Related

• Bangkok’s Chinatown
• Singapore’s Chinatown, 3 Weeks Before The Lunar New Year

Sung Sot Cave


Stalactites and stalagmites.










The dimples on the roof are actually created by sea water lashing against it over millions of years. The cave entrance is some 20-25 metres above sea level, so my first impression was that the sea level must have been much higher several million years ago, but a search on Wikipedia revealed that the entire area was lifted up sometime between 420 to 340 million years B.C.

View From Exit Of Sung Sot Cave






Bum boat selling drinks, at the exit of Sung Sot Cave.


Smaller boats waiting to ferry tourists back to their parent junks. Nex stop Ti Top (Titov) Island.

Dao Ti Top (a.k.a. Titov Island)

Dao Ti Top (more commonly referred to as Titov Island) was named in honour of former Soviet astronaut Ghermann Titov who visited the island in 1962 along with (then President) Ho Chi Minh.


Heading towards Titov Island.







View from stairs up to top of Ti Top (Titov) Hill.





View from higher up the stairs.





View from even higher up the stairs.





View from top of Ti Top (Titov) Hill




With the rain approaching towards the end of our 30 minute stopover on the island, we had to make a hasty retreat down the 400+ stairs to the beach and on to our junk.


Parting shot of Titov Island. It didn’t rain as heavily as it looked.


Barge

Dropping Anchor For The Night
Our junk dropped anchor in an area with atleast 30 other junks nearby.



Our junk’s “guide” jumping off the junk.


Lady in bum boat selling drinks.



Ha Long Bay at dusk

Luon Grotto


Bum boat taking us to Luon Grotto


Entrance to Luon Grotto. Inside is an enclosed lagoon.


Vietnamese lady captain of our bum boat, inside Luon Grotto




Back to our junk from lagoon inside Luon Grotto


Bum boats, outside Luon Grotto


Bum boat captain, outside Luon Grotto


Bum boats and tourist boats, outside Luon Grotto

Leaving Ha Long Bay


Man’s head shaped limestone karst formation






Fishing boat









Limestone karst formations

Other photos taken during this trip,

• Day 1 Photos (Hoi An)
• Day 2 Photos (Train Journey From Da Nang To Hue)
• Day 3 Photos (Hue)
• Day 4 Photos (Hanoi)
• Day 5 & 6 Photos (Sa Pa)

Motorcycle passes by and then stops..
Motorcycle Driver: Hello, you want motorbike?
Tourist: (smiles politely) No, thanks
Motorcycle Driver: Ok, maybe later.
(points towards his helmet)
Motorcycle Driver: Remember my name.. Bono/Jack1/… (then drives off)

We opted to walk. The view is best viewed on foot.

Corn


More terraced paddy fields. Whilst in Sa Pa, we were told that end of October / early November is a good time to visit, as it is almost harvest time, when the fields are all yellow.


Buffaloes grazing


Bridge on the way to Cat Cat village. It really shakes, especially when a buffalo uses it.


Another “bridge”


A source of protein for Cat Cat village residents


Tien Sa Waterfall, Cat Cat Village


Black Hmong woman touting sovenirs. She got angry and actually said something unpleasant for not buying anything. Fortunately we didn’t quite understand her language


A few of the residents of Cat Cat village, Sapa. Unlike the other kids we had photographed, the taller one was very wary of having her photograph taken.


On the way back uphill from Cat Cat village to Sa Pa town. Tip for visitors, bring along some candies if you wish to ask them to pose for a photograph.




Black Hmong elder with his buffalo, on their way back down to Cat Cat village


Black Hmong elder with his buffalo and grandson, on their way back to Cat Cat village

Sa Pa Town


A Sa Pa resident’s backyard. What a view to wake up to each day!


View from our hotel room. Not bad for USD 30 a night!


Cat Cat View Hotel. Read somewhere before that most hotels in Sa Pa give away some of their proceeds for the welfare of the villages nearby.


Sa Pa Market. The lady with the red headgear belongs to the Red Dao minority tribe.


Sa Pa town. Almost everywhere we went, we’d see Black Hmong women chasing tourists to be their guides to their villages nearby, or to sell souvenirs which look more factory made than genuine hand-made/hand-woven handicrafts.


Black Hmong and Red Dao women in Sa Pa Town. Hidden behind is a middle-aged western tourist.

On foot from Sa Pa towards Lao Chai village


Black Hmong lady


Black Hmong ladies and a French family in front




Group of Black Hmong on their way to Sa Pa town




Black Hmong lady and child






First glimpses of Lao Chai Village




Lao Chai Village



Our visit coincided with the time of the corn harvest.







The corn husk clearing crew



Heading back towards Sa Pa

Back In Sa Pa

Nature View Restaurant, Sa Pa. Good food. We had almost all our meals there.


Must try their “Sa Pa Pizza”.

Heading Back To Hanoi

Tickets


A resident of Lao Cai.

Train coupe on Ratraco train.

Other photos taken during this trip,

• Day 1 Photos (Hoi An)
• Day 2 Photos (Train Journey From Da Nang To Hue)
• Day 3 Photos (Hue)
• Day 4 Photos (Hanoi)

Seems chaotic at first, but everyone is happy!

Vietnam 2.0

Hoan Kiem Lake and surrounding area

Electric tourist carts

Hanoi is over a 1000 years old.

Other photos taken during this trip,

• Day 1 Photos (Hoi An)
• Day 2 Photos (Train Journey From Da Nang To Hue)
• Day 3 Photos (Hue)

Ngo Mon Gate (a.k.a. the Gate of Noon)

Dien Thai Hoa – Palace of Supreme Harmony

Tour guide with tourists, at the Dien Thai Hoa. I did not know when I took this photograph that violet áo dài are commonly associated with Hue (according to an article on Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hu%E1%BA%BF)

Hedges shaped as elephants, at the Dien Thai Hoa.

Hail the queen! Well not quite. Apparently, ladies can dress as a queen, for a fee..

Covered walkway

Inside the Imperial City

More (elaborate) covered walkways

Moat surrounding the Imperial City

One of the buildings just outside the Imperial City, converted into an expensive (but empty) cafe.

A leaf for sun block?

Backside of the Ngo Mon Gate (a.k.a. the Gate of Noon), inside the Imperial City

Moat surrounding the Imperial City, as viewed from the top of the Ngo Mon Gate (a.k.a. the Gate of Noon)

Oversized drum on top of the Ngo Mon Gate (a.k.a. the Gate of Noon), inside the Imperial City

Flag Tower, as viewed from the top of the Ngo Mon Gate (a.k.a. the Gate of Noon), inside the Imperial City

Dien Thai Hoa – Palace of Supreme Harmony, as viewed from the top of the Ngo Mon Gate (a.k.a. the Gate of Noon), inside the Imperial City

One of the busy gates into the Imperial City

Probably the best sugarcane juice I’ve had so far!

Lang Khai Dinh (Emperor Khai Dinh’s tomb)

Stone sculpture of a mandarin (bureaucrat).

Inside Emperor Khai Dinh’s tomb

The ceiling inside Emperor Khai Dinh’s tomb.

The walls

Emperor Khai Dinh

Area surrounding Emperor Khai Dinh’s tomb

Our friendly cab driver

Thien Mu Pagoda

Thien Mu Pagoda

In 1963, Thich Quang Duc burned himself to death in downtown Saigon in protest against the Diem regime’s policies of discriminating against Buddhists and violating religious freedom. You can Google for details, http://www.google.com/search?q=Thich+Quang+Duc.

This is the car that took him to Saigon is stored in the rear of Thien Mu Pagoda.

Open space at the rear of the Thien Mu Pagoda

Perfume River, beside Thien Mu Pagoda

On the banks of the Perfume River beside Thien Mu Pagoda

Trang Tien Bridge

Fruitseller with her, nón lá.

Bridge lightup

Traffic!

I have uploaded over 100 photographs (I took at Hue) to http://flic.kr/s/aHsjvZFXBn. You can view them as a slideshow at http://bit.ly/nSLCCC.

Other photos taken during this trip,

• Day 1 Photos (Hoi An)
• Day 2 Photos (Train Journey From Da Nang To Hue)

Da Nang To Hue In Under 10 Minutes

Other entries filed under Vietnam
http://www.nirmalya.net/blog/archives/tag/vietnam/

Many of the old buildings have been converted into art galleries.

Lanterns and other items for sale to tourists

An old lady with her nón lá. After taking this photo, she asked for money. Having just arrived in Vietnam, the smallest denomination I had was VND 100000. I think I made her happy

Old Buildings, Temples & Assembly Halls

Hoi An has many buildings which have been passed down over many generations over hundreds of years.

Tan Ky House
Said to have been built over 200 years ago,

All Chinese Assembly Hall
Said to have been built over 250 years ago,

Quan Thang House
Said to have been built over 300 years ago,

Exquisite woodworks

Phuc Kien Assembly Hall
Also known as the Fujian or Fukien Assembly Hall. Said to have been built over 320 years ago,

Incense coils

Close up of the incense coils

Chua Ong Pagoda
Said to have been built over 350 years ago,

Japanese Covered Bridge
Said to be over 400 years old,

Ðình Cam Phô
Nobody seems to know when it was built,

Market

Riverside By Day

Riverside At Evening

Night Market

Hoi An Is Not Just A Historic Town..

Old Minsk motorcycle

Cinema

“Made In Hoi An” sleeping bag

Communist Party Office

“Symbolic” Ties

Che Guevara Vespa Scooter

G550 Airborne Early Warning Aircraft

Another very expensive aircraft. This is one of four (information as of today) G550 Airborne Early Warning aircraft. These are military variants of the G550 business jet, which start from 50 million dollars.

F-16D+

Apache AH-64D Attack Helicopter







Currently the only female AH-64D pilot in the RSAF.

Super Puma

Fokker F-50 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA)

C-130H







Few has the patience to queue for over half an hour to get onboard the C-130H.



And a few lucky ones got to fly in one.

Some older photos of Singapore’s Chinatown, 4 years ago.