I had the opportunity to go to Vietnam again last November for a client I had previously worked with. We spent two weeks shooting video footage in various places throughout the country. The trip took us to Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Hoi An as well as very briefly to Da Nang and Bangkok. Despite long hours every day, I managed to also shoot some film. Except for Da Nang, I had visited all these places in 2015 on a 7-week Southeast Asia trip with Seraina. They’re all very fascinating places, though, and I was happy to go back and see them from a different side: the large office spaces in skyscrapers, the hidden rooftop terraces, the great restaurants where the locals we worked with took us night after night.

From Saigon we went on to Da Lat, a small city in the Vietnamese Central Highlands. This place felt very laid-back and peaceful. It seemed to be popular amongst Vietnamese tourists but not very much so among international ones. All the kids greeted us on the streets (no, they weren’t stealing nor selling anything). We went hiking/walking with a nice guide and visited the Pongour Falls.
After a few days, we travelled on to Hoi An, a beautiful small city about half way between Ho Chi Minh and Hano

I was relieved when we finally arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon). We had survived the crazy Cambodian highways! Vietnamese traffic was crazy in a whole different way: all the streets, especially in the cities, were packed with motorbikes and scooters. I felt like in the nearby South China Sea where huge swarms of fish swim past you, only the fish were two-wheeled vehicles with men and women (often more than two) sitting on top.