Vietnam in March 2005 !!

[KevinRL]

I am going to be in Vietnam March 5th to 27th.
Starting in Saigon and ending in Hanoi.
My first trip there.
Does anybody have must see and photograph places??
I will be on an Intrepid trip, just to pacify my travelling partner, so time is limited, but apparently Intrepid has plenty of time for photo jaunts.
Any info will be appreciated. I have read my LP guide book, but there are many other places to see.
Thanks.

[thien]

Hi Kevin,

For Southern provinces, these are the sights

- Mekong Delta: Can Tho, Dong Thap
- Tay Ninh: Cao Dai temple, although the tunnels of Cu Chi figures highly on most people list, I hate anything that relates to the war in my native country. I guess you can say that I have seen enough of its consequences.
- Mui Ne: for its sandunes
- Ca Ra, Phan Thiet: for its salt fields
- Phan Rang: The Chams ruins
- Nha Trang: for the beach and its countryside.
- HCM: food, food, food.

The Center:

- Hoi An: For its Chinese heritage and Japanese influences.
- Da Nang: There is not much here unless you like to see more Cham's ruins and go up to "heaven and hell" mountain.
- Hue: take a boat ride in the perfume river, visit the temples and the citadels. I hope they haven't cover all the bullets pockmarks on the Tet offensive in 1968.

The North

- Ha Noi: for its colonial charms
- Ninh Binh: This is one of my favorite place. It has the mysterious feeling of Ha Long but so accessible to the village life since it is on land
- Ha Long: Looks like everyone goes here. I need to return to this place again to see how much it has changed.
- Sapa: If you have to see the ethnic minority, here is one of the more accessible places in VN.

Happy travelling!!!!
Thien

[KevinRL]

Thanks you very much Thien, I will try to see and photograph as much as I can, I am a bit starved for foreign travel, as it is 5 years since I was last in Asia.
Are you the person who went to Luang Prabang over Christmas?
If so how did it all go?
Regards,
Kevin

[KevinRL]

Thien, thanks for all this.
Do you know of a trustworthy processing place in Hanoi. I will bo using y old film camera and wish to get the film processed in Hanoi before coming home, mostly so that my film won't be x-rayed at airport security.
Thanks for any information.
Kevin

[thien]

Hi Kevin,

Unfortunately, I don't know Hanoi that much and I have stopped using film 4 years ago. The carry-on X-ray machines are film-safe in VN, at least up to 400 ISO.

I have only used pro-lab in HCM, there is one particular that I used even for my digital prints called Minh Huy on the corner of Ly Tu Trong and Vo Thi Sau in the 1st district.

My trip to Laos was a really wonderful experience, I got to stay in a village for two days. I was like the new panda at the San Diego Zoo.

Cheers,
Thien

[KevinRL]

Thanks for that info, but can you have another think about the address of Minh Huy, as on the map those two street run parallel to each other, they are about half a mile apart and do not cross each other.
At least I will be able to get a few rolls of film processed there.
Thanks,
Kevin

[KevinRL]

PS.. I have to go through several airports before I get home, KL twice, so I don't want to take too many passes, as I have just seen a friend's photos from the US and they have been spoilt.
Regards,
Kevin

[thien]

You are right, Kevin. What was I thinking. Minh Huy is at the corner of Ly Tu Trong and Pasteur. There is also another pro-lab at the corner of Ly Tu Trong and Nguyen Trung Truc.

[KevinRL]

thanks so much, noted in my guide book.
Kevin

[totraveller]

I would recommend Mui Ne - the fishing village, and maybe the sand-dunes. These are very near each other and you can photograph both in no more than a few hours.

Also, the Mekong Delta is essential! A tour should be fine as you can see quite a bit from the water.

Not sure if this will be possible with an Intrepid tour, but the area between Vinh and Cao Treo at the Lao border (4 hour drive) is incredibly scenic... rice paddies, roadside communist propaganda, winding mountain roads, an empty little border town in the mountains (rows of huts with bright red Viet. flags, mountains and border gate in background). I've been to this area twice already but didn't have a wide angle lens so my landscape shots were not so great, and my guide was impatient, and I wasn't carrying my passport (apparently a no-no in border areas). ...thinking about returning now that I have a wide angle lens.

Oh.... and HANOI!!!!

I've not been to Sapa or the northwest yet, but I imagine it's quite good as well.