Tonight before sleeping I wandered the streets of Hanoi Vietnam at night. I ended up making it back to my hotel room after 2am. It was quite a nice night out. I made some photos of street scenes, night workers (road cleaners, construction workers, bottle collectors, security-soldiers), and of homeless people.
I was a bit surprises how many homeless there were. Ended up probably photographing 5 -7 homeless folks in the low light.They were out on the streets, sleeping all in jackets, masks and all bundled up in blankets.
Another thing that surprised me was the single militarily guard (I think unarmed) guarding various embassy buildings. I saw, photographed and spoke to them in front of the Sudanese, Cuban and Australian embassies. Lone men standing on the streets in their green uniforms.
I also walked the locked down exterior of the famous Hoi Lo prison (the American sarcastically named Hanoi Hilton). This is a prison that housed, tortured and executed Vietnamese political prisons via guillotine during French colonial times. It is also the prison where Senator John McCaine and many other American Vietnam war prisoners were held, interrogated, beaten and tortured. I will visit the prison during the day time hours tomorrow during the day.
Walking the streets of Hanoi Vietnam tonight after midnight carrying my expensive digital Canon camera, I felt completely safe. How many Canadian or American cities could I say the same about?
I was a bit surprises how many homeless there were. Ended up probably photographing 5 -7 homeless folks in the low light.They were out on the streets, sleeping all in jackets, masks and all bundled up in blankets.
Another thing that surprised me was the single militarily guard (I think unarmed) guarding various embassy buildings. I saw, photographed and spoke to them in front of the Sudanese, Cuban and Australian embassies. Lone men standing on the streets in their green uniforms.
I also walked the locked down exterior of the famous Hoi Lo prison (the American sarcastically named Hanoi Hilton). This is a prison that housed, tortured and executed Vietnamese political prisons via guillotine during French colonial times. It is also the prison where Senator John McCaine and many other American Vietnam war prisoners were held, interrogated, beaten and tortured. I will visit the prison during the day time hours tomorrow during the day.
Walking the streets of Hanoi Vietnam tonight after midnight carrying my expensive digital Canon camera, I felt completely safe. How many Canadian or American cities could I say the same about?
