“Also, being a photographer gives you a license to steal experiences that you ordinarily wouldn’t have. You enter into other people’s worlds who are usually very highly specialized, very rare.” ~ Jay Maisel I love …
Hill Tribes of Sapa
Motorbiking the Ho Chi Minh Trail
The Ho Chi Minh Trail follows the infamous supply route created by the North Vietnamese guerrillas during the Vietnam War. We began our motorbike journey from Hanoi (left), headed toward the south to Ho Chi …
March 14, 2013
Riding the Reunification rail
I’ve always loved riding trains: Pacific Surfliner, Starlight Express, Eurail, etc. The sound of the train whistle never fails to spark my wanderlust, and I find the combination of comfort and adventure when riding the …
April 29, 2013
Cuc Phuong, Vietnam: a typhoon experience
It was October 27th, 2012, and the sun was shining down on North Vietnam. My friends and I had planned a motorbike trip to the national park of Cuc Phuong, some 120 kilometers south. Due …
November 17, 2013
A lesson in Vietnamese road culture
How I ended up in Hai Phong, Vietnam, with 10 other teachers is somewhat of a mystery. Being the only tays (meaning “Westerner” in Vietnamese), we were pseudo-celebrities in this small town. It was not …
December 22, 2013
Halong Bay’s Emerald City
After an hour of downhill and uphill hiking immersed in semi-darkness, we finally emerge out of the bowels of Sung Sot Grotto, or Surprise Cave, into the sunlight, greeted by a sensational surprise: an eye-popping …
Huế down yonder in Vietnam
Stretching before me is an archaeological site straight out of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. But this is no studio set; Y Khiêm Viện and Trì Khiêm Viện are the real McCoy. The …
Memorializing the Vietnam War
Camp without Joy Vietnamese have been brought to Camp Pendleton. The Camp Pendleton that sent Marines to Danang in the first place, just 10 years ago. With little imagination, you could think it's sort of …
May 30, 2016
Vietnam veterans honored in Logan Heights
Fifty years ago, many American servicemen who fought in Vietnam returned home to a country of discontent; some were spat at, others tormented, and many advised not to wear their uniforms in public. Unlike World …
May 3, 2016
Vietnam War, remembered
Morale Seemed So High Mark said he’d had some bitter experiences with black sailors on the ship. When a group of recruits came on board, he lined them up to get some paperwork information. “Hey, …
May 29, 2017