debandbartravels: Vietnam Photos

Last day in Laos.....

Night market setting up just outside the Palace gates

One of my all-time favourite pictures. This woman is getting
ready to set up her shelter for the night market.

Welcome to Hanoi, Vietnam...

meat vendors on the street

Bicycle loaded with ceramic housewares

Dong Xuan Market

The rope store - 1 of many along this street

Don't move or I'll slit your throat.......and you pay me
200k dong!!!!

Eating Pho Ga (chicken noodle soup) - notice the size
of the stool!

Fine Arts Museum

Barry may have found a new calling!

In Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum. If you come in the
morning, you can go inside and view his body.
We were too late for this.

The Pagoda

Thap Rua - The Turtle Tower in the Hoan Kiem Lake.

Hoa La Prison Museum display

Hoan Kiem Lake at night

Halong Bay

Our guide Chuc explaining why the limestone in this cave is so white.
There are numerous cave systems in the area of Halong bay. With so many tour boats in the are
different operators visit different caves.

Hiking on cat Ba Island - look familiar? Limestone.

This man is fishing with a piece of line siply wrapped around his finger. He consistently caught a fish within
1 minute of putting down his line. All were small, and then thrown into the square enclosure
which is actually lined with mesh. This is the basic model of fish farming in Asia.

Hard to tell - but this stretch of water is jammed with floating houses,
each with its own array of enclosures for rearing fish. In some cases,
plastic buckets with sand hang into the water from cross beams - these are used to rear
clams and mussels. This is close to Cat Ba Island, where there is a National Park.

A single house and its fish pens

View en-route to Phong Nha caves from the river.

Phong Nha Cave - only accessible by boat.

Bike ride to the"Pub with Cold Beer". yes - you have to cross the river with your bike to get there. If you want,the owner of the pub will kill a chicken for you and prepare a great looking chicken dinner with excellent peanut sauce. peanuts are a local crop here, and there was fantastic locally made peanut brittle for sale in town. We did not have time for the full chicken meal - just cold drinks.

Deb en route to "Cold Beer and Chicken café"

Our Son Trach Hotel - Thanh Dat. 15$ per night - but musty
smelling. Makes sense given the misty, foggy, weather.

Nightly hostel scene around a usually smoky fire.
Angie in the plaid shirt. We are all watching the show
unfold on the front steps.

Erin's debut on stage.

Deb gearing up for a ride to the Phong Nha Farmstay for our "gig', with Ben, the truly delightful. Aussie who, with his wife Bich have created a fabulous facility. Thanks to Ben for taking us via the scenic route - even though it was a fair bit bumpier!

Phing Nha Farmstay - overlooking the rice fields. All families
have a plot out on the expanse of flat land in front
of the farmstay.

With Angie and Erin - our "adopted" children. We really had a
lot of fun with these great young people.

Small temple at the cave of 8 Women on the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Phong
Nha National Park. 8 women lived in this cave - offering food , supplies, and
support to soldiers, fighters, and those moving good along the trail. A fighter plane shot
dislodged a rock in the cliff face above the cave - it blocked the entrance. All the 8 people inside (not all the original 8 women) died.

This bomb casing (hope I got that right) hung just outside the cave -
it could be rung as a way to communicate to other villagers up and down
the Ho Chi Minh trail.

Paradise Cave... we walked 1 kilometer into the cave system

Deb...the shining light!!! about to go
underground

Heading into the Dark Cave, which included a crazy
mud walk (its own story) and a cave swim.

Vietnamese children are as cute as they come.

Easy Tiger interior....Barry actually won a game of pool !!!

Front view of Easy Tiger Hostel and Cafe

Our host "Hi" was a great singer guitar player and song-
writer...soon to be married and truly a sweet guy.

Deb's "daughters" at the Easy Tiger hostel bid her a fond farwell.

Vinh Moc Tunnels

The remains of a North Vietnamese village that was literally dug underground to avoid the carpet bombing of the US during the Vietnam war. It took over 20 months to prepare the tunnels - people stayed in them during the day, 17 babies were born ni them, and then came out at night for fishing and farming. This was also a weapons and supplies storage base for the Viet Cong. These tunnels are just inside the Demiliarized Zone that straddles the 17th parallel.

These surface tunnels (once much deeper) allowed for movement between
different entrances and exits to the tunnels.

One entrance to the tunnels - has been updated for tourism

We are intrigued by the ad for Contact Juggling as the
waitress confirms location and time.....the pub!!!

Heading into the old city in Hue.

Lots of Chinese influence - makes sense as the coutnry
was under Chinese occupation for 1000 years! Hue old city. Much
was destroyed in the war.

Contact Juggling in a bar in Hue...who would have
thought...this Vietnamese guy was good.

Hue train station with all our gear on board...our backs!

Bar takes up the chess challenge from a local shop keeper
while waiting for the train in Hue....no contest.

Train between Hue and Da Nang - one of the most scenic
stretches (and the train goes from hanoi to Ho CHi Minh city).
Entire ride - about 3.5 hours.

After a great train ride we landed in Danang and part of our walking tour discovered that hard working motorcycle taxi drivers do need to sleep sometime.

Fellow Canadians Michelle and Ben. Michelle ís a professional jazz singer, and Ben a writer.
They were headed to Saigon where Michelle had a 3 month gig playing a 5 star hotel.