Nha Trang, Vietnam - pt 2

We returned to pier, then decided to take the shuttle back into the city to be dropped off at a mall. Rather than visiting the mall, we decided to walk a few blocks to a local market. It was an indoor market with no AC or moving air, along with a lot of fish products that made it feel suffocating in certain areas. The market was huge and also carried household goods, clothing - just about everything one can imagine. I'll include a few typical street scenes taken on our walk to the market.

LOTS of cooking and eating takes place on the sidewalks

no problem!

Welcome to the Dam Market

dried squid?

dried fish snacks

miscellaneous dried sea stuff

After leaving the market, we walked back to where the ship's shuttle bus had dropped us off. Just walking down the street there are tons of photo ops.

there is an abundance of pedicabs

 

 

contrast high rise with city street

 

 

some kind of soup (notice stove beneath)

doing business

notice clothing

I'm always amazed at how heavily these people dress, given that I'm in my most lightweight clothes and sweating profusely! The lady on the right (above) is very typical. Most at least wear sleeves if not sweat tops and long pants on bottom. Many wear hoodies or have their heads covered. Add a mask to that (probably for pollution) and all is covered except for the eyes.

 

banana leaf "packages"

different kinds of eggs

 

The city sidewalks are full of parked motor scooters and vendors, forcing pedestrians to walk along the street. One can easily get run over unless using extreme caution! We came up on one area where there were hundreds of people, scooters and cars that had come to a complete stop except for those who could weave their way through the crowds. As we got closer, we realized it was not an accident but a school that had just let out and these were just the pickup lines! Ha! I wonder how a child could find their parent in that mess.

 

what's going on up ahead?

perhaps there's been an accident?

sidewalks are packed so we're walking in the middle of the street now

oh, it's just letting school out

on our way again, just trying not to get run over

By the way, we’ve noticed that the scooters move like water. Whenever traffic stops, the motors continue to weave in and out of them, like water running downhill while finding its way around rocks or other stationery objects. It’s a miracle there aren’t more accidents than there are. Drivers will rarely stop or slow down for people trying to cross the road on foot. We’ve learned that once you start to cross, you’re committed and need to keep moving. If you hesitate (like I did yesterday) you almost get run over. No joke!