Daytrip Of Reflection To Kenh Ga, Vietnam

Kenh Ga is a popular day trip choice 20 some kilometers from the perfect travel destination of Ninh Binh.
The waterways of the village which are surrounded by picturesque karst mountains can be explored by taking a boat tour.

I had a motor bike driver take me from Ninh Binh to Kenh Ga through a maze of roads which was a tour in itself.
I can watch banana trees, rice fields, karst mountains and boys riding on buffalos for hours.

I arrived early morning and there weren’t other tourist there yet who I could share the tour boat and split the fare with so I decided to walk around the village and check back at the ticket office after lunch.

I was a bit weary because Kenh Ga is a well known attraction to foreign and domestic tourists and the more touristy a place is the less likely the people living there welcome being photographed for free or at all.
But the focus seems to be on the boat tour and the village itself is not advertised as a must see spot so I hoped that the effects of tourists only spans between the boat docks and the adjacent restaurant.

For the next three hours as I was exploring Kenh Ga I found my assumption to be a true, people were friendly and the scenery was not ruined by one mobile phone shop after another. So I took tons of photos including a few good ones.

Many daily activities take place on or alongside the river from transportation of course to washing dishes, hair, clothes or urinating. This was the first sight I saw as I started to walk around which was a nice introduction to a place that turned out to be ideal for travel and people photography:

The post is titled a Daytrip Of Reflection but not because I was able to work on my personal development or attended a remote meditation class but Thank Buddha the overcast sky and the river provided great reflection shots:

The reflection of the houses and trees along with the water ripples on this photo provide a lot to look at but without being too busy:

As usual a baby soon arrived into the picture, fortunately I was able to take some good portraits of the man a few moments earlier:

This young lady in front of her broom shop first did not want to be photographed but after I took the baby photos with grandpa I passed by her again and this time she did not run away like before (literally).
She immediately asked for money and after I mimed her that I cannot pay for every single photo I take of everyone, this was her rather funny pouting reaction:

A reflection shot of a man in his boat about to leave his house:

I took about 30 photos of this boy giving me quite a performance in the form of his crouching tiger hidden dragon style martial arts demonstration.
But this photo is the most memorable one to me.
As I walked down the street he followed me and as I sat on the ground to take pictures of a woman cleaning leaves off of branches he firmly planted his elbows deep in my knee and kept a close eye on what I was doing:

The yellow bars on the window provided interesting framing for the photos taken there. The intense and less than cheerful stare of this boy perhaps reflects his less than glamorous living standards:

Any time school gets out the attack of screaming boys begins:

It is almost impossible to take any useful photo except of a pushing and shoving mob scene when kids attack.
This madness quickly turns into a mosh pit of children aggressively competing for the best position in front of the camera:

Random turn into an street where boys were playing cards with cheerful personalities.
Sometimes all elements fall into place. Nice soft light in the shade, the color blue of the shirts compliment the color of the wall which has good texture as well and the kids’ great expressions:

Rugged landscape as viewed from the tour boat I took in the afternoon. This is very simple life; houses (or shacks with western standards) at the foothill of a karst formation:

Laundry drying in the wind, women working on the fields against the backdrop of a soaring karst mountain:

Boys asking for money at a bridge we passed during our boat trip:

Woman with her bicycle; another photo capturing a slice of typical rural life in Vietnam taken from the tour boat:

When kids are not in overexcited groups there are plenty of opportunities to take more normal and natural portraits:

Sometimes even small groups of children can stay still for a few pictures. It is usually a good idea to keep kids occupied with something unless they have the confidence just to keep a steady eye contact with the camera and stay in one spot (lucky me).
Sitting them down instead of standing, having something in their hands like their umbrella or toy, having them lean against a wall or hold onto their bike, having their hands around their friends or siblings all methods that can put them (somewhat) at ease:

One of the many things I love about Vietnam is the way local fashion looks to me: kids and adults alike are seemingly walking around in their pajamas.
The fabric worn by adults does not always consist of small flower prints, they can have anything from cartoons to Hello Kitty to cute baby animals … it’s just too funny.
This girl was so elegant how she carried herself and held her broken umbrella I decided to shoot her more like a little model so I arranged her surroundings and background accordingly:

This little girl was in many other group photos from that day and she was a bit all over the place having a hard time staying focused.
So I asked her friend or sister with the umbrella to place her on the top of this porch wall, sitting up there, feet dangling in a way making her less mobile.
Sometimes an innocent trick like this can manipulate a photo session for the better. She was calmer in this position and I could take some pictures which showed more personality: