Gallery

Vietnam

A free concert on the side of the street by victims of Agent Orange.

In front of the Temple of Literature, location of the Vietnam’s first university. Education is very important in Vietnamese culture, and this is a popular place for student studying for exams.

Are motorbikes the mark of a developing country? Millions of motorbikes occupy the narrow streets everyday. Ha Noi is commonly referred to “Ha Loi” because “loi” means “swim”. After a large rainstorm, it will flood in Ha Noi because of inadequate irrigation, making it extremely difficult for people on motorbikes to travel. Luckily, infrastructure has improved greatly, but the rain regularly disrupts daily life.

Taken at 4am in the morning, the streets of Hanoi are relatively quiet. That would change in an hour or two.

A Hmong woman, an ethnic minority in Vietnam, carries her baby on her back as she escorts tourists through the mountains of Sa Pa. She wears traditional clothing to attract tourists and hikes more than 20 kilometers a day, even in the rain. As Vietnam is making a shift from agriculture to manufacturing and tourism, her income is dependent on the tourist economy; this is how she makes a living.

A Vietnamese couple, living in the mountains of Sa Pa, offer their home (and WiFi) to 12 tourists (including myself) for night, serving dinner and breakfast.

Inside of a rickshaw boat, a woman runs her business cooking and selling food to consumers of the floating market. The floating market used to be a marketplace for the local people, but with the construction of a nearby bridge and megastores, consumers can go farther and conveniently buy more goods. It now primarily serves as a place for tourists, but it is unsure whether income from tourism is enough.