A bit before Christmas and indeed before the Vietnameses New Year Festival ("Tet", 27 Januray 2009), we took a couple of days of leave and head towards Central Vietnam, Hoi An first, and Hue then.

Gstadd by blurred
Originally uploaded by Alex Hysbergue

I love this picture. From the foreground to the background everything is blurred. How to achieve such results ? Isn't that amazing ? Well, hand a camera (film of course) to my mother and everything can happen.

What is that on the left hand side ? No, it is not a mysterious appearance of some alien. Probably the camera case... And how come it is that bright ? Was there any flash ? Oh no, we just cannot tell.

The background, you may guess is a castle. Actually a Hotel, the Gstaad Palace. We always loved this place and will always be wandering it.

You understood on the picture it's myself closely followed by my wife.

Ahhh... Good old times !
Hell no, don't agree with that, this picture was taken in 2005 !

www.gstaad.ch

Just got back from Honk Kong - amazing place. I had the opportunity to stay a little after a conference there. Take some pictures, open my eyes and here are some results !

The first thing that can be noticed, when arriving in Hong Kong for the very first time - and it is actually famous for that - is the huge amount of skyscrapers. They are just everywhere. You go out of the Airport with an Express train and from the first station (Tsing Yi, which is still kind of far from the city itself) you understand what concrete really is.

And it never stops.

Of course, many of these buildings are famous throughout the world, but in my opinion the night landscape of Hong Kong at night is just the best to see. Crazy. Even the clouds seem 'turning on' themselves to participate to the show (Symphony of Lights) and actually, they do participating in the show (top picture on the left).

**** Must do : Hong Kong's from sunset till' night @ the Peak (grab the Tram to get there)
**** Must see : Symphony of Lights show. From the Avenue of Stars

Obviously, the hotel I stayed was a tall building. Actually not tall at all : 20 floors. It was a great hotel for the price and I would strongly recommend you to go there if you look for something clean and tidy : Garden View International House

Markets and shopping

If there is a place, only one place, for shopping, this is it ! Hong Kong has many aspects of a giant super mall/shopping center. I am wondering how many square meters of commercial space there are for each inhabitants. Everywhere you go you can buy everything (well, almost everything).

Hong Kong is famous for its consumer electronics shops : from the Wii to the little 65 inches LCD - HD bla blah blah TV... Heard it is cheaper than everywhere else but I did not verify that, since I just bought a flashlight for probably the same price as it would cost elsewhere...

However, you always fall on the same products. And most of them are luxury products. Where does average people go shopping ? I'd like to know... What's nice is the specialized markets, the goldfish street is surprising.

**** Must do : get lost !
**** Must see : Goldfish Market and markets in the mini streets (almost everywhere)
**** Must avoid : Nathan Road's Indian Tailors

Transportation

True : the subway works well ; taxis are not really expensive ; ferries are a must take.
False : bus are running frequently and easy to access (at least they're cheap)

Definitely, the old tram to the Victoria Peak is something to do. You pay the price for it (about 4 times the price of other trams) but the experience worths it. Then, from the Peak the view is amazing, particularly at night.

Star Ferry

Another thing to see is the longest escalator in the world, running from the mid-levels to Central. Really, it's just long and no it is not in one piece. So you don;t feel it long... So, does it worth taking it ? Only if you're around.

**** Must do : Tram to the Peak
**** Must see : All other transportations except :
**** Must avoid : Buses...




Most of the [hopefully good] pictures I took there are on this page as well as on my Flickr page.


What I know I missed :

• Night Horse Races
• Bus # 6 to the beach, South of Hong Kong Island
• Some museums
• Some temples
• Some galleries
• Many nice restaurants...
  

For more info about Hong Kong :

• Take a look at C Ray Dancer's photos on Flickr, surely much better than mine !

• http://www.discoveryhongkong.com/
• Wikipedia page

This is a set of 6 pictures I took in Phan Thiet last week... out of 7 pictures...
Some say I am getting good with the thing :))

Quick trip report... Or does the picture say it all ?
Un petit voyage ; et quelques photos....

Ha Long Bay - Baie d'Halong

Today is a great day : I am leaving the chilly north yet beautiful North part of the country to go back home, in Saigon. Well I spent a week here, in one of the hotel of my company [Link : Victoria Sapa] and even I am on the way back, I still have to stop in Ha Noi for a half-day...

Aujourd'hui, retour dans le Sud : fini la fraicheur du Nord. Tres bel endroit [Lien : Victoria Sapa] mais apres une semaine, content quand meme de rentrer a la maison. Petit passage a Ha Noi demain et puis voila.

Around Sapa

Victoria Sapa