The Nets

S7, f1.7, 1/3200, ISO 50, RAW

Hoi An Motorbike Touring

The last tour preparations got me all around Monkey Mountain, over the Hai Van Pass, to Lang Co and back.

Today, I went south to Marble Mountain and Hoi An with the surrounding area.

While Hoi An is quite touristy, its still worth a visit and as soon as you get out of the town, you’ll be riding across rice fields and through small villages.

Hoi An is mostly pedestrianized these days so you have to park your bike and walk but it also makes walking around the old town a bit nicer.

Outside of Hoi An, you can find small villages specializing in pottery and other handicrafts.

There are nice temples everywhere and it’s worth a stop to see some of them up close.

The most interesting part is however being out in the countryside and watching the locals work in the fields.

Farmer

X Play, f2.0, ISO 50, JPG

Boats and Candles

GR, f2.8, 1/125, ISO 5000, RAW

If you come to Vietnam a visit to Hoi An is probably top on everyone’s list. It’s certainly a pretty town, especially at night, however it is also very fake.
It all feels like a theme park that’s made just for tourists. It’s also flooded with them so not only do you have to dodge them and their selfie sticks but also have to keep saying no to all the street vendors trying to sell you something.

Overall not my favorite place in Vietnam, which is why I almost never come here despite not living that far away.

Definitely worth seeing for one evening if you’re in Vietnam but not really a place to stay longer.

Hoi An Streetfood

TG-4, f3.1, 1/50, ISO 2500, RAW, 46mm

Street Food on a Boat

GR, f2.8, 1/125, ISO 2500, RAW

Day 172 – Colors of Hoi An and Citiscapes of Danang

Woke up to another great and sunny day so after having breakfast and coffee, it was time for a stroll around Hoi An before heading to Danang.

While Hoi An is also very nice by day, it is not as impressive as in the evening with all the lanterns illuminated.
I took some photos of people but for the selection focused on colors only.

After a leisurely ride to Danang and having more coffee and lunch by the river, I went to the Cho Con market to look around and take some photos.

But what I actually wanted to take photos of in Danang was the cityscape and the Dragon bridge at night. Last time I stayed in Danang, I meet friends in the evening and did not have time or photography.

This time round I had enough time to walk around and take some long exposure photos of the city at dusk and in the evening.
Danang is very nice and feels a bit like Hong Kong in the evening with all the buildings illuminated and the lights of the bridges changing.
At 21:00 you even get a fire and show at the Dragon bridge but I only caught the end to photograph since my battery died  and I needed to charge it. It was good that the Sony charges over micro USB.

Day 171 – Lights of Hoi An

It’s been a great day with sunshine and blue skies so it made sense to get up early and go for a relaxed ride over the Hai Van pass through Danang to Hoi An.

I took my time and enjoyed the ride and great weather, especially once I was in Lang Co and having a coffee and breakfast by the lake.

After a nice ride over the Hai Van pass and a quick stop in Danang, I took the road along the coast to Hoi An and even made a detour to Cua Dai.

Another coffee and a hotel search later it was almost sunset but this is where it got interesting. People come to Hoi An for the old town and the lanterns. For m it was the first time I saw Hoi An without it being flooded or after  typhoon blew through.

The lanterns were always nice but now without any damage to the town and in preparation for the Chinese New Year, the lanterns were very impressive. The downside of this was that the town was heaving with tourists so it was quite packed.

Hoi Am is a very nice place for a visit despite it being a bit touristy and everything costing more than in other places in Vietnam. You should definitely visit it but don’t buy anything here as the prices are always at least double, especially if they quote them in US$.

I enjoyed taking photos of the lanterns and people around but quickly got a bit frustrated with the poor Auto ISO of the NEX as I don’t want to have to change the ISO manually anymore, or most parameters other than Aperture and EV compensation really.
The slow kit lens was also a concern but thanks to the IS and pretty good high ISO of the NEX it was not a huge problem, I still wished for my Nokton lens though ;). I did also miss the better Multi-pattern WB from Ricoh but the Sony handled it pretty well so it was not as bad as on the Panasonic GF1 before. The AF in low light struggled quite a bit and was not overly fast most of the time so I kind of wished for a better MF implementation or maybe a Snap AF mode.
Overall, I kind of wished I had a GXR A12 Mount with the Sony NEX-3N sensor inside and my Nokton lens attached to it.

Day 73 – Hoi An to Hue Then Hue to Saigon

Initially, I planned to stay longer in Hoi An but due to the longer time I spent in Hue, I had to get back on the bike and head back to Hue so I could catch the evening train to Ho Chi Minh City.

On the way back, I stopped at Marble Mountain for a visit and to take pictures. The first time I drove past it, I thought it was relatively small and not worth the visit. I realized how wrong I was when I entered one of the caves with hidden temples and statues inside.

Marble Mountain is definitely worth a visit for the caves alone, you feel like Indiana Jones exploring some lost and hidden temples like this. Especially if it’s raining as was the case today.
You also get great views of the surrounding landscape from the top of the mountain itself.

Since I had to get my train at 19:20 in the evening, the drive back to Hue was a bit faster then on the way to Hoi An. This did not stop me from not taking the right turn and ending up a bit off the planned route at first bjt it meant I could check out another sight near Danang.

Crossing over the Hai Van pass was again a fantastic experience, both the drive and also the views without fog this time round.

After the Hai Van pass, it was time for a quick lunch by the lake before continuing on to Hue where the train to Saigon ended up being 2 hours late. This means I will arrive tomorrow late afternoon in Ho Chi Minh so will have a bit less time there for photography.

Day 72 – After the Storm in Hoi An

After the road trip yesterday, I woke up to some heavy rain in the morning but this quickly passed. The day remained a bit cloudy but it was still nice for a walk around the old part of Hoi An.

The clean up operations after the recent storm were in full swing everywhere, people tried to clean up the fallen branches, damaged signs and clean the streets from the mud.

After lunch we decided ti get back on the bike and check out the beach to see the sea and if there is any nice bar open for a coffee.

On the way to the beach and on the roads right next to the sea the signs of the storm were clearly to see with more damage to the buildings and trees visible.

Since I am not a beach person on a great day, much less on a cloudy day after a storm has passed through, I did not stay long at the beach so headed back to take more pictures around the old town.

In the evening people were selling candles to have float down the river in Hoi An but there was still too much debris floating in the river after the storm to make this an appealing option.