In this picture you can see a couple ladies who were sitting behind us have some coffee and cigarettes. They were watching us, talking to us a little bit too. I just love these two ladies for the styles they represent. The one in the foreground who is smoking is wearing her pajamas which a lot of Vietnamese women do because of the heat; it’s comfortable wearing loose clothing that breathes. The woman in the background is really pretty and is really elegant, looking classy. Both came to the same cafe to sit and people watch. I snuck this picture of them by putting the camera on the table and turning off all sounds and flash. They had no idea I took this picture…

Hal: When I hear the word, “village,” I generally think of a small community of houses built in a rural locale, surrounded by farms and all the trappings of a pastoral life. And when I hear the phrase, “silk-weaving village,” I imagine a tiny hamlet wherein old women tend to small wooden looms, following local traditions handed down for generations. So these were the images I had in mind when a friend suggested we visit Van Phuc, a local Vietnamese silk-weaving “village,” and center of Vietnamese sericulture for nearly two thousand years…

See how people in Vietnam work high and outside a building with a safety harness

Most visitors have a love-hate relationship with the traffic in Vietnam. They hate it for being messy, scary and is even perceived as dangerous. But most, if not all, will tell you that crossing the Vietnam streets is one of the best experiences during their Vietnam travel…

The last leg of my Central Highlands Road trip took me from Kon Tum to Quang Ngai. Quang Ngai is East of Kon Tum. Half of the province is mountainous and inhabited by hill tribes like the H’re, Bahnar, Koor and others…

I considered staying the night in Plei Ku, but folks there confirmed that local police will not allow foreigners to go anywhere in the province of Gia Lai except the highway and the city itself, without a licensed government tour guide. So, I continued on to Kontum, where I was allowed to travel with more, though not complete freedom…

Dak Lak Province is north of Lam Dong. It was once Vietnam’s largest province, but was split in half a number of years ago to create Dak Nong province to the south. The capital, Buon Mat Thuat is famous for coffee and one of the world’s top growers of the beans. The province is politically volatile, and the government only allows foreigners to visit a limited number or locations…

Below are the highlights from my 2-week solo motorbike road trip from Phan Thiet to Dalat to Lak Lake, to Buon Ma Thuat, with a diversion to Yuk Don National Park, then on to Plei Ku, Kon Tum, and east to Quang Ngai, then finally a train ride to Phan Thiet.

I’m told I drove nearly 1000km (620 miles), and traveled through 6 provinces (Binh Thuan, Lam Dong, Dak Lak, Gia Lai, Kon Tum and Quang Ngai), and the territories of 9 different ethnic minorities (Cham, Rag Lai, K’ho, Ede, Ja Rai, M’Nong, Bahnar, Sedang and H’Re, not to mention the dominant Kinh or ethnic Vietnamese). This doesn’t include the ride back by train…

This is a very brief breakdown of Vietnam history…

Vietnam720: Julian from Julian Abram Photography Blog returned from an annual Buffalo Fighting Festival in northern Vietnam. He shares his 2 slideshow of images with us. This is part 2. Part 1 is HERE.