Wandering Fractal

Hoi An's river side. Vietnamese boats have eyes painted to frighten the crocodiles, sea monsters and evil spirits. The ancient port of Hội An has now shifted it's main activity from trading toward tourism. The town is full of old houses and pedestrian streets that makes it pleasant to stroll. The architecture is influenced by all the foreign traders that had settled there, mainly Chinese, but also a few Japanese, Portuguese, Dutch, Indians. The town can easily be visited in half a day, so I used the afternoon to go to the beach. I rented a bike and went to the An Bang beach, 5 km outside of town. It was one of the best I visited in Vietnam. The waves were big enough to surf, but unfortunately I couldn't find a place to rent a board. To go to Hội An, I took a train from Ho Chi Minh city to Nha Trang. I stayed a few days in this city but except the beach there isn't much to see. It's a very popular spot for Russian families and it was fun to see restaura...

Amphawa floating market. Products and food are sold from boats. It's been seven years since I've been in Bangkok and the city has not changed much. And I still like it. Just the right amount of chaos and order. I spent a day to go visit a floating market and the famous railway market in the town close to the capital. I decided to go by myself with public transports and did both of them in a single day since the two places are close together. The railway market was a lot of fun. It was crowded and cramped. I was impressed of how swiftly the vendors retracted the stalls and moved the tourist on the side of the tracks. The floating market was beautiful, but since I arrived in the afternoon, I missed the heat of the action. Maybe going to the floating market in the morning and then at the railway market would have been better. To go to the town of Maeklong where the railway market is I first went to the southern bus station of Bangkok, Sai Tai Mai. It's fare from th...