Posts Tagged ‘hue’
Hue, Vietnam
On the face of it Hue isn’t a particularly pretty city. It’s dragon boats parked up by the river and it’s wide winding and relatively quiet streets (compared to Hanoi) make it much more inviting though. There seems to be more tourism here which is surprising. One major pull is the Citadel in the center of town. I maze of countless overgrown temples that until recently were left to crumble by the communist government who considered them symbols of imperial rule rather than historical legacy worth preserving. Thankfully that’s changing as they are busy restoring many of them.
Overgrown – Matt Preston
Personally I adore the overgrown look. It’s what makes Ankor Wat in Cambodia so enticing and it’s definitely the same here. Watching nature slowly take back the land makes the crumbling temples look all the more beautiful.
Back Against The Wall – Matt Preston
I don’t often include self portraits but (apart from the dodgy tourist shorts i’m wearing) i like this one. To see such amazing artwork and craftmanship along with years of decay is hauntingly beautiful and I wanted to inject a little human interest in this shot to get a sense of scale and grandure.
Still Standing – Matt Preston
Behind The Red Door – Matt Preston
As you can see they’re doing a great job of restoring the temples back to their original glory. It’ll almost be a shame when they’re all restored and the hauntingly beautiful decay has gone for good.
Squat and Wait – Matt Preston
We met some great backpackers in Hue, Loved wandering through the temples. The day of departure was eventful. With a delayed train and a taxi getting a puncture it took longer than expected. All part of the adventure though! How these people squat all day like that I’ll never know. I can’t do it for 2 minutes!
Check out the rest of the photos below.
As ever your comments, thoughts and retweets are welcome. I’d love to know what you think.
The big adventure countdown
Our big traveling adventure is just 1 month away! We’re starting to bite our nails a little bit now and frantically getting everything prepared. There’s an amazing amount to sort out when you own a house you want to rent and a cat that needs a new home!
Juggling finances plays a big part along with also increasing my skill and experience working in all manner of photographic situations. I’ve been lucky enough to shoot a few weddings as well as meeting up with some great models for portrait shoots and fashion shots. I’m very pleased with my work so far and hopefully will get to fit some more shoots in before we go.
Our plans haven’t changed much. Our hostel in Sydney is booked as is our flight to Vietnam. My new Macbook Pro has arrived and i’m busy setting that up with everything I’ll need for the journey and beyond.
I’ve also updated my “creative website”. Take a look at www.mattprestoncreative.com which covers all manner of creative outlets.
I’ll be updating this site in the coming weeks as well so keep an eye out for new features and blogs.
It’s really picking up pace now!
If you live in or have been to any of the following places do leave a comment with any advice or recommendations!
Singapore
- Singapore
Vietnam
- Hannoi
- Sapa
- Halong Bay
- Hue
- Nha Trang
- Mekong Delta
- Saigon
Cambodia
- Phnom Penh
- Kampot
- Bokor Mountain National Park
- Battambang
- Siem Reap
Thailand
- Chiangmai
- Bangkok
- Chiang Rai
- Ayuthaya
- Kanchanaburi
- Ko Tao
- Phuket
- Phi Phi
- Ko Lantra
- Krabi
Malaysia
- Penang
- Butterworth
- Cameron Highlands
- Kuala Lumpur
Australia
- Sydney
- Melbourne
Progress report on travel plans
September 20th 2009. The day that everything changes. Ok that’s slightly over dramatic but never-the-less accurate. Our plans for the “Big Adventure” are coming together and picking up pace.
For those of you that don’t know, my wife and I are planning to travel extensively through South-East Asia for around 3 months before moving to Sydney, Australia for a while. This is part of my drive to become a full time professional photographer and gives me a goal or deadline to work towards, you’d be surprised how motivational that is!
So here’s a rough itinerary, I’ll spare you the impressively in-depth version my wife has created. In 3 months travelling there’s hardly a day when we’re not booked to do something or travel somewhere!
September
20th – Fly from Heathrow, England to Changi, Singapore
27th – Watch the Singapore F1 Grand Prix with friends
October
Fly to Hanoi, Vietnam and spend a few days there as well as 3 days in Sa pa, treking & home stay and 3 days at Halong Bay.
Vist Hue City, Da nang and market town of Hoi An. Also the costal town of Nha Trang where there’s amazing beaches and sea corals.
On to Ho Chi Ming City, visit the famous Tay Ninh and Cu Chi tunnels. Cai Be on the Mekong Delta for a home stay.
Cambodia
21st – Boat and bus to Phnom Penh for a few days
Visit Kampot and Bokor Mountain National Park. Then to Battambang for a 
village home stay.
A boat to Siem Reap for Angkor Wat. Hopefully be there for sunset one day and revisit for sunrise the next day.
November
1st – Bus and train to Bangkok, Thailand
A few days in Bangkok before we go to Ayutthaya and then on to Chiang Mai visiting the sticky rice factory and do a bicycle tour.
On to Chiang Rai and possible home stay b
efore a hill-tribe trek.
An overnight train back to Bangkok before heading on to Kanchanaburi. Visit the Bridge over the River Kwai.
December
On to Ko Tao for a few days before hoping over to the islands of Phuket and Phi Phi for a week or two.
On to Krabi and Hat Yai before crossing the border into Malaysia
Visit Penang and Butterworth then train to Kuala Lumpur.
Train back to Singapore then fly on to Sydney, Australia around the 19th. Spend a couple of weeks enjoying Christmas while looking for a more permanent accommodation.
Flexible plans
Obviously these plans might change. That’s the wonderful thing about backpacking and traveling for extended periods of time. You can be flexible with your plans and get a chance to go off the beaten path. I’m really looking forward to the home stays and visiting a few sites and towns you wouldn’t normally go to. The flights are booked as are the Grand Prix tickets so it’ll be a fantastic start to the journey!
I will as ever be blogging throughout our travels and beyond. I’ll also be meeting up with locals from each country, doing photo shoots with local models and also meeting local photographers. Some of which I shall interview for blogs. The main point of our travels is to build up an extensive portfolio and hopefully do some networking with local photographic agencies and publications.
More progress reports on our plans as they are confirmed. If you have been to any of these countries please do leave a comment. I’d love to hear any recommendations on places to go, hidden gems, etc.