Chillin' In Nha Trang

MONDAY-WEDNESDAY, MAY 11-13, 2009

My time in Nha Trang, a beautiful beach town on Vietnam's central coast, was mostly supposed to be about relaxing and enjoying some time around the beach and pool. And that is why I took Monday off. I did not shoot a single photo.

But Tuesday, it was back to work at 5 a.m. 

Not long after leaving my hotel in the pre-dawn light, I am greeted with some awesome views of fishing boats against the remaining clouds from the previous night's thunderstorms that are now lighted by the early morning sun. Nha Trang draws its beauty from the blue ocean waters, islands and mountains that drop off at the water's edge. The principal industries here are tourism, fishing, salt-making and boat building.

I make my way to Luong Son Port, which is located north of Nha Trang on the coast. Fishing boats have come in from a night of work and are offloading a plentiful catch of fish, shrimp, crab and eels to eager wholesalers and individual peddlers who are frantic to bargain for the best price and plan to sell in the city's markets and hotels. The bedlam that ensues has the frenetic pace of commodity market trading, except these negotiations are in Vietnamese.

I throw out my own net and collect a good catch.

The scene is colorful and interesting, as well as being full of life. It is a scene that takes place in hundreds, if not thousands, of sea ports along Vietnam's coast everyday. But this one is unfolding before my camera and images are rich with the color and drama of this country's daily life.

After filling my camera with images, I move onto the local salt fields. Usually, these are flooded with sea water and left the evaporate and then the salt is collected. This day, however, rain water has flooded the fields and only a few workers are on hand to shovel salt into large 50-pound bags. I take some shots and mix it up with some of the ladies in conical hats, promising to send one a rich American movie star husband.

My final stop of the day is a boat-making and repair yard where about 30 large fishing boats are in dry dock, meaning they have been propped up on tree stumps, scrap wood beams and other materials. The scene makes for some fun images, as workers remove and replace wood planks in the hulls of some boats, seal between the planks for leaks, repaint the boats and fit them with new hardware, such as propellers, rudders and updated communications and navigations equipment.

It is blistering hot -- time to return to the hotel, get something cold to drink and hang out at the pool.