In Da Nang we are on our 3rd week of semi-serious lockdown. We are still allowed to go out of our houses and get takeaway food and go shopping and what not but a vast majority of activities and public areas are off limits. Thankfully, we are still allowed to venture around on our bicycles to get some exercise and break the monotony of sitting indoors all the time.
I suppose in some small way this is actually encouraging me to get more exercise because in the past when I was not working there was always the temptation to head straight to the pubs because since I am a regular at several of them, I am bound to know someone there and well, we all know how that goes. 1 becomes 2 becomes 12 becomes hangover. So in that regard the lockdown has actually been quite beneficial to me from a health perspective.
I went on a ride today on my own and kept a mask on whenever people were around. I took some photos of some of the few historical sites in this city that haven't been mashed down in the name of building more cement rectangle shophouses.
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This was at the entrance of a temple and I believe that this sort of art is called a mosaic. I'm not gonna look it up but I just hope that it is an original work and not some sort of mass-produced sticker. Temples are known for being unique to I hope that it was something original and if that is the case I can't even imagine how long this must have taken.
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We weren't allowed inside the complex and it is questionable as to whether or not I was even allowed to be outside of it. There was no one else around so I just kind of presume that it is ok. If it wasn't and someone told me to leave I would have. For people that have never been to Asia they might be a bit surprised by the symbols here but just know that it has nothing to do with Nazism. The Nazis actually stole these symbols and turned them into something a majority of the world associates with something bad. I tip my hat to the people who actually did originate this symbol and never changed it just because of Hitler misusing it.
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At the moment only people who work in fishing or shipping in some sort of capacity are allowed on the beach but we are allowed to get close enough. Da Nang and I presume a lot of the rest of Vietnam has these little circle boats that are hand paddled. They seem to be a way of transporting things from bigger vessels that can't reach the shore. I can't say that I necessarily understand how this would work better than a boat shaped boat but I would imagine they have their reasons!
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Last but certainly not least there was this tower that I spotted from a main road and it took me a while to find the tiny little path that lead to it. I don't know if I was trespassing but if anyone had said anything to me I would have left and I also didn't touch anything. I did see a few people and said hello and they didn't seem to mind that I was back there so I think we cool.
Altogether I did around 25km cycling, which of course I know is not a lot but let's keep in mind that it is around 12,000 degrees right now with near 100% humidity so that 25 k felt like a lot of work to me. I also had a shirt that looked like I had jumped into the ocean it was so wet with my sweat by the time I got home.
So if you are in lockdown, I hope you are getting out and doing something besides just sitting indoors. We all need our outside time and thankfully we haven't reached the point in Da Nang where they are restricting that provided we stay out of public areas and parks and what not.
I have also heard that the lockdown will end by Tuesday of next week. Let's hope that is true.