south east asia | Without an H

Posts tagged ‘south east asia’

Cosmopolitan (potw #42)

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In order to avoid doing my packing this afternoon, I went for a wander with my camera. I’ve not taken that many pictures in Saigon recently – these pictures of the week have tailed off quite a bit – but I’ve taken a few that I like over the last couple of days. Here’s one of them to be going along with. She sells magazines in District 1.

Later today, I’ll be flying home for Christmas and the New Year. I have five weeks in the UK before coming back to Saigon – briefly – in January. After that, I’ll be heading off to the next place, though I’m not entirely sure where that will be yet. First I plan to travel through some other parts of south east Asia for a while. So this is a kind of farewell to Saigon, but maybe not to Vietnam.

Another monk portrait

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Here’s another from the archive, taken in Phnom Penh in January of this year. I should really have included it in this post, as I think they make quite a nice double act.

Outtakes

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This is a collection of Saigon street portraits from the last year or so, which I had previously overlooked, or which didn’t fit into earlier posts.

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Over and under the bridge

On Long Bien bridge, you see urban Vietnam: motorbikes, tired colonial architecture, views of narrow houses and tower blocks fading into the smog. Under the bridge, the island, where you find a slither of rural Vietnam: fishing villages, farmland, brave Red River swimmers.

When I lived in Hanoi, it was one of my favourite areas to go and take photographs in. These pictures are from a brief visit in October, when I stopped over in Hanoi for a few days on my way further north.

Travels with my sister

It’s easy to become jaded and cynical about a place after you’ve lived there for a while. One of the great things about visits from friends and family is that you get to look at familiar sights with some fresh perspective. Things that you might have started to take for granted become interesting again. So nine days in Vietnam with my sister, as well as being an opportunity to spend some time with one of my favourite people, was a chance to remind myself about what drew me to Vietnam in the first place.

These pictures are from the few days that Kate and I spent in Dalat and Hanoi.

Green (potw #41)

I’ve spent the last week and a bit on holiday with my sister, Kate, who came over from the UK to visit her little brother. We had a great time in Saigon, Dalat and Hanoi before Kate had to head home last night. I have a few pictures to add, but I thought I’d start with Mr Green here, seen this morning in Hanoi.

Colours and details

Every now and then, I like to publish a post without any people pictures. Like comedians sometimes make films without any jokes in. This is one of those. These pictures are all about the colours, patterns, textures and details that I saw in northern Vietnam last month.

My last post was featured on Freshly Pressed last week, so this site has gained quite a few new readers – hello. And to all those who have been following, commenting on and liking my posts over the last year – thank you. Here are some more pictures.

Around Sapa

My trip to Sapa seems like a long time ago now, though I’ve only been back for two and a half weeks. The cool temperatures, clean air and mist were a world away from Saigon’s humidity and smog. When the sun came out for the last few days, I was even a bit disappointed. These pictures were all taken in the countryside and villages around the town over the course of a few long-ish walks.

In the kitchen

I took this picture in Bac Ha, but it didn’t seem to fit in my earlier post, as it was taken on one of the side streets, rather than in the market. It’s not the sharpest picture I’ve ever taken, but I like it, so I’m posting it on its own here.

She was making rice noodles in a tiny street-side kitchen in the late afternoon. I liked the way she was lit by the fading sunlight outside, and I liked her style. Her slightly incongruous black suit jacket made a great contrast to the bright colours worn by the Flower Hmong market traders elsewhere in town.

Red II

I paid a couple of visits to Ta Phin village while I was staying in Sapa. There’s something very compelling about the Red Dao women and their red head scarves.