Binh Tay market, Cholon, Saigon.
I’ve not taken many pictures lately – I’ve been lacking inspiration since coming back from my Mekong / Cambodia trip in January. I felt like I was on a roll while I was away, but I seem to have hit a slump since getting back to Saigon. Consequently, I’m a bit behind with my Pictures of the Week – this one’s from the week before last.
With apologies for the terrible pun.
(Vung Tau, 15th Feb)
Water isn’t really my element – I can barely swim – but there’s no getting away from the stuff in the Mekong Delta. I went on a few boat trips during my week there, but taking pictures from a moving boat isn’t easy, especially if you’re a big wuss who’s worried about falling in. The problem with water, a wise man once said, is that it’s wet and it moves around.
The area might be best known for its floating markets, but back on dry land there are plenty of street markets to visit. Wandering around the market in Chau Doc early one morning, I thought to myself, “I could spend all day taking pictures here.” So I did.
My trip coincided with the build-up to the Tet holiday (the Lunar new year, which is the most important holiday in the calendar for Vietnamese people). With two weeks off work, I spent one week travelling through the delta, before taking a boat upriver from Chau Doc into Cambodia for another week. Although I was out of Vietnam for the holiday itself, for weeks before the streets were full of symbols of Tet; red and gold decorations, yellow and orange flowers, and kumquat trees were everywhere.
When I first saw this picture, I thought that a pesky cyclist had ruined a good panning shot. When I saw it again on the big screen, I decided I quite liked it. I’ll just have to pretend that I had it all planned.
Rush hour in Chau Doc is a little quieter than what I’ve become used to in Saigon.
And to finish, a sunset.
(Coming soon: a post or two on Cambodia.)
A week in the Mekong Delta in the build-up to the Tet holiday. A week of friendly people, fresh seafood, very few cars, floating markets and flower-lined streets. A week that wasn’t long enough.
Sunflowers in front of Notre Dame cathedral in central Saigon.
Phnom Penh was the last stop on my Mekong trip. I didn’t take that many pictures on this visit; I was only there for a couple of nights, and I wasn’t quite in the mood for a big city, having spent the previous two weeks in quieter, more relaxing surroundings.
Wat Langka, however, is one of the more tranquil spots in Phnom Penh. It’s not the most spectacular temple in Cambodia, but I like its calm, welcoming atmosphere. It’s hard to tell where the surrounding alleyways end and the temple complex begins. This young monk was standing inside one of the side doors to the main temple, and was perfectly, indirectly lit by the morning sunshine outside.
Making a rare foray into the realms of physical exercise, I cycled across Kompong Cham’s bamboo bridge (more of which later) onto Koh Paen, a small island in the Mekong river. Countless small children called “hello!” as I rattled inelegantly past stilt houses and rice fields in the late afternoon sun. Many of the rice fields in this part of Cambodia are overlooked by small, open pagodas, as in the picture above.
I’ve just come back from a two week Mekong trip – one week in the Mekong Delta in the south of Vietnam, and one in eastern Cambodia. I have many pictures and memories to sort through, which I can’t quite begin to do yet, as I’m back in Saigon and my brain hurts. So here’s just one to be going on with.
This picture was taken in the floating market in Phong Dien, near Can Tho, the main city of the Mekong Delta.
Exercising in the early morning sun.
This is one of a number of shots from a few recent early morning park visits. I’ll be posting a longer series of shots soon.
In the meantime, I’m away for a couple of weeks over the Tet holiday, traveling through the Mekong Delta and into Cambodia. I’m currently in Vinh Long. I have my camera with me, of course, but not my laptop, so no more pictures of the week until I get back, when I hope I’ll have plenty of Mekong shots to share.
Chuc mung nam moi!
I could post a whole series of shots of shop window dummies from Vietnam. They’re always willing subjects for a portrait, though it’s hard to get a smile out of them. Perhaps my Vietnamese isn’t good enough. These two redheads were just standing around doing nothing outside their friend’s clothes shop in District 3 last weekend.
Without an H 