May 2025 Recap: Vietnam, Dylan and Data Mysteries

Updated on June 23, 2025 by Angelika

What a month! I spent weeks touring Vietnam - between temples, tropical heat and delicious egg coffee - only to return to Frankfurt and realize my sense of direction is still stuck somewhere in the jungle. 😅 But hey, if you get lost, you can write about it – thus, my new Frankfurt Airport Guide.

May had a lot of variety: a novel that took me back to the Cold War era, a film that rekindled my love for the ’60s, and a little analytics drama involving mysterious fake traffic.

Enjoy the read!

Orientation? That’s Not My Strong Suit

I hate to admit it, but direction-finding is not one of my strengths. 😅 My sister, friends, and I might just start a company: Lost & Found Inc..

Recently at Frankfurt Airport: me, with a 23‑kg suitcase, big backpack, and that familiar confused look—trying to get from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2. Twice. Once on my way to Vietnam, and and again after I returned!

I know I’m not alone (and Frankfurt isn’t exactly intuitive), so I wrote a detailed Frankfurt Airport Guide—for anyone who doesn’t want to play scavenger hunt after a long flight.

Whether you’re taking a train, renting a car, or just need to know where the luggage lockers are—it's all in one place:

👉 Here’s the article!.

Vietnam – Wandering Among Temples, Rice Terraces & Ho Chi Minh Nostalgia

I spent three and a half weeks traveling independently around Northern and Central Vietnam with my Australian friend Paula—a true adventure filled with quiet contemplation, quirky moments, and warm hospitality.

Our journey kicked off in Hanoi, smack in the heart of the buzzing Old Quarter—loud, full of backpackers, yet teeming with history. Coincidentally, our visit overlapped with the 50th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon. Thousands gathered around the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum to pay their respects—an enchanting yet surreal sight, especially the young women in white dresses taking pictures for Instagram.

Culinary adventures began immediately: a street-food tour featuring fermented fish stuff (once was enough!) and Egg Coffee—a heavenly mix of dessert and coffee with a fluffy foam crown.

A true highlight was our two-night cruise in Halong Bay — thanks to an amazing crew, stunning views, and delicious food. Next, we headed to Ninh Binh (“the dry Halong Bay”) and then off the beaten path to May Chau, where we immersed ourselves in rural life in the northern highlands.

Hué welcomed us with scorching heat and imperial history, Hoi An was like a fairy tale - so much so that we quickly extended our 5-day stay by three nights. Our Hotel that Mulberry Collection Silk Village Hoi An* was a lovely oasis, complete with shuttle service to a private beach and the UNESCO-listed Old Town.

And everywhere the red Vietnamese flag with a yellow star, and photos of Ho Chi Minh — isomehow, the country felt like a place frozen in time. I remember the boat people vividly — the daughter of a refugee couple worked with me in the same team years later. I probably wasn't as aware of the end of the war itself. I was 13 then, listening to Beatles tapes during recess and daydreaming of my crush from tenth grade — in short, not exactly focused on politics! Yet it was also when my sense of social justice first ignited.

My Film of the Month: A Complete Unknown

Still chasing nostalgia — even at 30,000 feet. During long flights, I like to watch movies to pass the time. Two films (plus airplane food) are usually enough to bridge half the flight time elegantly. This time, I picked the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown by James Mangold. I had hardly any prior information, but as a former teenager who went from Beatles mania to a full-blown Dylan phase, I just knew this was the one!

The peace movement of the 1960s had arrived in the 70s, along with its music - and I was totally caught up in it. Bob Dylan was a fossil for me at the time (he was already over 30!), but the young Dylan of the early sixties with his curly hair, raspy voice, and poetic, socially critical lyrics, was right up my alley. My father still groans today when he thinks of Blowin' in the Wind playing on repeat in my room.

The film spans from Dylan's arrival in New York in 1961 to the infamous Newport Folk Festival in 1965, where he shocked the acoustic camp with his electric guitar and "Maggie's Farm". Timothée Chalamet (apparently the Leo DiCaprio of the 2020s) sings Dylan almost better than Dylan himself, while Edward Norton shines as Pete Seeger and Monica Barbaro as Joan Baez.

I was so impressed that I watched the movie a second time on the flight back - and later again at home in the original American version on the big screen. A must-watch for Dylan fans and anyone who likes to indulge in 60s nostalgia!

My Book of the Month: The Ship of Fools by Christoph Hein

I am an enthusiastic Audible*-audiobook listener, and this month my choice fell on Christoph Hein's The Ship of Fools* Hein tells the stories of idealists, party functionaries and families who believed in the socialist dream ... until they realized that they had become passengers on a sinking ship.

The novel impressed me in terms of content and language, as Hein's brittle, characteristic "GDR-speak" fits the atmosphere and historical context of the work perfectly. The author does not settle scores, but observes, analyzes and shows how his characters were trapped by the very society they themselves had helped to build. It is a stirring, thought-provoking work of contemporary history that is not a quick read - but has a long-lasting effect.

My Blog Stats in May: Fake Traffic and Real Growth

In April, Google Analytics surprised me with a sudden increase in views of my homepage - unusual, as my most popular articles are usually clicked on much more frequently than the homepage. On closer inspection, I realized that 346 views in a single weekend from a website called wake-up-network a dubious provider that allegedly "sells" organic traffic.

During my research, I came across a helpful article on ANALYTICSkiste.blog, which explains that Google Analytics should actually filter these bots, but evidently… not always.

So I manually removed those 346 visits from April’s data and realized May’s numbers looked a bit misleading. Fixing it would be a headache, so I’ll just trust that June brings cleaner stats.