerging markets, citing a 6-8% increase over the past ten years — a twofold upturn over tourist powerhouses like Europe.
China is fueling much of this tourism boom — Chinese tourists spent $30 billion abroad last year. And where are they going? Vietnam.
An article [...]
Entries from June 2008
June 28, 2008
News Bites: Vietnam Tourism Forecast Is Sunny
June 24, 2008
New European Hostel Booking Website
I’m very happy to report on the official relaunch of EuropeanHostels.com. EuropeanHostels has existed for some time as a hostel directory — since before Over There Interactive founder Tom Meyers devised the company’s flagship website eurocheapo.com — but the new EuropeanHostels features a totally rehauled search engine powered by a “top secret algorithm”, a free [...]
June 24, 2008
Bobby Brewers: The Last Picture Show Has Cometh
Update: Since the time of writing, Bobby Brewers’ has begun showing *ahem* up-to-date films.
Backpackers in Saigon have been packing Bobby Brewers‘ movie theater for years, but Vietnam’s lax copyright laws have tightened and put a stranglehold on this staple of the Bui Vien lifestyle.
Alas, at least for the time being, there shall be no more [...]
June 22, 2008
More Fuel Woes for Qantas
This week, Qantas announced service cutbacks on Australian routes due to unprecedented global fuel costs. Most notably, Newcastle will be cut off indefinitely from both Melbourne and Sydney — the route had previously only been suspended. Qantas customers departing from Newcastle will have to depend on Jetstar’s 56 flights a week to Melbourne, Brisbane and [...]
June 21, 2008
An Israeli Falafel in Saigon
Note: Falafellim is currently closed due to a dispute with the landlord … another great eatery is in limbo thanks to the Saigon’s finicky real estate.
Falafel enthusiasts and vegetarians rejoice! Falafellim is serving up meal-sized falafel pitas here in Saigon. Located on Pham Ngu Lao just off the traffic circle at Ben Thanh Market, this [...]
June 12, 2008
British lend insight to Saigon Subway
The British came to town last week to pinpoint possible areas for cooperation on Saigon’s main railways and the future metro system, the Word HCMC reported in their latest issue. Turns out the Brits are on a public transportation world tour of sorts, stopping by developing nations to lend their rail expertise. Add the British [...]
June 12, 2008
Vegetarian Guide to Saigon’s Backpacker District
Eating vegetarian isn’t always easy in Saigon. Luckily, the Backpacker District encompassing Pham Ngu Lao and Bui Vien caters to HCMC’s herbivorous visitors. Here are some of the best spots to eat an chi.
Zen: from stir fried to braised, Indian to Mexican, Zen offers the largest slate of cheap non-meat cuisine around above Bui Vien. [...]
June 8, 2008
Jetstar: Hue Routes Axed, Highlands and Dalat Delayed
Jetstar Pacific recently confirmed my suspicions: the delay on the Hanoi – Hue route missed its simultaneous launch with the Nha Trang and Danang routes due to rising global fuel costs. Now, the Ho Chi Minh City – Hue service has been axed, as well. Add to the list of bad news that the HCMC [...]
June 8, 2008
Banh Mi: Franchised and Sanitized
Meat banh mi — Vietnamese sandwich — is the definitive Saigon street food. For 10,000 VND (about 60 cents) street vendors pile on the ingredients: the ubiquitous white porous pork, gristly bacon, spicy pate, cucumber, onion and cilantro.
But if you’re not keen on street food, you can try banh mi at the new franchise Bamizon. [...]
June 7, 2008
HCMC Fine Arts Museum
Like many cities blazing the capitalist path in developing nations, Saigon lacks an established cultural apparatus. However, of all the museums in Saigon, the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Museum might be the one most worth seeing, even if the quality of its collection and exhibition is inconsistent.
Predictably, war paintings and lacquer work are [...]
