Vietnam handled the virus situation very well it seems, so after about 2 months of staying primarily indoors, the restrictions were finally lifted in late April and by the first week of May, things were pretty much back to normal. So what does a travel photographer do when he’s allowed to travel again? He runs for the first plane out of the city! Last week I joined my friends and partners from Pics Of Asia and we loaded up the car for an awesome road trip from Central Vietnam up the coast to Phong Nha, an area I hadn’t yet visited but was been on my list for a quite a while. We started in Hoi An and drove north for a few days. Come along on a little adventure to see what we got up to!
Even though our main trajectory was north, we decided to go a bit south first, and drove to Sa Huynh, a place I had been before with these guys a few years ago. Check out the post from that trip here. At that time, the salt fields were flooded out, but the shipyard was buzzing, so that’s what we shot. This time, it was just the opposite. As soon as we arrived, the salt fields were brimming with activity, just as the sun had about 30 minutes left before dropping behind the mountain. Perfect timing that made the long boring drive on the highway all worth it. It was my first time in the countryside in quite a while, and to stand there, taking in the quiet and action with camera in hand and afternoon light singing, it was a pretty amazing feeling! We made a few frames, trying to the photo mojo back again, then it was time for showers, dinner and beers to cap off the day.
Sa Huynh is also home to a very busy fish market, so we woke up before sunrise to be there for first light. By 5:15 there was too much chaos for my eyes to take in pre-coffee ingestion, but when the sun started to break the mountain, I was feeling ready to shoot. But just then as well, unfortunately, the police had some other ideas for us…
Just as I put my camera to my eye, I noticed a guy in civilian clothes trying to tell me I couldn’t take photos. I pretended I didn’t understand his Vietnamese for a bit, then I spoke a bit back to him a bit too, hoping that might help. Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn’t. I just kept moving and shooting, I could see him hurriedly tailing me and on the phone, and I was pretty sure what was happening. I continted to ignore him a little longer to shoot the rising light. It only lasts for a few minutes you know, and I didn’t get up at 4:30 for nothing!
Long story short, apparently Sa Huynh is a ‘border station’ and that’s why the police were telling us we couldn’t shoot there. Weird, because we shoot at markets like this all over the country, and had even been to this one several times in the past. They wouldn’t relent though, so after a short ‘detainment’ in their office, they kinda just kicked us out, and we left back to the hotel for breakfast and to get on the road north anyway. I managed to get a few frames before all this went down!
Then again the next morning, we were in Canh Duong, outside of Dong Hoi. We were up for sunrise at the market and things were fine for a while. Then as I was shooting, I noticed the cops was talking to one of us, so I went the other way to keep shooting as long as I could before it all went down again! Turns out though, it wasn’t so bad, and all they wanted to do was check our temperatures. We happily agreed and continued on shooting.
Adjacent to the fish market in Canh Duong was a small shipyard. I always love shooting in places like this, and since the bigger one in Sa Huynh was essentially dead when we were there, the few boats in this one would have to do, and it did. I made a few frames I liked, then it was time for breakfast and coffee and moving on toward Phong Nha.
Once we ventured away from the coast, leaving fish markets and shipyards behind, the action we were looking for was now mostly found in the fields, as workers tended their crops under the hot sun. We’d arrive in the late afternoon and wait for the light and heat to subside a little, and then take in those fleeting minutes of sun before it falls behind the mountains, prompting the workers to pack up and head home.
Phong Nha was sort of the main attraction of the trip, being the place we’d spend the longest, and also the place I most wanted to visit and to check off my list. The main draw here for most visitors are the caves, but not for us this time. Our focus was the people and places that lie in the valleys surrounded by the mountains. I was actually supposed to be running a tour here with Pics Of Asia at this exact time anyway, but with the global situation, obviously tourists weren’t able to enter Vietnam to join us, so we just used the time to scout some new locations and shoot for ourselves. Hopefully in the coming months, we’ll be back to bring others back here with us to enjoy the rustic beauty and friendly locals to photography it holds.
I’ve probably rambled on enough for now. Thanks for coming along on this little journey with us, and hopefully you can get back on the road again soon too!
