Sunday, January 28, 2007

The Mekong Delta

Hi

I hope you enjoyed the photos of HCMC. While there we took a trip to the Mekong Delta.

It felt like being in an Attenborough nature documentary, travelling in a little boat, along canals lined with mangroves, their roots reaching deep into the river. Rickety old boats are used for transporting and selling of goods (veritable floating supermarkets) or are home to whole families.You can see us with our friends John and Jen setting off in the boat.

You can see Daniela learning how to make rice cakes at a local workshop. They told her not to give up her day job…

We had lunch at an ancient house with a beautiful garden full of plants in old Chinese vases and with a huge python in a cage. We were treated to a musical/theatrical performance, then we were given rice and a fried fish served standing up on a bed of greens, with a large chilli sticking out of its mouth!

At a local fruit farm, instead of the usual tea and fruit, we were offered rice wine, by the master of the house, Mr Tiger, an 82 year old with a lot energy! Clinking of glasses, the traditional, shouted, “Yoh!” and down goes the rice wine.

A brilliant trip.

Two more editions on Vietnam to come.

Tomorrow I am going to Taipei for work and then Daniela will join me for a three day stay. So after Vietnam I'll post photos of Taiwan.

Have a good 2 weeks

Love

Alan












Sunday, January 14, 2007

Ho Chi Minh City

Happy New Year! I hope it has started well for you. Welcome to my first blog posting of 2007.

We had a fantastic holiday in Vietnam with our friends John and Jen. Over the next
several postings I will put up photos to give you a taste. We started in Ho Chi Minh City. I had been there in 2004. I really liked it then and it didn’t disappoint the second time round. It’s so full of life and energy. It’s mindboggling to see how they put to full use their bicycles, and scooters, loading them with people and children (the record was 2 grown ups and 4 kids on one scooter!) or goods of any and all type, with blatant disregard for the laws of gravity and reasonableness (let alone road safety).

The architecture of Vietnam stands out immediately. This is because people pay property tax according to how much front pavement space the building takes up. And you can see the results!!! The buildings tend to be very narrow and deep.

The reunification Palace is an interesting historical monument to what the Vietnamese call “The American War” You can see the gates, taken from when we visited the palace, through which the North Vietnamese communist tank broke through on April 30 1975. This event marked the end of the war.

Enough talking, I’ll let you enjoy the photos. Come back in two weeks for the Mekong Delta.

Love

Alan
















Daniela buying wafffles
















Ferry across the Saigon river
















View of the Saigon River from the Saigon Trade Centre
















Night festivities
















The Post Office
















It looks so comfortable!






















Notre Dame cathedral
















Motorbikes
















The Reunification Palace
















The famous Gates
















Theatre
















Avoiding tax!
















Ready...steady...go!
















More architecture
















City Hall