SGTrekker's Photos from 6D5N Central Vietnam Photography Tour (10-15 Feb 2012)

[limwhow]

Day 3: Arriving at Hoi An 会安

Not far from Hai Van Pass down, we finally caught sight of the costal city of Hoi An.
"What does Hoi An hold for us?" we wondered.
I've heard people praising the lovely lantern-lined old quaint streets of Hoi An.
And the historical buildings in this old city.

So. What is Hoi An like?

 

[SereneXMM]

I like the Voigtlander 12mm lens on my rangefinder because it's really wide wide. And I can use f8-and-be-there and shoot street scenes. When we came to Hoi An, I was shooting a lot of street scenes on the 12mm.

Got sell peng kang jagong on the street. And got this Vietnam man relax at the side of the river when we were walking along.

 

[chucky1]

I like the Voigtlander 12mm lens on my rangefinder because it's really wide wide. And I can use f8-and-be-there and shoot street scenes. When we came to Hoi An, I was shooting a lot of street scenes on the 12mm.

Very nice. wah, another lens to add to the arsenal! :cheers:

 

[james]

Day 3 - En route to Hoi An...

Wah lau eh... ever since shooting with rangefinder, my brain like kena fried like that.
I used to have memories of an elephant. But nowadays I have lost it. For good, maybe.
No longer like Divinemoment like that already. His memory is now more elephant than mine.
Why do I say that?
Because, I am sooooo confused I can't even remember the chain of events.
Which day go where, did what... all mixed up liao.. sigh...

Er...minor change in the timeline.
The background doesn't match with other photos followed.
The incident mentioned actually happened on 2nd day when we left Khai Dinh Tomb because I remember that incident happened near railway track.
So should be happened on 2nd day:

Another thing I remember is I shot photos of people riding motorbike, including these two mms.

The accident on the way to Hoi An from Hue should be this one:

I wonder why we keep on seeing accidents in this trip? Anyone bought 4D back home? (Jk).

 

[reservoir88]

Day 3 - En route to Hoi An...

Wah lau eh... ever since shooting with rangefinder, my brain like kena fried like that.
I used to have memories of an elephant. But nowadays I have lost it. For good, maybe.
No longer like Divinemoment like that already. His memory is now more elephant than mine.
Why do I say that?
Because, I am sooooo confused I can't even remember the chain of events.
Which day go where, did what... all mixed up liao.. sigh...

Anyway, on this day, our bus took us from Hue to Hoi An.
We drove drove drove... then suddenly... kena traffic jam along the mountain road.
What happened?
Orh... in front there was a bus that knocked a dent into a motorbike and they all were waiting for the mata to come and write report.
So the whole long line of vehicles were jammed long long behind... all waiting for mata to come..

Er, limwhow, I think we were caught in 2 jams. One at the mountain road and another in town. The above looks like the one in town.



This is the cause of the mountain road jam

 

[ZShutter]

 

[reservoir88]

Thanks, divinemoment and AlexK.

 

[james]

Hai Van Pass

Finally, the mata came.
And the crowd dissipated.
And we continued our mountain journey.
En route, we passed by the famous Hai Van Pass.
Our guide Tommy said, here was where the military fort was held.
And when the North Vietnam Communist Force came down south, they marched through this pass.
Nothing has changed since.

Read from wikipedia, just curious why this Hai Van Pass so famous.

The Hai Van Pass crosses over a spur of the Truong Son (Annamite) Range that emerges from the west and juts into the South China Sea, forming the Hai Van Peninsula and the adjoining Son Tra Island. The pass, which once formed the boundary between the kingdoms of Dai Viet and Champa, also forms a boundary between the climates of northern and southern Vietnam, sheltering the city of Da Nang from the "Chinese winds" that blow in from the northwest. During the winter months (November–March), for instance, weather on the north side of the pass might be wet and cold, while the south side might be warm and dry.

And about the Accident:
Besides its beauty, the pass is also renowned for its difficulty. A poem by Nguyễn Phúc Chu (1675–1725) describes Hai Van as "the most dangerous mountain in Vietnam" (Vietnamese: Việt Nam hiểm ải thử sơn điên).[2] Visibility on the pass is often reduced by the eponymous mists that rise from the sea. Along with the road's winding route through the pass, this posed a serious challenge for drivers before the construction of the Hai Van Tunnel. The Hai Van Pass has also been the scene of at least two of Vietnam's most serious rail accidents, and at least one air crash.

Read more in Wikipedia

 

[ZShutter]

I spotted this lady selling bananas, the pattern on her clothes mimic the bananas laid out in the basket.

 

[ZShutter]

Embroidery in Hoi An.
These girls are creating replica of photos by sewing into a canvas and framing it like a photo.
Expensive to buy!

 

[james]

At Hai Van Pass

The view is magnificent!

The view from the rock where group photos were taken

Edit: I was thinking to ask this couple to shift a bit for better framing but actually we were inches away from the edge of the big rock.

 

[james]

I spotted this lady selling bananas, the pattern on her clothes mimic the bananas laid out in the basket.

Hi, ZShutter, nice!
At first I thought is deja vu. I recall that didn't see you near that location. That makes me wonder why this lady keeps on counting money?

 

[limwhow]

Er...minor change in the timeline.
The background doesn't match with other photos followed.
The incident mentioned actually happened on 2nd day when we left Khai Dinh Tomb because I remember that incident happened near railway track.
So should be happened on 2nd day:


Another thing I remember is I shot photos of people riding motorbike, including these two mms.

The accident on the way to Hoi An from Hue should be this one:

I wonder why we keep on seeing accidents in this trip? Anyone bought 4D back home? (Jk).

Er, limwhow, I think we were caught in 2 jams. One at the mountain road and another in town. The above looks like the one in town.



This is the cause of the mountain road jam

Ah... thank you james and reservoir88!
Yes, there was two jams.. one town, one mountain.
And the one that I showed in B&W was indeed the one in town.
I am confused myself. Sorry sorry.. thanks to both of you for pointing it out. Wahahaha...

 

[james]

Ah... thank you james and reservoir88!
Yes, there was two jams.. one town, one mountain.
And the one that I showed in B&W was indeed the one in town.
I am confused myself. Sorry sorry.. thanks to both of you for pointing it out. Wahahaha...

It is fine.
Something I want to say for this trip, it's like we have these places that we have been to, 360 degree covered.
37 of us and each with at least 1 camera, 37 x n cameras, I am very impressed, some of the corner, I recall I didn't see them before (during this trip) shown.
Different perspective, different ways of handling the scenes, different gears (poison), what an eye-opener!

 

[limwhow]

Some more of Hoi An...

Adrian and Melvin arranged for a boat ride out on the Hoi An River to catch some scene for sunset.
So here we were, at the bank of the river, getting ready.

Hoi An has all these old houses lining the streets.
But what was shocking (well, at least to me) was there was so many Ang Mohs there.
Interesting how touristy it is.

[Vintage Leica IIIf with Elmar 3.5cm on Kodak UltraMax 400 film]

[Vintage Leica IIIf with Elmar 3.5cm on Kodak UltraMax 400 film]

 

[SereneXMM]

There was a pretty girl sitting there in a very nice way when out boat left the bank of the river. Many of us were taking her picture. But my lens was a 12mm. So I can only capture her long legs.

 

[SereneXMM]

Our boats came to another landing. Then our fellow team mates went up.

There was a very cute old man.

And a cute cub drinking his mother cow's milk milk.

 

[limwhow]

Shooting the field during sunset... sun not guaranteed (LOL!)...

Everyone of us were simply roaming the field on one side of the bank of Hoi An River.

wkcheah cleverly using fill-in flash on his subject against the setting sun...

[Vintage Leica IIIf with Elmar 3.5cm on Kodak UltraMax 400 film]

Here a few of us spotted this pair of very lovely brother and sister tending to their cows.

............................................................................................................................................................... Here Kernik giving his long lens a go...

And along the river side street, the people are friendly despite being flooded by tourists...
[Leica M6TTL with Summilux 35mm V1 on Kodak TriX 400 film]

EDIT: add pictures of wkcheah.

 

[limwhow]

Hoi An River side by night...

We left the vessels in the water and roamed the streets.
"Guys," instructed Adrian. "We meet at the bridge at the end of this street at 7:30pm."
"Meanwhile you all can go and do some shooting."
So we did.

Still selling her vegetables at dusk...

[Vintage Leica IIIf with Elmar 3.5cm on Kodak UltraMax 400 film]

Old and still hardworking...

[Vintage Leica IIIf with Elmar 3.5cm on Kodak UltraMax 400 film]

Bloom in the evening...

[Vintage Leica IIIf with Elmar 3.5cm on Kodak UltraMax 400 film]

A City of arts pieces and lanterns...

[Vintage Leica IIIf with Elmar 3.5cm on Kodak UltraMax 400 film]

Street food, anyone?

[Vintage Leica IIIf with Elmar 3.5cm on Kodak UltraMax 400 film]

 

[limwhow]

A tiring day it has been. Erm... no?
Well, here is dinner.

[again, the Vintage Leica IIIf with Elmar 3.5cm on Kodak UltraMax 400 film. Getting so dark, the f/3.5 almost cannot make it already...]

And post-dinner midnight tutorial from LowLights.

[The Vintage Leica lens struggling here...]

Guys! Better go and sleep.
Tomorrow got to wake up at 4am to shoot sunrise!