CameraTalk » Travel

Bali High

Kenny Smith — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 11:20:41 +0000

I just got back from a trip to Bali. Most of us have been there, many more than once. Everytime I go I’m blown away by the hospitality of the people and how hard they work to make a living and support their families. Sure things aren’t perfect, but nothing is. I saw something that I thought was really cool. I paddled out in the surf one day and it was not by any means small, in fact it was pumping. Out in the line up were 2 local ladies on old shortboards, looked in their mid to late thirties, dressed modestly in shorts and long t-shirts, pretty much fully clothed. No roxy girl wear or billabong bikinis. They were laughing together and paddling for waves and having a blast, much like the social mum surfers I see where I live who meet on their longboards and catch up. They actually couldn’t surf yet and were going over the falls, yet just kept hooting each other on and laughing and paddling back out. Awesome! Oh yeah, I took some pics too

There is a Way to Hue – the Hai Van Pass

Alex Harrison — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:08:54 +0000

Hue, pronounced “way” is a major city in the middle of the east coast of Vietnam.

More than 2000 years ago, this region was part of the Nam Viet Empire. The realm of Champa was the ruling party which had reigned over this region for 17 centuries (quite a long time in anyone’s books).

In the 1300s, the King of Champa handed the region over to the Vietnamese. Hue came into being in 1307 after the Champa King Jaya Sinhavarman III handed the city over to Vietnam in exchange for marrying a princess of the Tran dynasty. Now that’s what I call a land swap.

The name Hue originated from the mispronunciation of the term Hoa. In the 19th century, Hue was the capital of the Nguyen dynasty, the region having been under French colonists since 1883. This period produced some beautiful buildings in the city, including the Citadel.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Gia Long, the first Emperor of the Nguyen dynasty, carried out a large scale planning and new construction, making Hue the Capital of the whole country.

We hired a driver and set off from Hoi An via Da Nang, then on to the Hai Van Pass bound for Hue. The spectacular scenery is something to behold (as are the hundreds of cows on the road), not to mention full loaded semi-trailers on both sides of the road (up and down).

The photos are of that short journey. The next blog will cover the Hue Citadel and other stuff.

Hoi An… Did Someone Say Food?

Alex Harrison — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 05:36:38 +0000

Hoi An… after all that bike riding, a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do — round up the offspring and grab ourselves a table overlooking the waterways. Order more food than would be even considered indecent, more cocktails than you should drink before getting back on a bike and, after a few hours of indulgence, hand over the equivalent of AUD$30. Ripped!

And NO, my son didn’t drink that B52 (not from the lack of trying) but someone did.

Reader: Ok, so this post is a complete indulgence? Write: You got it.

Back on the Backstreets of Hoi An Vietnam

Alex Harrison — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 02:36:46 +0000

There is a distinct difference between an adventurous holiday and a relaxing one. I need both.

I have discovered that for me, the best way to get out and see the ‘real’ parts of a new country is to do it slowly. Bicycle. Ground floor touring. You can get into and around areas with relative ease and if necessary, get the blazes out of there quickly too.

I had convinced Lisa that a bike ride was a good idea. I was then nervous as Lisa hadn’t been on a bike much in the past 25 years. We did a few laps of the circular driveway making sure she was OK with turning left, then right, then braking, and so on. Ok, so far so good. I wondered how Lisa would go on the roads but my concern was soon dispelled.

We ended up looking at the ‘waterfront’ properties complete with chicken and vegie gardens, narrow passage ways and laughing children. Bliss. The ‘white round things’ are rice products used in dishes as fillers.

Try to imagine the noises of chickens clucking, children playing, the quiet bustle of the locals going about their business, the sound of dirt rolling down a concrete path, and the rumble of my stomach as a hunger for more delicious food starts to take hold.

Yep, I put on a stack of weight but MAN was it fun.

Things To Do in Hoi An Vietnam

Alex Harrison — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 01:19:01 +0000

What is there to do in Hoi An Vietnam? In a word, EXPLORE! Explore your tastebuds in the restaurants. Explore your culinary skills with a cooking class (which we did) and then come home to enjoy real Vietnamese food (as we are doing).

Explore…

You can drink for almost nothing, although I wouldn’t recommend then getting on a bicycle. Not wise!

You can enjoy a spa on just about every street. No I didn’t get a pedicure. But I may have had a manicure and several hot stone massages.

You can try your luck with a tailor… ahhh don’t recommend this. See prior post.

You can get on a bicycle (before drinking) and ride around the backstreets and really get among the chooks and kids.

You could get out your camera and spend hours, if not days, taking photos of the amazing panorama that is the waterways of Hoi An. Seriously, I was in heaven. The soft light, as the sun sets on Hoi An, makes the already yellow facades glow with a warm orange and adds to the already spectacular vista.

Yes, I loved it and yes I rattled off more than a few shots.

I have a few shots below that may just get your travel bugs limbering up. I have only adjusted the levels if needed, and nothing more, so as to present the scenery with as much realism as possible.

Enjoy.

Hoi An Vietnam not Hanoi

Alex Harrison — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:04:29 +0000

Hoi An, Vietnam. Hoi An was all that I had imagined Vietnam to be. It’s country. It’s French influenced yet still Vietnamese. Much quieter and slower paced than the cities. The food! Oh, the food is sensational.

It is New Years Eve 2009 as we jet from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang (halfway up the coast), then take a taxi for the 45 minute ride into Hoi An.

Along the way we pass what will soon be several kilometres of casinos and luxury hotels. Massive hotels. Monolithic hotel chains. Contrast this with what is across the road on the non-beach side — bullocks pulling ploughs, ram-shackle dwellings.

I can see the beauty in the beaches and the hotels are / will be luxurious… but really, it could be anywhere, like Vegas. It’s the crass commercialisation that has no reflection on, or of, the local culture that gets up my nose. I am not averse to bringing in money, but why move Hawaii to Vietnam? Local flavour please.

Hoi An is known for its hundreds of tailors, which had no interest to me at all. The girls, however, did battle trying to get clothes made from photos they had excitedly brought with them. Alas the fantasy was better than the reality.

As a number cruncher I worked out the cost in time taken to go back for the (many) fittings and ‘discussions’ as to why the garment looked only a little like the photo, and decided there were no ’savings’ to be made at all.

I headed off instead (on several occasions), with my son, on some of the oldest bicycles I have seen, laughing and rattling our way around the backstreets of Hoi An. Later, Lisa came out with me and we had a ball also. I will do a separate blog for this adventure.

It’s true that we stayed in an upmarket ‘European’ hotel and spent many hours asleep around the pool. I justify this in one simple way: we were buggered. The year and Saigon had taken all that we had. I can assure you that we went back ‘into Vietnam’ after a swim, followed by a short nap.

I will tease you with one photo of the landscape, with many more to come in the next blog or two. The other shot is me and yes, I know I look tired.

Cya soon ….

Should You Ignore the Mekong Delta Vietnam?

Alex Harrison — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:48:26 +0000

The Mekong Delta is a destination you will probably consider when visiting Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The problem, as I see it, is that you will more than likely join a busload of tourists, be shuffled off to a geared up part of the river (oops, Delta) and pointed at local crafts and so on as some sort of sales pitch. Not my idea of fun.

Having said that, we still ended up at a part of the river often frequented by tourists. We did end up doing the river ride and visiting this and that. But this was in the afternoon, long after the hordes from up the river had gone. The addition of our cabbie (the guypictured in the grey uniform on the boat) made it more personal as we had already enjoyed several hours of chit chat with him.

I would suggest that if you really want to enjoy the Mekong Delta for all of its glory, that you get on say a 10-day cruise, join it in Laos and take an in-depth look at the history and culture of the region.

Contrast this to being shuffled up to a stall that purports to sell handmade goods by a woman 50 metres away, then noticing there are still ironing creases in the garment — clearly Chinese smuggled goods.

The Mekong Delta is massively important to the world. For more information I suggest wikipedia as a start.

The day was filled with food, fun and laughter. Our taxi driver also gave us a lesson in how Vietnamese graft and corruption works (or doesn’t work). One particular story I recall was how goods are smuggled (legally with payment and illegally without payment) over the Chinese border.

Our short visit on the Mekong took us past fish farms. They are floating family dwellings from which nets hang. The family goes out fishing, sells what is saleable, then adds the small fish to the nets. We were led to believe that the rich families buy infant fish as well.

We visited a multitude of ‘factories’, all using pre-WWII equipment, walked and paddled through small villages, then headed back. The bridge is a relatively recent addition.

Biggest lesson today: hire a cabbie for the day. We learned heaps and ate well — total cost US$50. Probably got stung but who cares as I put food on his family’s table and memories into our minds.

Vietnamese food is best in Viet Nam

Alex Harrison — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 08:45:46 +0000

Vietnamese food is best in Viet Nam. No kidding! No really, the Viet food in Vietnam (aka Viet Nam) is way better than you get in Australia, and quite possibly in any country, other than Vietnam. The Aussie styled Vietnamese food is well, Aussie-ized.

We had made a friend — a cab driver who we hired for the day to drive us to the Mekong Delta aka “đồng bằng sông Cửu Long” in Vietnamese, aka Nine Dragon river delta. I will get to a blog on the delta soon. Along the way, we stopped for some lunch.

Over our entire time in Vietnam, we feasted on a huge array of foods and I am certain there will be more photo’s of food later. I love the use of numerous herbs and fresh ingredients. Curries and tangs to bend your mind.

I used my Canon 5D with a Canon 50mm f1.8 to take these shots and pushed it to f1.8. Prior to leaving Australia, I was dubious as to the image quality I would get with this super cheap lens. But on shots like this, with lots of light for focusing, I can’t fault the results. Not for $125. BTW, I have only applied a .06 sharpening to one of the images. Which one?

I suggest you now get a tissue to mop up the excess saliva.