Last Pix of Việt Nam

Yeah, I know – I’ve been back from Việt Nam for the best part of a month, but there are still a few things I’d like to share from the trip.  These are photos that I particularly liked, but they just didn’t seem to fit into any of the stories I posted.  My solution?  I’ll write a little mini-story about each otherwise unused photos.

Out in the countryside near Huê is a small Catholic village.  My friend Cu showed it to me – and he said he’d only found it recently.  You could tell the village had had a rough time of it after 1975.  I saw what was once a church school, now abandoned and forlorn, as well as a partially built building I’ll guess was meant to be a rectory.  Both buildings were in semi-ruins.  With the opening up of Việt Nam since 1986, so has there been more religious freedom.  Today the church building itself is in good repair – and the villagers practice their faith.  This was taken on a Wednesday afternoon at five o’clock.  The church bells rang, and people gathered for prayer.  This shot was not posed – the boy was just part of the group of people in prayer.

I was wandering around the famous (or in my case, infamous) Dong Ba market with Cu one day.  (It’s infamous to me because it is so crowded – and I don’t do well in crowds.) It is the very large central market in Huê, and we were looking for obligatory “market shots.”  Cu started talking with this lady and something he said just cracked her up.  Her laugh was infectious.

(Just a side thought – do you suppose this lady would still be happy if she had a payment due on her new BMW and had to fill the tank at today’s prices just to get to the market twice a day?

I’m just sayin’.)

It was at the very beginning of the rice harvest in central Việt Nam when I was there in April.  I’m here to tell you folks  – this is hard, back-breaking work.  But I found one family that seemed to joke around with each other a lot.  In this case, the smile is not for me or the camera – the smile was for another member of the family who was standing behind me holding two fingers over my head.  I guess this proves the old premise that the mere presence of a photographer changes the scene, whether we are trying to take candid shots or not.

One of my assignments took me into the countryside to a preschool.  As the old saying goes, you can’t go wrong taking pictures of kids or puppies.  In this case, the problem was trying to stay clear of a mass of giggling, finger-poking, squirming kids in order to take any photos. While most of the boys were trying to put a fingerprint on my lens, this little girl stayed off to one side – just watching to see what would happen with the big foreigner and his giant camera.

The Mystery Guest Blogger and I are off to New Mexico tomorrow.   When we get to Albuquerque, we’ll pick up two grandkids, and spend the next two weeks with them.  The two Florida kids will see mountains like they’ve never seen before, Native American villages, picnic atop a ski resort – and do what we hope will be a bunch of fun things.

Comments

[Sam]

Pick-up your grand-kids, eh?
Remembered that your role is (vengence) with lot of love, by spoiling them - then send them home so they will nagg their parents until next summer, then start all over again (grin)!
Anyhow, I am jealous, because my sons were stubborn, not "crazY" like Kathy & I did, married early when we were still in college!

[Duong Lam Anh]

I like the church in the pix so much. Simple, modest but beautiful. The praying boy is so cute, too.

[Tom]

Enjoy the grandkids. The equivalent of a mountain in Florida is a bridge high enough for ships to get under.

Great photos.

[Ngoc]

Hi,

I stumbled upon your blog via a search engine. I just want to say thank you for taking the time and effort to share your photos and stories.

I found the photos of the kids the most endearing and touching as I have two of my own.

I left VN when I was 2 and have only been back once when I was 21. I read with interest your comments on the modernisation of city life. I would like my children to experience vietnamese culture before it gets more westernised. My plans to take the kids back will have to be moved forward. :)

Once again, many thanks.

Cheers
Ngoc

[Thuy]

Doug, fantastic photos. I missed Vietnam everytime I look at your pictures or read your stories.

Ngoc, don't wait too long. Many things are changing in Vietnam and fast. My children too wants to see Vietnam with me. We are hoping to go there in a few years. Very expensive to travel that far - but worth every pennies.