CB&W: Letters S or T

Time for another of Cee’s Black and White Photography Challenges! This week is looking at things starting with the letters S and/or T. And I have a submission for both … 

CFFC: Sky

I was super excited to see Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week had the theme of “sky”. Seriously, if it’s possible to have an addiction to photographing sunsets – then I have it. I was looking through my photos and there must be hundreds of photos of them. Now, I realise the theme this week doesn’t specify “sunset sky” – any sky will do. But if I start including every shot I have of the sky … we’ll all be here a very, very long time. And I know you are all busy people with lives outside the blogosphere. So I will resist the temptation to flood your day with a million skies and give you a few. Okay, quite a few. Feel free to let me know which are your favourites!

Unusual Foods

A non-destination specific post for today’s A-Z Challenge letter. Mostly because I used up my only “U” location for last years post when I wrote about Uluru. So instead I’m discussing the one thing all of us can relate to, whether we travel internationally or domestically or no further than our own multicultural home towns, …. unusual foods. Every country has them. Some little oddity, a dietary quirk if you will, that is a signature of our culture or geographic region. Some are more unusual than others, some are just a unique combination of globally available food products. So, here’s some of the different foods I’ve tried to date:

Snapshot – Ta Prohm

Well, here we are folks. It’s the final week of the A-Z challenge, and a challenge it has been this year. I’ll confess I’ve struggled with the motivation to write and I’ve often felt like I’m behind and playing catch up. I realise that’s not the case, as I’ve posted on time each day (so far!) but I was far more organised for the 2016 version. So, I’m kicking the final week off with a visit to one of my favourite sites in Cambodia – Ta Prohm.

Snapshot – Mekong

After the little surprise yesterday of a post not based on a travel destination, I’m returning today to another snapshot. I started this A-Z Challenge blogging week with the letter “H” and an insight into a few Vietnamese cities, so I thought it would be a touch of symmetry to end it back in Vietnam. When it comes to bodies of water in Vietnam, most people will probably think of beautiful, relaxing, calming Halong Bay in the north (wow … I could’ve added that to H as well!). But I’m heading south, I want to take a look at the Mekong River and whats on offer there.

Snapshot – Istanbul

Heading off to a completely different corner of the world today – the city of Istanbul in Turkey! This is one of those must see cities of the world. Seriously, it has so much to offer. Located in the north-west of Turkey and encompassing both banks of the Bosphorus River, Istanbul is a city that spans and connects Europe and Asia. Given it’s geographical importance, it should come as no surprise to hear that settlements in the area can be traced back as far as the 7th Century BC!! With such a lengthy past is it no wonder it’s one of the world’s most fascinating places. 

Snapshot – Ho Chi Minh City, Hue & Hoi An

As you, my lovely readers, will be able to tell from the title of this post … I was suffering from a bout of total indecision today about which location to write about. So, I’m doing a brief outline of all three of these wonderful Vietnamese cities. In reality, I could’ve been writing about four Vietnamese cities but I already did Hanoi for the 2016 A-Z Challenge (in case you’re keen to check out Vietnam’s capital city Snapshot – Hanoi). I absolutely love Vietnam, it’s history and culture, the incredible food and the welcoming people, the beautiful and varied landscapes. I could rave all day about it. So, let’s get straight into it!

Snapshot … Sukhothai

I’m a little short on time today, so my A-Z Challenge post will be very photo heavy. Letter of the day is S. You’d think that coming from Sydney this would be an easy choice for me. I mean, my home city is beautiful so why wouldn’t I write about it?! And I will … just not today. Truth be told I don’t take my camera out with me when I’m home. This is a situation I should rectify and believe me, I keep reminding myself that I need to get out and take some photos of Sydney in all her glory.

Snapshot … Mai Chau

I’m returning to Vietnam for today’s travel snapshot, specifically to a little known place called Mai Chau. And unfortunately as I’m pressed for time today, this will be a short one (apologies!). Mai Chau is located in the north-west of Vietnam and is about 150km inland from the capital city of Hanoi, so by road it would take you a few hours to get there. If you’re visiting Vietnam and are pressed for time but want to see as much of the country as possible, it’s unlikely the Mai Chau will figure on any of the

Snapshot … Hanoi

Well, it’s day 8 of the A-Z Challenge and the letter of the day is H. I had a few options for H … Heidelberg, Hong Kong, Hue or Hoi An (one of my favourite places anywhere in the world) were all in the running. But I’ve opted for Hanoi, Vietnam’s beautiful and vibrant capital. Despite being around for over 1000 years, Hanoi wasn’t always the capital. At different periods in Vietnam’s history, both Hue and Saigon were considered capitals. It has to be said though, all this capital swapping was not the work of the Vietnamese. Vietnam has had a tough time when it comes to the influence of foreign countries – it was