Vietnam was the first country I visited after officially becoming location-independent, and for that reason alone it will always hold a special significance to me. In this way, my trip to Vietnam was also one of the last I took purely as a traveler, and not as a “travel blogger,” “travel writer” or “travel photographer.” Looking back through my photos and reading back through the writing I did at the time, I find work that is both embarrassing and refreshing in how unfocused it is.
I think you’ll enjoy exploring the pictures I took while I was in Vietnam. I also have a feeling they’re going to make you want to take your own trip there, whether you follow the path I took (by bus, up the coast from Saigon to Hanoi in about three weeks) or plot a course unique to you.
A woman in Saigon let me take the heavy weight off her shoulders for one second:
At the War Remnants Museum in Saigon:
My first bowl of real Vietnamese pho:
Motorbikes on a Saigon street:
Ceramic figurines at the Cu Chi Tunnels:
A woman carries the basket I was carrying in the first picture:
A huge sand dune in Mui Ne, Pan Thiet:
Sandboarding!
A fishing boat off the shore of Mui Ne:
Mui Ne's sand dunes are ironic: Its actual beaches are all bur eroded, and paved with concrete:
Sunrise in Hoi An:
A blue twilight in Mui Ne:
beautiful woman framed by roses, in Nha Trang:
Red hot chili peppers:
Vietnamese dong:
An urban rice paddy in Hoi An:
A woman on a boat in Hoi An:
Sunrise in Hoi An:
Vietnam's flag flies proudly over Nha Trang:
A narrow alleyway in charming French-colonial Hoi An:
The lantern market in Hoi An:
Look of mischief in Hoi An:
Nha Trang beach scene:
Motorbike in Hanoi:
A vendor on Cat Ba Island takes a break:
Off Cat Ba Island's beaten path:
Boats on Cat Ba Island:
A kitten and its mother on Cat Ba Island:
Bridge in a Hanoi Park:
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