Most of my film, with the exception of all slide film, has been developed and scanned. Until I integrate the photo set into my portfolio/gallery, you can view the photos at:

http://www.beyondthenegative.com/vietnam

Thanks!

I still have several rolls of film to develop but here are a few selects from those that are done:

Currently sitting in Narita Intl. Airport, about to board last plane to Seattle. Arriving 08:00 Monday morning – Talk to you all soon!

I’m currently packing and getting ready to leave and return home, but I’m going to write a brief summary of our trip down to visit a family in the Ben Tre (pronounced Ben Chay) province.

We rode down on Friday morning in a super-cramped van to a small village in the Ben Tre province. The family we stayed with is the family of Kevin and Doan’s housekeeper friend who is a housekeeper while in the city. The house is in the rural country side and near a small village that has a market and store. The house is very rustic and has two main parts. The front half is a professionally constructed cement house with doors and windows. The second half of the house, attached to the back is a bamboo and grass hut with a dirt floor. Most of the living, cooking and eating is done in the back half of the house while the front is reserved mostly for sleeping. In the back “yard” absent of grass, is an outhouse and shed containing two cows that are used for the fertilizer they produce. Also present, until yesterday, were two chickens.

After arriving, we lounged around and recovered from our trip being served iced tea and a light lunch. We heard that there was perhaps some cock-fighting happening and rode off to go watch. When we arrived, the people started scrambling and running and then confronted us wondering why we were there. Apparently, cock-fighting is illegal and the cops have been patrolling the area trying to find people to fine and pocket money for Tet.

The cock-fight fell through and so we went to the riverside to visit a relatives boat. All along the river bank cargo and fishing boats lined up, tied to the shore and each other. Boat owners were painting and cleaning their boats as they do every year during this time. During the rest of the year, the boats are traveling up and down the delta and throughout the coast of Vietnam buying and selling goods to trade. We were invited up to the boat and had free range to jump from ship to ship shooting anything we pleased. All the people were very friendly and happy to talk to us.

After the boats we returned to the house and ate dinner. I was thoroughly exhausted and went to bed right after eating.

On Saturday, we walked into the village and bought some fruit but mostly stayed around the house during the morning. After lunch, we rode down to the salt fields to photograph the workers scraping. Salt water is diverted into acre size plots that are surrounded with a small dike. A few inches of water and hand pumped into the plot and allowed to evaporate leaving behind the salt. The whole process is very fascinating but also very hard and hot work. Most of the work is done during the hottest hours of the day.

Following our visit to the salt scraping fields, we returned back to the house, rested, ate dinner and later visited the night market and what could be described as a tiny fair.

That is a brief summary of the happenings of the last few days. I have many more thoughts, but I’ll refrain until I return. This has been an excellent and eye-opening trip. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with Kevin and Doan. Kevin always sharing with me his experience and advice for me as a photographer and Doan always concerned and looking out for me. Also worthy of mention are Doan’s bilingual translating abilities. Truely, having her with us was always helpful. From explaining that a man didn’t mind having his photo taken but wanted to go back to the states with us, to carefully explaining a few stressful situations for us. I am very grateful to have this opportunity to visit Vietnam, although I am eternally more grateful to be returning home soon to be with my wife, child and family.

After Tuesday’s successful and pleasant tour of the Mekong Delta, I decided to take the city tour and see the attractions nearby.

We started our tour by visiting a few Buddhist temples that have been in the city for over 200 years. The first temple, Giac Lam, was quite large and covered many acres. The inside of the temple was dark and lit only by what light filtered in from the windows. In the air hung thick smoke from burning incense and occasionally a monk would ring a large bell. In the courtyard of the temple a small film production was happening and the monks were all laughing at the many mistakes and subsequent retakes.

The second temple was much smaller. Coils of incense hung from the ceiling and constantly filled the air with smoke. Believers strolled in and out, lighting incense, saying prayers and performing various rituals. Again, a bell was occasionally rung.

Next we visited a place that produces crafts built by handicapped Vietnamese. According to our tour guide, Vietnam has no socialized health care and even the mentally and physically handicapped are required to work or must be cared for by their family. The “Handicapped Handicrafts” store is meant to provide a place for those who are disabled to work and earn a living that accommodates their individual challenges.

Finally, before lunch, we went to the Binhtay Chinese Market. The market was huge and covers both inside and outside areas. Because we were dropped off as tourists, I dove as deeply into the market as I could to escape the other tourists and wandered around the back areas where few rarely go. At one point, I went so far in, I ended up on the other side in an alley. I had a great time walking around, engaging people, sharing smiles and very broken communication.

We moved on from the market and were dropped off in the backpackers district to find lunch. I wandered around and found a small place, Bi Saigon, to eat Pho and drink a local beer.

After lunch we first went to the War Remnants museum. The museum is a collection of artifacts, photos and stories from the “American War” as it’s known in Vietnam. US Tanks, airplanes, helicopters, and infantry equipment lines the courtyard. Inside are selected photos showing the horrors of war. I left the museum with mixed feelings. The museum is a total propaganda piece for the government and what they called “war crimes”, even in the geneva convention are allowable. Also, there is no mention of “war crimes” the Viet Cong did against the Americans. The museum is not necessarily full of lies, rather it’s carefully selected materials designed to persuade rather than inform.

We continued on to the Reunification Hall, or what used to be the Kings and President’s residence before South Vietnam was overrun. The Hall, palace really, is locked in a time capsule and little has changed since 1975. Rotary phones, walls full of maps, furniture and more are all reminiscent of a time not too long ago.

Our tour finished with a visit to the Notre Dame Cathedral in central Saigon. The cathedral isn’t that old, comparatively, however it’s survived several wars and communism which alone makes it significant.

The tour finished, I sat down for an espresso before hailing a taxi and finishing the day. These last two days were an interesting mix of tourist sights, from the delta to the big city.

Tuesday, after our Motorcycle adventure, I booked a one day trip to the Mekong Delta on a very cheap but quality tour company, Sinh Cafe. The Mekong Delta is considered the “bread basket” or “Rice Bowl” of Vietnam as the majority of the country’s food comes from the region.

The day started off pretty slowly with a massive southbound traffic jam due to Tet. During the Lunar New Year, or Tet, families in the city travel to the country to visit and be with their family for the week. Imagine 4th of July, Christmas, New Years and Thanksgiving all rolled into a week of ritual and family time. This is Tet.

What is usually a two hour trip took us three. The bus finally made it to My Tho (pronounced Mee Tuh) and boarded a small boat to take us up the river. Not really wanting to be a part of inane conversations stating the obvious, I moved to the bow and sat against the cabin in the sun. The boat ride was not too fast and took us up the river past fish markets, boat havens and villages. Due to Tet, all the boats were freshly painted and gleamed bright blue and red and gold in the sun.

After riding for about thirty minutes, our boat pulled into a small dock where we departed to see rice paper being produced. This is the same rice paper that is used for spring rolls, and also covers some candy. A liquid paste, not unlike pancake mix, is spread out onto a large flat heated plate. A cover is then placed over the plate to trap steam and cook the rice paste into a soft and sticky paper-like substance. Then, the cook sticks a rod onto one side and rolls the paper off and onto a drying rack where it will sit in the sun.

Once we finished with the rice paper demonstration, we walked to the other side of the island for lunch. Soup, pork, rice and egg rolls were on the menu and were quite good. I shared a table and a conversation with a two other gentleman, one from Finland and another from Holland.

A short while later, we boarded our boat again, me taking my anti-social place on the bow. Perhaps not so much anti-social altogether as I did meet a man working at the U.S. Consulate and had an interesting chat with the tour guide. The bow of the ship allowed me an excellent view, a chance to enjoy the sun, and an opportunity to feel like I owned the boat, that I had chartered it and there was nobody but me and the driver.

Our boat traveled back down the river but slipped into a small, narrow channel that led to a small village where we were to see how coconut trees are used in the Mekong. Traveling down the channel, I could not help but see all the tiny nooks and crannies where people may have hid, attacked and or died. The country is very peaceful now, and they seem to be happy to have the war behind them, but as a former Marine and an American, it does not escape me that many of my brothers and sisters shed too much blood on this soil.

We arrived at the village and enjoyed a traditional tea with local honey. According to the guide, the honey, tea and kumquat concoction will cure everything short of death. Snake oil or superstition? All I know is that we tried the tea and then were offered plenty of opportunities to buy lots of honey.

The tea was actually quite good, but we did not have much time to enjoy it. I have a feeling we were a bit rushed due to the traffic jam which significantly delayed our arrival.

The guide led us down a short path to a paved street. At the street we were met by horse drawn carriages (actually, the “horses” would be more accurately described as ponies). I shared a carriage with a family from Adelaide, Australia who were on holiday. The carriage took us down the road and I could not help but wonder if this road was specially paved for the tour. Just days before, all the roads we took by motorbike that left the main road or highway were dirt. Either way, we rode in the cart for about fifteen minutes, walked down another path and took a seat in another open building. We were all served more tea and also given a plate of local fruit.

A musical entourage entered and played traditional Vietnamese music for us complete with traditional instruments and two female singers. Some of the music was quite good and left me wondering what they were singing about. Other songs grated on my western ears a bit.

Bidding farewell, the group boarded canoe like boats, four to a boat. The boat “driver” stands on the stern and with one large paddle makes a circular sweeping motion in the water that propels and steers the boat. The channel we traveled down was very narrow and had room for maybe two boats side-by-side.

About half-way back to our regular boat, I picked up the extra paddle and helped our lady driver power the boat. She had a good laugh and it caused quite the hilarity among the group of drivers following us. Throughout this trip, I’ve broken out of my shell and done everything I can to connect on some level with the locals. I am a tourist and I am a “white guy” in S.E. Asia, there is no denying that. What I hope to show while I’m here is that I am deeper than their perceptions and that I know they are deeper than many tourists understand.

Perhaps this is my struggle with other tourists. I was guilty of this when I first started traveling, but each trip I take, each country I visit, deeper connections are made than the last. I get tired of tourists pointing their camera at every different face or activity and then running off as if they’ve found a quick treasure and are off for the next. Even if I can make the kids smile, or the mothers and fathers smile or trip over and butcher a Vietnamese phrase, I’m making a connection and showing that I care more about the person than the photo.

Okay, getting off of my soap box for now, our canoe met the boat at the main river where we left the small boat for the larger one. Again, taking my normal place on the bow, I said a few phrases to some boat drivers sitting on the bow of another tourist boat tied to ours. We laughed as I again butchered “Happy New Year” in Vietnamese. One man offered me some kind of completely unrecognizable fruit to eat. I motioned for him to eat it and we went back and forth until he split it in half and took a bite, making a sour-face as he did. I smiled and took a bite myself, making the sour face. The fruit really was quite sour. We all had a good laugh as we each took turns taking a bite and making a face to show our distaste. Tourists boarding the boat looked at us wondering what was going on, and one even asked what I was eating, to which I had no answer as I still don’t know.

The boat departed with the sun lower in the sky. We went back down the river for one more stop, at a coconut candy manufacturing plant, which was really just a glorified shack.

On our way back, finishing up the trip, a few of the other travelers joined me on the bow. One kid was very interested in my Leica, which I nervously let him look at. Another man, the worker at the U.S. Consulate, and I talked about his stay in Vietnam and work at the Consulate.

Back at the bus, two boys were playing with the driver of our bus. I stayed outside and let everyone else board first, what I saw sickened me. On of the tourists, a french man I believe, took the kids aside and handed them each money. They weren’t begging, they weren’t selling anything, just standing around and playing. Another tourist said, “how cute.” The problem with this is that it sends completely the wrong message about work ethic and what tourists are there for. Also, it undermines the parents and there is now way to know how the money will be spent.

I finished the day with an excellent dinner with Kevin, Doan, Tim and Jill. Kevin is working with Tim and Jill on an assignment with Monocle magazine based in London. Tim is a videographer from Hamburg and Jill is a producer from Toronto, but currently lives in London. We had good food, great conversation and an excellent time altogether. I even got Tim’s number should I ever make it over to Germany, which I would love to do.

Wednesday, I take the Saigon City tour and see temples, churches and museums.

Yesterday afternoon, after renting a motorcycle for two days at $10 USD, we started for the Mekong Delta. Riding was yours truly, Kevin, and Quinn, another American (from Ohio) making his way in Vietnam trying to become a photographer.

Riding a motorcycle in the city is a bit sketchy but the speeds are pretty slow, especially at intersections and round-abouts. Riding a motorcycle on the freeway is downright scary. Having previous motorcycle experience and training was definitely helpful and I’m sure it helped me get out of a few sticky situations. Leaving Saigon we realized we were not heading to the Mekong Delta but Tung Vau, a beach town with fishing villages. The trip wasn’t necessarily about a destination but the trip itself so we accepted our destiny and continued on.

High stress freeway riding was interspersed with absolutely pleasant and random side trips off of the freeway. Basically, see a country road and follow it for a while to see what lies ahead. Over the trip we saw many families painting their houses and gates preparing for Tet, family grave sites, people harvesting rice and much more.

Lining the highway for most of our trip were light poles that had interspersed Hammer & Sickle and Yellow Star symbols on red flags. The symbols of communism. So far in this country, with the friendly and smiling people, it has been hard to remember that this is a communist country.

The last village we stopped in yesterday was very pleasant. At all of the villages the children were always smiling and laughing as we played or made faces or said funny things in Vietnamese. At the last village we were invited into a local man’s house for a drink of water. We ‘chatted’, actually Kevin did most of the talking. I pretty much only know how to say “hello” and “Happy New Year” but that garners enough smiles and friendly people. A little later, the kids offered to take us on a tour of the village, although we didn’t know why they wanted us to follow them at first. On the tour we say a glass recycling center, where men and woman washed glass shards and hand-separated them into clear/colored piles. Also on the tour we saw kids playing some form of soccer and the older men and woman of the village playing volleyball.

We left the village with smiles as the sun was going down. Back on the highway we stopped about 20km short of Vang Tau at Ba Ria and stayed in a hotel for $5 USD.

This morning we left at around 9 and rode back to Saigon, again stopping along the way which included a Christian Cemetery and a Buddhist Cemetery. The Lunar New Year is also called Tet. Tet is the time for all people to leave the city and go back home to celebrate their ancestors and live a simpler life for a week. Part of the ancestor worship includes cleaning the family gravesite. At both the Christian and Buddhist graveyards we found people clearing away brush and weeds, painting the tombs and lighting fresh incense.

At the Buddhist graveyard, which was packed with hundreds of people all working on their family gravesite, we mingled, chatted and made photos. At one point a man offered me a drink. It was in the same kind of glass that I was served with the day before and that contained water. Also, he poured it from a larger plastic cup. However, when I sipped it, it was rice wine. The man urged me to gulp it down, which I did not wanting to disrespect him or his ancestors. I was happy to have such a pleasant encounter, although concerned that I would be soon riding the motorcycle on the freeway again. As it was, the rice wine didn’t affect me too much and we stayed for another 20 or 30 minutes regardless.

Traffic gradually got worse towards Saigon and finally terribly nerve-wracking once near the city. Tonight Kevin and I are going to a bar thats popular with expats and where a large inauguration party is being held. I’ll post again tomorrow on what that was like, seeing the first black president democratically elected into office from a communist country.

This afternoon we’ll be heading out of Saigon in the direction of My Tho, a province south of Saigon and in the Mekong Delta. There is no agenda, no destination, just a direction. I think it’s better this way, especially when exploring and photographing.

Towards the end of the week, we’re looking into traveling to Hoi An. We’ll take a short plane trip to Danang and hire a taxi or bus to take us the rest of the way.

Hoi An is famous for it’s old-town which hasn’t changed in hundreds of years. Also, there are beaches and tailors. Tailors that will hand-tailor any style suit with any fabric for about $110. I don’t think I’ll be buying any suits, but I may look at some pants or shirts.

For now, I’m getting ready for our excursion out of the city. Packing clothes, packing gear and doing some quick research to help me know what I’m looking at.

The day immediately after traveling through so many timezones leaves your body confused and wondering what time it really is. Thankfully, I managed to get some pretty decent sleep last night so staying awake through the day today was made considerably easier. Consider, this morning at breakfast at roughly 09:00 it was for you on the west coast midnight.

We all laid pretty low today and caught up on the Golden Globes, a surprisingly good movie called “Slumdog Millionaire,” and American Idle. It sounds weird, to be in Vietnam and watch western television, but we’re all tired from 24 hours of flight/traveling time and a day of quiet and relaxation is a welcome relief.

Also today, wasting no time whatsoever, I jumped on a motorbike and rode around Saigon following Kevin through the madness called traffic. Actually, it’s not really that bad. I can definitely tell that my previous motorcycle experience gives me an edge that I would not have otherwise.

Tomorrow we’re probably going to head down to the Ben Tre province south of Saigon and see the country side. Possibly, as we drive through Tan An, I might be able to find a small village that I did an ethnography review of.

The week is pretty open and we’re just playing it by how events unfold. I expect there will be a few excursions including a possible overnight stay tomorrow and another at the end of the week.

One last thought: we rode through the backpackers district and tourist areas of Saigon. The views a tourist sees are much different than those of an expat. It felt really good to have an “insiders” take of the surroundings and the people. In a way, I almost felt sorry for the tourists because they’re not going to see the “real” Vietnam, but rather the Vietnam the tourist industry wants them to see.

I have been to countries with both the insiders/expat view and the tourist view. I will take the insiders view every time. While that usually means forgoing fancy hotels, air conditioned buses and rigid itineraries, the experiences are always much richer and longer lasting, however shorter they may be.

Without much hassle, I’ve arrived in Saigon and am staying with Kevin at his place in the Binh Thanh province of Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon.

I’ll post more later, but for now I need to train my body for the new time zone and get some sleep.