After spending 12 days in the Northwestern mountains photographing the Hmong minorities and the fantastic scenery in Bac Ha I did another stopover in Hanoi before heading South.
No photos again from Hanoi because the novelty of the town ended after my first visit; so it seems like I need to continue traveling to find fresh inspiration.
This stay in Hanoi was mostly for maintenance reasons.
I stayed at the excellent Manh Dung Guesthouse again for the third time for $10 a night which is a fine price in the more expensive than usual Capital.
I was able to connect to someone’s Wi-Fi network from my room and do research concerning making money from travel photography, more specifically about setting up online stores to sell prints and books.
I will soon select my favorite images I have taken so far on this trip and place them online for sale. Any book concept will have to wait until I have more photos or I have actually completed my Southeast Asia travels.
I do not know when or where this journey will end. I only know that it started on December 3rd, 2007 in Saigon and it might just last a bit longer than planned because of a special $600 gift I received on May 12, 2008 which is an additional tax refund and part of President Bush’s stimulus package or something like that.
That will buy me a lot of pho (exactly 600 more noodle soups)! This is a much needed injection of extra funds into my travel budget partly because donations through his website have not been sufficient - there have been none in years.
By now I had my favorite eating spots in Hanoi where I was a return customer but I tried one new place near my hotel which I used to walk by every day before.
This pho took the gold metal for the best rice noodle soup I have had in the past 5 months and it cost … once again only one dollar.
I had to tip once it was so good.
Not sure what will turn out to be the bigger culture shock, coming to Asia for the first time (an amazingly friendly part of the World) or returning to the USA and having to pay more than one dollar for breakfast, lunch or dinner (and get a nasty look from some stressed out employee).
I am not looking forward to the latter.
Maintaining my looks cannot be neglected just in case I find my future ex-wife in Vietnam. So I got a haircut as well. This is my seventh haircut in Asia during the past five months.
The first four cuts turned out great. My luck ended in Ninh Binh with a bizarre creation which I can only describe as freestyling or a revenge haircut. I had it fixed during my first Hanoi stopover.
Because I am heading South again and I will stop in Ninh Binh, this most recent cut is a strategic one which will definitely hold over during my next Ninh Binh stay.
Yes, smart scheduling of haircuts is a vital part of any successful, stress free multi-month travel itinerary.
A health maintenance item on my to do list was to look for a hospital to get my third and final Hepatitis B travel vaccination shot. I received the first injection in November in Hawaii where I lived before starting this trip, the second one in Saigon in December and now five months later the third shot.
I felt a bit uneasy to get vaccinations in Vietnam but due to how the shots are spaced out over six months there wasn’t any other choice. My concerns were unwarranted, vaccinations are seemingly simple standardized procedures and way way cheaper than in the USA.
For example I paid $8 for this last Hepatitis B shot without insurance of course.
In contrast I paid an arm and a leg in the USA even with insurance (which I could not use because travel vaccinations are not covered).
Next was photo gear maintenance for one of my lenses.
The humidity in my Ninh Binh hotel room got into my Nikon 18-200mm lens
I should have had the lens cleaned when I was in Hanoi last time before traveling to Bac Ha but it completely escaped my mind.
This time I remembered, had it done for $24 and now the lens looks like new.
I did not notice any quality issues with the photos taken in Bac Ha with the “dirty” lens but if there are any I will explain those fuzzy, soft focus pictures as my artistic interpretation of the misty Northwest mountains and their residents: the illusive Hmong minority.
Maintaining the mind is key when traveling alone for several months.
Asking for general life advice while being far from home has an impersonal feel plus not having a home further complicates this process.
Requesting a critique about my photography is almost always met with: great photos, love them … which is nice but not very constructive! The occasional random hate mail I receive does balance things out but can also leave doubts.
I am already carrying photo gear and a laptop so lugging around books is out of the question but ebooks and audiobooks offer an excellent lightweight solution.
Currently I am listening to Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose
Some Amazon book reviews of Eckhart Tolle are a bit harsh but this is expected when God and religion is mentioned, God forbid criticized.
These negative reviews are not to be taken personally or do not warrant fighting back. It is their painbody speaking 
… inside joke from the book.
My quick list of books which may offer guidance on the road towards awakening and enlightenment:
Carlos Castaneda
The Teachings of Don Juan
The Active Side of Infinity
Power of Silence
Paulo Coelho
The Alchemist
Dan Millman
Way of the Peaceful Warrior
No Ordinary Moments
Miguel Ruiz
The Four Agreements
The Mastery of Love
The Voice of Knowledge
Eckhart Tolle
A New Earth
The Power of Now
Stillness Speaks
Lao Tzu
Tao Te Ching
Ken Wilber
A Brief History of Everything
The next stop is my favorite destination: Ninh Binh and because last time I stayed there for three weeks now it feels like going home.
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:21 am
I’ll give you critique if you need it, you can always count on me, you know that:D:D:D