12/03/2026
Vietnam photos, round two. Same thoughts, different images. It seems like some people actually do read my ramblings, madness.
Thoughts.
I don’t normally write this kind of thing, and no one will read it anyway, but here goes. I recently spent a month travelling in Vietnam, with two awesome traveling companions, ( ) and some local guides. (.nano_ .doug.art )
Before anything, I'd like to say the country is stunning, and the people are some of the warmest and most welcoming I've ever met.
…but don’t believe the social media posts (they lie!), although, I’m about to add to that problem with my own curated and edited images.
Vietnam feels like a country in the middle of massive change. It is modernising, quickly… What stood out to me were the contrasts. In the north, the landscape felt wild, if not quite untouched, with people still working the land by hand, farming rice fields in ways that must look much the same as they did generations ago, but an hour or two down the road are cities that feel very modern and cosmopolitan.
And then there’s the traffic, which seems less like a system and more like a collective act of telepathic faith. Somehow it works, though it looks like absolute madness. Riding through it at rush hour is an almost spiritual experience. (Thanks for that experience Doug!)
Not forgetting Hanoi’s air pollution that almost feels like it has a personality of its own.
What also struck me though, were some of the environmental contradictions. In the north we saw the damage to reefs that once supported vibrant marine life. On Cat Ba, and in other places, there is a lot of land reclamation and development, massive construction projects, hotels and resorts rising out of what used to be meandering coastlines. It makes you wonder whether, in the rush to modernise and attract visitors, some of the country risks losing the very things people come to see.
Vietnam is beautiful, energetic, and like most places, complicated and changing fast. Overall, it's good fun.
And the coffee, Can’t forget the coffee!