Vietnam Archives - Wedding Photographers Cardiff

Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City

Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City

Da Nang is Vietnams third largest city with a population of about 900000. Located on the banks of the Han river, the modrrn developing city is part of a peninsula surrounded by beaches and mountains. The riverfront is a great place to explore with plenty of bars and restaurants with great views of the brightly lit modern bridges. It was a major base for the Americans during the Vietnam war. We only stopped overnight at the new and swanky Northern Hotel in downtown before flying on to Ho Chi Minh City.

Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon is Vietnams largest city with a population of about 8 million people. With French Colonial architecture, such as Notre Dame Cathedral and the General Post Office and wide boulavards full of an endless procession of motorbikes and scooters. We visit the War Remnants Museum which shows the Vietnam War through their eyes, with an amazing but harrowing unbiased collection of Journalists photographs on the top floor. A great place to watch the sun go down over the Opera House and city skyline is the iconic Saigon Saigon bar in the Caravelle Hotel. We also have a great view of the city, including the Bitexco Tower and river from our room in the Sunland Hotel. Another great hotel we can recommend between the city and the airport is the Alcove Library which we had an overnight stay on our first visit! Worth a visit is the Ben Thanh Market and the nearby Backpackers district (Pham Ngu Lao and De Tham St) – a mayhem of crowds, bars, eateries and clubs, a bit of a freak show really but fascinating all the same!!! We surprisingly really like Ho Chi Minh City, the key to this is to embrace the dizzying crowds, fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride!

For a further look at our images of travel and landscape photography please follow this link on our Blog posts and Gallery. Our travel and landscape images are available for sale, please feel free to leave a comment below and don’t hesitate to contact us regarding any of our services.

Cua Dai Beach Vietnam

After taking bicycles from Hoi An to Cua Dai Beach (literally means big sea mouth), we decide it would be a great place to spend a night on the way back to Da Nang. Cua Dai Beach is a 2 mile stretch of palm fringed fine white sand and gently rolling breakers with the Cham Islands lying just offshore. Running parallel, about half a mile back from the beach is a gently winding estuary, a hangout for the local fishermen. It’s a great place for photography, with sunsets on the estuary and sunrise at the beach! It was still dark when I got down the beach pre sunrise and I was amazed to find so many people already there doing there morning exercise and Tai Chi! The locals were so friendly, many coming up for a chat, particularly interested whether I liked their country. I met an old man with a toothless grin who told me (by mime) that he shot down Americans during the war! It was great to watch the local fisherman negotiating the surf with their early morning catch on their Coracles, slightly different to their Carmarthen cousins, they are made using interwoven bamboo and waterproofed using resin and coconut oil!

Asia Central Vietnam Cua Dai Beach Landscape Photography Quang Nam Province Seascapes South East Asia Travel Photography Vietnam

Vietnamese Life

The best time to experience Vietnamese life was to get up early and have a stroll around the local markets. There is a real buzz in the hustle and bustle of the narrow streets and pavement vendors. These local markets are a daily occurrence and the fresh produce gets recycled regularly. When walking around you feel like you’re in a time warp, amongst century old traditions, such an amazing place to people watch. After a few days of exploring you get to recognise some of the characters, especially some of the ladies who ferry people on the river – a hard life, but it appears to be a happy one!

Asia Landscape Photography People South East Asia Travel Photography Vietnam

My Son Vietnam

My Son Vietnam

My Son, situated about an hours drive inland fro Hoi An was the ancient capitol of the Champa Dynasty. It is a large complex of religious brick built ancient ruins dedicated to the Hindu God Shiva. Unfortunately most of the temples were obliterated by US carpet bombing during the Vietnam War, many of the bomb craters are still visible today. We made the mistake of booking a day tour where all the buses and their respective guides arrive at the same time. Our guide was hilarious, like a Vietnamese drill sergeant – we made the immediate decision to loose him and wonder round ourselves! Top tip if you’re going to visit My Son, organise a driver and come in the afternoon when all the buses are long gone!!

Asia Central Vietnam Champa Temple Landscape Photography My Son South East Asia Travel Photography Vietnam

Hoi An

Hoi An Central Vietnam

About 30 to 40 minutes South of Da Nang is the beautiful town of Hoi An, a Unesco World Heritage Site. Once known as Faifa, Hoi An was the commercial capitol of the Cham kingdom which controlled the Spice trade with Indonesia between the 7th and 10th centuries. The Old Town is a maze of lanes and alleyways, full of Chinese shophouses mainly serving the tourist trade. There is a lovely atmosphere at night just as the sun goes down and the thousands of Chinese lanterns light up. Some people may hate the amount of tourists this beautiful town attracts, the upside of this is an abundance of great hotels and restaurants – oh and propper coffee!!!!!! In reality many busloads head back to nearby Da Nang and the beaches in the evening so it is still easy to get lost in it’s charm. We love it!! it’s our favourite town in Asia so far! We also find our favourite hotel in Vietnam, the Thanh Binh Riverside, we initially book in for 3 nights and end up spending 8!

Central Vietnam Cityscape Hoi An Landscape Photography Travel Photography Vietnam