Vietnam

Vietnam - Page Text Content

S: Vietnam March 2012

FC: Vietnam March 2012 Photographs by Paul A Gitman

1: Sunset near Chau Doc, Vietnam

2: Ferry near Chau Doc | Chau Doc

3: Floating Market, Chau Doc

5: Market, Chau Doc

7: Chau Doc

8: An Hung Village, pepper growers

9: Monkey Bridge, An Hung Village

10: Temple and villager who met with us on Binh Thanh Island | Harvesting water vegetation near Binh Thanh Island

11: Mat weaving and young weavers, Binh Thanh Island

12: Mat weaving, Binh Thanh Island

13: School on Binh Thanh Island | Binh Thanh Island

14: Sunset on the Mekong

15: Cai Be floating market

16: Drinking snake wine in Phu An

17: Cooking rice paper, Phu An | Sand dredging on the Mekong | Typical boat with eyes

18: Sunrise, My Tho, end of the cruise on the Mekong

19: Snack time in My Tho

20: Vinh Trang Pagoda Vinh Trang Pagoda is the greatest pagoda of Tien Giang Province and was built in 1849

21: Vinh Trang Pagoda with laughing Buddha, My Tho

22: Opera house, Saigon | Statue near Opera house, Saigon

23: Statue near the market, Saigon | City Hall, Saigon

24: Post Office, Saigon

25: Museum, Saigon | Statue near City Hall | Hall of Justice, Saigon

26: Cathedral of Saigon | Skyscraper with helicopter landing site attached

27: Photographs prior to marriage

28: Reunification Palace with tank on display on its grounds | War Remnants Museum

29: View of Saigon from skyscraper | Saigon

30: Rex Hotel where correspondents met on the rooftop bar during the Vietnam War

31: Saigon

32: Sunset over City Hall, Saigon | Just relaxing

34: Vegetable growers in village on the road to Hoi An | Family burial in local village on the road to Hoi An

35: Hoi An, World Heritage site. With a close proximity to the South China Sea, Hoi An was an important trading port for Chinese, Dutch, Indian, and Japanese merchants up until the 17th century

36: Chinese Bridge, constructed in the 1600s, The bridge was originally constructed to connect the Japanese community with the Chinese quarter - separated by a small stream of water - as a symbolic gesture of peace.

38: Market, Hoi An

39: Hoi An

40: Sunrise, Hoi An

42: Fishing, Hoi An

43: Hoi An

45: Bridge in Hoi An

46: Fujian Assembly Hall, (Phuoc Kien Assembly Hall) Founded in 1690 it served the largest Chinese ethnic group in Hoi An (the Fujian). It contains the Jinshang golden mountain temple and is dedicated to Thien Hau, the goddess of the sea and protector of the sailors.

47: Fujian Assembly Hall

48: Fujian Assembly Hall

49: Hy Hoa Temple

50: Chinese Assembly Hall Founded in 1773, was used by all Chinese minority groups in Hoi An, namely the following: Fujian, Cantonese, Hainanese, Chaozhou, and Hakka. | Cantonese Assembly Hall (Quang Trieu) Established 1885. The Chinese Cantonese merchants built this hall. The different parts of the building are separately made in China. After finishing the work, those parts were transferred to Hoi An and joined together

51: Cantonese Assembly Hall

52: Cantonese Assembly Hall

53: Hai Nam (Hainan) Assembly Hall Built in 1851, this assembly hall is a memorial to 108 merchants from Hainan Island who were mistaken for pirates and killed in Quang Nam province in 1851.

54: Hoa Van Le Nghia Temple | Gate to Minh Huong Communal Hall which is dedicated to the founders of Minh Huong Village. "Minh Huong" stands for the Chinese who fled from China during the Qin Dynasty, and were granted political asylum in Vietnam by the Nguyen Lords.

55: Cam Pho Temple

56: Memorial to Polish architect Kazimierz Kwiatkowsky who contributed to the preservation and restoration of the ancient town of Hoi An | Trieu Chau Assembly Hall Was built in 1845 in honor of General Phuc Ba, a god with the power to calm the sea

57: China Beach, Da Nang

58: China Beach, Da Nang

59: Helicopter field, Da Nang | Port in Da Nang where US marines landed

60: Fishing village near Lang Co on road to Hue | Pagoda, Marble mountains near Da Nang

61: Overlooking Hoa Van Village on the road to Hue

62: Entrance Gate to Mausoleum of Emperor Minh Mang Minh Mang,the second emperor of the Nguyn Dynasty of Vietnam, reigned 1820 to 1841. He was a younger son of Emperor Gia Long and was well known for his opposition to French involvement in Vietnam and his rigid Confucian orthodoxy. | In September 1840, the construction of the tomb began. In January 1841, while the work was implemented Minh Mang passed away. Emperor Thieu Tri, his son and successor to the throne, continued this task according to his father’s plans. The construction was fully completed in 1843.

63: Entrance court, Mausoleum of Emperor Minh Mang

65: Mausoleum of Emperor Minh Mang

66: Mausoleum of Emperor Minh Mang. Remains are behind the curved walls and are not open

67: Khai Dinh Royal Tomb Emperor Khai Dinh, ruled 1916-1925. The construction of the tomb was started on 1920 and lasted for 11 years. The structure of the tomb is of concrete elements with cement, a mixture of Vietnamese and Western concepts. At the entrance, one should climb a 37 steps gate with dragons as side walls.

68: Going up one more level one reaches the altar area and the the Khai Thanh Palace. The rear room of the palace hosts the main temple, with a statue of Khai Dinh, his grave and his altar | Some 30 steps further one arrives at the Imperial audience court, with an octagonal steel monument, again made of reinforced concrete. On both sides of the courtyard, there are two rows of statues facing towards the center, together with other statues representing bodyguard soldiers. These statues are made of stone, not in concrete, which is rare in Khai Dinh Tomb. e

69: Sunrise, Hue

70: Sunrise, Hue

71: Entrance to the Imperial Palace, Hue

72: Imperial Palace, Hue

73: Imperial Palace, Hue

74: Theater, Imperial Palace

75: Imperial Palace | Imperial Palace, residential area

76: Imperial Palace

77: Imperial Palace

78: Imperial Palace

79: Imperial Palace

80: Imperial Palace, details from entrance arch

81: Imperial Palace

82: School trip to see the Imperial City

83: The Thien Mu Pagoda has its roots in a local legend: an old woman once appeared on the hill and said that a Lord would come and build a Buddhist pagoda for the country's prosperity. Hearing of this, Lord Nguyen Hoang ordered the construction of the pagoda of the "Heavenly Lady" (Thien Mu). Construction began in 1601 under Lord Nguyen Hoang

84: Car use by monk who set himself on fire. Thien Mu Pagoda

85: Burial ground outside of Thien Mu Pagoda

86: Bala Mat Pagoda, Hue

87: Buddhas with various characteristics, Bala Mat Pagoda

88: the bridge has survived storms, floods and wars however after it was damaged, the villagers always contributed to repair, renovate and preserve it | Covered bridge of Thanh Toan | There were 12 family heads who settled down to be the 12 initial families of the village. One niece of the sixth generation of the Tran family - Mrs Tran Thi Dao - the wife of a high ranking Mandarin, offered the funds to the village to build a wooden bridge so that the villagers on both sides of the canal could transport conveniently

89: Family temples near Thanh Toan | Woman explaining how rice was cultivated. spoke no English, Thanh Toan

90: One of the biggest pagodas in Hue it was founded at the end of the 17th century by Minh Hoang Tu Dung, who belonged to the Lam Te school of Zen. He gave the certification to monk Lieu Quan, the Buddhist initiator of Vietnam in the South. | Tu Dam Pagoda

91: Temple, Hue

92: In 1912, Phan already founded the association for the unification of Vietnam. Country wide demonstrations by the people prohibited the enforcement of the death penalty imposed by the French. His life-long house-arrest was spent in Hue. | The memorial site of Phan Boi Chau the mentor for Ho Chi Minh

93: Railway Station | Town Hall, Hue

94: Park, Hue

95: Park, Hue | Washing in the River, Hue

96: Sunrise Hue

97: Vegetable carving at restaurant, Hue

98: Water Puppetry, Dao Duc Village outside Hanoi

99: Dao Duc Village outside Hanoi

100: Rice paddies, Dao Duc Village

101: Traffic in Hanoi, rules are considered suggestions

102: Gates to temple, Hanoi

103: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

104: Housing complex for Ho Chi Minh | Presidential Palace | One Pillar Pagoda The Pagoda was destroyed during the French War and rebuilt in 1955. It was originally constructed by Emperor Ly Thai Tong to commemorate the long awaited birth of an heir. He believed that the luck had been foretold in a dream about the Goddess of Mercy handing him a male child on a lotus flower. He then built the original small wooden pagoda to resemble a lotus blossom to pay tribute to his good fortune.

105: Temple of Literature, Hanoi

106: Temple of Literature, Hanoi

107: Headquarters of the Communist Party | Flag Tower

108: True Beach Lake, Hanoi

109: Happy House Restaurant, True Beach Lake

110: Quan Thanh Temple (11th century), True Beach Lake

111: Hanoi traffic

112: Hanoi | Stock Exchange, Hanoi | Opera, Hanoi

113: Rice paddies and vegetable gardens on the road to Halong Bay

114: Typical home built narrow and tall with a commercial enterprise on ground floor | Plantings with burial sitting in its midst

115: Stone carving factory on the road to Halong Bay

116: Halong Bay

117: Selling shells, Halong Bay

118: Halong Bay

119: Floating Village, Halong Bay

121: Halong Bay