While they were sleeping

Taken in Danang and Hoi Ann, Central Vietnam

The vietnamese start their day rather early, around 4am, all of them would be out to work at 5am. They take their siesta around noon-ish before working again in the afternoon. Most finish work around 5pm and nightlife is practically dead after 10pm. At noon, most of the stall owners seem to be sleeping.

The quintessential Vietnam conicial hats.

The store owner sells ‘Hell paper money’. A strange Chinese Taoist ritual that involves burning these paper money and ornaments for the dead. It seems the living prefer to burn fake American dollars as offerings to their dead.

And even the dogs were sleeping.

Advertisement

Central Vietnam’s ‘Authentic’ Well Noodle

Place : Central Vietnam, Hoi Ann

Cau Lau is Hoi Ann’s famous ‘Well’ Noodle. The more authentic noodle version is suppose to be made with ‘well’ water from certain part of town. The locals still get their water source from wells, so I dont think it is anything special about restaurants advertising that they are serving “authentic well noodle”. The noodles are everywhere, much of a staple in Hoi Ann. This particular noodle stall at an obscure corner populated with the locals was one of more delicious cau lau I had. The noodle has a chewy and springy texture to it, rather tasteless and bland compared to the japanese handmade noodle, however combined with the various vegetarian condiments such as the springroll, tofu roll, fresh vegetables and herbs and topped with its sweet chilli, it taste flavorsome. Not to mention it was cheap! less than us$0.50 which fills your tummy up! A great meal for a semi-vegetarian like me.

The railway attendant and the mute boy

Place : Between Hoi Ann and Hue, Central Vietnam

Took a private car from Hoi Ann to Hue. Briefly followed the train tracks along one of the more beautiful sights (but not really photogenic) of Central Vietnam. We stopped at one of the train crossings, witnessing the passing train from Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi. Strangely in the middle of no where, there was this red hut with a train attendant and a few boys. This very friendly boy kept gesturing me to take his photos I later realised he was mute as he would make only grunts. The train attendant quite disinterested went about reading his newspaper.

Marble Mountain, Danang

Marble Mountain, Danang, Central Vietnam
Visit Marble Mountains early before 6am, it was cooler for the fair climb up the mountain. You get less harassed by vendors and little boys pushing to be your guide or selling you stuff.

Hue City Palace Grounds

Hue City Palace, Central Vietnam

Hue City Palace

Hue was once the royal capital of old Vietnam before the french colonised Indochine. The Hue Palace was mostly destroyed during the Vietnam War and underwent part restoration.

Burial Tomb Site in Hue, Central Vietnam

Spent a whole day visiting the various burial tombs of past Vietnamese Emperors. This was at Hue, Central Vietnam

Sunrise at the paddyfields

An early morning trip to My Son along the beautiful Vietnamese paddyfields.
This was taken in my Central Vietnam trip 2006

Infrared Images of Central Vietnam

Infrared images taken on a trip to Central Vietnam in 2006.

I spent 2 weeks visiting the region of Danang, Hoi Ann and Hue city.

Elephants for the tourists in Hue City Palace

Village children at the Laos Border

Apsara Classical Dancer

“Dance of the Cham Nymph.”
Classical Cham Dancer From My Son, Central Vietnam.
This was wrote in 2006 for a photo festival.

The Champa empire once ruled across indochina and had some influences on the khmer empire. This classical dance is derived from Indian court dance, which traces its origins to the apsarases (or apsara) of Hindu mythology, heavenly female nymphs who were born to dance for the gods. The traditions of Thailand and Java Indonesia also influenced the music and dance form of both the champa and khmer empires. In this classical dance, the women, dressed in brightly colored costumes with elaborate headdresses, perform slow, graceful movements accompanied by a percussive ensemble the khmers call “pinpeat”.

Once performed to Cham/Khmer royalty, now performed to the burdeoning tourist industry of central vietnam. Tourism has been growing rapidly in this region in the last 5 years. More so now with the advent of budget airlines. Young aspiring classical dancers perform daily to the tourist dollar at these cultural centre.

—

The photo is done up digitally and my attempt to replicate the old method of color tinting my bw gelatin photo prints. Hence the color tint tones.

I took this image when I was in Central Vietnam, My Son, visiting the ruins. Each morning around 9am, these dance students would entertain the tourists visiting the Champa ruins. My Son is situated 1 hour away from Hoi Ann by motorbike.