BROKEN

People shout, curse, barter, laugh, whine, edging words into the traffic, hustling for money. The buildings press narrow, ten feet wide, and stretch thrice as long, every other one a storefront, open for business, sellling, selling, selling anything, everything.

It isn't just something you see. It's what you feel, an echo in the blood that courses through you. It's a collage, a vanishing flavour, a poison, a metallic tinge, a barbarous joy, strange impressions unconvictable in the usual conventions.

Photos of Hanoi and surrounds, 2nd photo of the Hmong people of northern Vietnam at their tribal markets. More photos coming.

Text taken from Catfish and Mandala: A Two Wheeled Voyage Through the Landcape and Memory of Vietnam by Andrew X. Pham- an excellent book that I'd highly recommend.