Monday, March 21, 2011

Snatch

Ive seen it happen on a number of occasions, Ive heard of it happening numerous times. Two guys on a motorbike drive by a tourist and the pillion grabs their bag/camera as they innocently stroll the city. Its actually quite skillful and very fast; the thieves are obviously well trained.

On Saturday morning I was photographing a couple of nearly-weds outside Notre Dame Cathedral when it happened to me. My Canon 5d mkII and 16-35 lens snatched out my hand and gone in under a second. Anyone familiar with cameras will know how much I lost, but of course it could always have been worse, I wasnt injured. I've heard stories of people who lost their belongings but that was far from the worst of their problems after the offense.

I don't want to publically state how I feel about the authorities, suffice to say going to the police was futile. There were two frustrated and getting ignored tourists in the station when I arrived, and both just had their cameras snatched. I had no idea of the regularity of this crime, it appears it is not a daily problem but an hourly occurrence. Anywhere downtown is a danger zone but Ton Duc Thang, which runs along the river, is a hotspot area as it is a straight fast road for a quick getaway.

Of course bag snatching goes on all over the world but on 30th April the overcrowded Vietnamese gaols are releasing thousands of 'well-behaved' detainees back onto the streets and the already escalating problem is only going to get worse.

DONT carry a bag unless you absolutely need to.

DONT have a camera slung over your shoulder; if you're not shooting put it away in a bag and attach it to yourself as best as you can.

DONT wear jewelry or anything potentially removable that will attract attention to yourself.

Very sad times for a country that has always been considered one of the safest places to be.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

vietnam vespa adventures

Highly recommended 'Saigon After Dark' Tour ran by Steve and the crew down at Zoom Cafe

http://vietnamvespaadventures.com/



Saturday, March 12, 2011

Trinidad Wedding Magazine

Brian & Aneela's fantastic wedding from The Sarojin, Khao Lak, Thailand has just been featured in Trinidad Wedding Magazine. It's been exactly a year since their wedding so this makes a great anniversary gift!

One of their images has been on the front of our website for some time now. It's always interesting to see how people in the industry view your images as none of the photos chosen for the magazine made it onto our blog!

Brian & Aneela in Khao Lak

LAOS

Laos, officially known as the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), is one of the poorest nations in South-East Asia. A mountainous and landlocked country, Laos shares borders with Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, Thailand to the west, and Myanmar and China to the north.




Friday, March 11, 2011

Cambodia

The Kingdom of Cambodia (sometimes transliterated as Kampuchea to more closely represent the Khmer pronunciation) is a Southeast Asian nation bordered by Vietnam to the east, Laos to the north, Thailand to the northwest, and the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest.




Tuesday, March 08, 2011

On the Road Cambodia

"KratiƩ or Kracheh is a province in northeastern Cambodia. It borders Stung Treng to the north, Mondulkiri to the east, Kampong Thom to the west, Kampong Cham and Vietnam to the south."