[monumentum]

I'll just start with a little blogging - reality, random thoughts. Though not being the hanging out at shopping centres, dining for hours at fine restaurants, squandering money like water, gawking at the latest personal accessories type, somehow I still realise myself not having achieved alot with my gap year. It's as if time passes faster for me, compared to people who cherish time. They could've learnt an additional language, done some outstanding artworks, taken some great photos, won some competitions (cash prizes!!) & so on... & wasting time is totally... I'm lost for words.

Day #19: From KonTum to Phuoc Son town (18-May-2010)

Perhaps the appearance of this building is not very telling. But yes, a religious place it is. A nunnery in KonTum town which has a long & rich history. Obviously you can tell that from its architecture, but oh well.. I'll just mention.An outdoor bust! Oh wow. I've no idea who's that but I guess he was the founder of this place? ;P enjoying sights somehow diverts one from true learning. But anyway the best thing about this entire building, to me, was its blue tinted glass windows. Shallow am I not?

Guess what, these are tree whose barks are used to make paper. What were they doing? I truly forgot. & I think I'm so not into the mood of typing more. This photo looks so plain.

Ok this is one rather significant bridge that the locals liken to the Manhattan bridge. Really, the structure somehow resembles its New York counterpart, but just a smaller version straddling a very picturesque background. Also, this bridge does not only accommodate motor vehicles per se. It practically takes on any possible 'modes of transport' found in the vicinity. You'll see...

A very affordable breakfast at Kontum market. This stall sells all sorts of rice products. The range of dishes really emphsizes rice's importance to the Vietnamese. The types of rice cakes alone can leave you undecisive of which to choose. Yet somehow important as it is, the prices are still kept low. How unexpected. Mmm, but breakfast was good.

Whoever eats dessert after their breakfasts? Yea, me. Just for today I had this very very sweet suspicious-looking mixture for dessert. I've never eaten anything like this before, so I cannot draw any link to anything familiar to describe this. Though a tad too sweet for my liking, it was still nice, for it had this other coconuty, beany taste in that gooey liquid. It's said that you can choose to mix the different ingredients (above) or can buy them separately.

This (above) is one amusing composition. So much for work safety habits!

Passion fruit plantation. Aren't the flowers just so cute? Their petals come in strands. Like, wow...

This plant below was er.. I've no idea what it was, but it was really prickly. Like mini durians, just the size of a dandelion fur ball.

Dak To war memorial

If you somehow get a chance to climb tanks like these, try to avoid doing so in the midday heat. I felt my butt get roasted.

A bridge made out of rusting cables which swayed easily with the wind. Would you travel on something like that with your bike? At least the wooden planks flanking the bridge were complete, unlike some I'd encountered earlier on.

This is another communal house we came to along the way. Dak Wak, perhaps the village's name, though the term 'Dak' usually indicates the province - 'Tinh', in the Vietnamese language. It was easy to remember in a sense, so similar sounding to the Chinese '省'. There wasnt anyone around, so I audaciously went into it. The structure was fascinating, emanating the tradition of the region. It wasn't so much a residence, but rather a place of congregation for the village people, for functions & so on, according to Mai Loc (that's my guide's name).

Having met with series of torrential rains & floods earlier on in the year, this region had many destroyed bridges. Of course, tenacious as the Vietnamese are, they could easily overcome this issue by... (below). Walk/swim across the waters until you reach the middle of the river, where there's the makeshift 'bridge' made out of remnants of the previous bridge, then continue your journey on it.

3 boys on a buffalo. They climbed all the way up the cliff to greet us. How sweet of them.. Though my photos of them aren't particularly usable.

We stopped by at a village which had a sign specifically warning against tourists. Alright. But we met some Caucasians in there sashaying through the village with much self-importance. Nothing against that, but I was just curious about the sign, should've snapped a photo! Aww..

A nice old lady who welcomed us at the mouth of the village. So according to Mai Loc, wrinkles are the signs of having lived a life (something like that, can't remember the actual words he used). There, an attempt at capturing this idea, though not artistic enough, I feel. Depth of field is always my main concern, when I focus on the face, I couldn't capture the necklaces well. So ok, shall combine these 2 photographs & you get a complete set of sharp image - face to necklaces.. What a cheat.

The village children. They're so camera-friendly, aren't they. Much as I hate myself being in photos, they just prefer the opposite. But anyway, they look good, so why not eh? ^^

I have no particular liking in taking photos of people (as yet), especially children, attributing to my lack of skills. They tend to move around, & motion blur is so malicious. No matter how I try to correct it, the likelihood is that I wouldn't succeed. Damn the number of photographs I had to omit in the selection process.

(Above) Ignore the very apparent lack of light. I had to do it to capture that flare, for otherwise I'd end up with an overexposed sky. I'll try to learn to balance things out next time.

Phuoc Son town was where we spent the night. Really a small small town with only very few decent hotels, which is a good thing, so we got to stay at a rather high end one. It's simply a great excuse to indulge.

OmG I couldn't keep myself from taking photo of this dustbin (below). LOL. CUTE. Gotta step on his feet to open the lid. Aw..

How often do you see a mirror (below) like this? The patterns aren't very practical, narrowing one's line of vision in it. But it's nice, don't you think?

A small town with not many night activities. By 8pm+ the streets were already thrown into almost complete darkness, apart from the occasional provision shops & roadside stalls still open for business. We had some problem finding dinner, but this we ended up eating, wasn't bad. Chicken noodles. One wouldn't expect much meat from chicken dishes in Vietnam (perhaps that's why people rely so heavily on pork & beef), but the rest of it was nice. Just to reiterate, I'll try to turn vegetarian soon!

Being a rather classy hotel, it had its own cafe, where we sat down to relax for awhile after dinner. Enjoyable ambience but.. Not to act like a puritan, I just thought there were too many smokers around. Hmm, personally, I dislike the smoking habit so... Yea.

No I wouldn't forget about the fruits in Vietnam, so would always get something or other. Today, lychee & mangosteens. Loved it.