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Photo Favorite: Chaos at the Long Bien Market

by Mark Wiens on February 17, 2012

Chaos would be an understatement when referring to the Long Bien wholesale market in Hanoi. The central distribution of fruits and vegetables for much of Hanoi begins at Long Bien at about midnight and continues until around 6 am the next morning. For those 6 hours the entire scene is a straight up fight of [...]

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Photo Favorite: Hide and Seek at Halong Bay, Vietnam

by Mark Wiens on August 21, 2011

Location: Halong Bay, Vietnam It was like a giant game of hide and seek, little perfect mounds of earth that sprouted from the water in all shapes and sizes. The sun peeked its rays around the mounds, gently lighting the right places and leaving other nooks in the darkness. I don’t compare many things to [...]

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Photo Story: A Week of Divine Food in Hanoi

by Mark Wiens on November 16, 2010

Sitting on 6 inch stools on the roadside, balancing drinks and dishes on tiny or nonexistent tables, extremely uneven light coming from makeshift roofing, people shoving, and a slight concern of being hit by motorbikes all add to the exciting challenge! Here are a few things I ate while in Hanoi, Vietnam.

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Halong Bay: Doing Exactly What I Wanted to Do!

by Mark Wiens on October 21, 2010

Sitting on my computer in University I would browse through articles like the 100 most beautiful places in the world, look at pictures of places like Halong Bay, and say to myself “I am for sure going there.” And why not? 2.5 years of traveling from place to place and my opportunity finally came to [...]

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Midnight Market Madness

by Mark Wiens on October 11, 2010

I’ve been to my share of local markets throughout Asia, in fact, it’s one of my all time favorite activities. Nothing to buy, only to look and relax in the midst of everyone else taking care of necessary business and scurrying through their daily lives. At Kota Kinabalu’s night market I watched the sun peacefully [...]

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Hanoi Budget Travel Guide: Eat, Sleep, Shop, Do

by Mark Wiens on October 7, 2010

I arrived in Hanoi and due to my open schedule decided to take the public from Nai Ban International Airport to the center of Hanoi. Take bus number 17 for 5000 Dong, get off after crossing a big bridge about 1 hour later at the terminal station called Long Bien. From there you are quite [...]

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Hanoi’s Ice Cream Motorbike Drive-In

by Mark Wiens on October 2, 2010

Kem Tràng Tiền – Hanoi, Vietnam [smartads] When I heard about a famous place to eat local style, truly Hanoian ice cream, I couldn’t have been more excited…and I had no idea how cool it was going to turn out… My excitement elevated and I knew we were getting close when we saw crowds of [...]

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