Monday, March 2, 2009

hoi an pics

Some more photos from our Vietnam trip... this time images from Hoi An, a small town near the centre of Vietnam. Designated a Unesco World Heritage Site, the old town was quite and serene.
A view from the water. 
The view from our hotel balcony overlooked a rice paddy field... so every morning we would watch the local farmers tend to their crops.
One of Hoi An's specialty goods are their lanterns. At night there are rows of vendors along the streets all lit up with these colorful lanterns... it's quite mesmerizing in person, hard to capture in the picture.
There were a lot of merchants walking around town selling their wares... food and bottled drinks mostly. There were also a high ratio of tailor shops (you can see one in the background)... they would make anything you wanted custom fit... no joke - show them a picture of your fave designer dress in a magazine, and one day later you'll have it ready to go for a bargain.
There were an abundance of temples in the town too... at times, it almost felt like more temples than people.
Rows of spiral incense hanging from the ceiling of a local buddhist temple.
Rows and rows of cyclos lined up and ready to shuttle tourists around the town... only big tour groups seemed to ride them... we didn't end up riding one since everything was actually very close on foot ...they seemed more for novelty than practicality. Another batch of pics coming soon!

14 comments:

UNEARTHED said...

Wow, those lanterns look stunning, I can only imagine how beautiful they must have actually been. I'm jealous! Just this post alone makes me want to travel there!!!!

Audrey said...

Love the pic with the lanterns!!

Tessa said...

Great photos! Those bikes are lined up so very neatly. I love the symmetry.

And hello from another Vancouverite! -Tea

hollyzhobby said...

Beautiful pictures, amazing culture, what a fantastic trip this must be.

Becky Brocato said...

Amazing photos. What a wonderful thing, to travel to distant places and take great photos for inspiration!

Memories for Life said...

More amazing pics!
I love the lanterns...I bet they really glowed at night!

Anonymous said...

Valerie...how I envy your trip to Vietnam. The varying cultures of the world are infinitely interesting.

Thank you for sharing your images of that far away place. You have a wonderful eye for composition.

freshie (and zero) said...

Wow... what an amazing culture and so different from our own! I really like your photo of the lanterns and the rice paddies. It must have been such an amazing trip!

GreenEyedGems said...

LOVE the spiral incense - what a cool trip!!

Shandell's said...

how amazing, the bike are great

Aly- Bliss Monkey Studio said...

Im enjoying all the beautiful photos.Thanks so much for sharing!

Stacey said...

Great collection of photos, I would love to visit myself someday.

NONtRENDY said...

Those are some terrific pictures!!!

cabin + cub said...

I'm so glad everyone is liking the pics! It was so hard to edit them down! :)