In his latest blog post, Dale Dunlop, The Maritime Explorer, uncovers some unique and interesting discoveries about Saigon - Definitely Not Ho Chi Minh City. If you are interested in what Adventures Abroad has to offer, please check out our Small Group Tours to Vietnam.

In the last post, we wrapped up our time in central Vietnam by visiting the fascinating city of Hue and now it's time to head to the south of the country for our final few days of this wonderful Adventures Abroad tour. Accordingly, we take the 90-minute flight from Hue to Ho Chi Minh City which I soon learn from our local guide is a name that no one who actually lives here uses. To the South Vietnamese, it is and always will be Saigon and that's how I'll refer to it in this post. So please join me in exploring just a little of this greatest of all Vietnamese cities.

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In his latest blog post, Dale Dunlop, The Maritime Explorer, reaches the end of the Via Egnatia Tour and finishes with a flourish at Epirus - Zagoria, Vikos Gorge & Ioannina. If you are interested in what Adventures Abroad has to offer, please check out our Small Group Tours to Turkey or Small Group Tours to Greece.

This is my fifteenth and final post from the spring 2023 Via Egnatia Tour sponsored by Adventures Abroad and led by our friend and fellow birding enthusiast, tour leader Victor Romagnoli. It has been a wild ride from Istanbul to Ioannina with many amazing sites along the way that are seldom offered on most tours of Greece and Turkey. For example, in the last post, we found ourselves the only tourists walking along the waterfront of the city of Kastoria admiring the mansions of the bygone fur traders who put the place on the map. In this post, we'll venture high into the Pindus Mountains in the most northwesterly province of Greece, Epirus. Only miles from the border of Albania, we'll explore the stone villages and bridges of Zagoria, then marvel at Vikos Gorge, one of the natural wonders of Greece and finally end our tour at the city of Ioannina where we'll walk the streets of a city still dominated by traces of the Ottomans who ruled the city for almost 500 years. It promises to be one hell of an ending for a trip that has had a touch of everything an aspiring adventurer could want.

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In his latest blog post, Dale Dunlop, The Maritime Explorer, join him as he explores the long-anticipated destination of Hue - Vietnam's Royal City. If you are interested in what Adventures Abroad has to offer, please check out our Small Group Tours to Vietnam.

The Adventures Abroad tour of Vietnam continues to go from one highlight to another with the last two stops Hoi An and My Son both being UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Well, the hits just keep on coming as we head for our third World Heritage Site in a row, the former royal city of Hue. While I wasn't very knowledgeable about Hoi An and My Son in advance of visiting them, the same cannot be said about Hue which I have been looking forward to since the trip began. It has its own Forbidden City and while I haven't been to the more famous one in Beijing, Alison has and she is looking forward to comparing the two. So please join our merry band of travellers in the city of Hue.

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In his latest blog post, Dale Dunlop, The Maritime Explorer, steps into unfamiliar surroundings and is captivated and charmed by My Son - Spiritual Capital of the Champa Empire. If you are interested in what Adventures Abroad has to offer, please check out our Small Group Tours to Vietnam.

In the last post from the Adventures Abroad tour of Vietnam, we settled in for a three day stay in the wonderful little city of Hoi An. On the second full day there we left the city to visit the archaeological site of My Son which like Hoi An is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Now I have to confess that before coming on this tour I had never heard of the Champa Empire and certainly knew nothing about My Son. In this post, I'll explain why future visitors to Vietnam absolutely must include this amazing site to their itinerary. OK, let's get started.

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In his latest blog post, Dale Dunlop, The Maritime Explorer, ponders the complexities and the fortitude that is needed to build the monasteries in Meteora and Kastoria - Essentials in Northern Greece. If you are interested in what Adventures Abroad has to offer, please check out our Small Group Tours to Turkey or Small Group Tours to Greece.

The Adventures Abroad Via Egnatia tour is making its way westward in northern Greece as we leave behind Mount Olympus and the world of Alexander the Great and the ancient Macedonians. Our destination today is the fabled fur trading city of Kastoria, but on the way, we will re-enter the world of the Byzantines once more as we stop to view the amazing monasteries built atop rock formations at Meteora. I was first here over twenty years ago on my very first Adventures Abroad trip and I have never forgotten the sense of wonder that these impossible looking monasteries inspired in me.

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In his latest blog post, Dale Dunlop, The Maritime Explorer, journeys to the home of the Greek gods Dion & Mount Olympus. If you are interested in what other tours Adventures Abroad has to offer to this region, please check out our Small Group Tours to Turkey or Small Group Tours to Greece.

In the last three posts from the 2023 Adventures Abroad Via Egnatia tour led by Victor Romagnoli, we have been ensconced in the world of the ancient Macedonians. First in the city of Thessaloniki, then Pella, birthplace of Alexander the Great and thirdly Vergina where we were dazzled by the wealth found in the tomb of Philip of Macedon, Alexander's father. When Victor and I were planning this tour it was always our intention that we would feature both man-made and natural attractions in roughly the same proportions. In this post, we will combine both as we visit the home of the Greek gods, Mount Olympus and the wondrous archaeological site of Dion just below it. Once again, it is a day I have long been looking forward to and I hope you'll join me in our explorations.

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