Diane Snider Photos

When in Shanghai (and in any other city you might be unfamiliar with) be sure to take a business card from your hotel's reception desk or have someone at the desk write one out for you - you will find it invaluable if somehow you wander off and can't find your way back or, worse yet, can't pronounce in Chinese the name of the hotel even if you know what its name is.

Chances are what you noticed first in this photo are the scarves the women are both wearing across their face. You'll see this on about 99% of Vietnam's women who ride motorcycles and/or bicycles because they wish to protect their face from the grit and dirt blown up from all the roadways they ride on. Some scarves are of gorgeous silk and tied fashionably, others are of screaming colors and fastened by loops over the ears, and some are pinned - you'll note many different types, all of which can be pulled down easily to allow the wearers immediate access to easier eating and talking.

This particular spot serves as the central transportation hub for the port area of Nha Trang. It is jam full of taxies, buses, ferry boats, fishing boats, bicyclists, street vendors, and even visiting backpackers awaiting trips out to the various nearby islands.

It's good the owners of these motorcycles covered them even partially as within the hour of this photo, a drenching rain came up very suddenly . I wasn't so lucky - I didn't have any raincoat with me! Just coverage for my camera!

Vietnam is said to be the third largest rice exporter in the world and much of it goes out of this very port of Nha Trang. It's highly likely that most of the rice itself comes from rice paddies throughout this Nha Trang area and the farmers here are highly dependent on motorcycles, motorbikes and bicycles for their daily transportation to and from those rice paddies.

I thought for sure the basket of fish and the pail would fall off as she rode away from the ferry/bus station area but no, she had them both firmly secured and she roared off successfully with her load.

Walking or riding via bus or tuk-tuk, you'll certainly see and learn many new and interesting things when you visit Bangkok, Thailand.

My hour's bus ride still isn't up yet so my camera stays busy shooting away through the closed and dusty window glass.