Here is a photo of the motorbike traffic below our hotel room in Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon)– it was madness. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City were the only two cities where the guide had to show us how to safely cross the street. There were so many vehicles that to cross the street, the guide would have us line up horizontally in a line, almost holding hands, then walk at the same pace to cross the street. This way, the motorbikes could pass us in front or behind us without missing a beat and without putting on their brakes.

Motorbikes are the transportation preference of choice on the crowded streets of Vietnam. It is normal to see entire families riding on a single motorbike. It was not clear to us whether there was a helmut law in place, since helmets were common, but not universal.

There are almost 100 million people in Vietnam, which ranks #16 in total world population. It is approximately 3/4 the size of California, which has 39 million people, so the population density is very high. It is considered a lower-middle income country by the World Bank but with a low cost of living. In Asia, it is ranked 16 among the richest countries in Asia, so there is a lot of buying power in this economy.

We are always amazed at the energy level of kids, who generally accompany their parents to work or daily activities. Kids these days are accustomed to getting their photos taken with mobile phones, so they are not shy in front of a camera.

In Vietnam, a photographer does not need to hire models. The people generally enjoy getting their photos taken. Several photos above are taken at the Forbidden City in Hue, one in front of Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum. The couple in the lower-right image were newlyweds on their honeymoon, and enjoyed performing for photographers.

More photos of people in Sapa, North Vietnam. You can generally tell which regions they come from by the distinct color and patterns of their clothing. People love selfies, and at times hire professionals for instagram photo ops. Sapa is located only 20 km from the Chinese border, so if you turn left, you go to Sapa and if you turn right, you end up in China. 12 years earlier, we could only reach Sapa using the overnight train, though now there’s a new super highway.

In general, it appears to us that the Vietnamese people were happy. Vendors in the market interact together, often making for interesting photos. More and more, they are glued to their mobile phones (top-center). Sy, our local tour guide, took us to her home to meet with her mother (lower-center) and family.

There were large numbers of graduating students at the Temple of Literature in Hanoi getting group photos taken with their classmates (top row) at a Confucius Temple which is the first national university in Vietnam. This is a special relic in Hanoi where students come to wish for good exam results. The post office (bottom left) is an architectural delight, where it is still available to buy postage stamps and souvenirs.

More images from various temples, including from the Chinese Temple known as Thinh Hou (bottom right) in Saigon.

Miscellaneous photos, including the Japanese Bridge in Hoi An (middle), which is the oldest bridge in Vietnam. There is quite a large brick making factory with numerous domed kilns lining the horizon on our river boat cruise (Upper left). At one of the lunch stops, we loved where the roosters lined up to get their photos taken (bottom-left). Whenever there was an opportunity for a reflection shot, we stopped (bottom-right and top-center). That is the nature of photography tours. We’re always chasing the light.

At sunset, we shot the famous Tran Quoc Pagoda in Hanoi, the oldest Buddhist temple in Vietnam, which dates back to the 6th century (bottom). This 1500 year old landmark is located on a peninsula on the east side of Hanoi West Lake, and the mirrored reflection was perfect..

While we were photographing the Long Bien Bridge (top) at sunrise in Hanoi, a group of local swimmers jumped in the river for exercise (top-right). They looked much like members of the polar bear club in San Francisco Bay, where people swim in cold water, though the water here was not so frigid. During commute hour, the roads are packed with motorbikes (lower-right).

We have seen many open air markets around the world, and are always looking for vendors or products that are unique. For the first time, at the Sapa Market, we saw dogs being sold as meat (upper left). That felt creepy to us, seeing pet dogs sold as food. Then, there were the baby ducks (lower-right), that were not the classic baby chickens that we usually see. As always, the markets were quite colorful.

We enjoyed seeing how cultured pearls are produced. At Halong Bay, there is a well done exhibit of the process. It entails a surgical procedure to implant an artificial bead into the tissue of a pearl oyster (center). The finished pearl jewelry seemed to be high quality and sold at reasonable prices (bottom-right). There were photos of celebrities on the walls who purchased their pearls, including Queen Elizabeth, Michelle Obama, and Sofia Loren. The large store is located at the entry port where we caught our Ha Long Bay cruise.

Enroute, we stopped at one of the many marble sculpture showrooms, where we could see the carvers in action. Above are just a few items we were not able to fit into our already overweight suitcases.

Enroute to Hoi An, we stopped at a restaurant for lunch, and this was clearly one of our favorites. All the sea creatures were so fresh that they were still swimming in the aquariums, and we got to select what to eat. The restaurant then prepared the meals. We always eat well on Mehmet’s tours.

The Mekong River Delta located in southern Vietnam is the major water source for many people. The Mekong Delta in Vietnam’s is also their most important fishing area and Vietnam’s rice bowl, which is intensely developed for agricultural production. Above is a fisherman in Hue at sunrise.

Some 20%, or 21.5 million people live in the Mekong Delta in an area that occupies 40.6 square kilometers. It is the home to various floating markets, swamps, manufacturing, temples, fishing ponds, fruit orchards, and colorful villages. The Mekong River is the main means of transportation in this area. When we first visited Vietnam some 12 years ago, we saw how the water level impacted people’s lives. During the wet season, the family sometimes had to move all their furniture to the second floor, as the river rose above the ground level of their home. The weather was more normal this time, so we were able to view the people in a more natural environment.

Can Tho is the fourth largest city in Vietnam and home to various floating markets, and a great place to start exploring the Mekong delta region. A number of canals snake through, so the region is teeming with life. We visited several smaller villages along the Mekong. We enjoyed seeing some of the boats painted with stylized, protective eyes in Da Nang (right center). Legend has it that these eyes protect against evil spirits and monsters lurking in the river.

We were greeted by a number of retail vendors, trying to sell us breakfast foods, such as baos, fresh pineapples and coconuts, Vietnamese coffee, rice. Several people on our boat did buy some snacks, and our bau (a sweet bun with pork in the center) was one of the best we have eaten.

Every day, the markets start up around 5:00 AM, and by noon the market action is finished for the day. We caught the Cani Rang Floating Market at sunrise and for a brief moment, the yellow-orange skies lit up and the river transformed into a caramel color.

As we floated among the early morning market, we also had a chance to see how people live on the river. Above is a small sample of the hundreds of such photos we collected that morning.

We will end this post with one more of our favorite images from the morning fisherman with his massive net that he used to catch a half dozen fingerling size fish that he would later use as bait for catching food more suitable for his home table.

Ha Long Bay, named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994 and 2000, is located in the northeast part of Vietnam. It is known for its towering limestone islands and emerald color waters. We were first here 12 years ago. The islands were not accessible to tourists at that time, so it was a treat to be able to go on a 2-day cruise and see both sunset and sunrise. The above image shows the kissing rocks.

Burt was able to capture Ha Long Bay with his drone from our cruise boat, where we spent the night. We were also treated to a cooking class demonstration where they made spring rolls.

Ha Long Bay was officially recognized as one of the new 7 natural wonders of the world on 11/11/2011. We were lucky to capture the sunrise early in the morning on Ha Long Bay. Emerging from the emerald green water are the towering karst formation limestone rock with jungle at the top. It was quite memorable to experience.

Our cruise boat (top left) is the one with the covered dining area and bar. The tour of the Dark and Bright cave in Ha Long Bay (lower-right) was a delight, and is located where Lan Ha Bay meets Halong Bay. Our lady boat captain was quite an entrepreneur and her photo (lower-right) is one of Evelyn’s favorites. Our boat lady knew when the best moments were for her guests to wear the Vietnamese hats she brought on her boat, and to photograph our group wearing her hats. She was also exuberant and photogenic. Of course, she was well rewarded with tips.

The wrap-up blog post (coming in 3 or 4 days) of this trip ends with a photo she took of all of us in Vietnamese conical hats on her boat.

Here’s a view of our cruise boat on Ha Long Bay(also spelled Halong Bay). While most of Ha Long Bay is quite touristy, this part is less crowded and quite pleasant.

The rice terraces in the Mù Gang Chài district in northern part of Vietnam are stunningly picturesque. While rice is grown on relatively flat plains in the centre and south, in the North, they are grown in spellbinding terraces carving up mountainsides reaching to the sky and are quite spectacular. While you can enjoy the beauty of the terraces year round, September and October are when the stalks are golden and full of rice. Here are few images shot from Burt’s drone.

The rice terraces are located approximately two hours drive from Sapa, where we visited 15 years ago. Sapa was previously only accessible by train, but now there’s a new highway with easy access via bus or car. For some of the rice terraces, we drove to La Pan Tan where we had lunch in a home-stay to photograph the rice terraces. For other rice terraces, we all rode up to the top of the mountain on the back of motor bikes on narrow dirt trails to the top. It was spectacular, yet a somewhat terrifying ride.

Our guide, Sy, modeled for us in the rice terraces with horse shoe shape, where she was leaping down more than 5 feet between terrace layers, and yet managed to keep her white shoes totally clean. Sy was voted by our group as our favorite guide, as she dressed in traditional clothing to pose for photos. Later, she took us hiking to her home village to meet her family, where we crossed a flooded bridge and got our feet soaked.

Outside of Hanoi is the Huang Phi Tau Incense Village, where we explored colorful incense stick making. Incense is widely used in religious practices when practicing meditation. Burning the incense releases the fragrances, which relate to the color of the coating. Burning incense can be effective in stimulating various sensory receptors.

We also saw the workers in action, making incense coating using traditional craft techniques and watched them set in bundles to dry. We saw the bamboo being chopped, dipping the sticks in dye, creating the incense paste, then bundling the incense. One maker had a machine that extruded the base, added the incense dye, and ejected the finished product (center), for the worker to collect and gather into a bundle (top-left and lower-right).

We photographed a model from a high vantage point in a sea of bright red and other color incenses. The incense sticks come in many colors, each with its own fragrance, and the displays are an instagram favorite for selfies. We were able to capture some photos of a model from the mezzanine above and a ladder (top-right and middle-right).

Later in the morning after enjoying the sunrise at the floating market, we photographed the noodle making at the Can Rang floating market in Can Tho, Vietnam. This market is located near Ho Chi Min City, which was formerly known as Saigon. We sampled the dried noodles, which was a treat for us.

Here’s a “little planet” of the rice fields shot with Burt’s drone, made from 32 photos in a 360 degree circle, then combined in Photoshop.