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Monthly Archives: November 2016

Việt Nam Visit: Hội An 2

28 Monday Nov 2016

Posted by neihtn2012 in Photography, Viet Nam Trip

≈ 19 Comments

Tags

hoi an, photography, postaday, rau muong, thu bon

While strolling through Hội An, I tried to capture images of daily life in a town which is almost picture perfect for a photographer.

Woman gathering water spinach (rau muống), a very popular vegetable which grows near water.

Woman harvesting water spinach (rau muống), a very popular vegetable which grows near water.

Hội An, where non-tourists live.

Hội An, where non-tourists live.

The town is renowned for its tailor shops where a suit can be made to measure, or duplicated from an old one, in one day. On the plane I even read an article saying that high fashion has found a niche in Hội An.

Hội An tailor shop. This one will make Western dresses to order.

Hội An tailor shop. This one will make Western dresses to order, from any kind of fabric, in a day or less.

Tour boats on the Thu Bồn river.

Tour boats on the Thu Bồn river.

While I was taking pictures, a small girl waved to me. I saw her standing next to her grandmother and made her day with this picture.

Grandmother and girl in Hội An.

Grandmother and girl in Hội An.

Three sampans on Thu Bồn river.

Three sampans on Thu Bồn river.

Modern ceramics on display near the Hội An art gallery.

Modern ceramics on display near the Hội An art gallery.

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Việt Nam Visit: Hội An

27 Sunday Nov 2016

Posted by neihtn2012 in Photography, Viet Nam Trip

≈ 19 Comments

Tags

hoi an, japanese covered bridge, photography, postaday

We flew to Đà Nẵng in Central Việt Nam, and from there went by road to Hội An, a small coastal city designated a World Heritage Site in 1999.

Hội An was a busy trading port until the end of the 18th century, with Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, and Indian traders establishing themselves in various parts of the city. Then two factors contributed to its decline: the Nguyễn dynasty which came to power in Việt Nam gave their French allies access to Đà Nẵng as a main trading port; and the Thu Bồn river passing through Hội An silted over, making it more difficult for ships to use the harbor.

Soon eclipsed by Đà Nẵng, Hội An languished until recently when international tourism discovered its charms. The old quarters along the river have been preserved much as they were originally. The pace of life is much more relaxed than in cities like Sài Gòn or Đà Nẵng, and it is possible to stroll leisurely along its streets without being bothered by cars or motorbikes. Walking is what we did over two days in Hội An from our homestay lodging to the old quarters, both during the day and at night.

Hội An old quarters at night.

Hội An old quarters at night.

A restaurant in Hội An old quarters.

A restaurant in Hội An old quarters.

Street of Hội An old quarters at night.

Street of Hội An old quarters at night.

During the day, it was easier to see the old assembly halls or temples, some dating back to the 16th century.

Japanese covered bridge.

Japanese covered bridge built in 1590.

Entrance (or exit) to Japanese covered bridge.

Entrance (or exit) to Japanese covered bridge.

Tiều Châu assembly hall.

Triều Châu assembly hall.

Quan Công temple.

Quan Công temple.

Hoi An Traditional Art Performance Theatre.

Hoi An Traditional Art Performance House.

Cine Minh Hương ancestral worship house.

Chinese Minh Hương ancestral worship house.

Hội An Art Gallery.

Hội An Art Gallery.

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Việt Nam Visit: An Lộc and a Falsification of History

26 Saturday Nov 2016

Posted by neihtn2012 in Photography

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

an loc, photography, postaday

An Lộc was a town we visited on the second day of this trip. It is famous because of a major battle that took place there from April to June of 1972. It was the provincial capital of the South Vietnamese province of Bình Long, in an area with many rubber plantations, including large ones owned by French companies.

Three communist divisions, reinforced by an artillery division, two tank regiments, and numerous smaller units, attacked and encircled An Lộc. An estimated total of over 35,000 North Vietnamese soldiers were thrown into the battle. The communists brought with them long-range artillery as well as tanks provided by the USSR. The goal of the communist offensive was to take over An Lộc and declare it the new capital of a liberated South Việt Nam.

The town was defended by three regiments of the South Vietnamese 5th Division, augmented by local defense forces (regional and popular self-defense forces), and later reinforced by several ranger and airborne battalions. The South Vietnamese forces inside the town eventually numbered 7,500. Only scores of American advisers stayed with the town defenders, but they were crucial in requesting air support from the US Air Force located in South Việt Nam and from as far away as Thailand and Guam. The 5th Division commander, General Lê Văn Hưng, vowed to defend An Lộc to his death, galvanizing his troops’ morale.

The siege of An Lộc lasted 94 days, longer than the 56 days it took to defeat the French at Điện Biên Phủ. In the end, communist troops failed to overrun the town and had to retreat to their sanctuaries in Cambodia after losing 47 tanks and suffering in excess of 10,000 dead. No exact figures have ever been released by North Vietnamese authorities. The South Vietnamese side lost 2,280 killed, 2,091 missing, 8,564 wounded.

During the battle, surrounding communist troops fired on civilians who tried to flee the fighting. Communist policy was to force civilians to stay inside the town to compound human and logistical problems for the South Vietnamese defenders.Their artillery thus fell indiscriminately on the town at rates as high as 10,000 shells per day. More artillery shells fell on An Lộc than on Điện Biên Phủ.

Many civilians sought shelter with the soldiers in their trenches or bunkers, sharing their meager battle rations as the town was completely cut off and airdrops were the only sources of food and other provisions.

There was no building left standing in An Lộc at the end. Schools, hospitals, churches or temples were not spared. Often civilians and soldiers killed remained unburied for many days, only to be shredded to pieces by subsequent artillery bombardment. The stench became unbearable especially for those soldiers conscripted into burial duty. Several mass graves had to be excavated and thousands of bodies or body parts were dumped into them. There is no official number for civilians killed in the battle, but they may very well have been in the thousands.

My first visit to An Lộc was in 1959 when it was still a bucolic town being populated by refugees from the North. Fifty seven years later I returned, but recognized almost nothing.  Streets appeared wider and practically all houses were new, at least compared to other Vietnamese cities.  There was even a plush new hotel and spa.

Family riding motrobike on the road to An Lộc.

Family riding motrobike on the road to An Lộc.

Along Highway 13 in An Lộc.

Along Highway 13 in An Lộc.

Main street in An Lộc.

Main street in An Lộc.

An Lộc hotel and spa.

An Lộc hotel and spa.

After some initial difficulty, I finally found two places were the fighting was very heavy in 1972.

Rubber trees lining up along the Quản Lợi airfield that North Vietnamese troops overran in the first days of fighting.

Rubber trees lining up along the Quản Lợi airfield that North Vietnamese troops overran in the first days of fighting.

The road to Windy Hill where a South Vietnamese airborne battalion sacrificed itself to hold the hill and allow ther units to move to reinforce An Lộc.

The road to Windy Hill and Hill 169 where the 6th South Vietnamese airborne battalion fought to hold the hills and allow other units to move to reinforce An Lộc. Only 80 of the battalion paratroopers survived.

These days, there is an official mass grave with the bodies of about 3,000 dead in An Lộc. It was built about a year ago and declared a “revolutionary national historical monument”. However, it bears a blatant and easily debunked falsification of history. A stele at the center of the monument carries the following inscription: “Grave for 3000 people of An Lộc, killed by American imperialists on 03-10-1972.” B-52 strikes by the US Air Force were singled out as the culprit for the 3000 dead.

However, on March 10, 1972, the battle had not even started.  If the date were October 3, 1972, the battle was well over by then. During the battle there were many B-52 strikes, but they only fell on the surrounding areas occupied by communist attacking forces. The American advisers inside the town would have been completely foolish or inept to call for B-52 bombs to fall on their own positions and thus kill themselves as well as their allies and civilians. As it turned out, no American adviser died during the siege of An Lộc.

Unidentified flowers on a tree  along Highway 13 in An Lộc.

Unidentified flowers on a tree along Highway 13 in An Lộc.

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Việt Nam Visit: Sài Gòn at Night, Conical Hat Dance

25 Friday Nov 2016

Posted by neihtn2012 in Photography, Viet Nam Trip

≈ 20 Comments

Tags

conical hat, photography, postaday, sai gon, tao dan park, viet nam

Perhaps nothing illustrates better how Sài Gòn has grown than the following pictures taken at night.

Sài Gòn at night, from Thôi Điền district looking back.

Sài Gòn at night, from Thôi Điền district (where many foreign expatriates live) looking back.

A good place to capture the city’s skylight is from the middle of Thủ Thiêm bridge, built in 2008. The city has grown by crossing the river toward the North, on the left side of the picture.

View of Sài Gòn at night from Thủ Thiêm bridge.

View of Sài Gòn at night from Thủ Thiêm bridge.

Traffic on the bridge was typical for the city. Thousands and thousands of cars and motorbikes going in both directions.

View from Thủ Thiêm bridge at night.

View from Thủ Thiêm bridge at night.

On our last day in Sài Gòn, we went to Tao Đàn park, a green oasis in the center of the city.

Flower beds in Tao Đàn park.

Flower beds in Tao Đàn park.

The park has added several attractions since the last time I saw it.

Replica of a Cham temple from central Việt Nam.

Replica of a Cham temple from central Việt Nam.

A temple to the Hùng Vương kings who ruled from 2879 BC to 258 BC.

A temple to the Hùng Vương kings who ruled from 2879 BC to 258 BC.

The following photos are from a water lily pond in front of the Hùng Vương temple.

Water Lily.

Water Lily.

Water Lily.

Water Lily.

Water Lily.

Water Lily.

I was surprised to see many young people in a corner of the park. Some were practicing a conical hat dance, with each dancer holding two hats. They got better with their practice as I kept shooting with my camera.

Conical hat dancers. The man with the hoody seemed to be their coach or choreographer.

Conical hat dancers. The man with the hoody seemed to be their coach or choreographer.

Conical hat dancers.

Conical hat dancers.

Conical hat dancers.

Conical hat dancers.

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Việt Nam Visit: Sài Gòn, by Any Other Name …

24 Thursday Nov 2016

Posted by neihtn2012 in Photography, Viet Nam Trip

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

ben thanh, our lady of peace, photography, postaday, regina pacis, sai gon, viet nam

When the North Vietnamese conquered Sài Gòn in 1975, they renamed it after their beloved leader, and changed many street names to those of luminaries in the communist pantheon. Still, after 41 years, people in the South as well as the North only refer to it as Sài Gòn, unless they have to make an official or public speech.

From the hazy airplane window, I saw that the city had grown vertically and had also spilled over to the north side of the Sài Gòn river, which was not renamed like the city was.

Sài Gòn from the air.

Sài Gòn from the air.

After we landed at the airport, I had trouble recognizing the old capital. It had grown both in size and in population, from 3 million in 1975 to well over 10 million inhabitants now. There were literally millions of motorbikes and cars competing for space on the narrow streets, and traffic was a nightmare day and night. It seemed impossible that people could ride or drive in such conditions, but they did, and traffic laws were constantly being violated by everyone including pedestrians who climbed over dividers to cross highways because there were no pedestrian overpasses.

Subways, light rail, overpasses exist only on paper in the planning stages. There was a tunnel running under the Sài Gòn river and several bridges were either built or expanded, but nothing seemed to help. Việt Nam has one of the highest highway fatality rates, and it is going to take well into the next decade, or even beyond, before things could get better.

Sài Gòn traffic scene.

Sài Gòn traffic scene. Note mother carrying young child crossing street.

Sài Gòn traffic scene in the rain.

Sài Gòn traffic scene in the rain.

We stayed at a hotel near the Bến Thành market in the center of the city, and from there we walked or sometimes called an Uber taxi to explore the city and find places that we used to know.

North side of Bến Thành market in the center of Sài Gòn.

North side of Bến Thành market in the center of Sài Gòn.

There were restaurants and food stalls everywhere in and around the Bến Thành area, or in the rest of the city as well. You can find people eating and having coffee, soft drinks or beer at any time of the day and night.

Food cart

Food cart selling sandwiches made to order.

Food cart selling beef soup in the Huế (old 19th century royal capital) style.

Food cart selling food in the Huế (old 19th century royal capital) style.

Some buildings had not changed much.

Old city hall.

Old city hall.

Opera house.

Opera house.

Nearby all the hotels and buildings had been rebuilt to be taller and more modern, so you won’t find the looks and atmosphere of Graham Greene’s The Quiet American any more.

Hotel on Tự Do street.

Hotel on Tự Do street.

There were signs that not all had benefited from the economic boom.

Scene on Lê Lợi boulevard, the widest in the city.

Scene on Lê Lợi boulevard, the widest in the city.

The other side of Lê Lợi boulevard. Poster on building wall applauded the

On the other side of Lê Lợi boulevard, a poster on building wall praised the “pioneer [ruling] class of the Party”.

Some buildings hardly changed, at least from the outside.

Sài Gòn cathedral, built in 1880.

Sài Gòn cathedral, built in 1880.

Regina Pacis, Our Lady of Peace, was added to the square in front of the cathedral in 1959.

Regina Pacis, Our Lady of Peace, was added to the square in front of the cathedral in 1959.

In 2005, the statue was reported to be shedding tears on the right cheek. People flocked to the cathedral in great numbers. The tear shedding was not confirmed by any authority.

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Việt Nam Visit: Night Scene and Floating Market

21 Monday Nov 2016

Posted by neihtn2012 in Photography, Viet Nam Trip

≈ 17 Comments

Tags

cai rang floating market, photography, postaday, shrimp tail

That first night in Cần Thơ I went to the tenth floor of our hotel to photograph the night scene. The city had grown a lot since 1969, with many tall buildings in Ninh Kiều district, where we stayed, and in the neighboring areas. Pop music and singing could be heard from several spots. The district was popular with foreign tourists who dined, walked around, and some even danced here and there.

Cần Thơ downtown at night. The long string of lights in the upper half of the image are from the new Japanese bridge.

Cần Thơ downtown at night. The long string of lights in the upper half of the image is from the new Japanese bridge.

Cần Thơ at night.

Cần Thơ at night.

At 6 AM the following morning, I took a small boat to go to the famous Cái Răng floating market about half an hour away. The hotel arranged for a boat, a driver, and a guide who came along with a new guide in training. The two guides and I sat on cushioned seats, while the driver stood and drove the boat with a small outboard motor called a “shrimp tail”.

Boats to take tourists to the Cái Răng floating market.

Boats to take tourists to the Cái Răng floating market.

The photo below gives a general view of the floating market which only catered to wholesale customers. The larger boats were loaded with fruit or vegetables, with samples tied to long poles sticking out of each boat to advertise their goods. Smaller boats would approach the boats that had what they wanted to buy, did their haggling and then transferred what they negotiated into their boats.

Floating market seen from some distance.

Floating market seen from some distance.

These two poles advertised sweet potatoes, white and red.

These two poles advertised red and white sweet potatoes.

We weaved our way around all the boats several times to allow me to shoot as many pictures as I wanted.

Several smaller boats surrounding wholesaler boats loaded with weet potatoes.

Several smaller boats surrounding wholesaler boats loaded with sweet potatoes.

Wholesaler throwing pineapples to buyer on smaller boat.

Wholesaler tossing pineapples to buyer on another boat.

Peeling outer leaves from cabbage before sale.

Peeling outer leaves from cabbage before sale.

Buying and selling jicama.

Buying and selling jicama.

There were smaller boats selling drinks or something hot for breakfast.

There were smaller boats offering drinks or hot soup for breakfast.

Done with his shopping a boat driver walked toward his outboard shrimp tail.

Done with his shopping a boat driver walked toward his outboard shrimp tail.

Taking fruiot and vegetables back to another market on land, or perhaps to a restaurant.

Taking fruit and vegetables back to another market on land, or perhaps to a restaurant.

Woman with a load of watermelons driving her boat as she sat on the motor.

Her shopping done, a woman with a load of watermelons drove her boat home as she sat on the motor.

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Việt Nam Visit: Cần Thơ, the Western Capital

20 Sunday Nov 2016

Posted by neihtn2012 in Photography, Viet Nam Trip

≈ 23 Comments

Tags

can tho, my thuan, photography, postaday, viet nam

For the last three weeks, we have been travelling in Việt Nam, from South to North. I took over 2,000 photos and will try to post some here to give you a flavor of what I saw and experienced.

Naturally the country has changed a lot since I left in 1975 at the end of the war. After wasting 15 years carrying out political retribution against the South, by the time the Berlin wall fell down, the communist regime in Hà Nội finally realized that free enterprise was the best antidote to economic stagnation and poverty caused by blind adherence to marxist-leninist-stalinist doctrine. Since then a virtual flood of foreign aid and investment, coupled with local initiative and hard work, has transformed the economy for the better. The South which has historically led the country in economic development and growth, found itself again at the forefront.

No city exemplifies it better than Cần Thơ, the fourth largest in the nation, located at the center of the Mekong delta. It used to be called Tây Đô, the Western capital, and has lived up to its ancient moniker. In my youth, one of my fist jobs was to travel from Sài Gòn to Cần Thơ, by car, a journey that took almost a day because one had to line up and wait for the only two ferries that allowed traffic to cross the Upper and Lower branches of the Mekong river.

The ferries are gone, replaced by two beautiful bridges. The first is Mỹ Thuận bridge spanning the Upper branch (Tiền Giang river). It was designed and built with Australian aid, and was completed in 2000.

Mỹ Thuận bridge crossing a branch of Mekong river between Vĩnh Long and Cần Thơ.

Mỹ Thuận bridge crossing a branch of Mekong river between Vĩnh Long and Cần Thơ.

View from car crossing Mỹ Thuận bridge.

View from car crossing Mỹ Thuận bridge.

We also had to cross a longer and higher bridge, the Cần Thơ bridge over the Lower branch (Hậu Giang river). It was built with Japanese aid and was completed in 2010. During construction, in 2007 one of its ramps collapsed, killing 54 people and injuring 80 others.

Cần Thơ bridge.

Cần Thơ bridge.

The Mekong delta has always been an agricultural wonder, sending its rice and other agricultural products to feed the rest of the nation and the world. Its Southern cuisine appeals to many with its variety of dishes and flavor, no doubt due to the abundance of food and innate culinary talent. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch, one that was frequented more by the locals than by tourists. The kitchen was at the front of the restaurant for all to see and observe.

Open kitchen at a Cần Thơ restaurant.

Open kitchen at a Cần Thơ restaurant.

Open kitchen at Cần Thơ restaurant.

Open kitchen at Cần Thơ restaurant.

Open kitchen at Cần Thơ restaurant.

Open kitchen at Cần Thơ restaurant.

A meal being prepared at open kitchen. The one on the right was a typical South Vietnamese sour fish soup.

A meal being assembled at restaurant’s open kitchen. The pot on the right was a typical South Vietnamese sour fish soup.

For dessert we had jackfruit, freshly extracted and peeled by this young lady.

For dessert we had jackfruit, freshly extracted and peeled by this young lady.

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