Separate Ways

Most of our life is a series of images.

They pass us by like towns on the highway.

But sometimes, a moment stuns us as it happens.

And we know that this instant is more than a fleeting image.

We know that this moment, every part of it, will live on forever.

- One Tree Hill

This is one of may favorite photos (so far). I caught two people going on their separate ways. I was inside the bus, I had the big window all to myself. And the shutter was all eager to click. I am glad I was at the right time. I think the angle was just right.

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I've been soundtripping to Mika's Life in Cartoon Motion cd. All because I heard Crim singing Grace Kelly last Saturday over a couple of beer and a plate of roasted highland legume. :-D

Sunset in Hai Duong Province is

...both beautiful and complicated.

I took this shot from inside the coaster while my companions were busy getting some rest after a hectic visit at a nearby village. I've tried every possible position I could just to get a relatively "modest shot" of the sun that looked so full and yellow that late afternoon. I like how it followed and teased my window.

...fading in silence.

In Hai Duong Province, we visit a People's Committe and its members. The leader spoke in Vietnamese while a lecturer from Hanoi University, interpreted for us. It has been our routine every time we visit a village. Everything has to be said in two languages: in Vietnamese and in English for the benefits of the two groups. People in the village hardly speak English so we need an interpreter everywhere we go. But a Vietnamese speaking in English is (most of the time) difficult to understand too. While the meeting was going on, I decided to walk out without making a scene. I went at the back of the building and spotted two farmers in the field against this beautiful, orangey sunset.

...always beautiful.

I think I've stayed too much at the back that one of my colleagues spotted me from where I stood and informed me that we're leaving already. The place was too beautiful to ignore. And this shot could not even justify what I've seen. I look at my arm and saw the orangey reflection of the sun on my skin.

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Roadblocks

On our way to Nam Dinh Province we passed by this long and narrow road. We were riding a coaster that must pass through this one way road to get through to the next village. Along the way we passed by several roadblocks. Our Vietnamese driver kept on pressing the horn because a woman carrying 4 sacks of rice on her bicycle was blocking our way. Then she looked at us with the kind of expression that says something like: "What do you want me to do?" Good thing there was an extended road on the next corner so she was able to maneuver her bike. Not far ahead, we encounter another roadblock.

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Traversing the North of Vietnam

Most of my time in Vietnam were spent inside a moving vehicle traveling from one province to another; from one city to one district and small villages. Taking photos was more of a luxury than an opportunity. Three provinces, two cities in three days.

Road on our way to Hanoi. On the left is the Red River Delta.

Traffic jam on our way to Vinh Phuc Province, 50 km from Hanoi.

A moto dominated street on our way to Nam Dinh Province, a province in the Red River Delta.

Motos waiting for the green light going to Hai Duong Province, one of the most prosperous cities in North Vietnam.

Hang Dao Street in Hanoi where motos, cars, and cyclos are coming from every direction.

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[Postscript]

Have you ever thought about what protects our hearts?
Just a cage of rib bones and some other various parts.
So it's fairly simple to cut right through the mess,
and to stop the muscle that makes us confess.
And we are so fragile, and our cracking bones make noise,
and we are just, breakable, breakable, breakable...

~ Ingrid Michaelson (Breakable)