Pnomh Penh at 6 am the first morning
View from our room across the Tonle Sap River
The royal elephant going to work
6 o'clock shadows
Waiting to enter the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh
Gallery of the Ramayana Frescos and The Bell Tower
Looking at the partly saved Ramayana Frescos
Detail of the fresco
The Silver Pagoda
The Pagoda Courtyard
White Lotus Flower
Stupa of King Ang Duong
The Mondapa with Palace rooves behind
Garuda supporting a Naga
Stupa of Kantha Bopha (left) and Royal Pavilion
Bowl of orchids
A colour a day.....
...keeps the King in good cheer!
Empress Eugenie's Pavilion
The Palace gardens
The Throne Hall
The Throne Hall steps guarded by a Seven-headed Naga
View back to the Pagoda Courtyard
Naga finial with birds
Roof decoration
Model of Angkor Wat
The party
Model of the last Coronation Procession
The King being carried on high
Exotic blossom on a fruit tree
The National Museum in Phnom Penh
Jack Fruit
The Toul Sleng Genocide Museum
Ready to feed the royal elephant with Prom, our guide
Margaret feeding the elephant
The temple at Wat Phnom hill
Sunset traffic from our balcony
Flying over the Tonle Sap Lake
Sue shooting the pool at our Siem Reap hotel
The lotus pool by reception
The swimming pool from the bar
Along the river bank in Siem Reap
A fifteen headed naga and a garuda guarding one of the bridges
View along the Siem Reap River
Gecko on a tree
Not impressed!
Fishing village on Tonle Sap Lake
The boatman and Solin, our guide
Stilt house
Fisherman
Sorting the catch
Fish farming...
and crocodile farming
Taking home the groceries
Storm clouds gathering
Angkor Wat at first light
Reflections in the lake at sun rise
We are not alone!
The Kennedys
The Dunns
The stone way leading to the main entrance
Entering the temple complex
Along the outer arcades
The full length of the arcade
Decorated with our first apsaras
King Jayavarman VII holding court
Cham invaders
Dealing with the defeated Cham
A nearby temple is celebrating a festival...
Solin explaining something!
Decoration on a doorway
In all there are nearly 2000 apsara reliefs...
with more than 40 different hair styles.
The inner courtyard
More apsara
The central temple group is now closed to tourists
A separate pavilion called 'the library'
The buddhas are still dressed for festivals
A family making offerings inside Angkor
The only apsara who shows her teeth
A group of pilgrims with a many handed buddha
A naga outside the main temples
The famous towers
Looking back along the causeway
Approaching the gateway to Angkor Thom
Demons guarding the bridge
Solin explaining the praying gesture
Through the gate
The Bayon of Angkor Thom
An inner terrace
A really cheeky smile!
Cockfighting below scenes in a lake
Repelling more invaders
Three faces...
and three more
A tower against the forest
Close up
The party in front of the Bayon
The Elephant Terrace in Angkor Thom
A frieze of elephants with mahouts
Behind us the elephants have become garudas
Opposite the Elephant Terrace is an open space with pavilions
Queuing to get out through the gateway
Everybody is in their best clothes for the festival
Arriving at Ta Prohm
The 'house of fire'
A silk cotton tree growing out of the buildings
The party standing amongst the roots
The damaged buildings still show fine carvings
A collapsed arcade
Tree root enclosing an archway
Walking through the temple
The chamber with the echo
The strangler vines have many fine roots
Sunlight falling into an arcade
Exposed laterite blocks
Flooding on our way back to Siem Reap
Silkworm pupae
Growing silkworms on mulberry leaves
Maturing the pupae on wicker wheels
Spinning silk thread from the harvested pupae
Weaving the silk
Silk garments in the Khmer style
Khmer dancers at our hotel
The fishermans' dance
Modern apsaras
Girl drying rice by the roadside
Harvesting rice with a sickle
The farmhouse
The entrance to Beng Mealea
The avenue up to the temple
A sunlit pool
The ruined temple of Beng Mealea
Photographing the ruin
Following the walkway...
over the fallen walls....
into the inner court
A restored doorway
How they achieved arches without keystones
Fallen pillars and rooves
Look at that!
The stone spindles were turned
Strangler vine roots
A fallen dancer
Sunshine at last! At Banteay Srei
The entrance to Banteay Srei
The pediment showing Indra riding his three-headed elephant
Detail of the door pillars
Margaret and Nigel
The causeway to the main temple buildings
A side gallery
Its entrance
Detail of the door pillar
Demon clawing a god
A snake spewing out a lion
View of the main buildings
Carved pediment
Complex decorated archway
The main towers
The court formed by the main towers
A five-headed naga
Decoration
A pediment showing an episode from Hindhu mythoogy
The highly decorated apsara
Reflections in the surrounding lily pool
Central Siem Reap
Street shrine in Siem Reap
Saigon - early evening from our hotel
Close up of the ferries
Waiting for the lights to turn green
Map of the Cu Chi Tunnels - Saigon is bottom right
Model of the tunnels, showing the various levels
Andrew in a narrow entrance shaft
Kha explaining the tunnel system
The replica Vietcong armoury
Rubber plantation
Collecting the sap in a gourd
The Reunification Palace, built in 1966
The front railings of the palace
One of the tanks which 'liberated' the palace in 1975
Tourists and topiary at the palace entrance
The main staircase
Originally, the presidential dining room
The view down Le Duan Street towards the cathedral
The cabinet meeting room
Looking into the Vice-President's Reception Room
A garden in the living quarters
A magnificent mural of Vietnam in an 'informal' reception room
Girls in the street
The bride and groom being photgraphed in front of...
Notre Dame Cathedral
The 19th Century Post Office Building
The Post Office interior with map of Saigon in 1892
The Hotel de Ville at the head of Nguyen Hue Boulevard
The father of his people
The night club boat with passing freight
Clouds building in the late afternoon
Our river view at dusk...
Funeral vans
In the Chinese suburb of Cho Lon
The Binh Tay market in Cho Lon
The market hall
The Binh Tay Directory, showing the specialised zones
In the hats zone
In the fabrics zone
Haberdashery on the left, baskets on the right
Part of the food hall and restaurant zone
The Quan Am Pagoda in Cho Lon
One of the guardians of the entrance hall
Incense smoke
A temple door knocker
The main prayer hall
Another incense burner in a side court
Detail of the wonderful ridge tiles
Down at the Mekong Delta
Houses on the far bank
The new bridge being built upstream
Its less effort with the motor
The Vietmanese musicians on Unicorn Island...
and the singer
Boats tied up by the restaurants
Mudskippers
Nigel doesn't look happy...
and Andrew isn't in control!
The fish we had for lunch
Back on the wide Mekong
Freighter with eyes to scare away sea devils
Trade Union Travel
Everything goes by motorbike
In Hue, and its raining!
Flooded streets
Outside our lunch venue
Fishing in the lake at Tu Duc's Mausoleum and Palace, built in the 1860's
Yum talking in the Boating Pavilion
Reading while it rains
Dragons for the emperor's steps; clouds for the others
The temple courtyard
Vietnamese astrology on the Theatre ceiling
It would be pretty if it wasn't raining
A general and a mandarin line a walkway
The ornate decoration is spoilt by black mould
The steps up to the Mausoleum of Khai Dinh (built 1920-1931)
Mandarins with servants...
and a businessman!
The view over the Perfume River from the top terrace
The highly decorated funeral chamber with life size statue of Khai Dinh
Hue is still flooded the next morning
Travelling into the Marble Mountains
Boy on a buffalo
Water buffalo
Houseboats on the coast
Old fortifications on the Hoi Van Pass
Bi-lingual road signs
Arriving into Da Nang
In the Cham Museum
A Cham study of Krishna dancing
A Cham king
Cham dancers
In Non Nuoc - the stone carvers' village in the Marble Mountains
Map of the Thuy Son caves in the Marble Mountains
The Tam Thai Pagoda's courtyard
The pagoda
The entrance to the Huyen Khong Cave
Inside the Huyen Khong Cave
One of the cave's guardians
A phoenix on the temple roof
A stone lantern by the pathway
The view over the coastal plain from Thuy Son Mountain
Walking to the market in Hoi An
The marketplace
The entrance to the Phuoc Kien Assembly Hall in Hoi An
Lotus flower
Incense spirals
Thien Hau, Goddess of the Sea and her supporters
Decorated dragons in the courtyard
Lady carrying herbs
The Bon River is still over its banks
Remnant of French civilisation and a Chinese motorbike
Playing chinese chess in the street
Opening the restaurant for lunch
Tourists at the Chua Ong Temple
Back at the market
Hats and a pair of wellies
Trimming the fish
Clearing the mud by hand
The cycle park for the market
No customers
Look at the mess the river has made
Boys playing on the riverside
A lantern shop
Decorative flowers at the hotel entrance
With Dhu and Matthew in Hanoi
Entering the Temple of Literature
Looking down to the Khue Van Cac Gateway
The Khue Van Cac gateway
The stelae recording all the successful mandarin candidates from 1484 to 1779
A lacquered cabinet
Two disciples of Confucius in the main temple hall
A stone guardian
Vietnamese music in the National Academy buiding at the rear of the Temple of Literature
A temple roof
Tile close up
Looking down on the traffic from the City View Cafe
Hoen Kiem Lake from the City View
The red lacquered Huc Bridge on Hoan Kiem Lake
The orchestra of the Hanoi Water Puppet Theatre
The water puppets
A procession enters
Dancing girls
Racing boats
Amorous peacocks
The puppeteers take their applause
Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum
The Presidential Palace
Ho Chi Minh's fishing lake
The two room house built for Ho Chi Minh
Aerial tree roots
The One Pillar Pagoda, dating from the 11th century
Ho Chi Minh's Museum
Being photographed with Ho
Why aren't we going?
Matthew
Sue, in the cyclo which did go
Pedalling round the Hoan Kiem Lake
Into the Old Quarter
Side street
Carrying large fruits, maybe pomelos, a kind of grapefruit
Pavement drink seller
Carrying table cloths
Streetside metal fabrication
Stopping to phone, with Burberry
A basket vendor
Eating al fresco
A mobile fruit stall
Cycling past the City View Cafe
In the Thang Nhat Park
A tug of war
The Bay Mau Lake in the Thang Nat Park
Making bouquets up on the pavement
Passing rice paddies on the way to Halong Bay
The valley is dead flat until the distant hills
In the busy port at Halong Bay
Roughly 700 boats take tourists into the bay
Local transport
The view up the Cua Cam River as we leave
The flotilla sails into the islands
Passing the village of fish farms
Margaret and Nigel relax
Sundappled sea
Entering the Hang Sung Sot Cave
In the main cave, with the phallus rock visible to the right
At the back of the cave
From the very back towards the entrance
Roof formation
Looking back from the way out
Tourist boats in the bay below the cave
Late afternoon reflections
Rowing with the feet
Sails aloft
Titop Island, where we swam, with its hilltop shrine
Sails in the sunset
The romantic dinner looks like chips and beers!
Three generations bringing the morning groceries
Going into the Ho Ba Ham lagoon, just like James Bond
Inside the lagoon on a grey morning
Going back into the bay via one of the three tunnels
Joining the flotilla on the return voyage
The new bridge back in the Cua Cam River
Dhu demonstarting the pottery techniques
The bank of kilns
Fired pots waiting to be decorated
Vietnamese 'Capo di Monte'
Vientiane, the entance to Wat Sisaket
Monks walking to their quarters
The cloister courtyard inside Wat Sisaket
Rows of Buddhas
A bronze head of Buddha
The cloister arcade
A dressed Buddha with offerings
A carved and painted naga
The main temple hall
Talking to our guide, Boun Lae
Carved wooden door pediment in Wat Sisaket
Across the road in Haw Pha Kaew, once the king's personal temple
Roof ornament
Chinese bronze dog
A bronze tortoise
Bronze Buddhas guarding the temple hall
A naga staircase
Approaching That Louang, the Golden Stupa
King Setthathilat looks pleased with himself and his stupa
Decorated prayer hall
Originally 16th century, the stupa had to be completely rebuilt in the 1930's
Patouxai, 1950's concrete archway
Towards the suburbs of Vientiane
Looking down Lane Xang Avenue to the town centre
That Dam - the Black Stupa
Flying over the Lao mountains to Luang Prabang
Luang Prabang, where the Nam Khan flows into the Mekong
Margaret and Sue with offerings
Wat Xiang Thong
Wat Xiang Thong, the Buddha pavilions
Wall decoration on the main hall
Another stencilled dancer from the outside wall
Scene of country life
A panel with dancer, flowers and birds
The decorated doorway into the main prayer hall
Mosaic of the Tree of Life
Carved and gilded doors
Detail of the mosaic, showing rice growing
A celebration of country life
Dancers
The Funerary Carriage Hall, built in the 1960's
The fight with Hanuman the King of the Monkeys
Scenes from the life of Buddha
The royal funerary carriage of King Sisavang Vong
Young monks putting up festival lights
Monastic laundry
We're ready to cook...
and so are we!
Practising our spring rolls
Preparing ingredients for the main course
We ate the result of our efforts
Morning market
Chilies
Fresh vegetables
Plenty of shoppers
Dried fishes
Cooked and fresh
Chillies, tomatoes and limes
Votive offerings for sale
Museum entrance with prayer hall
Korean tourists in front of the former royal palace
King Sisavang Vong, the penultimate king of Laos
The king's personal prayer hall
The royal lotus pool
Walking down to the Mekong
We are heading up river
Somphet, our guide in Luang Prabang
Riverside gardens
Boats moored at at Ban Xang Hai, the whisky village
'Phet' with some of the product from the 'Whisky Village'
The village shrine
Fishing on the river bank
Approaching the Pak Ou Caves
'Phet' placing his offering
Coming down from the upper level
Some of the buddhas donated by pilgrims over the centuries
The view across the Mekong to the Nam Ou river
Shrine on the hill above the Pak Ou caves
Leaving the top cave
Crossing to the mouth of the Nam Ou
We shall lunch here, opposite the caves
Boat racing on the opposite bank to Luang Prabang
They've had family picnics to watch the racing
View of Phou Si above Luang Prabang's old town
That Chomsi on top of Phou Si, the sacred hill
View across the Mekong to the boat racing
Our cookery lesson was over there
The dawn alms giving ritual
A village procession for the new moon festival
Firewood ready to take to market
Fields of groundnut and rice
'Phet'shows us the 'peanuts' underground
Rice fields
A nearby village
Boys playing with tops
Black bears at the Kouang Si Falls Reserve
And a tiger as well
Boys playing below the falls
A waterwheel
The party in front of the Kouang Si Falls
The view down from the top of the falls
Margaret and Nigel went in as well
The monasteries are being decorated for the festival
Monks decorating a float for the night procession
Allotments on the bank of the Nam Khan
Street sign
Making a raft to send the floats down the Mekong
Monks returning with their daily alms
The night market
The finished float is lit up
Choosing her vegetarian supper
The main street and the Mong Market
The procession is assembling
These ladies are getting it on already
Young girls ready to lead their village/ suburb's float
Eager to go
Lanterns in the monastery garden
Happy and confident
Shy
Native costumes of all sorts
The driver!
Keeping the children happy
Beautifully woven and embroidered costumes
Musician
They even have drag queens
The hotel pool
