Leaving Tân Sơn Nhất airport

Spiral staircase

Keys cut

Bicycle and scooter

Recycler

Christmas at the Griswold's

Local cinema

Protection when shopping

Drip filter coffee

Vietnam Airlines building

Tandem bicycles

Walking off the racks

A lot of knock off apparel written in English can be misspelt such as this and this. While this one is grammatically correct, I am not sure it would be a big seller to those that understand its meaning

Looking west up our street

Looking east up our street

Standard lunch

Farewell Đà Lạt

Sofitel Dalat Palace

Buddha skyline, Đà Lạt

Central Đà Lạt

Sunset in Đà Lạt

Unfortunately you do not get these type of sunsets in HCM

Lake Xuân Hương, Đà Lạt

Downtown Đà Lạt

Lake Xuân Hương sits at the front of the small city centre of Đà Lạt

Đà Lạt University

Outside the new library

We spent all of last week hosting a GIS workshop at the Đà Lạt University. Clean crisp air, wide open spaces, pine trees and plenty of hills made for a great change from HCMC

Firewood

Street pot washing

Cheeky Monkeys II

Cheeky monkeys

Kite boards

Roadside toys

December Theme Day - Circles/Spheres

This months theme I went for something that has been annoying me of late, continual rain. Vietnamese will tell you that in the past you could set your calendar against the timing of the wet season, starting in May and finishing end of October. Prolonged wet seasons the past 3 years just drag out the depression of each rainy season

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

The Bus Stop

Similar to the post of a few days ago, this guy is catching up on some zzz's at the bus stop.

Satellite dishes

Am not sure why an average hotel like The Sun would need so many satellite dishes. It looks like a karaoke type of place

Cloverleaf interchange

I am pretty sure this is the only proper cloverleaf interchange in Việt Nam. Some may argue that there is one near the Hà Nội airport, but it is not a true cloverleaf. Anyway, this is just north of Sài Gòn heading up the Hà Nội highway and right next to the amusement park Suoi Tien. As you can see, the new road to Vũng Tàu (at the top of the picture) has yet to be constructed

Asleep at the wheel

Xe ôm are motorbike taxis that sit on street corners all over the city offering cheap fares around town for a single passenger. This guy is practicing the time honored Vietnamese tradition of being able to fall asleep anywhere, catching a few zzz's very early this morning on the back of his bike.

Heavy rains last night

Believers in climate change will say I told you so that the wet season is still with us in late November.

Communications conduit

Orchids

Crossing the road outside Bến Thành Market

The stautue in the background is General Tran Nguyen Han, a warrior from the 15th century that served under Emperor Lê Lợi

Tailoring

A suit with decent material will set you back about $100, duds around $30 and shirts no more than $20. Provided you find a good tailor you cannot lose

Late afternoon at Saigon Center

Flags, plaques, signs, medals, trophies, badges, stamps, IDs and adhesives

I love these kind of stores in Vietnam. You can have a lot of fun in them with the right amount of imagination. I know people with little imagination who use these stores to procure their own trophies. True story

Material by the meter

Bigger than Elvis

About a month ago the kids attended a fashion shoot for the French label Du Lundi au Samedi. Now they are confused as to why there are 6 foot tall pictures of them in the Parkson department store.

Pomelo for sale

Roadside helmet sale

Land rights march

Protesting without prior consent is illegal in Vietnam. This group of people were marching through the city to petition the government for access to land they believe they are entitled to. Land rights has been the only issue I have ever seen people protest about in Vietnam.

Overloaded motorbikes

The guy on the left has so much stuff on his bike that he is basically sitting under the handle bars, the couple on the right are transporting a 2m x 1m picture frame. Not sure on the legalities of this but it seems everyone with something to transport does it. The best one I have seen are guys on two motorbikes transporting large sheets of glass, with each side held by a guy on the back of each motorbike. I wish I could get a photo of that one day.

TV cable guy

How the different communications companies go about there business is relatively impressive. This guy has to work around electricity, telephone and internet cabling to add the TV lines.

Marble statutes

Real looking lions, Chinese guardian lions, various Buddha styles, Jesus and even the Virgin Mary are available at this roadside shop