We spent a little less than two weeks in Vietnam, splitting time between the southern city of Ho Chi Minh (formerly Saigon), and a small island off the south western coast of mainland Vietnam called Phu Quac. Here are a couple photo galleries highlighting our stay:
Statue of Ho Chi Minh in front of the headquarters of the The Peoples Committee building, which was originally built in the 1900’s as the French Colonial City Hall.
The Bitexco Financial Tower has been nicknamed Stark Tower due to its resemblance to Tony Stark’s headquarters in the Iron Man movies.
Floating restaurant on the Saigon River.
Transport helicopter at the Vietnam War Remnants Museum ...
I spent several very sobering hours walking through the several exhibits that highlighted Vietnam’s ‘American War’. The ‘war crimes’ and ‘agent orange’ exhibits were particularly enlightening ... especially coming from a Vietnamese perspective.
On a lighter note ... I have a new hobby!
At some point in time, someone introduced ridgeback genes to the dogs on the southern Vietnamese island of Phu Quac. Now most of the dogs there have the distinctive line of backwards fur on their backs!
They are very, very cute!!
The dragon staircase at Ho Quoc Temple, the largest Buddhist Monestary on Phu Quac Island.
More photos from Ho Quoc Temple ...
Not easy to look you best after an hour on the back of a scooter ...
Fishing boat returning to Duong Dong’s harbor. Duong Dong is Phu Quac’s largest city with a population of around 20,000 inhabitants.
Angela heading to Phu Quac’s Starfish Beach ...
... which was named so for obvious reasons ...
These little guys are known as Protoreaster nodosus ... or more commonly as the horned sea star or chocolate chip sea star ...
... the dark spines, or horns are believed to scare predators by looking dangerous, or poisonous ...
... in truth, the spines are neither poisonous or dangerous. They are strikingly beautiful though!!