Walk in the new neighborhood

Our house is at the dead end of a 100 meter long little street wide enough for two motorbikes to pass, but too small for a car. When we need a cab for the airport we have to meet him by the secondary road. That unpaved road leads about 3/4 mile to one of the urban roads of Nha Trang. Yes, that's barbed wire along the side of road. And yes, I think about that every time I ride through on my motorcycle.



A sharp right turn leads down to the dead end and our house.



We are protected by a tall iron fence and gate. Our landlord's brother is in the wrought iron fence business.



This house is single story. Pictures of the inside another time.



There is actually a yard with plants and "grass". It needs watering, but never cutting. At night the yard is full of toads.



The house came fully furnished including our own madonna in her grotto. The furnishing also included a dog which was replaced when the first one ran away. When the second one disappeared, the owner decided to replace him with a new dining table. (His other brother is a wood worker).



Beside our house is a pond full of aquatic plants (many edible). Guys come and fish here, often using electrodes attached to a car batter which they carry on their back as they wade in the pond. The frogs at night are deafening.





Straw mat weaving seems to be the home industry in our neighborhood. There are usually several looms at work nearby, but today none were in operation.



The neighborhood is heavily Catholic (in addition to our Madonna in the Grotto)



The Christian graveyards are quite different from Buddhist graves which seem to be more spread out. If you've ever seen a Caribbean cemetary you'll see a similarity.



But then right up the road is a little pagoda complex. Vietnamese call all temples "pagodas", but this tower is what is called to mind when I hear "Pagoda".



The dragon motif is inidicative of the Chinese branch of Buddhism which dominates from Saigon north. In the Mekong delta and through Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, the cobra dominates the temples, indicative of the Indian branch of Buddhism.



Did you know that Buddhism has a flag? This is it. A lot of the rancor between the Buddhists and the Catholic dominated South Vietnamese government in the runup to the war was symbolised by the government's prohibition of the Buddhists flying their flag in public, while Catholics flew the Vatican flag at their celebrations.



This water buffalo was quite curious and concerned about my approach. A moment later he lumbered out of the water to get away.



In Nha Trang, you take your garbage to central collection points. Ours is about 200 yards from our house. Luckily more chickens than rats hang around.



I always thought of watermelon as an American dessert, but it is one of the most popular here and in China.



This guy sells lottery tickets from his little table every day. This is a common job for the poor and you will commonly be approached by 5-6 people selling tickets while you sit in a coffee shop. If you say no to one, the next one standing beside him will ask you anyway.



This little convenience store is representative of dozens of others on my 3 mile walk. The strips hanging from the ceiling are individual ketchup-type packages of shampoo and conditioner which women seem to buy in that form rather than in bulk. They will usually take the shampoo to a hairshop where they can get a wash and massage for around a dollar.



This guy lives in wooden one room shack. He was eating lunch in his front door and agreed to my taking his picture. He seems to take some pains to make his little abode look nicer.



This rickety bridge is on our route to our friends, Doc and Bao Anh's house. If I can rig a helmet cam, I'll show the route which is kind of interesting. When a big wind blows, a lot of the planks of the bridge blow away, but it is rebuilt in 1/2 a day. The toll is 5 cents for a bicycle and 10 cents for a motorcycle (12 cents with a passenger).



Mountains are always visible in the background.