Eclectic photos expositions, projections and workshops…The Luang Prabang Biennale Image Festival brings together photographers from several different cultural traditions.

Among lots of very intersting works – I’ll have to do more posts about these – we really liked the work from French photographer Boris Zuliani, another Polaroid-maniac.

Zuliani travelled in the Ha Giang Region, North Vietnam, and captured faces of the locals he met along the road on 4×5 Polaroids prints, giving those back to the people through the magic process Polaroid instant film offers, sharing a part of his work along his path.

Sounds familiar?

More info on Zuliani’s work here: www.polanoir.com

It was so humid that the Polaroid camera was starting to encounter some serious difficulties. ‘Instant camera’ you said? Well, 15 seconds at least were now necessary to eject the Polaroid film…

Not that practical for a portrait, except maybe this awesome self-portrait: hmmmm, let’s see what’s wrong, nothing’s coming out? oh merde!

Thankfully, the camera sometimes managed to find some extra energy to pull out some pics.

We also managed to get some instructions in Vietnamese, so the stop at the local post office was a breeze (once I understood how to queue Vietnamese style: do not wait your turn in line, rather rush to the counter on the side and be the first to draw the attention of the post office lady).

There are few bridges crossing the Thu Bon river in Hoi An, so the river itself is still used as a major highway. No sexy italian gondolier here, as most rowers are toothless old ladies. Boat ride anyone?

At night time, Hoi An relies on the soft hues of colourful silk lanterns in all shapes and sizes to illuminate the darkness. We sat at a small cafe, sipping white wine (French white wine of course!), bathed in the peculiar warm glow. So romantic!

A few hours south of Hue, Hoi An was a delightful experience.

We wandered the picturesque cobbled streets, only stopping for a juice at the terrace of a small cafe with decrepit yellow walls and blue blinds.

A short Vespa ride and we were fighting the heat by taking a nap around the swimming pool.

Delicious smells of food and spices, bustling markets, singing birds, all of that is in Hoi An.

Sometimes, it almost felt we were in some Mediterranean village in the South of France.

“Dragon a 10 heures! Dragon!” Lagredin shouted at the crew of the “Avalanse” on a scorching day of the 1898 summer.

Since that day, the bay is called Halong Bay or the Bay of the Descending Dragon.

Magical dragon aside, there is definitively some mystery in Halong Bay.

We cruised the bay during 3 days, spending 1 night on a boat and 1 night on a small island near Cat Ba Island. Magic!

After visiting Saigon, we headed on to the Mekong delta, Vietnam’s rice basket, a wonderful landscape of green fields criss-crossed by brown canals. While most travellers visit the Mekong on an organised tour, we prefered to travel on our own.

The tickets for the local bus were a little difficult to get – with agencies trying to enroll all travellers on a tour – but we were well rewarded.

We spent a night with a family in a rustic homestay where we feasted on home-cooked fresh fish and we explored the lush rivulet on a small boat – just for us.

Wherever we went, we were greeted with smiles and a chorus of hellos.

If at first glance the Mekong appears to be a region of shiny, happy people, look deeper and you’ll soon discover that river faces great issues, from deforestation in Cambodia which results in catastrophic flooding, to pollution : although dumping all rubbish and sewage directly into the waterways is regarded as a normal pratice, millions people depend on the Mekong for their daily life – including cooking, washing up and bathing…

But the greatest threat may come from dams being built in China, despite international scientists’ warnings about disastrous consequences on the environment and fearing scenarios of mass famine and devastating floods in Cambodia.

The Mekong River Commission, a panel of the region’s nations, has accused China of blatantly disregarding the nations downstream in its plans to dam the river in an effort to stop the dams, but to no avail.

There you go again crying over the onions.

Joke aside, more info can be found here: http://www.mrcmekong.org

12►

In Vietnam, people do everything on a motorbike.

They commute on a motorbike, dads their kids to school on a motorbike, they produce and transport their products on a motorbike – and they even flirt on a motorbike. As one local explain to us: No motorbike, no girlfriend.

With 3 millions motorbikes for 7 millions inhabitants, the mass of 2-wheelers is so thick in Ho Chi Minh City that crossing the street is like moving through a swarm of honey bees. A short prayer might help.

If you thought 2 people was the maximum to fit on to one motorbike, think again!