Cashews, pepper & tobacco in Vietnam

In Dong Nai province we saw lot of cashews, pepper and tobacco being grown. Dong Nai is the province north of Ho Chi Minh City, in the south of Vietnam. We were in the area near Gia Ray in February, which is the dry season.

We were looking for lava tubes in a volcanic area. The volcanoes are long extinct. The soil seems rich for growing these crops.

Cashews -

Pepper -

 The people use very tall ladders for tying the pepper vines to tree trunks

Tobacco -

 These leaves are still quite fresh

 

 These are older and ready for harvesting

See next album on coffee and turmeric.

© Liz Price
No reproduction without permission

Motorbikes in Ho Chi Minh City

The bikes in Ho Chi Minh City really outnumber those in KL.............. though somehow they seem more organised than the KL ones. In fact the Vietnamese in general seem to be better drivers than many in Malaysia!!!
It's not easy to see on the photos, but the bikes go all the way down the street on the night shots.

I hate crossing roads, the trick is to step out slowly and keep going - but I am a coward and usually freeze half way across!

British Museum, London

It has been many years since I have been in the British Museum in London.
I was in London on a cold and rainy day in January 2014 and paid a quick visit to the museum.

 I didn't remember the inside at all, it must be new since my last visit. It is rather 'un-museum like' and not as impressive as the Natural History Musuem.

As I didn't have much time, I just went to the Oriental Antiquities room. This covers China, South and Southeast Asia, from prehistoric times to the 20th century.
To get there I went through a 'reading room' -

The Oriental Antiquities gallery is large.

China occupies one half of the gallery, South and Southeast Asia the other half. India seemed to take up half of this area. As I had limited time I was mainly interested in Malaysia, but this is very poorly represented. There is hardly anything, especially when compared to the other countries (Indonesia, Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Vietnam).

 View of the gallery from the Southeast Asia side -

display of island Southeast Asia prehistory -

 

 These items are from Malaysia. Stone belt celts from Bukit Tengku Lembu, Perlis

 

a ringstone from Ulu Lipis, Pahang -

I was disappointed there were no cave items.

This Ganesh is from India

The entrance roof again

 

 © Liz Price
No reproduction without permission