People in Vietnam

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I liked the pepole in Việt Nam. They were geerally very friendly. They are very industrious, they work the land extensively, getting several crops per year through irrigation. They keep the country very clean. Following are some pictures of the people and cities in Việt Nam.

The most interesting buildings in Huế are the Mausoleums. The Complex of Huế Monuments is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The old town of Hội An is very nice to walk through with a market, lots of shops and many nice restaurants. The Hội An Ancient Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

All pictures are © Dr. Günther Eichhorn, unless otherwise noted.

People in Việt Nam

Young local boy. (734k)

Young local boy with his cat. (1071k)

Young pupils on bicycles on their way to school. (480k)

Older girl students in the elegant school uniforms. (376k)

Local girl cuddling an infant. (691k)

Việt Namese women in traditional dress. (1206k)

Local women in traditional dress. (792k)

Girl in traditional dress. (643k)

Local woman in traditional dress. (768k)

Local woman in traditional dress. (920k)

Local women in traditional dress with children. (919k)

Local woman in traditional dress with baby. (824k)

Local woman in traditional dress. (638k)

Việt Namese women in festive traditional dress. (672k)

Woman in traditional dress, contemplating. (560k)

Not everybody works all the time. (357k)

Street vendor in local dress taking a rest. (1026k)

Getting ready for a motorcycle ride. (706k)

After about 17:00, people come out on the street to play sports. There were about 6 Badminton courts set up in this area. Some of the participants were quite old, probably over 60. (400k)

Volleyball in the town plaza. (738k)

Men on the street watching a board game. (277k)

Typical Việt Namese women with the conical hats, carrying loads on bamboo poles. They are wearing the typical clothing of Việt Namese women. (326k)

Transportation

Houseboats on the Perfume River in Huế. (443k)

A closeup of a houseboat on the Perfume River. (429k)

Some of the boats have motors. (382k)

Some of them are rowed. (512k)

Small row boat. (772k)

Strangely shaped boats near Đà Nẵng. They are round, and have no keel, just like big wicker baskets. (360k)

Vegetable transport on a boat in Hạ Long Bay. (868k)

Houseboats on Hạ Long Bay. (741k)

These boats are used as houseboats and for bringing tourists up-river to the mausoleums around Huế. (345k)

Safety instructions on the boat on the Perfume River. (332k)

Ferry boats getting ready to carry tourists. (814k)

Tourist on ferry boats. (930k)

They go through a cave to get to a beach in a small bay. (845k)

It gets pretty busy in the cave after some of the larger passenger ships arrive. (774k)

Passenger ships on Hạ Long Bay. (664k)

Passenger ships on Hạ Long Bay. There was a lot of ship trafffic in Hạ Long Bay. (646k)

Ship trafffic in Hạ Long Bay. (732k)

Bicycles are routinely used for two people, sometimes three. (383k)

Rickshaws are loaded too. (376k)

They put some incredible loads on their bicycles. (303k)

A loaded tricycle. (399k)

Motorcycles are loaded as well. (969k)

A motorcycle carrying a bicycle. (353k)

A load of chicken on the way to the market. (353k)

A load of piglets on the way to the market. (326k)

A load of puppies on the way to the market. They are destined for a restaurant. I tried to find a restaurant that served dog meat, but couldn't find one. (365k)

Ladies often wear long gloves and face masks on their motorcycles to protect them from the sun. (428k)

Ready to charge! Sometimes it was quite intimidating to see a phalanx of motorcycles, 30 wide, waiting at a red traffic light, ready to charge as soon as the light changes. (469k)

In the country, animal drawn carts are still used. (424k)

Business

A barber has set up shop on the street in Hà Nội. (454k)

A cobbler at work in the street. (367k)

Bicycle repair shop. (358k)

Roadsidde vendors in local dress. (1347k)

One of the portable restaurants on the move. (434k)

A portable restaurant in operation. (464k)

Small local restaurant. (835k)

Mobile fruit vendor. They carry their fruits and vegetables and set up shop on a sidewalk. (1020k)

A boat vendor in Dry Hạ Long Bay, rowing her boat with her feet. (450k)

Dredging operation near Huế. (375k)

In order to haul up the heavy bucket with gravel, the operate a winch with their feet. I guess legs are stronger than arms, so it makes sense to use them for heavy lifting. (387k)

Squid fishing vessel. The wooden superstructure is used for drying the squid. (258k)

Fishing boats in Hạ Long Bay. (1146k)

Fishing boat on Hạ Long Bay. (843k)

Hauling in a fishing net. (1076k)

A brick factory near Sái Gòn. (303k)

The mud is loaded into the brick forming machine. (403k)

The machine extrudes the formed bricks as a continuous stream. They are cut into individual bricks by this wire frame. (422k)

The bricks are dried in the sun before being fired. (492k)

Kiln for firing bricks. (385k)

Silkworms feeding on Mulberry leaves. (553k)

When they are ready to build their cocoon, they are put in such a wooden tray. (439k)

When the cocoons are built, they are put in boiling water to kill the worms, and the silk threads are unwound onto a spindle. (387k)

A loom for weaving silk cloth. (436k)

Agriculture and Markets

Rice farming terraces in the mountains north of Hà Nội. (1097k)

Rice farming terraces in the mountains north of Hà Nội. (1096k)

Rice farming terraces in the mountains north of Hà Nội. (1055k)

The sun reflecting on rice paddies. (1045k)

Rice farming community. (1034k)

Rice field work. Most of it is done by hand, only sometimes machines of plows drawn by water buffalo are used. (464k)

Rice seedlings are first grown densely in a few fields. (301k)

The seedlings are then replanted further apart to allow the plants to fully grow. (367k)

The re-planting is all done by hand, back breaking work. (392k)

Working in a rice paddy. (1084k)

Even irrigating the rice paddies is done frequently by hand. (418k)

A flower stand in the market in Sái Gòn. (473k)

A fruit stand in the market. (398k)

Lemons and limes. (355k)

Squid for sale. It was very smelly in that area. (362k)

Pig. (805k)

Water Buffalo. (993k)

Buildings and Towns

A cemetery. (351k)

Property lots are narrow and long. (439k)

TV antennas are everywhere. This village was some distance from Sái Gòn. They had to put the antennas on long poles in order to receive the signal from Sái Gòn. It looked quite funny. (317k)

A small pagoda on an island in the lake in the center of Hà Nội. (428k)

Hồ Chí Minh mausoleum. (238k)

A typical communist monument. There were not all that many of these around. (452k)

Japanese covered bridge from the 17^th century. (401k)

Chinese Assembly Hall in Hội An. These are lavishly decorated mansions from the 17^th century. (402k)

Fishing Village south of Huế. (388k)

The Citadel in Huế. (302k)

Bullet holes in the wall of the Citadel are testimony of the fierce fighting for the Citadel during the US war. (366k)

A ceremonial drum in the Citadel. (382k)

Palace in the Imperial City in the Citadel. (279k)

Roof ornament on one of the buildings in the Imperial City. (367k)

Emperor's throne in the Imperial City. (479k)

Very pretty and peaceful park in which one of the mausoleums is situated. (390k)

Garden at one of the mausoleums. (534k)

A bonsai in one of the mausoleum complexes near Huế. (367k)

The description of the emperor's life in one of the mausoleums. (430k)

This mausoleum was decorated entirely with pottery shards. (466k)

Detail of this mausoleum with the pottery shards. (376k)

Each mausoleum had a set of statues like these in the front. (402k)

Entrance to one of the Củ Chi tunnels. (369k)

A very well camouflaged entrance to the tunnel system. The Việt Công would pop out of such a hidden entrance, shoot at you and be gone before you knew where he came from. (426k)

A vent hole in one of the tunnels. It is very narrow in there, not for somebody who is claustrophobic. I went only into the first level and left the lower two levels for somebody else. (277k)

This ball sure can ruin your day when you run into it. (357k)

A trap with spikes to fall on. (349k)

The Cao Đài cathedral in Tây Ninh. (435k)

Cao Đài Priests. The three colors represent the three founding religions of Cao Đài: Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. (381k)

A Cao Đài priestess. (377k)

The map and description of the Cát Tiên nature reserve. (425k)

The road going into Cát Tiên (if you can call it that). (465k)

Interior of the Re-unification Palace in Sái Gòn. (426k)

A huge Buddha statue on a small hill outside Sái Gòn. (349k)

A Buddhist temple in Sái Gòn. (463k)

They sell caged birds in front of the temple as votive gifts. People pray and then set the birds free. (377k)

Incense burning is done with abandon. People take fist fulls of incense sticks (20-30 of them), and light them. It is hard to breathe in the temple because of the incense smoke. (328k)

Pagoda on Marble Mountain. (345k)

A small shrine in a limestone cave in Hạ Long Bay. (1110k)

Arts and Artifacts

A crane standing on a turtle. The crane symbolizes high spirit, elegance, and purity. The turtle represents longevity, stability. (424k)

Brahma Statue from the Chăm Kingdom in the Chăm museum in Đà Nẵng. (333k)

A Shiva Lingam in the Chăm museum. These phallic statues are symbols for the Hindu God Shiva. The Lingam is set in the Yoni, a square, with a square groove around the statue. The Shiva Lingam is a combination of the Lingam and the Yoni, the male and female sex organs. I saw these also in Kâmpuchéa at one of the temple sites, and a lot in Nepal. (375k)

Ganesha Statue. (367k)

A traditional orchestra. (355k)

A musician playing bells. (277k)

The one-stringed instrument played during the water puppet show. (327k)

The one-string instrument. (294k)

A hand blown organ. (321k)

Scenes from the Hà Nội water puppet show. (426k)

Scenes from the Hà Nội water puppet show. (348k)

The puppeteers of the Hà Nội water puppet show. (387k)

Kiep Bac Temple and Con Son Pagoda

The Kiep Bac Temple honors the General Tran Hung Dao who successfully fought off Mongol invaders in the 13^th century. It was originally built in 1300.

Con Son Pagoda was built in the 10^th century and was expanded in the 13^th century during the Tran Dynasty.