halong bay

My one regret about Halong Bay was that I only had time for a day trip. This meant 7 total hours in a packed van in exchange for 4 hours of cruising around a spectacular UNESCO World Heritage site.

A fair trade. Here’s what I saw:

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Most tourists cruise around the bay in a chartered junk-style boat. I joined an excitable Korean/Japanese tour group for the afternoon.

First spot we visited was this colorful floating village:

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Several hundred people live in the village, which even has a bank and a school. The tour guide suggested that I teach English in the village to “atone for past mistakes.” Not a bad idea.

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This guy took us for a 15-minute “cruise” to some small grottoes for 50,000 dong ($3) apiece.

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Fruit pirates circled the boat, peddling overpriced mangoes, pineapples and dragonfruit.

Last stop was this impressive limestone cave, illuminated with multicolored lights:

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Four hours wasn’t nearly enough time in this place.

Rest of the Halong Bay set here.

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hanoi

Hanoi was hands down one of the highlights of the trip. A contrast to its larger and more chaotic counterpart in the south, Hanoi is a fusion of old and new Asia. I spent most of my time in the Old Quarter. Above is the The Huc bridge on Hoan Kiem Lake, taken in the morning before tourists arrived.

Burning fake money at Ngoc Son Pagoda.

Prayers at the Temple of Literature. This shot was a mistake but I kind of like how it turned out.

No visit to Hanoi is complete without paying a visit to Ho Chi Minh’s embalmed corpse. Here’s his impressively Communist mausoleum. No hats, no shorts, no laughing, no photos. An interesting experience.

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Speaking of Ho Chi Minh, the guy’s completely ubiquitous. Banners, statues, portraits, money. He’s everywhere in Vietnam.

Army Museum. Lots of captured American tanks, guns, planes. etc.

Moto traffic in the Old Quarter. Unlike a place like Phnom Penh where two or three people regularly share motos, Hanoi seems to have a one person one moto policy. Also, I’ve never heard so much honking in my life.

Ca phe sua da. Iced Vietnamese coffee with a huge shot of sweet condensed milk. Delicious. I had about three per day, and I don’t normally drink coffee.

St. Joseph’s Church, Old Quarter.

Hoan Kiem Lake at dusk. Most popular in the early morning and around sunset.

One of Hanoi’s more confusing intersections at night. Try to make sense of the traffic patterns.

More from Hanoi here. I’ll devote another post to exploring the Old Quarter, a street photographer’s paradise.

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saigon

I only had one day to check out Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City (most residents still call the central city by its pre-1975 name), so I had big plans and a full itinerary mapped out. But my immune system failed me at a crucial moment and I woke up the day of my departure with a full-blown cold. Needless to say, the 6-hour drive in a packed minibus was not enjoyable. Saigon reminded me of Bangkok, except smaller and without guys trying to con you into buying bogus gems. I kind of liked it, despite the circumstances.

Managed to rouse myself early the next morning for a thorough exploration of the Cholon District, a sort of Chinatown 7km southwest of downtown.

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First stop was the Binh Tay Market, which was like pretty much every other big Southeast Asian market I’ve seen. Entire sections devoted to solely to hats, strange herbs, cooking utensils etc. If I ever need 400 bottles of fish sauce I know where do go. Some good early morning street photos here.

The market spilled into side streets and the whole area was bustling with commerce.

Cholon is noted for its many Chinese pagodas. I visited three or four.

Very atmospheric, with swirling smoke from incense and ornate decoration.

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The humidity was absolutely killer by noon and I needed a nap. In the late afternoon I went to the War Remnants Museum, which had an interesting but somewhat one-sided perspective of the Vietnam War. One highlight was a section showcasing the work of photojournalists who died during the war.

Outside was a collection of captured American guns, aircraft, tanks etc.

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I didn’t have the energy to take more photos of Saigon, and I was going to be back for one night on July 4th. At least that was the plan until Jetstar Pacific dropped the ball and canceled my flight without telling me, forcing me to stay another night in Hanoi and drop big money on a direct flight to Phnom Penh. More on this later. And more of the Saigon set here.

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epitaph

Small carving found on the Golden Mount, Bangkok.

I’ll be in Vietnam next week exploring Saigon and Hanoi.

Photos to follow.

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hand of buddha

Wat Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai.

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land of smiles

Guard at the Grand Palace in Bangkok:

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sothearos boulevard

One afternoon along Sothearos Boulevard, Phnom Penh:

Vendor selling some sort of meat snack.

Kids let out of school at 5pm. Instant traffic jam.

Peace.

$0.50 for an open-air haircut.

Hanging tires signals a roadside motorbike repair station.

Random slogan on the wall of a construction site. Not sure what this even means.

Playing with pipes at a specialty shop along Sothearos.

Man sharpening knives.

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A store claiming to sell “strange” and “ancient” furniture. Not really.

Scavenging for bottles to recycle outside a beer garden.

Transporting a glass case. Disaster waiting to happen.

Curious.

Car washer taking a break.

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Squatters’ tenements near St. 294.

Street sign in need of some maintenance.

Cars are usually left in neutral so they can be pushed to new parking spots.

Traffic at dusk.

More from Sothearos Boulevard here.

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that old french colonial building across from the national museum

This relic of French Indochina is one of Phnom Penh’s most photographed buildings. It’s also a bit of a mystery. Built in the 1920’s when the capital was dubbed the “Pearl of Asia,” the mansion is one of Phnom Penh’s few surviving colonial buildings. 32 Sothearos Boulevard doesn’t have a name or a recorded history, and most people refer to it as something along the lines of “that old colonial building.” A perfect example of urban decay.

Decades of war, neglect, and decay have all taken their toll.

I had photographed the building a while back, and always wanted to go inside for a more in-depth exploration.

The rent-a-cop lounging at the entrance was more interested in watching the clouds than keeping me from poking around for a while. His indifference was a little disappointing as it took away the usual thrill of infiltrating an abandoned building. The German tourist I ran into inside also didn’t help.

All sorts of random stuff cluttered the first floor: tools, drying clothes, chairs, bags of cement, a microwave. The second floor was apparently the living quarters for the handful of construction workers that wandered about, oblivious to my presence.

Each room seemed to have a single chair in it.

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Most abandoned buildings tend to attract graffiti, and this was no exception. Here’s an English lesson on verbs, written on a bathroom wall.

The FCC recently purchased the building, and renovation is almost underway to transform it into a 24-room faux-colonial luxury hotel complete with pool and French bistro. Construction is supposed to start mid-2008. Preservationists must love this, but I hoped it would be turned into something more people could enjoy. At least it won’t be torn down.

Rest of the Flickr set here

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angkor monochrome

Some black & white experiments with the temples of Angkor:

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Full set here.

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monk

Conversation with Nhean Pov at Wat Langka, Phnom Penh

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