John's Vietnam Portfolio

Vietnam A Portfolio John Karmouche

Vietnam Portfolio by John Karmouche 2006 to 2008

BangkokAirport

Bangkok Airport While waiting for our connecting flight to Saigon, I captured this at the airport in Bangkok. © John Karmouche

Vietnam 2006 to 2008 The images in this book were captured on my first trip to Vietnam in 2006 and then added to on a second trip in 2008. Vietnam is a land of contrast. This book contains photos taken from the Mekong in the south all the way up to near the boarder with China in the north.

MythoSnake

MythoSnakeAA

My Tho

My Tho

Boy with snake. Shortly after this photo was taken, this snake was wrapped arounf my shoulders © John Karmouche

© John Karmouche

MythoMusicDD

My Tho Local men play for the tourists who frequent this tourist area.

© John Karmouche

MajseticHotelSaigonBB

Siagon A view taken from the Majextic Hotel breakfast restaurant looking down on the Saigon River. © John Karmouche

SaigonRiverFerries

Saigon Ferries dance with each other transporting cars, bikes and people across the Saigon River. © John Karmouche

SaigonRiverMorningAA

Siagon Early morning view of ferries on Saigon River.

© John Karmouche

Hanoi (20)

Hanoi The old quarter

© John Karmouche

HoiAnO

Hoi An Market scene typical of many elsewhere in Vietnam.

© John Karmouche

Vung Tau Peninsula VietnamAA

© John Karmouche

Vung Tau This photo was taken on my first trip to Vietnam in 2006. Vung Tau is located on a peninsula about 2 hours from Saigon. This area was the home of the Australian Logistic base during the "American War" as the locals refer to what we call the Vietnam War. I took this photo with a 300 mm lens from the top of one of the hills that overlook the area. The tide in the area leaves fishing boats high and dry at low tide.

KidsHoiAnFishingBoat

Hoi an Children playing in an old boat.

© John Karmouche

Mekong Delta VietnamAA

My Tho Waiting to take tourists for a ride.

© John Karmouche

DSC_0017

Hoi An There are two main forms of transport in Vietnam,

© John Karmouche

Hoi Ann BB (52)

Hoi An Street scene in the old town.

© John Karmouche

BoysonBikeHoiAn

ManRefuelingScooterHoiAn

Hoi an

Hoi an

Note that the older brother has made sure his little brother gets the comfortable seat.

Man waits to buyfuel.

© John Karmouche

© John Karmouche

Incense Sticks on sale Hue Vietnam

Incense Sticks Just outside Hue you can watch women making incense stick. They come in many beautiful colors. © John Karmouche

Perfume river (48)

Perfume River Upstream from Hue.

© John Karmouche

HoiAnRiverA

Hoi An Early morning

© John Karmouche

Hoi An Classic French Village Sunrise This photograph was taken just before sunrise. Hoi An is World Heritage classified town. It is recognized for its classic French architecture, and was surprisingly spared from bombing during the war with the French and the Americans. This is truly one of the most beautiful places in Vietnam.

Fish on sale Mytho - VietnamAA

Dried Fish Market in mekong Delta

© John Karmouche

Cyclo Drivers Hoi An Vietnam

Hoi An Cyclo drivers patiently wait for business

© John Katmouche

Hoi Ann BB (9)

Hoi An Budist temple.

© John Karmouche

Crew of Tour Boat Ha Long bay vietnam

Ha Long Bay Boat crew eat lunch.

© John Karmouche

Boats on Ha Long Bay Vietnam

© John Karmouche

Ha Long bay (52)

Ha Long Bay These two boys were the children of the boat captain on our Ha Long Bay tour. I grabbed this shot as they curiously peeked around the corner at us. © John Karmouche

HoiAnAL

Hoi An $2 Shop...

© John Karmouche

HoiAnDusk

Hoi An At sunset

© John Karmouche

Boats Rivers, canals and the ocean are integral to Vietnam. Boats are an integral form of transport.

Fishermen Vung Tau Harbour Vietnam

Vung Tau Harbour Early morning shot of fishermen returning to shore.

© John Karmouche

Perfume river (44)

Perfume River From Hue, we took a boat trip up the Perfume River. You can see our boat captain here and another larger tour boat following us. © John Karmouche

Street Scene Hanoi

Hanoi Women wait patiently in the Old Quarter.

© John Karmouche

Women Street Scene HanoiAA

Hanoi The number on the wall are left by concreting contractors.

© John Karmouche

Mask Shop Hanoi

Hanoi Decorative masks form an interesting pattern.

© John Karmouche

On the way to Hue (15)

Half way from Hoi An to Hue A typical riverside town.

© John Karmouche

man in Window Hoi An Vietnam

Hoi An I saw this man standing in the iwndow, swung my lens in his direction and captured this shot. © John Karmouche

MekongKidsCanthoAA

Mekong Children As we entered the rice paper production factory, these two boys posed for a quick shot using my fish eye lens. © John Karmouche

MekongKidsCantho

Mekong Children Inquisitive.

© John Karmouche

RicePaperFactoryCanthoDD

Can Tho Rice paper manufacturing This man is mixing the paste which goes into the production of rice paper .

© John Karmouche

CanthoFloatingMarketDD

Mekong Woman This woman was madly bailing water out of the boat she was in. I managed to grab this shot as she looked in my diredction. © John Karmouche

CanthoFloatingMarketGirl

Mekong Girl This girl pulled up beside our craft selling cans of soft drink.

© John Karmouche

Hoi Ann CC (43)

Joy for three on a scooter While walking down a lane in Hoi an I grabbed this shot as a scooter flew past/ Not an uncommon sight is to see up to 5 people onn the one bike. © John Karmouche

MajseticHotelSaigonBreakfastAA

Siagon A view on the Siagon River taken from the Majestic Hotel.

© John Karmouche

SaigonRiver Restaurant

Saigon Riverside restaurant

© John Karmouche

SaigonRiver RestaurantB

Ssaigon Each night sevearl floating restaurants moor opposite the Majestic Hotel near the Ferry Terminal. © John Karmouche

SaigonRiver RestaurantA

Saigon At night the locals come out in their hoards. It is surprising how many people were around this area. © John Karmouche

SaigonPostOfficeBB

Saigon Post Office Uncle Ho's portrait dominates this magnificent building

© John Karmouche

SaigonfromaboveG

Siagon River The view at night from the top of the Mjestic Hotel

© John Karmouche

CanthoFerryDD

Can Tho Approaching can Tho on a car ferry. The one this is taken from is very like the ones seen in the distance. I tookk this photograph to capture the cloud formations © John Karmouche

HoiAnRiverD

Hoi An Fishing boats at anchor early morning.

© John Karmouche

HoiAnRiverE

Hoi An This is a long duration exposure of the scene above.

© John Karmouche

SaigonRiverMorningCC

Siagon Early morning ship in harbour taken forom Majestic Hotel

© John Karmouche

SaigonShopFrontA

Siagon Typical shop front

© John Karmouche

CanthoFloatingMarketMM

CanthoFerryEE

Can Tho

Family on scooter

Flaoting market.

Taken on board the car ferry as we crossed the Mekong to Can Tho

© John Karmouche

© John Karmouche

CanthoFloatingMarketQQ

Can Tho Floating market

© John Karmouche

HoiAnRiverW

Hoi An Woman waiting to take someone back across the river.

© John Karmouche

HoiAnRiverZ

Hoi An Ferry terminal. using my fish eye lens. I doubt this boy knew that he was in frame.... © John Karmouche

HoiAnA

Hoi an Boats at anchor

© John Karmouche

HoiAnRiverY

Hoi an Ferry terminal

© John Karmouche

HoiAnCyclo

HoiAnHouseEntrance

Hoi An

Hoi An

It was very dark when I took thiss shot in one of the back street of Hoi An.

House entrance

© John Karmouche

© John Karmouche

HoiAnRiverZK

Hoi An Looking across river from Old Town

© John Karmouche

HoiAnRiverZL

Hoi An As above slightly different angle

© John Karmouche

HoiAn

Hoi An Boats with eyes......

© John Karmouche

HoiAnRiverZI

Hoi An Fishing boat in river

© John Karmouche

HoiAnRiverZM

Hoi An Contrast in size...

© John Karmouche

HoiAnT

Hoi An While sitting in a restaurant, we watched this man make an offering. Here he can be seen setting up before praying. © John Karmouche

HoiAnBoatAA

Hoi An Sequence starts

© John Karmouche

HoiAnBoatBB

Hoi An Ferry approaches

© John Karmouche

HoiAnBoatCC

Hoi An The perfect moment - Man rowing past ferry

© John Karmouche

HoiAnBoatDD

Hoi An Flowers on the bow of a tourist boat

© John Karmouche

CanthoGG

Can Tho Floating market Mekong Delta

© John Karmouche

HoiAnMarketD

Hoi An Market Ducks patiently wait to be sold.

© John Karmouche

HoiAnMarketH

Hoi An Market - early morning

© John Karmouche

HoiAnMarketI

Hoi An Market - early morning.

© John Karmouche

HoiAnAJ

HoiAnAG

Old man in boat Hoi An

Hoi An

This old man touts for tourist trade.

Fishing boats at anchor

© John Karmouche

© John Karmouche

HoiAnFerry

Hoi An Ferry There is a continual flow of mevement as people come up from the south. As one ferry drops off it load another wait to slip in behind it. © John Karmouche

HanoiSnakeWineB

hanoi Snake wine. tastes just like it looks - lethal!

© John Karmouche

HanoiOperaHouse

Hanoi Opera House Seen here from our room in the Hilton Hotel.

© John Karmouche

HanoiR

Hanoi Shop front scene

© John Karmouche

HanoiS

Hanoi Water puppet shop

© John Karmouche

HanoiI

HanoiM

Hanoi

Hanoi

Motorcycles are used for everything. there are really two people seated on this bike....

That's a whole family on that scooter

© John Karmouche

© John Karmouche

HoiAnVinhHungResortF

Vinh Hung Resort Hoi An Lookingtowards the hotel restaurant.

© John Karmouche

HoiAnVinhHungResortG

HouAnVinhHungResortH

Vinh Hung Resort

Vinh Hung Resort

taken with my fish-ey, my lens is almost touching this flower!

Reataurant entrance

© John Karmouche

© John Karmouche

HoiAnRiverB

Early morning Hoi an Dawn river scene.

© John Karmouche

HoiAnRiverC

Early morning Hoi An It looks quite, but there were still people about as I took this photo.... © John Karmouche

HoiAnRiver

Early morning Hoi An I took this photo and the ones opposite as the sun rose over Hoi An. It was about 6.30am I think..... © John Karmouche

HoiAnAI

Scooter in Hoi An Old quarter - Australia's reputation?

© John Karmouche

HoiAnG

Boy with bicycle Near the Hoi An market this boy posed for me as I photographed this corner scene. He is standing but inches away from my fish-ey lens. © John Karmouche

Hanoi

Hanoi Street side vendors wait for business Hanoi.

© John Karmouche

HanoiH

Hanoi Model toy boats Sjop front scene.

© John Karmouche

HaGiangN

Ha Giang Fabric shop in Ha Giang

© John Karmouche

HoiAnAB

Man in window - Hoi An This man was calling out to his young child who was cradled it mothers arms in the street below.. Typical of the architecture found in the old town. © John Karmouche

HoiAnAH

Hoi An Restaurant overlooking the river in the old town

© John Karmouche

HoiAnBoatHH

HoiAnAK

Hoi An

Hoi An

We took a boat tour out of Hoi An. This is a typical beachfront scene east of Hoi An about 5 kms from town.

Fishing boats moored in river

© John Karmouche

© John Karmouche

HoiAnFloristAA

Hoi an florist In the old town near the market

© John Karmouche

HanoibyCycloA

Cylo driver Hanoi We picked up two cyclos outside the Hanoi Opera House (in background) and tood a tour around Hanoi wuth these two men. © John Karmouche

HanoibyCycloE

Cyclo driver Waiting for business in Hanoi

© John Karmouche

HaGiangL

Ha Giang This is a typical house in the Ha Giang town area.

© John Karmouche

HoiAnE

Hoi an Riverfront scene. Typical structure found in Hoi An.

© John Karmouche

HanoibyCycloT

Hanoi I took this with my fish-eye lens seated in a cyclo.

© John Karmouche

TanTraoE

Schooll children These children were on school bus trip. We were a curiosity.

© John Karmouche

TanTraoD

Gate at Tran Tao Tran toa has a lot of historicla significance because it is where Ho Chi Minh went to paln his atrategy to defeat the French at Dien Bien Phu. © John Karmouche

HaGiangHillsE

Mountains 20 km out of Ha Giang The photo and the one opposite give you some idea of the switchback nature of the roads in this area. Its a long way down to the valley below! © John Karmouche

YenMinhC

Yen Minh Fish-eye view of Yen Minh - its another 5 kms down to the village. © John Karmouche

HaGiangHillsG

© John Karmouche

DongVanR

Boy with cows Just out of Dong Van we were stopped when a couple of children meandered past with these cattle. I am almost standing over this boy using my fish-eye lens to capture him. © John Karmouche

DongVanO

Looking back twards Dong Van Five kilometers out of town and already we are high in the hills.

© John Karmouche

YenMinhRiceFieldsA

Planting Rice Outside Yen Minh.

© John Karmouche

RiceFieldsnearHaGiangC

Hill side village As we rode up into the hills, small farming villages appear. This one took my eye as it shows how rugged the terrainis around here. © John Karmouche

RiceFieldsnearHaGiangB

© John Karmouche

ManwithCowsPhoCau

Man with cow I spotted this man walking up the hill towards us as we stooped for some running repairs on our bikes. The valley behind him is bigger than it looks. © John Karmouche

NearMeoVacI

Near Meo Vav The locals walk for miles to get to the market. I spotted this man resting as he negotiated the terrain. © John Karmouche

HmongVillageHaGiang

Bicycle and hemp mat. The local white mong tribe have been funded by a NGO to weave hemp products. © John Karmouche

YenMinhRiceFields

Yen Minh Rice fields as seen from the road leadind down to Yen Minh.

© John Karmouche

DongVanJ

Dong Van The woman cooking poached duck eggs wrapped in sort of rice paste wrap. Eaten with soup for breakfast - delicious! © John Karmouche

HoiAnRiverI

Hoi An Early morning

© John Karmouche

HoiAnRiverJ

HoiAnRiverM

Hoi An

Hoi An

© John Karmouche

© John Karmouche

HoiAnShopC

Hoi An Night time lane tourist shops in the Old Town

© John Karmouche

HoiAnMarketQ

CanthoMekongRiceMillCC

Hoi An

Can Tho

Market scene

Mekong Delta rice husking factory

© John Karmouche

© John Karmouche

Contact John Karmouche HD Chauffeur Ride Pty Ltd PO Box 1106 BLACKBURN NORTH VIC 3130 Australia www.harleyrides.com.au [email protected] Telephone + 61 3 9877 3004 No image in this publication may be reproduced without the express permission of John Karmouche.

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Vietnam Portfolio John Karmouche