301. Feeling Like A Warrior

Buôn Đôn Village, Daklak Province, Vietnam. 

Located north-west of Buôn Mê Thuột city, it is well known for elephant hunters and trainers.

I was hesitated to ride the elephant on my first visit to Buôn Đôn village earlier year,  but on my second visit that I finally gathered all my courage to give it a try with my mom, and aunty.  It felt like I was sitting on a slow moving ferris wheel.  As my well being was placed on the elephant and it's trainer, I hold on tight to the wooden rails and could not believe how high it was.  For the first part of the ride, the elephant walked through a rugged down slope path to get to the water bank.  Few times I thought the elephant was going to nose dive down the slope and I was going to get throw out of my seat but it was just my anxious thoughts since the elephant had make it to the water edge without any problem.  Next, it was half way submerged in water, I wondered if the weight of the four human being was over barring for the elephant while the elephant took it time to march through the water and back to the where we began. Thank you to my mom and aunty whom had encouraged me to give the elephant a chance, without them I would not have gone through it.  (~.~)

300. Cầu Cần Thơ - Cần Thơ Bridge

Vĩnh Long Province, Vietnam

Amid its construction on September 26, 2007 section of the ramp collapsed.  It was inaugurated almost three years later on April 24, 2010.

299. Typical Night

A typical Night in the City. 

Nhà Hát Thành Phố - Opera House - Saigon, Vietnam

298. Veggie Hut

Cook heaven!

297 Thung Lũng Tình Yêu - Valley of Love

Dalat City, Vietnam

It was my first visit to the valley of love, not much to said about it. I had hear people talk about it when I was growing up but the hype disappeared as I got to visit it now.

296. Prenn Falls - Dalat

A trip to Dalat would not be complete without a visit to it many water-falls, Prenn Falls was the one I visited. I believe it was privately run park therefore it required visitor to buy ticket to enter the park. A short walk, part of the path was under renovation had make it a little difficult some time, leaded to the fall and the small bridge cross it's path. I walked by 5-10 groups of visitors so it was not that crowded. The place was more like a short stop for about an hour on the way to Dalat.

295. Trúc Lê Gia Trang Resort

A pigeon in hiding.

On the way to Dalat City, I visited Trúc Lê Gia Trang Resort, about 15km away from Dalat city,  they just opened couple of weeks ago and the place was not completely finish. It had a private collection of bonsai and embroidery art works.  It can be a nice place for a relax vacation.

294. Went for A Hike - Day 2

The hike for today was a little easier as the group moving like a train up than down those steps.  The big rock hanging there was part of a local folk story about their deity had stored rice inside this mountain so that when the farmers did not have a good harvest season they can live off it.  I thought of the rock as a big grain of rice.

At the Top

On the second day, we moved to a Hoa Hao Temple and the sleeping arrangement was similar to last night, concrete platform with straw mat.

293. Went for A Hike - Day 1

Went on a hiking trip with my parent, first day we arrived at the base of this mountain and settled in to a large assembly hall with rise platform for sleeping.  The weather got really cold at night and my parent was not prepared for it.  I ended up giving my dad a tank top so he can use the extra layer to keep him warm.  From the unexpected weather, he caught a cold, poor daddy.

Dragon Claws

I discovered this flower plant on my hike up, and yes it had a vivid blue colors  pedals which I found to be rare  *smiles*. This sort of finding help to boost my spirit for the steep hike that I had endured the whole day.

292. Po Nagar, Cham Temple

Po Nagar, Cham Temple, Nha Trang, Vietnam

On our way home from the charity trip, we stopped by this temple and it happened to be a special holiday for the Chams People.  The kids were more interested in seeing the dance than the adult as the photos shown mostly of them as audiences. 

291. The Normal

For any trip in Vietnam, it would not be completed without visits to temples. These photos was taken at Long Sơn Temple, Nha Trang, Vietnam.

White Buddha, 21m height, built 1963.

The original site of the temple, on the base are the status of 7 arahants, Buddhist monks who believed to have reach nirvana. 

Thích Quảng Đức, the self-immolation monk.

He, who burned himself at a busy intersectin in Saigon during the Vietnam war, was protesting against the prosecution of Buddhist monks by the South Vietnam's Roman Catholic regime.

Inclined Buddha, 21m long, built 2003.

290. A Short History Lesson

The charity group makes stop to drop off the goods at Phật Bửu temple/orphanage, since it was during the school hours all the kids were at school.  The nun feed us and told us a story about the Buddha status in this temple, she referred to the second status from the top on the photo above.

The story goes like this, during the Vietnam war a troop came through this village and someone had cut off the head of the Buddha status because they thought it was made of gold but it was actually make of bronze so it got tossed away.  As the war ended and the temple got rebuild, however the head of the status was still missing.  The news of the missing head of Buddha got around the villages.  A farmer, who lives at near by village and was sick, hears of the news.  He did not make much of the news since he was fighting with his disease and trying to make a living.  Days passed by, the farmer was working on his field and found an object that larger than his palm on the field.  First, he was hesitate to pick it up because he thought it may be a bomb or a remnant of weapons that the war had left behind.  However he gathered up his courage and took the item home to clean, it turned out to be a bronze head that he believed belong to the Buddha status that had been missing a head.  He brought it back to the temple and help the nun to put back the head of the status and with a miracle, his disease has subside during this whole ordeal.
If you look closer of the status you can still see the joint at the neck of the second status. 

289. Mái Ấm Anh Đào - Anh Đào Orphanage

My aunty had visited this place on a yearly basic for more then 5 years and she told me this place has improved a lot.  Before it was just a grass hut and metal sheet building that hosted over 40 kids from infant thru grades school age, and with the help from various charity organizations the nun was able to build a concrete building for these kids.  I can feel the loves that the care takers have been providing for these kids through their cheerful eyes.  It always put a warm feeling in my heart when I visit places like this. 

288. Passing by Nha Trang

On the charity trip through Nha Trang, we stop by this beach which was about thirty minutes from the city.  A quiet place compared to the busy tourist filled Nha Trang.

287. The Unwanted

On a charity trip, I visited a government housing for the elderly and the mental.

 

One of the few run down buildings that house these folks.

 The charity group packaging the goods outside the cafeteria building.

The lady on the left had followed us as we walk through the complex to distribute the gifts. She seem to be happy for the company that we brought to her. As for the lady on the left, she was just goes about her work, and she was also happy to see us.

The mental ward.