south east asia | Without an H

Posts tagged ‘south east asia’

Pith

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Near Dong Xuan market, Hanoi, yesterday.

I’ve heard it said that women do all the hard work in Vietnam. There may be some truth in that; it certainly seems, sometimes, that men take a more – shall we say – relaxed approach. Here we have a cigarette seller, a repairman and a tailor, all seen hard at work over the last week.

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Rest

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Vietnamese markets are hot, noisy, crowded, exhausting places. No wonder these three had escaped to the shade of an alleyway for a sit-down and a chat.

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Cook

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Near Tan Dinh market, yesterday afternoon.

Back in the HCMC

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On Sunday, I made it back to Vietnam after four months back in the UK. I’m still adjusting to not being cold all the time. I’m used to life in Vietnam and I knew what to expect coming back, but I still felt a little odd and disconnected when I first got back. Things were familiar, yet strange. Was this just jet-lag, or was it a case of reverse reverse culture shock?

Anyway, yesterday, after a couple of days of sleeping at peculiar times and wondering at the strange feeling of warmth in the air, I went for a wander with my camera. I was a little apprehensive, having hardly taken any pictures at all while back at home, but after a slow start, I found myself getting back into my stride. I was a little slow to react at times, and more tentative than I would like, but I enjoyed myself and I came back with a few pictures that I like, one of which I’ve posted here.

I felt like I was racing against the rain all afternoon. There was that feeling that a downpour was imminent – all looming black clouds, swirling wind and fragile sunshine – but the rain, when it came, was late in the day and little more than a shower. The rainy season isn’t ready to arrive just yet.

Down by the water

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Back in May last year, I spent a week in Hue, in central Vietnam. A lot of people tend to pass through Hue pretty quickly, or overlook it altogether in favour of Hoi An, which is a shame. Hue doesn’t seem to mind though; the city has a relaxed, pleasingly low-key feel. These pictures are from the countryside around the town and an early morning visit to a fishing village on the Perfume River.

After three and a half months in the UK, I will be heading back to Vietnam later this month, considerably later than planned. This blog – like the rest of my life – has lost some momentum over that time (I blame the unrelentingly awful weather) but I’m looking forward to getting both back on track and to posting some new pictures here soon. Some sunshine will be nice too.

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Bits and pieces

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Hue, central Vietnam, May 2012

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View of Hanoi from the top of My Dinh tower, October 2012

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In Lenin Park, October 2012

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In Ta Phin village, near Sapa, north-west Vietnam, October 2012

Photobook: Portraits of Vietnam

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My photobook, Portraits of Vietnam, is available now. Hotly anticipated by members of my immediate family, it’s a collection of seventy-odd portrait pictures taken over fourteen months in various locations in Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon, the Mekong Delta, Dalat and the central highlands, Hanoi, and the north-western province of Lao Cai. I’ve taken other kinds of picture and been to other countries over that period, but portraits are the pictures that I most enjoy taking, and Vietnam has been my been my home for most of the last five years, so Vietnamese portraits seemed like an obvious theme for a book.

Portraits of Vietnam is available to buy here for £33 (about 50 USD). You can see a preview of the whole thing for free (exactly 0 USD) by clicking here. The 96 page, 8×10 inch softcover book is self-published through blurb. I realise it’s not cheap, but I’ve tried to keep costs down as much as I can, and I promise not to be offended if nobody buys a copy.

October all over again

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This blog has been a little quiet lately, mostly because I’ve been back home in England (for a little longer than planned) where it’s been too cold, grey and wet to take any photographs. Anyone eager to see pictures of the Sussex countryside in winter will, I’m afraid, have to look elsewhere.

I have, though, dug out some more pictures from my October trip to north-west Vietnam, which I’m posting here.

In other news, I will soon be unleashing my first photobook on an unsuspecting world. It’s a collection of portrait pictures taken in Vietnam over the last year and a bit, titled – unless someone can come up with something better – Portraits of Vietnam. Watch this space for further details, and seriously, please let me know in the comments section below if you have a good idea for a title.

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So long Saigon

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One day I’ll write a blog post that eloquently sums up the joys, disappointments, pleasures and frustrations of living in Saigon. But not today. Instead, here are some pictures taken over a couple of days in December, as I was preparing to come back to the UK for Christmas.

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