Laura Davis

Our home for the next six days, Luang Prabang, the City of the Holy Buddha, is currently celebrating its 20th year as a UNESCO Heritage Site, something that is both a positive and a negative for the locals. It is a positive because of the tourist dollars it brings into the area and a negative […]

When we arrived at the Avani resort, there was a green parallelogram-shaped packet in our rooms that held a number of cards (also parallelogram-shaped) describing the various kinds of spa treatments we could receive. There were massages, facials, body scrubs and baths in three categories: Purify, Balance and Boost, ranging in length from 30 to

One of the most important things helping people stay grounded and in their bodies, coping with jet lag and different foods, new means of transportation and new beds every few nights is Yoga on the Go. When my partner Karyn said she wanted to come to Vietnam with me, we integrated yoga into our daily

This is the breakfast buffet. More eye candy. Hmmm…I wonder what I should have for breakfast? Eliza said, “I haven’t tasted goat cheese like this since I was in France.” She was practically drooling with pleasure. Eli said: “What time does this breakfast bar close? I think this is a two or three breakfast morning.”

Our first morning waking up in Ha Long Bay, we were gifted with our first sunny day of the whole trip, and people happily scrambled for tank tops, sun screen, hats, and sandals. After early morning yoga on the deck and omelets made to order in the galley, we set out on a morning outing

This morning, we left Hanoi and are now on a three-day, two-night cruise of Ha Long Bay, on a traditional junk, a beautifully appointed ship with sumptuous seafood meals, comfortable cabins, decks open to the vast Vietnamese sky, surrounded on all sides by the giant limestone structures this bay is famous for. Sunsets. Sunrises. Writing

The 86 million people living in Vietnam come from 54 distinct ethnic groups. The largest, the Viet, make up 86.4 percent of the population. The other 14 percent is distributed among 53 different ethnic groups, many of whom live in the mountainous regions of the north. These groups share certain similarities, but have distinct dialects,

After writing class, I just couldn’t resist bringing Karyn and Eliza to what I’d started to call the Pink Massage Palace. Allison and Kevin and Linda joined us. The six of us were all lined up getting our massage in the same room, the five women in pink and Kevin in black and white striped

Judy Slattum, tour leader, Danu Tours. Surya Made, Danu Tours, Judy’s husband and partner in their great boutique tour company. Yesterday we picked up our travelers from all over the world: Australia, Mexico, Canada, California, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. Judy and Surya went to meet the first batch and our Vietnamese guide, Quynh, picked me up

The first thing we noticed while we were eating breakfast on the 11th floor of our hotel this morning was that the tiny people down below on the street were all wearing ponchos or holding umbrellas. It was raining. We dressed for the weather, grabbed umbrellas and headed out on foot. The second thing we

When we left the Vietnam Women’s Museum, we mapped our way to the foot massage parlor, about a mile or so away. After half an hour of swimming through streets filled with traffic and honking, we found our second destination of the day: Dai Cat foot massage. No one at the counter spoke any English

We made it….14 hours in the air and now we’re in Tapiei and the airport is full of some of tackiest art ever. Lots of fake scenes of nature. And…we arrived at the airport on the 25th and it’s now the 27th. Whaaa? We are definitely not in the US anymore. With my propensity to

It’s Christmas morning and I’ve come out to my office to write this inaugural Virtual Vacation blog post for my trip to Vietnam. Tonight, after Christmas dinner at my son and daughter-in-law’s house, I’m being picked up at 8 PM, by my friend Joanie, to head to the San Francisco airport for our 1 AM