Michael Powell's Blog, page 37
May 25, 2017
The Museum of Fine Arts
Occupying a set of three colonial-era buildings in the heart of Saigon, the Museum of Fine Arts is packed with ancient sculptures, classical paintings, and contemporary canvases. It’s all worth full attention, but we found ourselves moving too rapidly through the rooms, because there was simply so much to see.
[image error]
The yellow and white building mansion which contains the bulk of the museum’s collection dates from 1929. This is largest building, and the one in which you’ll spend the most time. The...
May 24, 2017
Saigon Street Food Journal #4
We were already feeling overwhelmed; just within the bubble of our Saigon neighborhood, there were so many dishes to try. And once we started travelling around the country, we realized that every region has its own specialties. Forced to accept that a comprehensive exploration of Vietnamese cuisine would be impossible, we decided to just relax, and consume as much as we could. We might not be able to sample every dish, but it would be a most delicious failure.
Bánh Mì Ôp La[image error]
Like most visitor...
May 23, 2017
Hunting for the Black Silk of Tan Chau
The province of Tan Chau is famous across Vietnam for its naturally-colored black silk. We spent a day trying to find a place where we could watch it being made. Should be easy, right?
While in Vietnam, you’ll hear about a lot of experiences that sound like great fun. But often, you won’t be able to find many details. That’s fine if you’re willing to join guided tours, but for independent travelers, the lack of information can be maddening. Traditional silk weaving in the town of Tan Chau? Y...
May 22, 2017
Chau Doc’s Cham Village
All we did was cross the bridge from downtown Chau Doc, and everything changed. The people looked and sounded different, had a different style of dress and a different religion. We had arrived in Chau Doc’s Cham Village… and it had nothing to do with the Vietnam we’ve come to know.
[image error]
The Cham once ruled Central Vietnam, but today they’re an ethnic minority in this country, and in neighboring Cambodia. They speak an Austronesian language that has more in common with Samoan than Vietnamese. And...
May 17, 2017
Tra Su Forest and Stork Sanctuary
About a half-hour by motorbike to the southeast of Chau Doc, the square-shaped forest of Tra Su has become a favorite nesting spot for storks and other large water birds. A visit to the water-carpeted park is a popular excursion from Chau Doc, and for good reason.
[image error]
Tra Su feels like an anomaly. In this flat region otherwise dominated by agriculture and fields of rice, a lush forest doesn’t belong. Or rather, it feels like it no longer belongs. Had the Mekong Delta been left to its own devices...
Chau Doc and Mount Sam
If you follow the Bassac River inland from Can Tho, the last town you encounter before reaching Cambodia is Chau Doc. We spent a few days in this ethnically diverse city, dedicating the first to its most popular attraction: the holy mountain of Nui Sam.
[image error]
During our travels, we’ve noticed that border towns tend to be a little strange. Whether it’s the gambling town of Gevgelia in Macedonia, Bolivia’s Copacabana on Lake Titicaca, or now Chau Doc… something’s not quite right. It’s as though the...
May 14, 2017
The Rice Paper Makers of Thuận Hưng
Part of the six-hour boat tour we’d taken in Can Tho had been a visit to a tourist-oriented rice paper “factory”. That was fine, but we wanted to see the real thing. About forty kilometers north of Can Tho lies Thuận Hưng, which is locally known as a rice paper village. We took the bus there, to hunt down a few of the factories.
[image error]
If you’ve ever wanted to feel like a celebrity without the hassle of “getting famous”, then climb on a local Vietnamese bus and visit a far-flung village like Thuận...
May 13, 2017
Adventure on Cồn Sơn Island
Apart from a few photos in a Can Tho tourism brochure, we couldn’t find any information about little Cồn Sơn Island. But we decided to roll the dice, and visit anyway. If “Adventure” is comprised of equal parts “Challenge” and “Surprise”, with a dash of “Terror” to spice things up, then our experience on Cồn Sơn definitely qualifies as an adventure.
[image error]
Like all good adventures, this one started with a challenge. As we were boarding the ferry to the island, a woman approached and said it was the...
Can Tho’s Ben Thuy House and Bui Huu Nghia Street
The colonial house of Ben Thuy looks like it hasn’t changed a bit since the 19th century. After checking out the property and its garden of orchids, we walked toward the river along the entertaining street of Bui Huu Nghia.
[image error]
It’s hard to imagine how Can Tho must have looked in 1870, when the house of Ben Thuy was originally built for Mr. Duong Minh Hien. This was just a few years after the French had conquered Cochinchina, but already the architecture was mixing European and Asian elements. T...
May 12, 2017
A Slow Boat Down the Mekong
Part of Can Tho’s charm is that there isn’t a lot to do. The city practically forces you into a state of relaxation; it’s hard to stress about “seeing all the sights”, when there aren’t many sights to see. The entire itinerary for our first day was “Boat Ride”, so when the tour turned out to be six hours long, we didn’t mind.
[image error]
If you’re a visitor to Can Tho, it’s a good bet that you’ll be taking a boat ride on the Mekong. It’s just what tourists do. We decided to try our luck by walking along...
