Vacationing And Photographing In Ha Tien, Vietnam

I am glad to say I arrived vomit free to Ha Tien from Phu Quoc Island via Rac Gia after a two-hour eventful bus ride.
Appropriately as a Hungarian I stayed at the Du Hung Hotel which was recommended by an excellent free online Vietnam guidebook website.

The room was nice for $11 and the only thing which did not work was the dial-up internet access but the manager allowed guests to use the front desk computer for free without time limitation. Otherwise Internet cafes usually charge about 3,600 dongs (25 cents per hour).

The first day I did what I like to do after arriving: hit the streets, alleys, harbors, walk around all over the neighborhood taking pictures.
As soon as I walked out of the hotel I was immediately in the middle of “action” in the harbor and a large market (seems like there is a large market next to everything in Vietnam).

The shopkeepers were greeting me with smiles (besides the usual wide-eyed just witnessed an alien spaceship landing type) and the kids were eager to be photographed as usual.
Ha Tien is not a busy tourist spot (even the motorbike drivers take no for an answer without much fuss) which was one reason why I went there also it is at the most Westerly tip of (Southern) Vietnam and after Phu Quoc Island it was a logical choice to start exploring the Mekong Delta from.

The poor living conditions were immediately very obvious but they are so common after awhile they look normal. What is very different in Vietnam and stands out is that a lot of children seem to be working when not in school from morning to night.
By working I mean helping out the family business which is often on display on the streets in the form of stores, stands, carts or selling lottery tickets.

The family structure seems to be strong and I do not believe I have seen any form of harsh discipline of kids in public. After living in the USA this is glaringly obvious. In the US where stress is part of everyday life I can recall countless times witnessing parents screaming or hitting their kids in the name of child raising.
Perhaps with less money and material things comes less stress? Or at least different kind of stress? The reason might be Buddhism along with the numerous other cultural differences. Interesting nevertheless.

From the town of Ha Tien across the harbor a pagoda called Tinh Xa Ngoc Tien can be seen. It sits at a great location overseeing the town and beyond.
I could not wait to visit it and when I got there I must have spent two hours plus on its grounds and took some nice pictures.
The constant breeze along with the smell of incense and the pagoda’s architecture made it a very peaceful and enjoyable visit.

When it comes to eating if I spend more than 2 dollars in one sitting I probably had a beer as well. Spending 75 cents to a dollar and a half is normal for a meal which I always get from a family owned curbside eatery. They taste great and everyone seems to have a slightly different recipe when it comes to making noodle soup.
Having soup for breakfast might sound strange in other countries but it IS a fine way to start the day.

There are a couple of noteworthy Ha Tien stories.

After doing the usual quick walk through photography I revisited a particularly poor area where the group of “houses” made a really dramatic shooting location and I remembered there were many fun kids especially crazy about taking pictures.
See last two photos on bottom of page.

I must have stayed there 45 minutes or more because all the families brought out their kids to be photographed.
Because of its off the beaten track location it was probably not on the itinerary of many tourists so the “event of my return” was met with quite an excitement.

It was a great experience seeing the parents proudly “pushing their kids” in front of my camera, all I had to do is keep moving around so the background changed with each kid and keep up with the flow of sometimes willing participants.
I even found one child with a special look possible future model material; she is an 11 year old girl, very photogenic and confident … a natural talent!
It has been a challenge to separate one kid from the others to photograph; after the obligatory group photos are taken I often wish to take single portraits of some of the children, and I must say I have succeeded with varying degree and failed several times.

Another time while I was somewhere in the outskirts of Ha Tien when a lady approached me who was a farmer. She invited me to her sister’s roadside eatery where I ate (part of) the biggest papaya I have ever seen. Then she took me through picturesque rice fields to a nice local hangout at the beach on the back of her motorbike.

In the evening me and her two sisters went to a nice hilltop cafe where we had ice cream to celebrate one of her sister’s birthday which was followed by karaoke (cannot describe it - you just have to hear Vietnamese karaoke) where the snacks and drinks were served by a ladyb0y. (No I did not find it out too late, I saw it right away hehe)

Now a few photos from Ha Tien, the above picture at the start of this post has two goofy kids on a bridge I took during a walk just outside town.
There are several reactions to the sight of a tourist especially when a camera is also present; wide eyed shock, friendly smile, loud “hello, what’s your name?” or just plain silliness like this picture. It is quite an experience to walk down the street.

This is the great Tinh Xa Ngoc Tien pagoda as seen from across the harbor of Ha Tien:

Looking back at the town of Ha Tien from the Tinh Xa Ngoc Tien pagoda:

Kids work in Vietnam seemingly all the time helping out their families. Here a boy is picking through the trash of the harbor with his mother:

There is never a shortage of kids to photograph in Vietnam, one challenge is to compose a photo that has some visual appeal besides being a snapshot:

This photo and most of my other pictures try to represent everyday life in Vietnam - this is as Vietnam as it gets:

Women walking to the market wearing typical Vietnamese fashion:

The harbor of Ha Tien:

Vietnamese boy flying his kite and and being damn proud of showing it off to me:

In Vietnam someone is always drying something somewhere. Drying shrimp is my absolute favorite, it is the most colorful and unexpected visual to bump into:

Did I accidentally mixed in a photo of Paris with the Eiffel tower?
The foreground says: Hell No!

Definitely not Six Flags amusement park, just its Vietnamese version. Experiencing the simple life is what’s around every corner:

Some of the kids from that very poor area I revisited and mentioned above:

The group of shacks (or houses) the above kids live in, I could have gotten a more shocking and less flattering photo but I decided to place the pond in the foreground to make the picture more to my liking:

Ha Tien was great, worthy of a return.