Tag: weather

Waterlogged Hoi An

After the horrific storm on Sunday, the rain tapered off and there were only sporadic showers overnight. At ten o’clock Monday morning, the lane in the distance was passable, but the lane running by the wall on the left that would get me there was not. It was early afternoon before I was able to get away from my house – by a very roundabout route – to do some much needed food shopping. It is Monday evening as I post this. It has not rained all day and the flood water has started to recede. Unfortunately, there is plenty of rain in the forecast for the next few days.

The air was so damp that I had a little condensation in the camera which fogged up some of the photos I took this morning. I worked to clear this up with Photoshop, but the row of houses in the background still does not have as much contrast as it might.

Still Raining, Hoi An

After 24 hours of almost continuous driving rain, it is safe to say the flooding situation has gotten dramatically worse in Hoi An. The motorbike path in the foreground appears to be clear to a main road shrouded in rain and fog in the distance. This, of course, is no guarantee that the main road is passable. Sam is a nervous dog at this point, and I would be fibbing to say I am enjoying this storm.

Rain…and More Rain, Hoi An

This year’s rainy season arrived in central Vietnam several days ago. To make sure nobody missed the change of season, Hoi An is now into its fifth day of steady – sometimes torrential – rain. The fields around me, fallow after the recent rice harvest, are flooded, but the roads and pathways near me are wet but passable. My house has had no water problems so far, fingers crossed. There is significant flooding in parts of Hoi An. Hopefully the current storm will soon pass, but in any case, we can expect lots of rain and rainy days for the rest of this month and November. The rain should taper off in December.

This was shot at 9:30 in the morning. Any hint of the sun or blue sky is well-hidden by the brooding clouds.

Hoi An Landscape (2), Vietnam

A sunny, bright Hoi An morning seen from my second floor balcony. This photo was taken at the end of May, and in the month that passed since the previous photo was taken, summer arrived and a rice harvest took place. The days are getting longer, and the sun was a half an hour above the horizon at 6:15 am. It was already late for a morning stroll — by 7:00 or 7:30 at the latest, the temperature would hit 90 degrees on its way to a high of around 100 degrees by late morning.

Son Tra, Da Nang

Da Nang got a beautiful day yesterday (5 January) – blue sky and sun broken up by fleecy clouds, temperatures in the 70s. After days of gray clouds and rain, this was a much deserved beautiful day, I might add. A lot of people were out and about. A lot. This is a shot of the Son Tra peninsula taken from the Thuan Phuoc bridge at the mouth of the Han River where it spills into Da Nang Bay. I took a ride on Son Tra earlier in the day. The monkeys, for which Son Tra is famous, were apparently happy about the nice day also. Plenty of chattering and I saw several monkeys scurrying across the road, though I failed to get any photos. Alas, the nice day was a brief reprieve – raining again today.

Welcome Sight, Da Nang

After 8 days of steady rain day after day, early risers in Da Nang – pretty much everybody – the Vietnamese get started very early – were greeted by this magnificent sight three mornings ago. It’s 6:30 in the morning and the sun is just making its way above the horizon on almost the shortest day of the year (17 December). Friends further north in places that have real winters may be thinking that 6:30 is still pretty early for a December sunrise. You have to keep in mind that Da Nang is located at 16° N latitude, already about 7° south of the Tropic of Cancer. There is not a huge difference between the lengths of the longest and shortest days of the year. Certainly nothing like I was used to living most of my life in places like Boston, Denver, and Beijing.

Be all that as it may, this sunny start to the day was definitely a false one – by early afternoon it was pouring rain again. Things finally cleared up on the 18th and it has been nice for a couple of days since then. Alas, more rain is in the forecast. It is that time of year.

Nguyen Van Troi Bridge, Da Nang

This bridge, now called Cầu Nguyễn Văn Trỗi, was built by an American company in 1965, apparently to serve the US war effort in Vietnam. It connects the downtown urban core of Da Nang with the narrow strip of land that runs between the Han River and the beach area to the east of downtown. One source I saw says there was a wooden bridge across the river in this spot built during the French colonial era. In any case the bridge shown in the photo was the first steel structure traffic bridge crossing the river. A local friend remembers crossing the river in a ferry during these years. She also notes that the beach side of the river was mostly farmland at the time. Today it is built up with residential areas, markets and commercial areas for local businesses, as well as lots of hotels and businesses catering to tourists.

More and bigger bridges were built across the river and at some point this bridge was closed to traffic. When the last of the newer bridges, Cầu Trần Thị Lý (pictured to the right in the photo), was completed in 2013, the bridge was restored as a pedestrian walkway. It is indeed a great place for walking with a wonderful view of the river and the city.

Nguyễn Văn Trỗi is the name of a war hero who fought for the North and was born in this part of Vietnam. Lots of Da Nang streets and public places are named after military and political leaders who sided with the North, a reminder that the winners get to shape the history of a place.