Thursday, October 4, 2012

VIETNAM: 15 PHOTOS AND A RADIO SHOW

Got to love a place where you can buy a CryoVac snake at the airport. #HoChiMinhCity #Vietnam #UnexpectedSouvenirs #Travelingram
Everyone I know who has been to Vietnam has loved it.

I mean really, really loved it.

I had spent a heap of time in Asia without ever having set foot in Vietnam until recently. And within moments of stepping out into the technicolour mayhem of a Ho Chi Minh City evening, all I could think was "What's taken me so long?"

A few hours earlier an unforgettable aircraft approach swept around sparkling city towers before falling gently towards canyons of neon whose currents of jiggling scooter headlights flowed determinedly up and down stream.


Vietnam is a country whose cities literally throb with the cicada-buzz of traffic whizzing fluidly beneath impossibly tangled webs of electrical wiring. Its beaches go from Waikiki to Whitehaven, and its street food will send your tongue snaking through your mouth seeking familiar reference points. It's a place where skater boys impress the girls with their tricks beneath banners bearing the hammer-and-sickle, watched over by the bemused face of KFC's Colonel...commerce and communism as strange bedfellows, indeed.

For a slideshow of this intriguingly authentic mega-destination as I experienced it, scroll down through the colours, shapes and moments that Vietnam serves up endlessly. Or if you'd rather hear the thousand words, take a listen to my chat with Jo Shoebridge on ABC North Coast's Planes, Passports & Postcards.

If a place where you can buy cryo-vac snakes from the freezer section at the international airport sounds like your thing, you won't be disappointed.

Pho shop doing a roaring trade with a roaring fire. #Hanoi #Vietnam

Scooting past the notorious Hanoi Hilton prison. #Vietnam #Travelingram 
 
#Hanoi Station. #Vietnam 

Crossing the Red River on the Victoria Express. #Hanoi #Vietnam #Travelingram

Main square, #Sapa #Vietnam #Travelingram

Fresh #honey. #Vietnam #Travelingram

#Hanoi skater boy. #Vietnam

Good morning, #Vietnam.

Night classes. #HoiAn #Vietnam #Travelingram

Waiting for customers. #StreetFood #HoiAn #Vietnam

Lovely street signs, #HoiAn, #Vietnam. #Travelingram

#Coffee brewing. #NhaTrang #Vietnam

Shadowy character, #NhaTrang. #Vietnam

Something delicious baking under those lids. #StreetFood #NhaTrang #Vietnam #travelingram

Happy travels!

4 comments:

  1. fabulous images Ben, I too am in love with Vietnam and intend to go back next year. Made a doco launching Nov about the women of TaPhin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Erin.

      Appreciate your kind words.

      I can't wait to go back.

      Where can I see your doco?

      Happy travels,

      Ben

      Delete
  2. I haven't been to Vietnam, but I love the way you describe it as "a country whose cities literally throb with the cicada-buzz of traffic." Even if I haven't been I can imagine how that buzz must feel. I love the shot of the teen and the skateboard.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Suzy.

      I expected lots of things of Vietnam...but skater boys and their flip tricks, not so much.

      Push it right to the top of your bucketlist.

      What are you waiting for?

      Happy travels!

      Delete