Coventry Farmers' Market

On Sunday, I was hired by the Coventry Farmers Market in Connecticut to shoot some promotional photos. Even though I have a lot of experience shooting at our own farmers market, this was my first real event gig. I had to be a lot more forward then I normally am. I usually try to blend in to the background, but I had to stop and ask people permission, and because the photos will be used commercially, I had to get model release forms signed from everyone.

Here's some of my favorite shots of the day:

This lady looked so lovely with her basket full of fresh veggies:


Blue eyes:


I love how her shirt matches her vegetables:




See the rest of the gallery here: http://rebeccavt.smugmug.com/gallery/1697803

Vietnam update

Arranging my trip to Vietnam has been.... interesting. I've been reading a lot and learning as much as I can about the country and the people. Their history goes back to ancient times and is starting to see some growth and prosperity after a long period of war and conflict. It is now, by all accounts, a peaceful country that is very welcome to Americans and other foreigners. The worst that is likely to happen to me is that I'll get scammed out of some money. Or hit by a car. Or dragged down the road by a someone on a motor scooter trying to steal my purse.

I have decided to book a tour guide, since I will be traveling on my own and it is my first time going to Asia. It's very inexpensive to hire a private guide, even for a single traveler such as myself, so I don't have to travel with a group of strangers. I think it will really be a great way to get to know the country. Assuming the tour company I have booked with hires good, knowledgable guides. That's also assuming the company I have booked with is even legitimate.

My main itinerary will be 4 days in Sapa, 2 days on Halong Bay and 4 days in Hoi An (with a few other travel days which will include free time in Hanoi). Hoi An is an old town located along a river in Central Vietnam and is said to be a great place to shop for silk and artwork. It is in close proximity to the South China Sea and several beaches, so it will be a lovely place to relax at the end of my trip. I've booked a room at the Ancient House Resort, an adorable little "resort" in Hoi An, complete with a pool and, of course, an ancient house.

I think 2 weeks will be the longest I've ever been away from Jon and Quentin, so I'm going to miss them tremendously. I wish he could come...

Galapagos Islands

Los Loberia Beach:


The Sea Lions of San Cristobal:

Sally Lightfoot Crab:

Yellow Warbler:

Marine Iguanas:

Snuggling Sea Lions:


The Boobies love to show off their feet:


Espanola is also home to the Masked Booby:


Mates for life:

Floreana Island:

Blue Footed Boobies posing for the camera:

Puerto Baquerizo Moreno:

American Oyster Catcher

Hey Baby, look what I can do (make frigatebird showing off for an uninterested female):

The Booby Brothers:


Galapagos Giant Tortoise:

View from Bartolome Island:

Land Iguanas:

Vietnam Itinerary

I have spent a better part of the day reading through my Lonely Planet guide to Vietnnam, and scouring the websites of Vietnamese tour companies. I will be there for almost 2 weeks... 12 days to be exact. Now, I just need to figure out what to do.

With that much time, I have a couple of choices in my itinerary. I could go from Ho Chi Min to Hanoi (or vice versa), and see the entire country, but I think that for the sake of time I will concentrate my trip on staying in the northern part of the country.

While I am there I want to spend some time seeing Hanoi, which I hear is a beautiful city, Halong Bay and Sapa in the northwestern mountains that border china.

Getting to Sapa means a 10 hour overnight train. I want to spend 4 days in that area, trekking to remote villages and meeting with the ethnic minorities that live in hilltribe villages in the mountains, including the H'mong tribes who are known for their colorful clothing. Some of the tour companies offer "homestays" in one of these villages, which would be fascinating but there is a bit of a moral dilemna in that scenario. I don't know how sensitive these city tour guides from Hanoi are to the culture and wishes of the villagers. I may try to find a local guide based in Sapa who my know the area better and take me on some interesting treks during the day and back to my hotel room at night. This part of the country looks visually stunning, with emerald green rice paddies and jagged mountains, and people in colorful clothing and I really can't wait to see what it has to offer. Another night train will take me back to Hanoi, where I will then leave for Halong Bay.

The main thing to do in Halong Bay, a World Heritage site on the northern coast, is to take a traditional Junk cruise, which is like a floating hotel that travels around the bay. Along the way, I’ll get to do some swimming and sea kayaking and maybe visit a beach or two. Breakfast, lunch and dinner will all be fresh seafood and Vietnamese food aboard the boat.

A photo of a traditional Junk cruise ship found at Dreamstime stock photo company.

I will spend 3 days in Halong Bay, and then travel back to Hanoi so I can soak up more of the city, and possibly take some day tours to see the local pagodas. You can also visit traditional handicraft villages where they produce silk and pottery. I love visiting local artisans in any country, but I always want to buy everything! Silk is a very big commodity, and apparently there are some great bargains to be found and I always try to get a piece of art for my house.

Flying home will take me from Hanoi to Taiwan to Los Angeles and then back to Hartford, where I will land at 6 in the morning…..

I'm going to Vietnam

I think this is the craziest thing I've ever done. I just booked myself a round trip plane ticket to Hanoi, Vietnam.

Why am I going alone? Well, my mother called me up about a month ago and asked me if she could take Q (my seven year old) for 2 weeks in August. He loves to go to his nina's house in the Maine woods, and is far more interested in camping with grandpa and swimming in the stream near grandmas house then he is in seeing the world. My husband is a slave to the nuclear energy gods, and can not get any time off from work. So, with all that free time on my hands, I just had to go somewhere? But where?

I briefly considered going to Costa Rica, but when all is said and done, it would probably cost me more money, due to Costa Rica's booming tourist infrastructure. I chose Vietnam simply because it is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen (well, I haven't seen it yet... only in pictures). It has green rice paddies, limestone rock formations, and beautiful people. It's also quite an affordable holiday. Because I'm going alone, I am trying to arrange tour guide, which is turning out to be quite a process! They are 12 hours ahead of us, so communication is very slow by e-mail, they all offer similiar packages for different prices. I could arrange a tour with an American or Canadian based tour company, but they will probably just use one of these places anyway and cost twice as much, so I am going directly to the Vietnamese companies.

I have never been to Asia, so I'm prepared to see many things for the first time, and I can't wait! I will update this will my itinerary soon. In the meantime, I need to arrange for my visa get a tour guide :)

Here are some inspiring galleries featuing some beautiful photography from the northern region of Vietnam where I will be travelling:

http://www.pbase.com/tuaminen/vietnam
http://www.pbase.com/arian001/central__northern_vietnam_
http://www.pbase.com/mkelpie/vietnam

Belize

Our most recent travelling adventure was to hot and humid Belize in April of this year. Belize is a fantastic country to visit for a short, tropical adventure. Being an english speaking country full of the friendliest people I've ever met, makes it a breeze to travel around on your own.

It was about 50 degrees outside when we left the wet tarmac of Bradley International Airport in Hartford, and about the temperature of hell when we landed in Belize City. The humidity was suffocating, but we were just excited to be there! It's a small airport (but expanding), so it only took us about 1/2 an hour to check in and get our bags. Then, we just had to walk accross the road to Jaiburu Car rental Company to pick up our Dihatsu 4x4.

We threw our backpacks in the the car and took off down the Western Highway (there are only 4 paved roads in Belize: the Western Highway, Southern Highway, Northern Highway and the Hummingbird Highway). Our destination was the Cayo District, which is located in western Belize, near the Guatamalan border. The drive, which took about 2 hours and took us through several small villages was sunny and pleasant, and I soaked in the Central American landscape.

The Cayo district is home to the town of San Ignacio, where we stopped for some dinner. Chicken, Rice and Beans are the staple diet in this country, and are found at every restaurant (sometimes, that's all they serve). Our lodge could be found 15 minutes outside of San Ignacio down an unpaved road into the mountainous jungle.

We really splurged for this trip and stayed at Duplooys Jungle Lodge. This place was amazing... I loved everything about it. Here's a tip if you are travelling to the jungle of Belize. Some of the Jungle Lodges are very much out in the middle of nowhere down dusty and rough jungle roads. If you don't have your own vehicle, then you are stuck there, and at the mercy of the lodge tours to see anything. It's easy to get places with your own 4x4 and we saved a lot of money on expensive tours by having our own car. Duplooys is in a wonderful location because it is far enough into the jungle to be secluded, but it does not require a long, uncomfortable ride to get there.

On our second day in Belize we arranged to go cave tubing. We were lucky enough to get there on "Cruise Ship Day", when all of the cruise ships were in port and bus loads of people were on day tours. There were literally hundreds, if not thousands of people. *sigh* Other then that, cave tubing was great, and it quickly brought back memories of camping in Northern Maine (minus the caves and herds of tourists). Cave tubing means lazily floating down the river, on your innertube through several long caves while you chat with your tour guide about life in Belize. If you're lucky you'll get to see some bats or some interesting birds. You will be floating through the jungle, so bring some bug spray!

That evening we found a mexican restaurant in San Ignacio town where we each had a full plate of food, complete with rice and beans, and a couple of beers each for $12 American, total. The local beer is Belikin, and it comes in several different types. My favorite was the premium. The logo features a Mayan temple.

Speaking of Mayan temples, the following day we set out to tour Caracol ruins. We wanted to go by ourselves, so we could get there early for the beautiful early morning light. It was only 30 miles from our lodge, but it took us 3 hours to drive there! It was slow, and bumpy, but we saw the most colorful, wild turkeys and a lot vultures and egrets along the way. When we got to the ancient city, we were the only ones there and we were able to enjoy the site in complete solitude.

Caracol is an amazing site, and is a must see if you are interested in Mayan culture. It covers 65 square miles and is believed to have housed 120-180,000 people! At one time, it was at war with the famous Tikal in Guatemala. The main temple is huge, and is still the largest man-made structure in the country. In the picture below you can se the view from the top. There are many temples in the complex, and I'm sure there are many more buried in the hills and waiting to be found.

After a few more days of exploring the humid mountains and jungles, we decided to head to the ocean for some much needed R&R. There are many choices along the coast, which is the home to hundreds of small islands, or Cayes (pronounced keys) and the second largest barrier reef in the world makes it a premier scuba diving destination.

Laid back is an understatement when describing Caye Caulker. It makes Brattleboro, Vermont feel like New York City. There aren't even any cars on the island. People get around by golf cart or their two feet. We stayed in Da Real Macaw, an excellent guesthouse, right on the beach (although, the island doesn't really have much of a swimming beach). We had hammocks right outside our door, on a porch with a permanent breeze coming through. There are no big resorts, or hotels on Caye Caulker. Just small guest houses and Cabanas. Their restaurants serve up delicious seafood with a caribbean flair. Conch and lobster (when in season) is found in abundance.

Ambergris Caye is another popular tourist destination, but is more populated and has some bigger resorts (but still small and laid back compared to much of the Caribbean). It's a bustling metropolis compared to Caye Caulker. You can get to many of the Cayes by water taxi from Belize City, or by plane from Belize City to Ambergris Caye.

Belize was a great place to visit, and I was sad to end my trip and return to the cold and rainy north. One thing I haven't talked about much is the people. They are all so extremely friendly. Not friendly I-want-your-tourist-dollar, just genuinely friendly and proud of their country. Every where we went we were greeted with smiles and friendly conversations, and people in their yards would wave to us as we drove past. This was especially true in the more rural areas. Not quite so much in the heavily touristed Cayes.

There are lots of budget travel opportunities in Belize, and lots of things to see. There is everything from inexpensive guesthouses and camp sites to private island resorts and remote jungle lodges.

View more photos from our travels in Belize:
http://rebeccavt.smugmug.com/Travel/183267

Read more about Belize at the Lonely Planet website:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/destinations/central-america/belize

Belize Travel Resources:

http://www.travelbelize.org/

http://www.belize.com/

http://www.toucantrail.com/

http://www.duplooys.com

http://www.derealmacaw.com/