Travel Vietnam: Street Scenes

Vietnam is a mix of old and new, from high rise buildings to ancient temples. Walking around is a visual feast - you never know what you will see.

Plants on every balcony, Ho Chi Minh City

Apartment living, Ho Chi Minh City

Open air cafe, Hanoi

Beautiful colonial-era details, Hanoi

Cyclo, Hanoi

On the river, Hoi An

Village life
 

When traveling in Vietnam, you could eat every meal from a street vendor. Every alley had  someone cooking with a few tables set up. Soup noodles, grilled things, fruity things...

Street vendor, Hanoi
 

 

Mobile shop

 Noodles!

 Sweet seller, Hoi An

One thing I'll remember about Vietnam street life is all the scooters. They are everywhere and everyone seems to ride one. I saw  a family of 4 on a scooter, piggies in a cage on the back of a scooter, even a cow in a basket on the back of a scooter. 

Scooters everywhere!

Travel Vietnam: People

Children at the window, Hoi An

Young Monk, Thien Mu Pagoda, Hue

Everyone rides scooters

Street Barber, Ho Chi Minh City

Woman, Hoi An

Teeth black from laquer (or betel nut?)

A face full of character

Wedding Couple, Hue

Street Performer, Hanoi

Travel Vietnam: Lanterns

Besides dragons, another item I saw a lot of was lanterns, especially in the town of Hoi An. Located on the central coast of Vietnam, the historic district of Hoi An dates from the 15th century and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It's very scenic and everywhere you look there are lanterns. At night, the lanterns are lit up and it's very beautiful. Most of these photos were taken in Hoi An.

Travel Vietnam: Lions, Tigers and Dragons, oh my!

Dragons play an important part in Vietnamese mythology - carved and painted dragons were everywhere, from dishes to roof tops. Many temples also had guardian lion dogs (fu dogs) and I even saw a tiger (the Indochinese tiger is native to south east Asia).

Incense- Temple of Literature, Hanoi

Dragon Boat - Hue

Roof Detail - Thay Pagoda (outside Hanoi)

Detail - Tomb of Minh Mang, Hue

Detail - Tomb of Tu Duc, Hue

Detail - Thay Pagoda (outside Hanoi)

Mosaic Dragon - Hoi An

City park in the Cholon District, Ho Chi Minh City

Lion Dog - Jade Emperor Pagoda, Ho Chi Minh City

Lion Dog - Jade Emperor Pagoda, Ho Chi Minh City

Tiger - Temple of Literature, Hanoi

Travel Vietnam

I mentioned previously that I had just returned from a trip to Vietnam. I went on a 12 day tour through Gate 1 Travel and had a fabulous time. I'm still going through photos but  will post a few every day this week.
Here are a few to start with. Many of the historic buildings had beautiful tile work in rich colors.

Detail-Tomb of Tu Duc, Hue  This was a rain spout and water flowed out the mouth.

Detail-Tomb of Tu Duc, Hue

Detail-Tomb of Tu Duc, Hue

Detail-Tomb of Tu Duc, Hue

Detail-Emperor Jade Pagoda (Phuac Hai Tu), Ho Chi Minh City

Detail-Emperor Jade Pagoda (Phuac Hai Tu), Ho Chi Minh City. Such a beautiful shade of green!

52 Weeks of Collage Part 2 Week 23

I really like doing collage cubes and working on all the sides. This cube is 2.5" square so it's smaller than the 4" ones I've done in the past. I layered acrylic paint, rubber stamps and gold star tissue paper. On top went vintage type, postage stamps, black and gold washi paper and more rubber stamps.

week 23 - sides 1 & 2

week 23 - sides 2 & 3

week 23 - sides 3 & 4

week 23 - sides 4 & 1

Group of Collage Cubes

52 Weeks of Collage Part 2 Week 22

Another small collage this week. Last week I created a background from a lot of different type scraps. I used half last week and half today. A hand colored bird  and hand made paper scrap are layered on top.

collage week 22

52 Weeks of Collage Part 2 Week 21

I've missed 2 weeks of my 52 weeks of collage but I have a good reason. I've been going through my bucket list for 2017 and checked off #9-Plan A Trip. I've just had a fabulous vacation in Vietnam and will be posting about that later.

Meanwhile, here is my collage for week 21. It's a small 4" x 4.75". The butterfly is hand-colored and it's layered on vintage documents, hand made papers and rubber stamping.

collage week 21

52 Weeks of Collage Part 2 Week 18

I love using old documents in my collages and this week I used lots of my scraps - tickets, ledger paper,  a love letter from 1916.