Vietnam 1993

In early 1993, I traveled the length of Vietnam, from Hanoi to Saigon when the country was teetering on the cusp of change. This opening up of the country had started in the late 1980s and was known as Đổi Mới but up until now had moved at a slow pace. Now it looked as if it would accelerate and I wanted to see the country before it modernised.



This is no grand journey in the tradition of Maugham or Conrad, rather it is a gentle look at the people and their way of life that had not changed for decades if not centuries. However unlike the tourist, I was given access to Vietnam that perhaps others could not see.



Mostly this is a book about the people. It is not a rehash of the Vietnam War but instead tries to illuminate the outsider or visitor to what the country was like then but has now changed beyond recognition. 



I hope the reader will share the joy that I found at each delightful engagement and above all linger over the photographs.