I snuck out of the hotel at 6:30
a.m. armed with only my cameras. The morning was already hot and humid. I
walked a short distance and and took photos of a family having
breakfast by the road.
A woman passed me on a
bike. She seemed surprised to see me out there.
I passed farmers working in the
field.
I entered a hamlet. The people were very friendly.
Children enjoyed posing
for the camera.
Over an hour
later I returned to my hotel. My Vietnamese guide and translator was
waiting for me, upset
because I had left the hotel without an escort. I promised to
behave and not do it again. (This was in May 1989, before the end of the Cold
War, and years before the normalization of diplomatic relations between
Vietnam and the U.S.)