More Mỹ Sơn

Another image from the ruins of Mỹ Sơn in Central Vietnam (see Mỹ Sơn). The brickwork and statuary is so beautiful, and it had lasted 500 - 600 years and survived several dynasty changes – and then some fighter planes dropped bombs on it. Our planes. Wonder if the pilots aimed for the temples? Or even knew what was down there? Sigh.

Stopping for Gas

Image is from a gas station in Central Vietnam. Just a thought, but maybe you want to put gas in the truck before you load the logs. Off tomorrow to Oaxaca, Mexico to give a tree-banding workshop with my dear friends, Drs. Silvia Purata (see Alebrijes and Reading the Bands) and Patricia Gerez-Fernandez (see Pine Nuts).

Old Plates

Having a cracker for breakfast while you wait to see if anyone will stop and buy any of the old (antique?) plates that you have lined up along the sidewalk. He was a really nice, smiley man. I didn't buy a plate. [NOTE: I am in Hue to do a training workshop for the WWF rattan team].

Finally, It's A Book

My book on the rattans of the Greater Mekong Region is finally out (see Almost A Book). Lot of good stuff here. The book contains: 1) an illustrated field guide to 65 rattan species (by the incomparable palm systematist, Andrew Henderson), 2) inventory and growth data from wild rattan populations in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, 3) a conservation assessment of rattan species, and 4) a relatively simple, participatory protocol for managing wild rattan populations on a sustained-yield basis.  Will be available in English, Khmer, Lao, and Vietnamese.

The book is being printed by the Agricultural Publishing House in Hanoi, and the official book launch is in Phnom Penh on February 13. I leave for Southeast Asia - for fieldwork and to give a talk at the book launch - the day after tomorrow. 

Sầm Sơn Still Life

Shot in the fish market at Sầm Sơn in north central Vietnam (see Sam Son). The market is right on the beach, and fishermen pull up their boats side by side and sell whatever they caught. Agressively. Although the image doesn't really capture it, the ambience here is one of pure commercial frenzy. [NOTE: Freezing in NY this morning and I am ready to go back to Thanh Hoa province. Time for another project]. 

Front Steps

These are what you have to climb up to get into a Tay stilt house in northern Vietnam. I had problems climbing up in full daylight. Can't imagine what it's like to come down in the dark, e.g. if you need to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. [NOTE: House and steps photographed on the grounds of the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi (see Museé d'Ethnographie du Vietnam)].

Hats

One of the hat stalls in the Central Market of Hue, Vietnam (see Hue Market and Commerce). So hard to choose.

Incense for Tu Duc

Incense offering in front of the tomb of Emperor Tu Duc, the fourth ruler of the Nguyen Dynasty from 1848 to 1883. His tomb/summer palace is located a few miles outside of the city of Hue, Vietnam. I was struck by the thought of contempory Vietnamese offerring incense (and money) to the spirit of this gentle, yet oppressive ruler who signed away much of Vietnam to France. [NOTE: Tu Duc is frequently regarded as the last Emperor of Vietnam].

Signage

This sign on a 210 year-old wall at the Imperial City (see Imperial City) in Hue, Vietnam.  What a beautiful, graffiti-free, place. [NOTE: Beautiful - and scorching hot in the mid-morning sun. Too bright for photos in most places].

More Mỹ Sơn

One more image from the ancient Hindu ruins at Mỹ Sơn in Central Vietnam (see Mỹ Sơn).  It seems I always visit these beautiful ruin complexes in the drizzling rain. The forests are greener, the stones are redder, my feet are wetter.