Oct 25, 2010, 12:01
I'm just finishing the first 24 hours of my big Asian/European trip. I left Perth on a 1am flight this morning, and after a stop-over in Malaysia the flight terminated in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in Vietnam around lunch time.
I haven't done much more since arriving at my hotel except get my bearings, catch up on some sleep, go out for dinner and do a bit of exploring on foot.
1. & 2. The first day of my trip began with this sunrise at Kuala Lumper airport.
3. & 4. Kuala Lumper airport is huge and very easy to get around.
5. & 6. There were plenty of exhausted travellers waiting for connecting flights.
While waiting at KL airport, I spent time chatting with Sophie. She is a woman was also travelling from Perth to Vietnam on my flights. She had an amazing story. She was born in Vietnam in 1973 but was evacuated to Australia as an infant and adopted by an Australian/English couple. Today is the beginning of her first trip back to the country of her birth (at age 37), and she is here to try to track down her biological family and home village. Because the evacuation happened during the chaos of war, there are very few records made and ones that do exist were often inaccurate. So she has a real challenge ahead of her that involves a lot of leg-work. She also fears some prejudice from certain Vietnamese, as she clearly looks Vietnames but speaks with a broad Australian accent (and can't speak Vietnamese). I can only imagine what it must be like for her to have such a huge aspect of her life being completely unknown though, and she was determined to find some answers. Unfortunately I have no photos of her.
7. & 8. KL Airport has an internal shuttle train joining the Satellite terminal to the main terminal. Upon arrival at Saigon I was instantly treated to a million examples of on-the-fly logistical problem solving. I never get tired of watching this fine art.
9. & 10. Views from the taxi ride and my hotel room. Sadly the hotel management (in the name of safety?) have a heavy wire mesh over my window, making it inconvenient for photos.
11. & 12. After catching up on some sleep I wandered out to find some dinner. The streets are amazing. Cities like this make Australian cities feel so dull and sterile. I found a really nice little restaurant, had a great meal, and with drinks and a generous tip it cost me $5.
If today is any indication, I think I'll be taking a lot of photos on this trip! hehe.. but don't expect posts like this every day!
I haven't done much more since arriving at my hotel except get my bearings, catch up on some sleep, go out for dinner and do a bit of exploring on foot.
1. & 2. The first day of my trip began with this sunrise at Kuala Lumper airport.
3. & 4. Kuala Lumper airport is huge and very easy to get around.
5. & 6. There were plenty of exhausted travellers waiting for connecting flights.
While waiting at KL airport, I spent time chatting with Sophie. She is a woman was also travelling from Perth to Vietnam on my flights. She had an amazing story. She was born in Vietnam in 1973 but was evacuated to Australia as an infant and adopted by an Australian/English couple. Today is the beginning of her first trip back to the country of her birth (at age 37), and she is here to try to track down her biological family and home village. Because the evacuation happened during the chaos of war, there are very few records made and ones that do exist were often inaccurate. So she has a real challenge ahead of her that involves a lot of leg-work. She also fears some prejudice from certain Vietnamese, as she clearly looks Vietnames but speaks with a broad Australian accent (and can't speak Vietnamese). I can only imagine what it must be like for her to have such a huge aspect of her life being completely unknown though, and she was determined to find some answers. Unfortunately I have no photos of her.
7. & 8. KL Airport has an internal shuttle train joining the Satellite terminal to the main terminal. Upon arrival at Saigon I was instantly treated to a million examples of on-the-fly logistical problem solving. I never get tired of watching this fine art.
9. & 10. Views from the taxi ride and my hotel room. Sadly the hotel management (in the name of safety?) have a heavy wire mesh over my window, making it inconvenient for photos.
11. & 12. After catching up on some sleep I wandered out to find some dinner. The streets are amazing. Cities like this make Australian cities feel so dull and sterile. I found a really nice little restaurant, had a great meal, and with drinks and a generous tip it cost me $5.
If today is any indication, I think I'll be taking a lot of photos on this trip! hehe.. but don't expect posts like this every day!
Adrian Broughton
My Website: www.BroughtonPhoto.com.au
My Blog: blog.BroughtonPhoto.com.au
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"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler." - Einstein.