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Vietnam - Boats of Hoi An

Vietnam 2004

 

In 2004 I went backpacking. Last year - with all the lockdowns - I dug out my photographs and processed them. It was wonderful reliving all those experiences so long ago.

 

This photograph was taken in Hoi An, Vietnam on the Thu Bon River. I was in my mid-20s and still carefree, and being quite adventurous back then, I bought a very old Russian Minsk Motorcycle in Hanoi. It was a two stroke, noisy, dirty, dangerous, but exhilarating machine. I have no idea how I stayed alive! I rode it from Hanoi to Saigon down Highway 1 and up onto the Ho Chi Minh Road.

 

On the way I stopped in Hoi An, a tourist town even back in those days, but with wonderful traditional architecture. It's a UNESCO World Heritage site and the place to buy some of the best tailored suits - not that I was interested in a suit back then. Rather than getting measured up, I took a canoe 'tour' with a local lady in her traditional boat down the Thu Bon River.

 

I wasn't that long down the river when everything changed and I could have been there 100 years ago looking back on a traditional Vietnamese Port. The bustle and bartering was fabulous and I feel I caught some of the atmosphere of Vietnam with this photo.

 

I loved Hoi An and plan to return one day, but I expect it to be very different from what remember it all those years ago.

 

Enjoy!

 

See more photos on my website Composing Colour

www.composingcolour.com

www.oliverstainer.com

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Uploaded on July 6, 2021
Taken on November 7, 2004