Persongalleriet #708: Hanoi, Thursday

March 9th, 2017.
Today I took a walk along the narrow train tracks that go through central Hanoi. I've seen the photos how people live right on the tracks and wanted to see with my own eyes.

After about a kilometer, I left the tracks and got into the northern part of the Old Town.

Got this super yummy lunch from one of those portable mini kitchens n an alley. If I had the power to give out Michelin stars I would have! Amazing taste and freshness! And it only cost about 1 euro...

After lunch I happened onto Chợ Đồng Xuân market, the largest indoor market in Hanoi.

Chess game at the market.

I reconnected with the railroad at Ga Long Bien bridge, which spans the Red River.

The bridge has a bike lane in each direction as well.

A small arm or maybe backwater of the river.

Street Barber.

Walked back to the hotel and a much needed rest after a five and half hour walk.

Be well, everybody!

Niklas

Persongalleriet #707: Hanoi, Wednesday

March 8th, 2017.
Woke early and got myself out on the streets by 8. Just to walk somewhere else I took a route past the park with the Lenin statue, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the sight nearest my hotel, The Temple of Literature (which looked nice, I might visit it later). Sorry, no tourist pics from these attractions this time...  ;-) I did get to do high 5's with an entire class of 10-year-olds at the Mausoleum!

Sanitation, RGB style!

Mainly the R and B parts in this one...

Back at the hotel by 10 for a mid-morning tea and snack. And a nap...  :D

Got out again at 12:30 and walked some new (for me of course) alleys near the hotel, just west of the main train station.

Found these guys playing their chess. The guy on the left spoke very good English and surprised me by knowing where Umeå is. He had even passed through on a trip to Sweden!

I got hungry and started looking for something to eat. I found this little place where the guy offered to make me my first Vietnamese kebab! He said since I was such a special customer, he wanted to take a photo of us together. His buddy held the phone and of course i asked for them to take a shot with my camera also.

That's my kebab he's hold and yeah, it was super delicious! Different than a "Swedish" kebab, more like Gyros with cilantro...  :-)

While waiting for the sandwich to be prepared an elephant walked by:

And this scene made me stand up and cross the street:

Three chicken.

The afternoon walk was cut short by massive rains. I jumped into a cab and holed up for the rest of the day.

Be well, everybody!

Niklas

Persongalleriet #706: Hanoi, Tuesday

March 7th, 2017.
Hanoi has been very grey with heavily overcast skies so far. The only opportunity for more dramatic light has been the electric light in the evenings. On this my second day in Hanoi I did a long morning walk in the Old Town and an evening one in the alleys and streets in the vicinity of my hotel.

Be well, everybody!

/Niklas

Persongalleriet #705: Hong Kong - Hanoi

March 6th, 2017.
A morning photo walk in Hong Kong and in the evening another one  in Hanoi.
It's not the first time I've shot street in two countries on the same day. I can recall Copenhagen+Malmö last summer, though I only shot a few pictures in Malmö that time.

Although it was only a short flight between the two cities (1h20m), they are very different. Hong Kong vertical, Hanoi horisontal. HK has a very modern feel to it, while Hanoi feels ancient in some way. Just two things that come to mind.

At the point of writing this blog post, I've been here in Hanoi for just under 24 hours. What I can say so far is just: WOW! My hotel lies smack dab in the middle of market alleys teeming with life. Soo, soo perfect for the streetie! If I only moved two blocks in each direction for the entire stay, I still would have all the subjects I could dream of. And all the delicious street food I would need!  :-)

600 grams of chicken.

My first meal in Hanoi: Noodle soup with tomatoes and other vegetables and meat which turned out to be pig's tongue.

Everybody's snacking!  :-)

Be well, everybody!

Niklas

Persongalleriet #704: Hong Kong, Sunday

March 5th, 2017.
I thought I'd do some tourist stuff today. See The Peak and ride the Ferry. It turned out it wasn't maybe the best day for that, since it was quite hazy. I wouldn't call it foggy, but not optimal for getting up a mountain and admiring the view. But  I carried out my little plan anyway.

This is from when it cleared up a bit and also using a touch of that Lightroom haze remover.

Suddenly, this guy showed up:

Too bad I didn't have a big telephoto lens on, I had to make do with 50 mm which is how far my kit lens goes.

Coming down from the hill, I noticed this was some kind of special day. People, or rather women, were sitting in small groups, eating, playing board games and card games and whatnot. They used all kinds of spaces. In the park, right in the middle of a cordened off street and also underneath the HSBC bank headquarters skyscraper. These women hade made their own little room using cardboard:

The chatter I heard and the way these women looked wasn't quite Chinese. After a while I asked a woman what was going on and she said they were all Philipino women who had organized a ship going back home to the Phillipines with stuff packed up in suitcases or large cardboard boxes. Further on down the road I found this activity happening, very very intensely!

On the Star Ferry.

Be well, everybody!

Niklas