Hoian Archives - Sivan Askayo Blog

Travel

Let’s Travel Somewhere: Vietnam

April 30, 2013

Whoever claimed that size doesn’t matter, probably didn’t see this beautiful and inspiring website Let’s Travel Somewhere.

Let‘s Travel Somewhere is a project by Nisa Maier. Nisa, who is a photographer herself, wants to capture the essence of every country on the planet through stunning photographs and gripping stories. But she can’t do it all by herself. She believes that a single traveller can‘t live to see it all. That‘s why she started to collect and share inspiring photo-journeys by other striking travel photographers.

I really LOVE that format. Only horizontal wide images that really drawn you, the viewer, into the scenery.

I have contacted Nisa few weeks ago to compliment her on her beautiful project and offered to participate.

Vietnam is my first contribution to Let’s Travel Somewhere. More here.

“I’ve always wanted to travel to Vietnam. An image of the lanterns in Hoi An, that I came across in a photography magazine, encouraged me to book a flight and go. Sometimes photographers will go on a journey just to get that single image that inspires them. I arrived in Ho Chi Minh at the end of January last year, at the midst of Tet Holiday. (The Vietnamese New Year). The streets were humming and buzzing with traffic. At the beginning I thought it was because of the holiday, but eventually I realized that this was Vietnam. A steady stream of motorbikes, rickshaws and cars driving around in both directions. Not once, did I join a group of people just to cross the street. I won’t lie if sometimes I just held my breath, praying silently I would make it safe to the other side of the street.

I’ve been to Vietnam for almost 2 weeks and planned it time-wise to be in Hoi An on February 5th for the full moon festival, which is held on every 14th day of the lunar year. I ended up hopping from South (Ho Chi Minh) to North (Hanoi, Sapa and Halong Bay) and back to the Center to Hoi An, just to make it on time for the festival.
Vietnam is beautiful and fascinating. The street food is fresh and delicious, the people are inviting and friendly and the culture is captivating.
If you spin the Globe and want to travel somewhere, don’t miss on Vietnam”

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Window or Aisle?

Window or Aisle: Etienne Bossot

July 18, 2012

There are not a lot of guys who will make me want to get out of my bed at 4:30 am! Not to mention when I am away from home, in a cute hotel in HoiAn, Vietnam.

But Etienne Bossot is one of them.

Last February I was in Vietnam for two weeks, looping around my schedule to make it on time for the Full Moon Festival in HoiAn on February 5th. I was rushing from Hanoi in the North to HoiAn in the Center, just to see the paper lanterns on the HoiAn river. Trust me, it was worth it!

The concierge in the hotel I was staying in heard I was a photographer, and one morning slipped a colorful flyer on my table while I was having breakfast. It was a HoiAn Sunrise photo tour in a fishermen village. The truth is that I was debating if to take the Sunrise photo tour or the Sunset photo tour because I didn’t really want to wake up that early. But after meeting Etienne for sweet-condense milk coffee in one of the cafes in HoiAn at the same day, he convinced me to take the Sunrise one! I thought to myself, where else in the World I can do it, if not there, right?

These days Etienne is busy launching more photo tours in NorthVietnam and North Laos and running some online tutorials. Looking at his website and all the great tours Etienne has to offer, makes me miss Vietnam and go visit again!

I’m really excited to have the opportunity to feature Etienne on Window or Aisle? and share with you some of his breath-taking images.

Thanks Etienne!

Where are you from? I am from Avignon in South of France.

Where did you study photography? I actually never studied photography. I moved to Vietnam over 5 years ago and it quickly stroke me that I was losing something, living here without a camera. The thing is that after I bought my first camera I caught the photography virus, a strong one, and it never left me!

What made you want to learn it or do it? The beauty of Vietnam and South East Asia, and mostly its people. Being stuck in the mud in a rice field, busy capturing a farmer in the setting sun… the world stops around me when I am busy doing things like that, and this is what makes me continue. I have also been teaching photography with workshops in HoiAn for the past 2 years, so I have to be on top!

If you weren’t a photographer what would you do? I moved here selling wine to resorts… I would probably be doing some sales and marketing somewhere in Asia (being stuck in an office all day long, having a boss,…) hahaha.

Where do you get your inspiration from? I do spend a lot of time watching and following travel photographers I know and like. But what really inspires me and moves me is photojournalism. A dream I had when I started, becoming one. I know this is not what I do now, but I aways keep these styles of photos in mind when taking photos.

How do you usually approach a new project? It’s more something I find, see or hear about. I do not think I am mature enough to start a huge personal photo project that I will do until the end. I am also quite busy with the photo workshops here in HoiAn and launching the new tours in South East Asia… so I guess a personal photo project is something that will come to later.

What are you working on right now? Still editing wedding photos(…), and marketing the new tours in South East Asia.

Window or Aisle? Window of course, admiring the landscape and wishing I had my camera with me!

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My Life in Polaroids

Vietnam, Oriental Express

February 9, 2012

Drinking so many Vietnamese sweet coffees with condense milk I can even count on one hand, trying to cross to the other side of the street when so many motor bikes are zooming around, Overlooking Ho Chi Minn city at night from the Rex hotel’s rooftop, helium balloons, street food vendors, walking to Ben Thanh Market and having Pho noodle soup for breakfast, squeezing lime into the soup, adding red hot chili peppers, The Notre Damn Church outside of Paris, Cu Chi Tunnels, walking barefoot into the Cao Dai Temple exactly at noon time, Spring rolls and Shrimps at the night market. Sitting on a stool among the locals while having dinner and experiencing all the cheers and celebrations of the Tet Holiday. Staying at the old French Quarter in Hanoi, right next to the St. Joseph Cathedral. Waking up every morning to the sound of bells of the Cathedral and heading for a run along the Hoan Kiem lake, Tai Chi in front of the red Tortoise Tower, walking around the ’36 streets’, looking all day long for a steam Bao and finding it at the bakery next door. Sofitel Metropole Hotel almost every night to get a fast internet connection, passing through the Opera house on my way back. Mango and Pineapple on a stick covered with sweet chili, Halong Bay in the fog, Taking the night train to Sapa and walking almost half day inside a foggy cloud, Baguette and chocolate for breakfast at the Austrian coffee shop, Kit Kat Village, taking the night train back to Hanoi at the same day. Hoa Lo Prison, Tran Quac Pagoda, and giving some fake money to the Gods. Temple of Literature, Ho Chi Minn Mausoleum and walking back through the Ba Dinh Square. Drinking lemon tea and eating sunflowers seeds like the locals do. Getting to Hoian just on time for the Full Moon Lantern Festival, floating a paper lantern on the Thu Bon River on that very special night and praying for some good luck. Sweet potato and coconut green bean cake almost every day. Condense Milk out of the can almost every morning, Grilled corn with chili lime sauce. Waking up at 4 am in the morning just to see the sunrise in a fishermen market. Speaking in English but have no one actually understands you, but still making your way around in a smooth way….Priceless!

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Travel

Hoi An; Once in a Full Moon

February 6, 2012

As a travel photographer, I often find myself juggling locations, running around and skipping some cities and places just so I can be in the right place at the right moment.

This is actually what I did on February, while visiting Vietnam after Tet Holiday, the New year of the Vietnamese people, as I was touring the country from south to north, and back to the center, just to make it on time for the Full Moon Festival in Hoi An, on February 5. It was well worth it.

Hoi An is an ancient town in central Vietnam, located only 15 miles southeast of Danang (where there is a great new airport) and occupies a scenic location along the banks of the Thu Bon River. For several centuries Hoi An was one of the most important trading ports in Southeast Asia and an important center of cultural exchange between Europe and the Orient. On 1999 it received the status of World Heritage site by UNESCO, who took the initiative to restore and safeguard Hoi An’s Old Quarter and historic monuments.

The town is a mix of Japanese, Chinese and French cultures. The Old Quarter is divided to West-Japanese Quarter, where you can walk along the Japanese Covered Bridge (from the late 16th century) and the East-French Quarter, where you can walk beneath the colorful market and street-side shops.

For me, Hoi An was the Vietnamese version of Venice, but without the gondolas on the canals. There was something very magical to walk along the narrow streets of this town, with its yellow-colored walls of the old buildings and the colorful lanterns, which are the trademark of this town.

It was a very magical night for me both as a photographer and a tourist to experience the Full Moon Festival, which is held on every 14th day of the lunar month. The old town is completely transformed into something else. There is no access to motor vehicles but only to pedestrians (locals and tourists) who are holding these brightly colored lanterns to sail them on the river and ask for the gods for prosperity and good luck for the New Year.

If you plan a trip to Vietnam, I encourage you to visit Hoi An and not to skip its Lantern-Full moon-Festival.

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Intimacy Under the Wires

Vietnam Laundry

February 3, 2012

It is not that difficult to find laundry in Vietnam. It is everywhere! In fact, I’m not sure if there are dryers in Vietnam (in other words, I’m quite sure there are not). The Vietnamese hang their clothes out to dry in every window or balcony of their home, and sometimes, they just open a window to let the wind dry the clothes in doors. In Hanoi, for example, the Vietnamese hang their flags outside the windows and sometimes the National flag seems like part of the laundry itself. In all places though, laundry (and a lot of laundry) could be seen in all parts of the day and sometimes I just had to walk inside an alley into a small court in between the houses to find the clotheslines. In most cases, the Vietnamese women who were either hanging the laundry or cooking/selling food outdoors, didn’t really understand why I take pictures of some clothes on a wire.

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