# GoNomadNest ## Posts - [Mekong Delta Weather by Month: A Year From Sóc Trăng](https://gonomadnest.com/mekong-delta-weather-by-month/): A few years ago I covered the roof over my back room with shade cloth, to soften the sound of the rain. When it comes down in the Mekong Delta, it comes down hard, loud enough on a tin roof to be unbearable, for about twenty minutes, and then it simply stops. On the last... - [The Lotus Stupa at Tân Huê Viên: A Landmark I Watched Get Built](https://gonomadnest.com/the-lotus-stupa-at-tan-hue-vien-a-landmark-i-watched-get-built/): I was three days out of gallbladder surgery, still moving like a man twice my age, looking like death warmed up, when I asked my friend who’d come to fetch me from Hoàn Mỹ Cửu Long hospital in Cần Thơ to stop for a cà phê sữa before we drove home. He pulled off the... - [Why Is the Mekong River Brown, and Why Is It Fading?](https://gonomadnest.com/what-is-the-mekong-delta-and-why-the-water-runs-brown/): The first time I really noticed it, I was cycling a canal road off the Maspero here in Sóc Trăng. An uncle and two friends sat on the bank with lines in the water, waiting patiently on dinner. A few meters off, a slick of rubbish sat caught against the bank, the kind of thing... - [Where to Stay in the Mekong Delta: A Cần Thơ Local's Guide](https://gonomadnest.com/where-to-stay-in-the-mekong-delta-a-can-tho-locals-guide/): The light was still low and gold when I took this, early enough that the far bank was only just warming up. Across the water from my balcony, the neighbourhood on the other side was waking the quiet way river towns wake, before the rest of the country bothers. Wooden boats moored along the bank,... - [Where Is the Mekong Delta? A Clear Answer and Map](https://gonomadnest.com/where-is-the-mekong-delta-a-clear-answer-and-map/): Where Is the Mekong Delta? You can feel you’ve arrived before any map tells you. The land goes flat, flatter than seems natural, and the water starts turning up everywhere: in canals beside the road, in the wide brown rivers the bridges cross, in the flooded fields that mirror the sky. The air thickens. Somewhere... - [How to Visit the Mekong Delta: A Local's Honest Guide](https://gonomadnest.com/how-to-visit-the-mekong-delta-a-locals-honest-guide/): How to Visit the Mekong Delta Most people arrive at the Mekong Delta the wrong way, and it isn’t their fault. The whole tourism machine is built to sell it as a thing you do in a day, a box you tick between Saigon and the next flight. So the question people ask is “how... - [Is the Mekong Delta Worth Visiting? An Honest Answer](https://gonomadnest.com/is-the-mekong-delta-worth-visiting-an-honest-answer/): Is the Mekong Delta Worth Visiting? An Honest Answer From Someone Who Lives Here The coach leaves Saigon at eight in the morning, packed with people who were standing in District 1 traffic an hour earlier. Two hours later the same people are stepping onto a wooden boat, blinking, a little unsure what they are... - [The Floating Markets of Sóc Trăng Were Never Built for Us](https://gonomadnest.com/the-floating-markets-of-soc-trang-were-never-built-for-us/): The engines cut off before you see the market. That is the first thing you notice. The long-tail boats come down the canal with their motors running, then somewhere near the confluence the sound drops away and the vendors pole the last stretch by hand, and the whole thing goes quiet in a way that... - [The Foreign Teacher in Southeast Asia — What the Billboard Doesn't Tell You](https://gonomadnest.com/the-foreign-teacher-in-southeast-asia-what-the-billboard-doesnt-tell-you/): Picture a billboard in the middle of Phnom Penh. A foreign face, probably white, probably smiling in the way that suggests enthusiasm and approachability in equal measure, advertising a summer camp at a local language center. The copy is in Khmer. The face is not. That image is the honest version of what a foreign... - [The Coconut Will Get Sold — What Vietnam Actually Owes You as an Expat](https://gonomadnest.com/the-coconut-will-get-sold-what-vietnam-actually-owes-you-as-an-expat/): Somewhere on TikTok right now, someone is packing a bag. They have watched enough videos to know that Vietnam is cheap, beautiful, and full of people living their best lives on a thousand dollars a month. They know this because the person in the video told them so, usually from a rooftop in Hội An... - [Before You Book That One Way Ticket to Vietnam — Read This First](https://gonomadnest.com/moving-to-vietnam-before-you-book-that-one-way-ticket-read-this-first/): Scroll through any major Vietnam expat group on Facebook and you will find them. Barely used laptops. GoPros with one or two trips on them. Ring lights still in the box. Bluetooth speakers, smartwatches, portable hard drives. The listings are polite and the prices are reasonable and if you read them in isolation they look... - [Rainy Season in Sóc Trăng](https://gonomadnest.com/rainy-season-in-soc-trang/): Back home in Knysna, rain is a quiet event. My parents have lived there long enough to read the clouds the day before it arrives, a particular stillness, a certain color on the horizon. When it comes, it’s soft and slow, sometimes two or three days of continuous drizzle that soaks gently into the earth.... - [Renting in Provincial Vietnam](https://gonomadnest.com/renting-in-provincial-vietnam/): The bus dropped me somewhere near Tay Ninh and the husband of the center owner picked me up. He drove me to the hotel, helped me with my bags, and left. I looked around the room. There was a particular kind of sofa. There was a heart shaped bathtub. I messaged Robby, my agency handler,... - [Hon Son Island Vietnam - What Vietnam Looked Like Before TikTok Found It](https://gonomadnest.com/hon-son-island-vietnam-what-vietnam-looked-like-before-tiktok-found-it/): There is a particular kind of tired that comes at the end of the Vietnamese summer school break. It is not the tired of having done nothing. It is the tired of three months of doubled schedules, extra classes stacked onto regular classes, and the specific challenge of teaching children who are present in body... - [Signs You've Quietly Settled Into Life in Vietnam](https://gonomadnest.com/signs-youre-ready-to-live-in-vietnam-long-term-instead-of-touring/): By day five of a twelve-day trip back to South Africa, something shifts. The weather is good. The food is familiar. My mother’s cooking is exactly as I remembered it. We sit in the garden in the cool evening air and talk until the night sky fills in above the trees. There is genuinely nothing... - [Da Lat, Vietnam: Why the Mekong Delta's Favourite Escape Is Worth the Bus Ride](https://gonomadnest.com/da-lat-vietnam-why-the-mekong-deltas-favourite-escape-is-worth-the-bus-ride/): There’s a thing that happens at Vietnamese beaches that takes a while to understand if you grew up somewhere else. The beach is full. People are dressed beautifully. Parasols are open, selfie sticks are extended, and the photographer of the group is working harder than anyone else there. The water, for the most part, is... - [Before Slowmading Was a Word, It Was Just My Life](https://gonomadnest.com/before-slowmading-was-a-word-it-was-just-my-life/): It’s Monday morning in Sóc Trăng. Yesterday I sat through 18 IELTS mock speaking tests and a round of primary level exams before that. This morning I cleaned the air conditioner filter, put washing on, walked next door for a banh mi and a coffee, and came back to my laptop. The week’s schedule is... - [Vietnam Is Not Your Budget Hack](https://gonomadnest.com/vietnam-is-not-your-budget-hack/): Midday, Saigon. Nobody’s filming this. He was proud of the apartment. Showed the camera every room, every balcony view, every detail that confirmed he’d made a smart life decision. Then, a few minutes later, he was haggling with an elderly street vendor over fifty cents. A conical hat. Handmade. The kind of thing that takes... - [Is Vietnam Safe for Solo Female Travelers in 2026? An Expat Answers](https://gonomadnest.com/is-vietnam-safe-for-solo-female-travelers-in-2026-an-expat-answers/): People ask this question and expect a simple answer. Vietnam is safe. Thailand is safe. Cambodia requires more attention. That’s the short version, and it’s not wrong. But after seven years living in Vietnam, not visiting, living, I’ve noticed something the safety indexes don’t capture. Vietnam looks the least safe of the three. The traffic... - [When the Star Lanterns Go Up: Khmer New Year and the Two Cultures of Sóc Trăng](https://gonomadnest.com/when-the-star-lanterns-go-up-khmer-new-year-and-the-two-cultures-of-soc-trang/): Same Streets, Different Worlds: Watching the Star Lanterns Go Up in Sóc Trăng The yellow flowers come down. The star lanterns go up. It happens in the same shops, on the same streets. The Tết decorations barely have time to gather dust before the next cycle begins. If you live in Sóc Trăng long enough,... - [The Saffron Delta: Finding a Culture That Never Left](https://gonomadnest.com/the-saffron-delta-finding-khmer-culture-that-never-left/): At a Glance: Sóc Trăng, Vietnam Vibe: Laidback, spiritual, quiet, and deeply Khmer. Best For: Photographers, culture seekers, and foodies. Time Needed: 2 Days / 1 Night. Getting There: Approx. 5 hours from HCMC (Futa Bus). In April 2018, I crossed the border at Móc Bài, leaving Cambodia behind for the noise and neon of... - [The Book I Almost Didn't Write: 8 Years of Unvarnished Truth About Vietnam](https://gonomadnest.com/gonomadnestcom-moving-to-vietnam-2026-teaching-english-vietnam-over-40/): There is a particular kind of conversation that only happens over dinner, late, when the food is finished and neither person is in a hurry to leave. I was sitting with a friend somewhere in Sóc Trăng, the kind of evening where the ceiling fan is doing its best and the street outside has gone... - [The Jungle Gym, The Gatekeeper, and The Boys by the River: What Tet Teaches You About Family When You Don't Have One](https://gonomadnest.com/gonomadnestcom-tet-makeshift-family/): What Tet Teaches You About Family When You Don’t Have One Tet is coming. You can feel it building in Sóc Trăng like a tide. The kids in my classes are vibrating with it—counting down the days until they get on the back of their parents’ motorbikes and head to their grandparents’ villages. The streets... - [The Tiger on the Door: Finding "The Wild" in a Quiet Sóc Trăng Suburb](https://gonomadnest.com/gonomadnestcom-a-tiger-on-door-soc-trang/): The Tiger on the Door Two years ago, I moved into a house in KDC Sáng Quang, a quiet residential neighborhood about 1.2km from where I teach. It’s a world away from the noise of Trương Công Định street. Here, life moves at the speed of the older couples taking evening walks and young families... - [Harmony on a Plate: Vietnamese Food by Region](https://gonomadnest.com/vietnamese-flavors-cuisine-food-flavors-and-philosophy/): How Climate, History and Belief Shape What People Eat Vietnam is shaped in many ways like a long bamboo pole, with a basket at either end (north & south). People describe Vietnam in similar terms as well – the cooler climate, historical northern area and warmer southern area are linked together by a thin strip... - [The Landlords of the Sky: Inside the Secret "Bird Prisons" of the Mekong Delta](https://gonomadnest.com/gonomadnestcombird-nest-farming-soc-trang-mekong-delta/): The Landlords of the Sky I remember the first time I saw them. It was 2017, and I was rattling along on a local bus from Sihanoukville, Cambodia, to Trat in Thailand. Staring out the window at the passing countryside, my eyes kept snagging on these strange, brutalist structures rising out of the fields. They... - [The Technicolor Ghost: Finding the Divine Eye in the Middle of Nowhere](https://gonomadnest.com/gonomadnestcom-cao-dai-mystery-temple/): The Technicolor Ghost: Finding the Divine Eye in the Middle of Nowhere I had absolutely no idea where I was going. It was April 2018, and I was fresh off the boat (or rather, the plane). I had just been hired by an agency and “dispatched” to a teaching post in Xuân Lộc District, Dong... - [Confessions of a Durian Lover: The Truth About Vietnam's Ri6 Durian](https://gonomadnest.com/confessions-of-a-durian-lover-the-truth-about-vietnams-ri6-durian/): It was 2018, and my agent, Phước, had his camera ready. We were in between teaching location changes, and he had taken me out for Bún đậu mắm tôm. If you know Vietnamese cuisine, you know that mắm tôm (fermented shrimp paste) is the ultimate litmus test for foreigners. It’s pungent, purple, and aggressive. Phước... - [Is Mũi Né Worth the Hype? The Truth About Vietnam's Sand Dunes](https://gonomadnest.com/is-mui-ne-worth-visiting-truth-sand-dunes/): Is Mũi Né Worth the Hype? Scroll through Instagram, and Mũi Né looks like a mirage. Massive white dunes that could be the Sahara, red canyons that look like Mars, and not a soul in sight. But if you ask travelers in Saigon, you get a different story. You hear about the plastic trash, the... - [Why I Skipped the Brompton for a Bike Half the Price](https://gonomadnest.com/brompton-alternative-momentum-ithink-review/): Why I Skipped the Brompton for a Bike Half the Price I’ve spent the last few weeks in a bit of a research loop. If you’ve ever looked into folding bikes, you know exactly where that road leads: straight to the Brompton. They are beautiful machines—compact, iconic, and holding their value incredibly well. For a... - [The New Saigon Airport: Is Long Thanh Really Opening in 2026?](https://gonomadnest.com/the-new-saigon-airport-long-thanh-airport-opening-2026-guide/): The New Saigon Airport: Is Long Thanh Really Opening in 2026? And What It Means for Your Next Trip! Update, 30 September 2026: The June date came and went. Long Thành is running trial operations from September to November, with commercial flights now expected from December 2026. Until then, everyone still flies through Tân Sơn... - [The Art of Stepping Aside: Why I Leave During Tết - Part 2](https://gonomadnest.com/vietnam-tet-travel-art-of-stepping-aside-vietnam-tet/): The Art of Stepping Aside If you missed Part 1 I usually fly back to South Africa every second year to see my parents. It’s the longest break I get, long enough to feel like time actually stretches instead of just pausing. Vietnam has public holidays scattered through the calendar, but most of them only... - [Vietnam Lunar New Year 2026.Between Two New Years in Vietnam: Life in the Long Wait for Tết - Part 1](https://gonomadnest.com/vietnam-lunar-new-year-2026between-two-new-years-in-vietnam-life-in-the-long-wait-for-tet-part-1/): Between two new years in Vietnam I woke up on January 1st with ”Xuân Đã Về”, a popular Tết song, playing at full blast in the coffee shop next to my house in Sóc Trăng, and for a moment I forgot what year it was. Not hungover. Stranger than that. As if the year itself... - [Photographing Vietnam Through Its Regions and Seasons](https://gonomadnest.com/vietnam-photography-seasons/): Photographing Vietnam: Regions and Seasons I learned fairly quickly that Vietnam doesn’t offer a single “best time” to photograph it. The country stretches far enough north to south that weather at one end often has little to do with the other. That sounds obvious until you try to plan around it and realize there is... - [The Respectful Photographer: Navigating the Social Rules of Vietnam](https://gonomadnest.com/vietnam-photography-guide-2026/): Your camera and you. Navigating the Social Rules of Vietnam I’m not a professional photographer, and I didn’t arrive in Vietnam with a project in mind. I learned by walking, by watching, and by keeping my camera down more often than I lifted it. At first, the rules felt obvious and invisible at the same... - [Vietnam: Then and Now (2018–2026)](https://gonomadnest.com/vietnam-then-and-now-2018-2026/): A few things 8 years in Vietnam has taught me. The first time I crossed into Vietnam, I didn’t land at some shiny terminal in Da Nang or Saigon. I literally walked across the Mộc Bài land border in April 2018, dragging my entire life in a suitcase from Cambodia. The heat hit me first.... - [Crash Landing in Vietnam: What I Learned the Hard Way About Moving Here](https://gonomadnest.com/crash-landing-in-vietnam-travel-tips/): What I Learned the Hard Way About Moving To Vietnam. Here’s how I actually arrived in Vietnam, and yeah, it wasn’t pretty. In April 2018 I crossed the border at Mộc Bài from Cambodia at a time when everything in my life felt like it was coming apart. I had just been hit with a... - [The Stone and the Spirit: Con Dao (Part 2)](https://gonomadnest.com/the-stone-and-the-spirit-con-dao-history-part-2/): The Stone and the Spirit If you missed Part 1 Con Dao is a place of haunting beauty and unbroken spirit. In Part 2 of my cycling journey, I park the bike to face the island’s stone history—from the French “Tiger Cages” to the American era. This is a story of resilience, respect, and the... - [Tet on Two Wheels: A Cycling Journey to Con Dao Island, Vietnam (Part 1)](https://gonomadnest.com/tet-on-two-wheels-con-dao-island/): These are the moments between destinations. Small, quiet scenes that don’t announce themselves, but linger long after the ride ends. Tet on Two Wheels: The Con Dao Run The Mission: Escape the mainland for Tet 2025. No motorbike rentals. No taxis. Just a mountain bike, a desire for open roads, and quiet beaches. The Vibe... - [An Giang: The Mekong Delta's Quiet Inland Edge](https://gonomadnest.com/an-giang-vietnam-trending-destination-2025/): When the River Becomes the Destination While most travelers in Vietnam instinctively point themselves toward the coast, something quieter has been unfolding inland. In 2025, An Giang unexpectedly climbed to the #2 spot on Google’s Year in Search for domestic travel, drawing attention away from familiar beach names and toward the waterways, forests, and sacred... - [Chaos & Calm: A Local’s Guide to the Ok Om Bok Festival in Sóc Trăng](https://gonomadnest.com/chaos-and-calm-a-locals-guide-to-the-ok-om-bok-festival-in-soc-trang/): Chaos & Calm: A Local’s Guide to the Ok Om Bok Festival in Sóc Trăng My first year in Sóc Trăng, a local friend turned to me in late October and said, “Let’s go look at boats.” I pictured something modest—wooden canoes drifting down the river, maybe a few families watching from the shade. Instead,... ## Pages - [Kids' Books](https://gonomadnest.com/kids-books/): Two illustrated chapter books, both set in the towns and classrooms these stories actually come from. For readers aged 6 to 9, and for anyone reading along beside them. A Snake in the Grass A story about Lisa and the troublesome ‘S’ Lisa can do almost everything perfectly: dancing, violin, always first off the school... - [Books](https://gonomadnest.com/books/): Two books, so far. Both nonfiction, both written from years actually spent in the classroom and in the country, not from a weekend of research. I Like Apples Why Kindergarten English Looks Like It’s Working, and What to Do When It Isn’t A kindergarten classroom, a stack of flashcards, and a room full of five... - [Terms of Use](https://gonomadnest.com/terms-of-use/): Last updated: August 25, 2026 By reading and using GoNomadNest (this website), you accept the terms below. If you don’t agree with them, the simplest thing is not to use the site. Personal experience, not professional advice Everything on GoNomadNest, travel tips, cultural notes, food recommendations, teaching and expat-life reflections, reflects my own experience and... - [Affiliate Disclosure](https://gonomadnest.com/affiliate-disclosure/): Last updated: August 25, 2026 GoNomadNest is reader-supported. Some of the links on this site, for accommodation, tours, gear, or booking platforms, are affiliate links. If you click through and make a booking or purchase, I may earn a small commission. This never changes the price you pay, and it isn’t something I let influence... - [Home](https://gonomadnest.com/): SÓC TRĂNG, MEKONG DELTA, VIETNAM Eight years down a slow river in the Mekong Delta. Field notes on teaching, durian season, flooded rice fields, and a province that never quite made it into anyone’s guidebook. SINCE 2018 GoNomadNest is a field guide to the Vietnam that doesn’t make the postcards, shot on Fujifilm and written... - [Blog](https://gonomadnest.com/destination-guides/): GoNomadNest is a field guide to the Mekong Delta and the corners of Vietnam that never quite make it into the postcards, written from eight years teaching and living in Sóc Trăng. Below are the latest posts on teaching, slow travel, food, and everyday life in the Delta. - [Privacy Policy](https://gonomadnest.com/privacy-policy/): Last updated: August 25, 2026 I’m Hein, and I write and run GoNomadNest from Sóc Trăng, Vietnam. This page explains what personal data this site collects when you visit, comment, or (in future) sign up for the newsletter, and what I do with it. It isn’t legal advice, just a plain-language account of how the... ## Optional - [Agent (MCP protocol)](websites-agents.hostinger.com/gonomadnest.com/mcp) [comment]: # (Generated by Hostinger Tools Plugin)