Some more black & white

Here's some more tea leaves.


I should crop this to 4x5. Lazy.

Leaving the village

I have an obsession with water towers. Love them in New York, and I love them in Asia. In Vietnam, they're smart and brand everything. If you think about it, it's really smart. The sun heats up the water during the day, so you can take a warm shower at night. All you have to do is pump up water into the tower and you're done!


This photo gives you an idea of how smoggy/foggy it was there.



I love the interiors of buildings in Vietnam. Their open end lets in a lot of light that slowly diffuses into the interiors.

Where my food comes from

In the towns, or more accurately - the clusters of houses with a road passing through it that we ate at, there was no notion of the local market. The produce, the livestock, everything was dragged out onto tables and displayed in the hot sun for sale. It gave the coin, "street food" a legitimacy contrasting the food hawker type of stands that normally come to mind. The meat in particular, festooned with flies and being tenderized by the humid air and multiplying bacteria, was a sharp contrast to the normally hunger inspiring stands I saw in Hong Kong. Still, when in Rome...



Before



After


The meat was chewy, but the broth was hot enough to hopefully have killed any lethal bits still hanging around.

Green tea

Next time you have it shaken with some strange sugary concoction at your local coffee shop, *ahem Starbuck's*, remember that this is probably where it comes from. Not necessarily from Vietnam, but in a field like this.

The workers let me taste a leaf. The strongest green tea I've ever had. Vietnam had some really great tea. They like to brew it strong, but sip it gingerly in small cups.

Soooo behind

Yes, I'm still on the first day of my Vietnam trip earlier this year. Give me time.


We stopped to say hello to the villagers that were following us. This one was hard to focus in such little time. I eventually got quite fast at manual focusing everything through a tilted lens. Not the easiest thing in the world.



We also had to make way for some buffalo.


More to come, I have time this weekend I think...

For smita

There are a LOT more pictures, however, I have been both busy and lazy.

Here is the first hotel we stayed at. If memory serves me correct, the sink and toilet emptied onto the floor and into a drain. Shower? Same place.

The light was amazing inside though.


Loved the color of this fan.



Tea time, with our bus driver.



This is how we all ate. I felt like I was taking pictures of the equivalent of Van Gogh's potato eaters. Yes, this one specifically is for you Smita.

Road to nowhere

At this point, I have no idea where I am. I rely on my guide to not kill me and leave me in the jungle.


They were pretty stunned to see us on our bikes.



We move out of "middle of nowhere" and enter "where am I?" There are some cars and bikes that pass by.



As well as the occasional buffalo. Or is it an ox? I don't know.

Bike tour begins

We took a break near this river bed after a couple hours of riding, mostly downhill.





This tree was the only green thing nearby. We eventually tried to walk on the rickety bridge at the insistence of our guide.

leaving sapa

The ride out of Sapa started with a giant climb up a road in our support van. This road just happened to be being built as we drove up it.


A bulldozer taking a break.



We ended up taking the left road.



The road we took up.

Sapa - people

I'm still getting used to taking pictures of people without feeling like I'm being creepy.


Saw this when walking up the stairs.



Street thugs loitering on the corner.



Baby, with our support van in the background. That's how we transported our bikes in the night and through certain sections of the trip.

Sapa - cont'd

If I wasn't lazy, I would have photoshopped the power line out. I like how the architecture of this area is terraced just as the fields of rice patties are below.



I have no idea what these things are for.



Kick the bucket?



Some school girls in the town square.


There Harry, I updated it! :) Still in Asia, yes I know...

Streets of Sapa

It strikes me now in retrospect how quaint and culturally interesting the street vendors were in Sapa, and how the very same thing in America ends up feeling tired and wasteful.


Selling handmade goods.



Vendors take to the stairs.



Chose an unpopular spot.

I'm back

I have found free time! Wee!!!

Here's some long overdue Sapa pics.




Fried rice balls. Very good. Very fresh.




This guy was in the corner surrounded by a cloud of smoke. He's holding a tobacco pipe. Or as they like to call it: "A large piece of bamboo"




Wandering the market

Sapa - arrived

Ok so after wandering around a bit more we end up at the Handspan office in Hanoi and are loaded into a bus to go to the train station. Once there we're given tickets for our sleeper train to Lao Chai. Sleeping on a train sounds like a good idea, but in reality, it means no sleep on a train.

We arrived at around 5am in the morning in Lao Chai and were ushered into a waiting van to begin the final leg of the journey to Sapa.



The main street through Sapa. There appeared to only be one.




Chickens at the market.


A local farmer

hanoi - almost done

I still have so many pictures, this is getting ridiculous.



My obligatory bicycle photo









Somebody is in trouble.

Hanoi - people

Just some random pics of people around the lake.

Hanoi - post meal

Wandering back to Handspan to leave for Sapa



Crate and Barrel




UPS




The Metro




Waiting for the traffic.



Rush Hour



Golden hour

hanoi - getting hungry

I am in the search for food. I read somewhere that there is an alleyway near the train station where you can get good street food in Hanoi. The plan was: get a rickshaw ride to the station, walk around in the general area until we find it; eat.


Walking around.



Still haven't found the mythical alleyway, but I find this. It is easily better than anything you or I will eat today.



I smell something...



These blew my mind away. So tasty!



Fresh noodles.



It's all about the fish sauce!



Annnnd...touchdown!!


Probably my favourite meal in Vietnam. I think it cost around $3