GOING BUGGY or SILK WORMS: YOU ARE WHAT YOU WEAR

Normally I've posted scenic shots from my travels. These aren't them. They come from a silk factory in Hoi An, Vietnam, where I got to see how silk is made. First, of course, come the silk worms. A closer look:



The caterpillars spin cocoons and prepare for metamorphosis in leafy beds like this.



Since the beetles that would emerge would break/chew through the threads, the silk makers boil the cocoons. (Note some of the almost-read-for-prime-time beetles.) Kind of grisly when you think about it. Like lobsters -- only bugs.



And then the cocoons get processed, the clothes get made, and it's off to shops and onto people's backs.(Note the 'eyes' over the shop doors on this Hoi An business. They're to ward off evil spirits.

Vietnam: Hoi An Waterway

Another lazy post... like the lazy waterway through Hoi An, boats slipping through water like silk. These shots are from the second floor of Cargo, a fantastic restaurant with Vietnamese fusion cuisine.

BUDDHIST INCENSE SPIRAL

Yeah I know, this looks like apiece of pop art from the sixties. What it really is is the inside of an incense spiral hanging from the ceiling. They sell these at Buddhist shrines like votive candles are sold in Catholic churches. Buy it, light it, and pray for the deceased. Here's the shrine with a ceiling full of spirals, priced according to size:



This shrine is in Hoi An, Vietnam, which has the finest food in the country -- and some of the finest lantern shows too. Last post I showed you some of the lanterns by night. Here are a few by day.







I'm thinking of making shorter posts through summer. Sound good? Next post will be water shots of fishermen in Hoi An's river, from the window of a seafood restaurant.

Cheers,

Allan

VIETNAM: LANTERN CELEBRATIONS

Hanoi is celebrating its millennium as a capital city this year. There are festivities all over the country. This week was Hoi An's turn which accounts for the floats among the lanterns. Enjoy the night lights, and the lanterns both festive and commercial. Next post, I'll show you the city by day. It's one of the few old cities in Vietnam that didn't get obliterated and is well worth a look. also a taste! Its restaurants have the best cuisine in the entire country!





























See ya next post,

Allan

VIETNAM: THE MARBLE MOUNTAINS

Like our own Niagara Falls, Vietnam has allowed a lot of crappy souvenir shops to glom onto some astonishing geological formations. The Marble Mountains are a case in point. They're known as the source for Vietnam's marble carvings, as they are literally made of marble. However, to avoid decimating a tourist mecca, the Vietnamese have halted excavations and now import all the marble that's carved here.

Walking up the mountain you pass through as ancient entrance pocked with mortar shells from the war.





Look up. Look way up...



At the peak, we descend into a cave as magestic as any cathedral. It's been a natural Buddhist shrine for centuries. The Viet Cong (National Liberation Front) used it as a fortified field hospital.



It's filled with monuments: Some garish to Western eyes, like a lot of the art here, that go back a hundred years; others carved into the walls the better part of a millennia ago. Note the shrine INSIDE the cave...







We left the mountain and drove through the rain to Hoi An.



Hoi An is an amazing Unesco World Heritage sight, and I'll show it to you in depth with photos from a sunnier day. But next post is going to be all about LANTERNS! Especially BRIGHTLY LIT LANTERNS!

Cheers,

Allan

VIETNAM AND CAMBODIA: SNEAK PEEKS

I've been over my head getting back to work after Cannes, Nice and Venice, so forgive today's lazy post. Here are random sneak peeks of upcoming places and people to get us back into the swing of the travelogue of Vietnam and Cambodia . (You can see Saigon and Dalat in previous posts. :))

Below, variously, are sample shots from Nha Trang, Hoi An, Halong Bay and Siem Reep -- with much much more to follow in future posts. (Hanoi, Hue, Elephant Mountain, Cloudy Mountain and Danang are absent from the mix. They'll be coming, not to worry, but not just yet.:))

Enjoy!



















Hope these have tempted you to come back. :)