TTL: Sassoon Docks

I had become quite restless at the lack of what I perceived as apt content for a blog post and it was making me jittery. A text out of the blue from dear old Subhanjana asking about Sassoon Docks was the best thing that happened a couple of days back. I realized that it had been more than a year, here in Mumbai, and I was yet to pay one of the largest fish market of the place and the first wet dock of Mumbai a visit. I called up Haldar if she would be interested to join in, and she was. So, Sunday was the planned day.

Information was that one must get to the docks as early as first light to get the fishing trawlers coming in and fishes being unloaded. Since, we had to travel by train and cab to the docks, we were late, and did not get those shots.

What we got were shots of the fishing auctions and the market, with all the chaos and hustle bustle. Enjoy.

Fish Auction in Progress, Sassoon Docks, Mumbai, India

Fishes being readied for auctions, Sassoon Docks, Mumbai, India

Fishes being readied for auctions, Sassoon Docks, Mumbai, India

Fishing Trawlers in the dock, Sassoon Docks, Mumbai, India

Fishing Trawlers in the dock, Sassoon Docks, Mumbai, India

Fishes for sale in the market, Sassoon Docks, Mumbai, India

Basket transfer in progress , Sassoon Docks, Mumbai, India

As we were walking about taking photos, this lady in the following photos took interest in showing off her merchandises. She also showcased the octopuses. Live octopuses. We were quite excited 🙂

Lady holds up a fish for display, Sassoon Docks, Mumbai, India

Lady holds up octopus for display, Sassoon Docks, Mumbai, India

Sassoon Docks is also famous for the street art one can find in the location. It was the site for a street art exhibition in November, 2017. There is an art exhibition centre at the docks, which were not open when we were there, so, we shot the walls.

Wall art at Sassoon Docks, Mumbai, India

Wall art at Sassoon Docks, Mumbai, India

Wall art at Sassoon Docks, Mumbai, India

Wall art at Sassoon Docks, Mumbai, India

Haldar posing in front of a wall art, Sassoon Docks, Mumbai, India

As we walked out of the place, I noticed a crow, flying with a fish in its mouth. Lens cap was off already. In one fluid motion, the camera was switched on, tracked the crow and let the continuous high mode fire.
Behold the result:

Flying crow with a fish in mouth, Mumbai

I am mighty impressed by the auto focus system of the Nikon D7200. Am yet to fully understand and use the 3D focussing system properly on the camera.

As we got to Churchgate station, a piece of art caught my eye.

Mural at Churchgate Station, Mumbai, India

Apparently similar installations shall be done in other stations too. That shall be something to look forward to.

A sequel of this post shall follow soon with Haldar’s shots!

Cheers!

To Vietnam: Huế – Imperial Citadel

The next day, our itinerary was clear, get to the Imperial Citadel, have a tour of the place, get to the airport, and fly away to Hanoi.

So, we hopped on our bikes and made for the citadel. Getting to the citadel was simple and easy. The signposts are ample, and the maps are easy enough to follow. An entrance fee of VND 150k / pax is present, which includes the Royal Antiquities Museum within the citadel.

There is a huge courtyard within the citadel, which has the massive flagpost we had seen the previous night, right opposite the main entrance.

The flagpost at the Imperial Citadel, Hue, Vietnam

Within the citadel, are the old palaces, a museum, numerous gates and loads of places to walk. Honestly, I was not vastly mesmerized by the place.

The gates had nice carvings though, and Manas did get a nice photo 🙂

One of the many gates of the Imperial Citadel, Hue, Vietnam

Onwards to the centre of the citadel, Hue, Vietnam

Manas under a gate, Imperial Citadel, Hue, Vietnam

The place seemed to be frequented by school children.

The central courtyard, Imperial Citadel, Hue, Vietnam

The place is huge, and needs patience to go through each of the buildings and read all the plaques. Patience and time were something which we didn’t have then. Ritwik went in to look at the museum, while the three of us found shade and rested.

Later, we got to the airport and were on a flight to Hanoi. We were excited for Hanoi as a city, as we had read, was amazing…and then there was Ha Long Bay.

Coming up soon, cheers!!

To Vietnam: Touchdown – Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) or Saigon, used to be the erstwhile capital city of South Vietnam, prior to the reunification of the country. It used to be a French capital town too during their reign over the Cochinchina colony. Now, HCMC is the most populous city of the country. A city bustling with traffic, energy and food.

Air Asia Flights parked at KLIA 2

We landed at the Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport (SGN) on 1st of  April, 2018 at about 1300h local time. We had a layover at the KLIA2 (Kuala Lumpur International Terminal 2) and onward flight to Saigon. At SGN, we had to clear the immigration first to get to our baggage.
Immigration procedures were fairly simple. There is a window where you submit your passport, the approval letter and the filled form (attach 2 photos with the form) and then you wait. Your name shall get called out from another counter, where you need to pay USD 25 and receive your visa affixed passport back. Then you go the queue for the passport control, they stamp your inwards date, maybe ask a couple of questions, done!
We retrieved our luggage, bought a couple of local sim cards, costing us each 9 USD and came out. We also converted 100 USD to VND, which turned out to be about 2.2 million VND. Be careful of the denominations though. I found that they have currency notes of the following denominations (in thousands) – 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500. It is easy to confuse amongst the zeros and sometimes the notes stick together too. Just take your time to count and pay, simple.
We had booked our stay with the Chill Box hotels. It was a couple of kms away from the airport and the best way to reach there seemed to be using Uber. Later, we found that Uber was indeed the best way to travel within the city for they are quick to respond, and the cost is quite reasonable. The local taxis do rip you off real bad.
We dropped our bags, bathed, refreshed for a bit, and were out on the streets by 1700h. Since we were famished, the first place where we saw something being cooked and served, we went for it.

Sticky rice, vegetables and a pork sausage

What you see above is fried rice, lettuce, tomato, cucumber and a pork sausage. I do not remember what it was called, but it tasted quite nice. The sausage had a slight sweet taste to it. The rice, when mixed with the soup, soya sauce and some chilly paste, became absolutely amazing. Chicken, egg and beef options were also available for the same dish.

A street in Saigon

Umbrellas in a street in Ho Chi Minh CityNext, we were headed to towards the town centre. Since we werent scheduled to be in HCMC for a long time, we concentrated only on the places within the city. It was past 1730h, so we could not go in the museums.
One of the museums which we could not get toWe went to the Notre Dame Cathedral and found it very beautiful.The Notre Dame Cathedral, SaigonRight beside the cathedral is the post office, which has been operational since the French were there.The Central Post Office, Saigon

There were street performances in progress in the lanes and we progressed towards our next destination for the evening, The Hard Rock Cafe, Saigon!

Long exposure outside the Hard Rock Cafe, Saigon

Since it had become quite late by then, we decided to head back, and retire early.

Dried fish for sale, Saigon

A sculpture in an alley, Saigon

For dinner, that night, we gave Pho, which is basically a bland-ish noodle soup with choice of meat, a try. I did not like it much and in the trip, never did we have another bowl of Pho.

A Bowl of Pho Bo, Saigon

We retired for the day by 2300h and had planned to visit the Ben Thanh market, The War Remnants Museum and the Bitexco Financial Tower before we flew out the next day.

The trip continues in the next post.

Cheers!!