Sketches of Central Vietnam

I have just returned from a recent visit to Central Vietnam, a 10-day vacation. It was a wonderful one. Traveling is so necessary for me as it is a time I need to unwind, recharge and be inspired apart from getting to know a country and its culture, people and culinary.

I usually travel with an artistic mission in mind, be it photography or illustration. On this trip, I am glad that I managed to whip up some sketches, though only started on the last 3 days of my trip, mostly in Hoi An, which I did them live on site. Live digital sketching is something I have never done before this and I am happy that I decided to do it!

Although I had my Moleskine notebook and watercolour with me, I ended up drawing with Paper app on my iPad for it was convenient and less attention grabbing. A plus point for drawing on a digital tablet is that one could draw anywhere in the dark, and I did exactly that during the few evenings in Hoi An.

Here are the sketches of the famous Hoi An Heritage Site.

Here is the special dish in Hoi An called Cao Lau. The rice noodle is said to be made by the only two families in the city, using special well water and rice. Every vendor of Cao Lau will have buy the noodle from them while the other ingredients are easily available in the market to make this special dish. I tasted it and indeed it was good!

And here is a sketch I did while on a bus journey from Hue to Hoi An. I was thinking about how the local people would cover their faces with all kinds of cloth facial masks when they are walking on the streets and riding on the motorbikes. Such sight amused me at times.

The trip seemed too short. I wish I had explored more places and done more sketches. But there is always another time. I will return someday for more of Vietnam!

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