It is always nice to go to markets. Everywhere in the world they are worth to watch, a lot happenes and especially in some less developed countries they are sometimes the best activities to be done.
You often see things you never see anywere else.
Here for example some market scene's from the food market in Hue. You can wander around for many hours and enjoy the atmosphere and food.
Want something original, read this!
Nha Trang is visited partly because the train from Saigon stops there. As soon as the train arrived, many cap drivers came along to lure you into their cab. Unless you want to take a walk, just do it. Since our train arrived at sunrise, we did not feel like walking anymore.
Nha Trang is the Vietnam version of a beach place. But as a westerner you will feel nice and being away, laying your lazy ass on a beach seat and enjoy the atmosphere that is so different. Beautiful beaches are there and all of that. Vietnam is still relatively unspoils from tourisme and the Vietnamese are (still) very friendly people.
So we sat down on a beach. 2 ways from Europe and in a place that hardly anybody knows. A good start. first waking up with a coffee, then a little breakfast and before we knew it, a first cool beer.
Although they do not recommend you to buy from the beach vendors, we eventually did (see picture) 
treat ourselves with some fresh (looking) shrips and langoustines. Instantly cooked in front of you, with some vegetable on a lazy beach in Vietnam. And it turned out to be some of the finest seafood I have had or perhaps it was because of the surroundings. Impressive, and it was not expensive.
Hostels and places to stay are everywhere. Just go to a beachplace you like and let yourself inform. If you do not like it, go to the next place and eventually you will end up somewhere.
By coincidence we found a place that should be paradise and of the beaten track. So why not try it out!
Nobody could tell us what it would exactly be but we tried to make the adventure.
Anyway, after a 2 hour cardrive and a following 2 hour boat drive
, all north of Nha Trang, we ended up on a very desolated beach, called 'Ile Tortue'. This is french for Tortoise Island. I am not sure if it was an island or a peninsula but when we arrived there we knew that we had made a good decision.
A frenchmen had set up his own little paradise resort, called Ile Tortue on a perfect bay and all in the french way (very well taken care, with style and nice food). People who come here get their own lodge of course with beach view and on the terrace of his 'clubhouse' you can order drinks and food. Yes, really away from it all.
He even rented out boats, snorkling gear and there was a dive master to take us down to some impressive underwater life.
There also lived a tribe of people that originated from the Polynesians and they had their own life, apparently unconnected with the Vietnamese life. 
This was in the year 2000 so I do not know if it is still there but if you can, go there. It was very reasonably priced (compared to Europe it is cheap) and really a place of the beaten track!
Next time I will be back!
Passeig de Gracia is the most expensive shopping street of Barcelona. Starting at the plaza Catalunia it runs for several kms where you pass many style shops and some gaudi architecture.
Holland is a busy place. But if you want to get away of the busiest places, try the Veluwe. It is quiet, there are some nice little villages and the people are very friendly. You can hike, cycle and enjoy nature.
These pictures were taken in Autumn when the woods are FULL of mushrooms.
is a chique restaurant opposite Teatro Cervantes. It is expensive but very good to go for a treat since the atmosphere, service and the food are very unique. It is like eating in a museum between the Picasso's and a lot of very old paintings.
VEry original. Have a look at the virtual tour of the various rooms on their website.
www.lacasadelangel.com
In Torre del Mar, German Anke has a little bar where nothing has changed really for 25 years.
If you are around, go in there and have a drink. Anke is a nice lady and can tell you a lot about the history and changes in Torre del Mar.
Say hello from Vivian and Bas a give her our warmregards
Velez Malaga Semana Santa (Eastern) processions in April 2006. They go on all night. Nothing to do with KKK, by the way.
These processions are held in most larger towns and cities. The ones in Sevilla, Malaga and Velez-Malaga are as far as I know the well know ones. We liked it.
All the Fraternidades have their own Maria or Jezus, weighing a few tons, carried through the old city centers by a few hunderd men. Together with beautifully dressed Señoritas, their own music bands they walk through the night for many hours for 4 or 5 days and looking very seriously. It is not a fiesta where they drink a lot but more a fiesta of seriousness. Very impressive.
In the Axarquia (the eastern region of the Malaga province) inland, you see many of these!
In the province of Malaga is a little dwelling with a surrounding valley called 'Venta Baja'. Venta Baja is part of the municipality of Alcaucin, a village some 20 km inland from Torre del Mar. Living in the Andalucian campo is different. First, it is beautiful, quiet and the scenery is often very nice. The people usually are or were until recently local farmers and have a real different way of thinking, very different from us NOrth Europeans. This has it advantages and disadvantages. They are friendly and very willing to make a chat or help you out to find whatever you need to find out. On the other side, like more Spaniard, they are not good in planning, organizing and communicating which cna be frustrating.
Just hop in a local bar and you will probably end up with many spanish men, who all like you and all give you a different advice for the same problem. Can be a lot of fun.
Try Chiringuito Antonio in Venta Baja, just of the carretera (main road) from Viñuela to Alhama the Granada. It is still quite local although the English are already spreading fast in this area. They have a seperate bar where they sell many different belgium beers!!
IN the campo there are always surprises, we found out. A great variation in fruit and vegetables everytime of the year. Water, electricity or internet that stops without warning and starts running again, also without warning. The time in between can vary from a few seconds up to quite a few days.
The difference in the various seasons is spectacular. Early in the year, it looks like a juicy swiss grassy mountainside. Green and lush with many different flowers and many trees (almonds) are in bloom. In summer, it is the contrary. Everything is dry and dusty and sometimes you feel you have become part of a western movie. But still, things grow although the large part of the countryside is browns. The sun scorches all the colours away and the best pictures you can take at the early start or late end of the day.
Torre del Mar is about 30 km east of Malaga. It is a beach resort for many spaniards of all the big cities in andalucia in general and a lot more spaniards in particular. I would not recommend it. Although there is a nice boulevard and many bars, ice cream places, chiringuito's and cafetarias, 3 campings around and some 4 star hotels, there are much better places to go.
Besides this, Torre del Mar lacks atmoshpere, an old centre and city planning.
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