One year ago

One year ago I was in Xi'an (China) and Hanoi (Vietnam), on a business trip. This year I would have had to go to Athens in a couple of weeks, but I kindly declined due to private reasons. The photo above was taken as I strolled away from the touristic center on my own. By the time I was really far away from my hotel, the battery of my camera said enough is enough, so I took this photo with my mobile (actually two photos stitched).
When I returned home, I bought a spare battery, which has served me well on a number of occassions. Still, all the batteries in the world do not help if you forget your memory card...

Reading

Contrasts

I guess like everywhere else, Hanoi is full of contrasts, same as Beirut, same as Xi'an, same as Berlin, same as New York. Walking around the center I could feel, see and smell the bustling life of Hanoi. I must admit I didn´t like everything I saw, but I suppose I am happy I saw it nonetheless, especially since I never thought I would be visiting Vietnam.


Some of the photos I took can be seen in my public gallery.

Street Vendors

You would imagine that this woman earns her living selling fruit. Well, think twice. You cannot really make much with such minute amounts of fruit. This woman makes her living getting tourists to pay for a photo with the hat and the baskets, at western prices. A colleague of mine has the photo after paying two dollars for a couple of bananas that, by the way, we did not eat.





There are hundreds, if not thousands, of other women in Hanoi carrying heavy goods in this traditional way. But these, I photographed discreetly from the back, not showing her faces and, believe me, were not so smiley as the one above...

Weddings in Hanoi

La cantidad de parejas haciéndose fotos de boda aquí es simplemente increíble. Lo curioso es que algunos de los fotógrafos tenían una cámara como la mía.

Creo que el collage tiene más fuerza desde el punto de vista de la composición que mostrar cinco entradas consecutivas con novias (y novias).

B52

Si hay algo que está en la memoria colectiva al mencionar Vietnam es, precisamente, la guerra con los EEUU. Quizás por eso me llamó la atención el hecho de poder pagar con dólares en casi cualquier sitio. Supongo que son guiños de la historia.

Hanoi

I spent all of last week in Hanoi. Although I was not there on holidays, I had time to walk around the city a little bit and take some photos. The one thing that caught my attention is motorcycles, which are used to transport pretty much anything. If you add a somewhat chaotic traffic system, a liberal rule on what constitutes a safe load and how best to keep it in place, it is the perfect mix for some interesting shots.