January in Hue, Vietnam. Meeting Crunchy Again

A week left until I have to leave Vietnam: the stamp on my passport says "until January 21"; not sure for where though. Probably, a 10-day stay in the Lao countryside to lie low until February 4. It's because more touristy places in Thailand/Laos can be fully booked by Chinese vacationers on these days: the Green Wooden Snake crawls in on January 29, 2025, and China is going to party. Thais, in the meantime, are rubbing their hands, dreaming about earning some extras. Better to stay away from this green and wooden pandemonium. 😁

Meanwhile, I am in Hue, Vietnam, enjoying my last days at the An Cuu River, having street photo walks from time to time.

A lady on bicycle with waste paper. They usually don't smile and don't want to be photographed but, that time, I was blessed.

And here everything was expected. I liked this colonial building and raised the camera planning to include children waving me and smiling in the frame. And they didn't let me down. 😀 You don't even need to ask them, they know their job well 😁

Street orchid vendor but I had no chance to photograph her secretly. Happily, she behaved naturally.

Yup, the place of action. The An Cuu River ❤️ where you can shoot street and landscape photography at the same time.

If you ask me, I would like to go to a city that is as good as Bangkok but not Bangkok. I know this city too well, I visited and re-visited everything there not that long time ago - left it in May 2024, after ages of being there, after surviving two bloody hot seasons there without AC in the room. 🥵

But what city can be as good as Bangkok from the point of photography? I know one place like that: Kolkata, India. But am I ready to say goodbye to Southeast Asia, am I ready to spend several months in India? I don't know. Anyway, I must go somewhere in Thailand, first since all cheap flights are from Bangkok.

Thought about Chiang Mai... An idea of going to the cutest Lao city, Luang Phrabangб gets me excited... Still not sure.

A typical gate to an alley adjoining a major street (the An Cuu River embankment in this case) with flags and political information. A great frame for a street scene. So, as it happened, I stopped to wait for some character to enter it.

A new place discovered. Loved the tree.

The city's life rhythm.

Tranquility. And just 1.5 months ago, the water was yellow with mud and reached the level of house porches on the embankments (flood).

River cleaning service, daily.

Life on the bridge.

Life on the embankment.

Crunchy also lives on the embankment.

Hope he is a pet or raised as a father to ducks of high quality. I've already known him for four months, I wouldn't want to see him on a plate.

A pink bath of Crunchy, and proof that he is absolutely safe: it's written boiled pigs ("Heo Luoc") on the banner, and nothing about boiled ducks... So... means safe...

👀

Gloomy days are ending for me: Laos and Thailand are over the Annamese mountains, and full of sun. So, planning to enjoy the cloudy palette to the fullest extent over the remaining time in Hue.

More Southeast Asian stories to come, stay tuned! Check out my previous posts on my personal Worldmappin map.

I took these images with a Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 on January 10, 2025 (but #5 on Dec 21, 2024, and Crunchy on Jan 1), in Hue, Vietnam.