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    2012 travels in review - Part 2

    / Last updated 03 Jan 2013

    Introduction

    The second of two galleries tracking my travels in 2012 visiting Dalat, Vung Tau, Hanoi and Ha Giang in Vietnam as well as Battambang in Cambodia.
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • Was time to get back to Dalat. I've always felt that it's never made much of its real appeal for international travellers - unique colonial architecture and a perfect climate. The Dalat Palace here is one of the country's nicest hotels.
    • Villa spotting is a favourite pass time in Dalat. Touring the hills around the city on the back of motorbike, you can find plenty of fading gems.
    • Dalat's teacher training college, is a unique piece of colonial architecture.
    • Whatever you might say about Bao Dai, Vietnam's last Emperor, he showed better architectural taste than his successors. This is his art-deco villa in Dalat.
    • Had never seen this dilapidated church complex before, overlooking the town above Quang Trung St. It's built into a hill and is part of a much larger complex that I'm told is used to store old books. Seems to have been left to ruin.
    • The hydropfoil to Vung Tau - I was much more excited about the trip than my travelling companions. I travelled there mainly to revisit the Vietnam War era bases of Australian forces.
    • Like everywhere in Vietnam, Vung Tau is changing quickly. The Front Beach area has been spared huge developments though and is a very pleasant antidote to the hyperactivity of nearby Saigon.
    • White Palace, Vung Tau. Initially a beachside residence for Hanoi based French Governor Paul Doumer. Shortly after Doumer's rule, it was a place of house arrest for recalcitrant Emperor Thanh Thai, who refused to comply with French demands. In the 1960s and 70s it was used by South Vietnamese Presidents Ngo Dinh Diem and Nguyen Van Thieu.
    • One of the excavators got a little carried away. Vung Tau.
    • Approaching the former Australian base at Nui Dat.
    • The Long Tan Cross. This was the site of Australia's most important Vietnam War battle. It was small by the bloody standards of the conflict but interest back in Australia is growing and travellers are visiting the area in greater number.
    • Mr Tan, a former Viet Cong soldier who now manages the Long Phuoc tunnels complex used by the VC insisted we exchange hats for a photo.
    • Mau Dich 37, a new Hanoi restaurant, was one of the year's more memorable eateries. It recreates the state food stores of the impoverished 1980s and the simple dishes of those difficult times.
    • Mr Dung. The man behind Mau Dich 37. It's struck a chord with Hanoians.
    • The barefooted bride - Hanoi.
    • Hanoi's State Bank headquarters. With the banking sector in crisis, there would have been some heavy deliberations here in 2012. The signage reads "President Ho (Ho Chi Minh) lives forever in our vocations", and "Rich people, strong nation, democratic society, equal, civilised."
    • Cranes over the new National Assembly site in Ba Dinh Square Hanoi.
    • New graduates don their ao dais, the traditional Vietnamese dress, and head to Hanoi Citadel for photos.
    • A flower seller just off Ba Dinh Square, Hanoi
    • From Hanoi, it was off to Phu Quoc for an update. The Phu Quoc sunset.
    • Phu Quoc Island. A new airport means Phu Quoc's mini-boom is set to gather pace.
    • Plenty of fancy new resorts have been built on Phu Quoc in recent years but this super simple property, Freedomland, has been at the top of tripadvisor for a long time.
    • Ha Giang in Vietnam's far north was my next destination. It was my first visit and all the hype about this being Vietnam's most spectacular region proved spot on.
    • Ethnic minorities, Ha Giang, VIetnam
    • Ha Giang, Vietnam
    • Ha Giang, Vietnam
    • This might be the first time I've ever seen six people on a bike.
    • The former Palace of the Hmong King. Ha Giang
    • Great granddaughter of the former Hmong King.
    • A Hmong wedding, Dong Van, Ha Giang
    • The locals invited me to join in the festivity.
    • The drive between Dong Van and Meo Vac is said to be the most spectacular in Vietnam. And even through the thick mist, it was very impressive.
    • Sunday market at Meo Vac near the Chinese border.
    • Sunday market at Meo Vac near the Chinese border.
    • We wrapped up our journey visiting Ba Be Lake - Vietnam's largest natural lake set in National Park. I travelled with David Mannix and his team from Intrepid Travel in Hanoi.
    • Ba Be Lake, Vietnam
    • Back in Hanoi, it was time to to catch up on work. Retro cafes are all the rage in Hanoi and Saigon. This is Bar Betta.
    • One Hanoi cafe has scratched its menu in texta over the hardcover works of Lenin.
    • My last trip of 2012 was to Battambang in Cambodia. It was my first visit.
    • Battambang doesn't feel terribly big but it's Cambodia's second biggest city. It's an old trading town and is still home to one the country's best collections of colonial architecture.
    • Battambang market.
    • These old Chinese gents gather at Battambang's riverfront Chinese temple each morning.
    • I communicated with the oldest of the group of Chinese men, this 92 year old, in Vietnamese. He lived in Vietnam at different tmes in the 50s and 60s.
    • I'm hopeless fiend for ruins ancient and modern and Battambang's soon to be upgraded ruined railway was a gem.
    • Battambang's low tech Bambu train has gone from being essential transport infrastructure to tourist magnet. It's imminent closure has been flagged for several years now.
    • Sorting through the chillies. Battambang.
    • Like everywhere in Cambodia, Battambang suffered terribly at the hands of the Khmer Rouge.
    • There are some great Angkorian ruins in the countryside surrounding Battambang.
    • Wat Ek, Angkorian era ruins, Battambang.
    Quicklink - Introduction - Cambodia