I am writing this post on my last day in Vietnam. We left the island of Phu Quoc today via a short flight yesterday. Now for a bit of time in Saigon(Ho Chi Minh City) before our flights back home this  evening.

Phu Quoc is a place we wanted to visit before, as many places, it became over-developed. They say it’s what Phuket would of been if not had not been over-developed. Phu Quoc is an island that is home to a fair number of resorts but they are mostly of the quante, family owned variety. It has a population of about 80,000. The island produces the world’s best fish sauce and is also known for it’s black pepper. There are several fishing villages so there is seafood everywhere!

One thing that I had noticed myself doing with my photography this trip, I was abusing the “rule of thirds”. I had shot way too many boat pictures and after doing some reviews of the images, I noticed the pattern. Bottom right third seemed to be my preference for some reason. Maybe because most of the boats were heading from right to left? I dunno. What I do know is that it was getting boring. However, I do like this above image. The lighting was incredible that evening.

I know that this image was posted earlier on Facebook but I’m proud of it and wanted to make sure others got a chance to see it whom are not a Facebook contact of mine. Plus, this morning I finally have some time to write an blog post of the happenings in Vietnam. 

So, today we are on the island of Phu Quoc. We had arrived yesterday in the afternoon after a one hour flight from Saigon(Ho Chi Minh City).

First let me tell you about the Mekong Delta. It’s a HUGE  area approximately 39,000 square kilometres (15,000 sq mi). It’s where the Mekong empties into the South China Sea. There are many islands in which the Vietnamese carved water ways into the muddy islands to have easy boat access. It’s really amazing to see all the waterways. They spider all over!

We had did a two day and one night home stay tour of the region. Transportation included buses, motor boats, sampan boats(small row boats), and even some cycling on a big Vietnamese cruiser bike. The participants only included my wife, Trish, and a Austrian girl, named Romana. We had piggy-backed occasionally on a larger tour but essentially, it was just us three and our guide, Wang, who spoke great English. The small group made the tour extra special.

The home stay was great too. The four of us; Trish, Romana, Wang, and myself, stayed one night with a local family on Hoa Ninh island. The island’s population is about 40,000 but it didn’t seem that populated. The island is filled with water routes that are accessed by motor or sometimes, sampan only. The family at the home stay also taught us how to cook a Vietnamese dinner which we ate. It was DEE-LISH! I am sure when we arrived back home that we will be making home made spring rolls and noodle dishes for the next three months.

During the second day, we did our guided tour via boat to access different parts of the island to visit a factories. They included rice paper, fish sauce, sea salt, and two coconut candy factories. It was amazing to see everything hand made. No machines or robots and only whole ingredients, no additives or preservatives. A few images below are samples of what we saw.

Anyway, I wish that I had time to type on but I must go now. Hope to catch up with you soon with images from Phu Quoc.

Breaking wave.

An update of sorts here. Over the last several days, we have travelled from Hanoi to Huey to Hoi An and now Nha Trang. I had actually enjoyed Hanoi for it’s craziness and vibe. Huey was ok. Great to see the Citadel but no atmosphere. Hoi An was cool with the old architecture and predictable flooding but was too afraid to bring out the dSLR in the heavy rains. I did get some shots from protection of a Cafe though. Last night, after a 9 1/2 hr. train ride, we arrived in Nha Trang at 11pm.

Nha Trang is resort town on a large sandy beach.  However, it’s low season so it’s not terribly busy. The weather was good until the night we arrived. Apparently, we bring the rains with us where ever we go. Nha Trang, it’s more expensive than other parts of Vietnam yet  still affordable by Western Standards.

I thank  Nha Trang for one thing. It’s where I got a capture that deserves to be printed and mounted on a wall in my home. Yup. It’s the image above. Sometimes, you look and look and look but nothing strikes you. This one was different. I brought my camera to the beach in case that I had regretted NOT to bring it. For that reason,  I have been used to carrying my dSLR every where I go. The possibility of regret haunts me if I don’t take it. Anyways, brought the “gun” and got me a keeper. I have a few ideas to tweak it in Photoshop when at home. When it’s 100%, I’ll send it off to Artistic Canvas Photo to be printed up on a big ol’ canvas.

This image does make me proud. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do. Trust me, it’s rare that I am satisfied with my images… at least worthwhile for print.

Hanging out in Hanoi.

So far my travels in Vietnam have included Hanoi, Cat Ba, and Hue. Today, we just arrived in Hoi An after two busses and about 4 1/2 hrs of travel time from Hue. Along most of the trip, the second bus was honking his rather loud horn. It’s what they do here. When passing vehicles, there is always honking involve. Trouble is… there is always passing involved. The horn may as well of been hooked up to a intermittent switch such as windshield wipers are. Oh well. At least I was not spending 21 hours on a sleeping bus such as my new friend, Fernan, was doing to get to Laos.

Each place has it’s merits but so far, I think Cat Ba is the place that I’ve had the most fun. It’s the place that I would choose to return to someday. I did put the camera to use on occasion but I was having too much fun “being part of the story” rather than “telling the story”. I was being the tourist with my camera not the artist. When I get home to review the images, I may have some regrets about that. However, I did collect some great memories.

The story of this trip to date is about the connections that we have made with other travellers(back packers). I suppose it’s a natural thing to happen since English language and travel is our common denominators. We tend to gravitate towards each other for that reason. We end up swapping travel tales and travel advice.

Now, I know it may be politically incorrect to say this but I think we travellers trust advice from other travellers, rather than the locals. The locals are usually “on the take” with high pressure sales techniques, at least in the touristic areas. So, getting non-biased advice on places to stay or places to eat… I trust the traveller who has been in the area a while. That is another catalyst that draws other travellers together. Trust.

Don’t get me wrong, I DO want to make connections with local people but it’s proven very difficult with the language barrier. However, I did meet one waiter on the tourist side Hue that wasn’t “on the take”. It was refreshing. We had a pleasant conversation after we ate the dinner he served us. Loung was a university student studying English. He told us that the food was cheaper where the locals lived. Of course, he was right. We went for a long walk around the local’s side of town after visiting the citadel. It was a relief to be able to walk without somebody trying to sell me silk paintings or motorbike ride. There is never any English on the local’s side of any town so hand gestures and smiles are used to communicate.

Anyways, we have made connections with many other travellers. There are too many to type about. It’s been kinda like being part of a community at times with the main community hall being a Hostel or bar in the back packer part of town. Hostels are always lively and have a great vibe.We swap stories and experiences over beer or dinner. On occasion, we would choose to travel a leg of a journey together. Chatting to somebody on a boat, bus, or train always makes the journey shorter. Sometimes travellers are heading in the same direction and will re-connect in the following city.

Hearing stories from people from other parts of the world are always interesting. When hearing their stories and backgrounds, there seems to be a common theme. Travellers seem to have a “live for the moment” attitude more so than the regular 9-5 people who worry about how much pension that they have built up. Trust me, I am one of those people. Luckily, my occupation allows me a lot of time off to take a journey on occasion.

On a final note, I have known some people who think about travelling abroad for a period of time but are afraid to because they don’t have a companion to share the experience. I suggest to them: Go anyways! You will meet tons of people along your journey. You may end up travelling with several other people. Meeting people while traveling seems so much easier than at home where the rat race rules our lives. It’s kinda sad really. We rarely make new connections at home but abroad they seem to fall into your lap. Anyways, for those people who have considered traveling… don’t be afraid to go alone. Just GO! You will connect with many people and create many memories.

The orange pack is a Lowepro Photo Sport Sling AW 100. It’s a sling pack with side access to the camera body. There’s enough room for two lenses and a few other accessories. I was drawn to this camera bag because of it’s “sling” access and because it doesn’t look like a camera bag. I also like the fact that I can tote it around without worrying about rain too much. If the rain does get heavy, there is a rain cover for it. The Photo Sport is also very comfortable to wear. It’s a one strap backpack but as there is not a ton of weight in it, it’s very easy to carry.

We have one dSLR and one rugged/waterproof compact camera for the beach and snorkelling. Both camera’s shoot video in HD so that will be handy as I have been requested to bring back more video by my brother in-law. Carrying a compact camera is also handy for the times that I don’t want to lug around the dSLR. So, I think we have are camera needs met.

This time I will NOT leave behind my Polaroid Pogo printer. It’s a great little portable printer that can print directly from the camera. It’s about the size of an iPhone. It’s not always about taking image. Sometimes, it’s about leaving an image.

Camera Gear List

• Nikon D7000
• Nikon AW100
• 50mm 1.4
• 18-200mm
• small tripod
• various ND filters by SinghRay
• SB-800 Speedlight
• Polaroid Pogo-compact printer

Anyways, I will be posting images and blogging as much as I can. Of course, it will all depend on internet access.