Sketching scooters in Vietnam - Nha Trang at Long Son Pagoda Tuesday 17th December

 

Why sketch scooters?  I have never seen so many in my life!

There's a population of 9 million people in Ho Chi Minh City (was called Saigon) and the guide said that there are about 6 million motorbikes and scooters.

We were waiting for about 20 minutes for some others on the excursion to climb some steps at Long Son Pagoda to see a giant white budha but we stayed at the bottom in the temple courtyard, which rapidly turned itself into a scooter/bike park!

Halong Bay Vietnam. Last stop before Hong Kong

We are docked in this beautiful bay.  We took a tour boat today which drew alongside and sailed around the bay to see more incredible limestone rock formations and also to visit some huge caves.  Cooler today, but bright sunshine once the early morning mist had cleared.

Father was up before dawn waiting for the sunrise in order to catch that special early morning light.

Fishing

On the excursion boat

Looking down on the jetty

Setting out to see some of the 2000 limestone islands

 Fruit sellers coming alongside to sell their produce

 In the caves

 The intrepid photographer enjoying the challenge of how to capture the rock formations but avoid the people

Disembarking from 'our' boat

Fishing

Halang Bay

I bought a face mask in Halong Market - ideal for riding on a scooter.   Just need the scooter....

Embroidery workshop Nha Trang, Vietnam

The drawn design and its transfer to the fabric

 

embroidered screens - high quality work

Po Nagar Cham towers - temple complex (Thap Ba) next to the Cai River

Na Trang. View from the ship

Nha Trang is one of Vietnam's most popular seaside resorts.   The view here is of a pleasant port with the cable cars passing over the boat!
Further round the island there are 5 miles of white sand beaches. It was very popular with US servicemen during the Vietnam war.

Ho Chi Min City

Inside the central post office - French Colonial architecture, designed by Gustav Eiffel
 

 

 

Street scene in Ho Chi Minh City
 



Notre Dame Cathedral in Ho Chi Minh City

 

Inside the Post office in Ho Chi Minh City

The Legacy of the French Colonial rule
Our guide told us that the main legacy was architecture, coffee and baguettes.

Economic capital
He said that the economic capital, Ho Chi Minh City, had a range of industries including seafood processing, garments, wooden furniture, rice, leather, animal feed, coffee.  We saw that there were plenty of places to drink coffee in the city.  Apparently it's the second largest coffee bean producer in the world after Brazil. 

On the road into the city we saw fresh water prawn and also fish farms -  catfish I think.   A large number of egrets had also discovered this and were busy fishing.

In a market in Vietnam I saw some beautifully made, padded down jackets in a wide variety of colours for less than $20.  I have seen very similar, if not identical jackets, branded O'Neil, for £100 in Britain.  the label inside said, 'Made in Vietnam'.
 

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) - Vietnam

Centre of Ho Chi Minh City

Wide, tree lined boulvards decorated with flower sculptures. I got the impression of a busy, but clean, spacious city centre.

 



1960s architecture - Presidential Palace

 

 

This is where we are going.

Travels with my father...

At the beginning of 2013 my father, Gerry, booked himself onto a cruise to visit the Far East, visiting Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. I haven't seen this part of the world, apart from staying in Bangkok and Singapore for a couple of nights at each place in 1974 on my way back from Australia. I began to think that I too would find this trip interesting.  However, the trip was planned to take place in December 2013 when I would be working, so that was the end of that idea.

Until...

I was engaged in an art project about Finding my Balance (work/life) that led to an exhibition of original prints in Wolverhampton Art Gallery in April 20th 2013. (see my other blog http://gardinistaartandthegarden-linda.blogspot.co.uk). Also, a number of other things came together at this time, including the opportunity to apply for voluntary redundancy, which I did.

Anyway, the short version of this explanation is that, as I was now free to travel in December, I too booked onto the same cruise.

It's only a few days until we leave!