Waiting for a fare

Pajamas - and a jacket

Washing in the rain and rubbish

Wedding in the weeds

Checking out the bus stop girls

Students at Saigon University

Waiting at the bus stop

Lunchtime siesta

Hmong man and buffalo

Hmong women

The mountain town of Sa Pa is home to ethnic minorities such as Hmong, Tay and Dao (pronounced Dzao). The black Hmong, so called because of their dark indigo dress, populate the market and streets of the town, flogging their wares to the tourists

Black Hmong on the streets of Sapa

Hmong mother and child

More Red Dao

IJ goes Red Dao

Walking through the village of Ta Phin near Sapa, home to the Red Dao (pronounced Dzao) people, IJ decided that she had had enough and started to whine. Now the whining does not affect me that much and I just told her to continue walking. However one lady obviously did not have as much tolerance, and decided to carry her on her back the final few kilometers. IJ now has a full Red Dao outfit as a result.

Hauling rubble

Vina CHiPs

Most of the traffic cops here ride these unnecessarily large bikes in what, to me at least, is more a matter of show than anything else. I cannot help thinking of the old TV show CHiPs whenever I see them, especailly as the guys in the beige-yellow outfit always seem to look a little like Ponch

White man on public bus

It is always a rarity to see foreigners on public transport, most have access to their own means of transportation or fork out the fare for a motorcycle or car taxi. I have only caught public transport a couple of times, and that was over 4 years ago. And for nothing more than the novelty of having the experience. There are plans to increase the amount of public transport with a metro network zigzagging across the city. You can read all about this massive project here

Public toilet

There are many spots around HCMC where men just pull over and go in a corner, occasionally women too. But there is a spot on Hai Bà Trưng st in District 1 opposite the hospital and international post office that is piss central. The stench is difficult to avoid if you are on foot. The reason is that there are no shop fronts along this little stretch, just one (rarely used) bus stop

Graves in the crop fields

All over Vietnam you will see tombs in rice paddies. This lot look like they are surrounded by sugarcane.

Painter