What a strange winter has formed here.
Gloomy gray, with faded leaves, some trees are even almost bare, and everything is so silent and whitish...
Very strange season, I'll enjoy exploring it a bit longer.
Yup, I've decided to stay in Hue for a while. Nothing is different in the nearest cities: it endlessly drizzles and is around +20 day and night in all Central Vietnam.
Going far somewhere else? Like, to sunny hot Saigon or chill and less rainy Hanoi? Should make a decision first about the whole journey of mine.
Thinking to leave for Kolkata, India at some point but not sure.
Secondly, the drizzling marathon seems to be coming to an end:
Google weather in Hue from December 28, 2024, to January 4, 2025
The temperatures are the same but dry days are promised, and the precipitation probability for each day is lower.
A dry day twice a week would be good so that my sneakers don't get wet during photo walks. Can you here me, Ông Trời?
As you see, it's not just simple grey weather in Central Vietnam as it happens in hot September and warm October on rainy days.
It's a unique season with special autumnal vibes worth exploring with the photo camera.
Yes, I have the same face expression after 28 days of drizzling in December.
Here, showing one of those rare dry days, December 22, 2024.
The train station of the colonial architecture. Humble but eye-catching, almost magnetic.
My favorite An Cuu River.
A street along it, everything is faded, so not tropical...
Such thickets are where a kingfisher can be sitting. There are many of them in Hue but they don't let you come close enough for a good shot (with a budget telephoto lens I have).
Unlike top attractions crowded with tourists and partly gentrified, the An Cuu River keeps living its authentic life.
People dry clothes there, burn incense sticks to greet mysterious gods, drink coffee by the water, and fish.
Hue townsfolk love fishing (look at the group over the river). By the way, teenagers aren't an exception although each Hue teen has a mobile phone (with internet and some games). This fact makes me respect the people of this city.
This is my leisurely pace of life in Hue. Essentially, I'm trying to figure out how to continue my slow journey. Going to India is a serious decision; I need time to determine where I will fly from, when I will fly, and whether I will fly to India at all. Maybe I should buy a flight in February, and, in the meantime, enjoy life in Chiang Mai, Thailand? I don't know, I really don't know anything yet.
More Southeast Asian adventures to come, stay tuned! Check out my previous posts on my personal Worldmappin map.
I took these images with a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 on mostly December 22, 2024, in Hue, Vietnam.