SketchTravel in Vietnam and Cambodia

October 17, 2010

How to cross a street in Saigon

Sketching is the most fun during travels, when all you see is new, different, and hopefully challenging to your comfort zones. I decided to take a trip there based on an interest in my neighbor Rob’s involvement. He is an anesthesiologist who takes a surgical team with him once or twice a year. They set up shop somewhere and perform free cleft-palette surgeries on poor kids who really need them. This is a huge and amazing endeavor, but that’s another story really. I did plan my trip so I could hook up with them in Ho Chi Minh City and ride with them to their destination of Can Tho. 
As the main organizer of their trip, Rob sent out emails of all the details to be taken care of such as specific things you will need, vaccinations and so on. One item was how to cross a street in Saigon. Although it sounds like a joke, pedestrian are not regarded nicely by drivers, so you need to understand the risks. For example, drivers of cars and motorcycles WILL NOT stop for you or get out of your way. And when you consider a typical main street in Saigon is clogged with so many drivers going willy nilly, that you’re effectively dealing with a 15 lane crazyway with no apparent logic to it. People going the wrong way, whole families clinging to a small motorcycle, bicyclers peddling loads that would fill a truck. And no one cares what you are trying to do. The average space between moving vehicles was around 6 inches. So, you venture out there with hope, fear, luck, and probably an unconscious death wish.

maison chance

Through my neighbor's connections, I volunteered at a shelter named Maison Chance in the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City. Since I am an illustrator, they assigned me to teach art lessons to their children - 5 classes from first to fifth grades. I spent a lot of time developing class plans since I'd never taught anything before. Such a memorable experience.

visiting hue

I flew up to Hue, near the old DMZ. There were so many beautiful small shrines. I hired a motorcyclist to take me around to see them, and later rented a bike once I had a sense of the roads. Having a bike allowed me to cut through all the inner sidewalks and get around quickly. 

How would you like to be an electrician here?

On to cambodia to see angkor

I arrived at the town of Chau Doc, near the Cambodian border, after leaving my neighbor and his team of surgeons at Can Tho. The floating market at Chau Doc was fascinating to me, very large boats listing and anchored at places on the huge Mekong River. 

Next day I caught a fast boat up the Mekong River to Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia. It was a five hour ride in a loud, narrow, open window boat, but provided amazing views of the river and towns along it.

stilt houses

I love all the houses in the Cambodia countryside that are built on stilts. 

This is one of the very few sketches I did at the magnificent ruin of Angkor, while my guide eyed me suspiciously from a distance. Though I had expected to draw a lot, having hired a driver and a guide, along with the swarms of people hawking their wares and blocking my view, sketching became nearly impossible. 

The driver didn't care, but my guide became quite annoyed with me asking them to stop to do another sketch on our road back from a day trip to the mountains. But in the countryside, I could draw these cool structures without attracting attention. I probably wouldn't hire a guide again there.