Location: Mekong Delta, Vietnam.

Gear: Canon 650D + Sigma 18 – 200ml lens.

Observation: I visited Vietnam for a conference in 2012. I had never really explored any of Asia. My only prior Asian experiences had been stop-overs at Singapore and Bangkok airports en-route to Europe and a weekend in Hong Kong. And I have to say that on my trip in from the airport gazing out at the polluted and chaotic mess that was Ho Chi Minh City traffic I was pretty certain I wasn’t going to enjoy Vietnam at all!

It took less than one day for all that to change. And within the space of a short three day sojourn  I fell head over heals in love with Vietnam. The food, the culture, the sights, the chaos and the people – most of all the people!

Mekong Delta

As part of the conference we had a one-day day trip down to the Mekong Delta. What a juxtaposition from the pollution and go-go-go of the city. It was calm, lush and serene. I loved it.

As part of our tour we had a short cycle ride. As I am oft to do I was always at the ‘back of the pack’ enabling me to stop my bike and take photos along our route. I have always been a tour guide’s nightmare in this regard and known to sometimes lose the group. As we cycled and sweated, sweated and cycled a verdant oasis of rice paddy fields and bamboo plantations slowly passed us by…and cheeky children would stare at us and the more confident ones would wave and giggle.

I spied this young lad (pictured above) gazing out his home’s window. Houses are built to catch every breeze in Vietnam thus windows and doors are left open. I assume these boundary bars are some kind of security.

I was of course dawdling at the back again about to lose the group when I saw him. He was a long, long way away. I extended my lens to its full 200ml range as I teetered on the sweaty seat of my bicycle all the while knowing that I was seconds away from ending up in the Mekong for rather longer than I had intended, if I lost my group. I managed to snap one shot. This shot…

My focus hit the boundary bars not the boy’s soft soulful eyes but nonetheless this is one of my favourite Vietnam captures.

My post in response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: Boundaries

Other Vietnam Posts.

Faces of Vietnam. Part 1.

Faces of Vietnam. Part 2