Hello everyone! I wanted to give a little heads up for my friends in Germany. Remi and I have a story in the current issue of Terra Magazine that will be on news stands through September. Covering a gorgeous twelve page spread, it concerns the phoenix-like renovation former Imperial City of Huê in Vietnam.
As I mentioned recently, we had a fantastic time covering our voyage up the Mekong River for Grands Reportages Magazine (I believe I need to make a “Past Adventures” post about it!). We stayed in the region after the cruise ended and with our own funds produced the story on Huê, which originally appeared in France for Figaro Magazine. Our time there was precious. For despite having been heavily bombed during the Tet Offensive in 1968, the monuments retained an innate grace even before UNESCO’s renovation had returned them to their former state of beauty. It was equally interesting to be in a former Imperial City at a time when the population was beginning to embrace the traditions of the past.
The ambiance was nothing short of magical. Here is the final paragraph of my article:
“A stream of images swirls past us as we zoom through the city’s streets on the back of a motorcycle. An elderly woman addicted to chewing betel nut flashes us a frightening black-toothed grin. A string of shops sell nylon wedding gowns as puffy as wearable marshmallows amidst internet cafés where every seat is fought over at lunchtime. Steam pours out of portable stands selling pho, the frothy noodle soup. A gentleman dressed in pyjamas proudly offers two perfect eggs for sale by candlelight at the night market. And always, there is a sense of time as moving both backwards and forwards with the flow of the traffic as it shifts for position. Perhaps it has taken over 30 years to arrive at this moment. For in Huê, the past is not a ‘Lost Time’ after all, but part of a present that is still evolving, zooming forward like the students on their bicycles into the future.”
©Heather Robinson
To see more of Remi’s lovely photographs on Huê: www.remibenali.com
Congratulations! What a perfect team you are.
~ Clare x
Helen–sending out a virtual hug to you! Merci, merci, merci!!!
Thanks so much for your kind words, Leslie, they really are much appreciated…
Hello Heather
Congratultions to both of you on this story of Vietnam. Your writing Heather and Remi's images flow in harmony. You are a perfect match. Your writing transported me to the back seat of a motorcycle and I felt the rhythm of the city in your poetic words.
Thank you for the link to Remi's web site, I shall be returning to view his masterpieces.
Thanks for sharing and have a glorious weekend.
Helenxx
Hey Heather…just to clarify?…..I put on regular shorts and a t-shirt before chasing-down the dogs. As any number of magazines have mentioned, this tiny town is chock-a-block with famous, southern writers, and I don't intend to be providing any of them with free-fodder for their "Way-ull, thass juss' the way We-all are Down Heah!" tales.
—–david
Heather,
Congratulations on your contribution to this magazine! What an interesting topic and the photographs are beautiful. Your writing is exceptional Heather.. wow!
What an amazing experience to travel to this part of the world.
Enjoy your weekend.
leslie
Thank you my gorgeous friend!
Well, the ladies can't quite have the same point of view on that one Uncle David but if there was a pool involved, I could appreciate the possibility of diving in au naturel. And two acres…what I wouldn't give for even the tiniest corner. We really underestimated–or at least I did–how very, very much I would miss having a terrace, any outdoor space.
And to hop back to your former comment, I really did make this post for my readers in Germany–they don't leave comments but I happen to know that they exist!
Wishing you a lovely Saturday. It is too hot to do much here besides read–which is just fine by me!
Hey Heather…none of the neighbors can, actually , see us. All of the thirty-five or so,at most, genuinely historic houses are arranged around a six street grid laid out in 1745…and the properties are all at least two acres (I still haven't figured out which house owns the acre-wide "common" backing out onto our property….LONG-since filled with old boxwoods, trees, various abondoned gardens from the 1880's or the 1920's…and southern shrubs. All in all, it take a bit of work to find your neighbors, much less see them.
In any case, we DO have plenty of "privacy"…..thereby observing my Tennessee father's dictum that "There's ust no point in paying taxes on a place if you can't piss in the yard without worrying about some neighbor's seeing you and calling the police……"
He's right, by the way.
Advisedly as ever,
Your Country Uncle David
Hillsborough, NC, USA
Oh my, how I love to imagine the sight. And wonder what the neighbors thought as you chased the random two dogs down in your housecoats. My goodness.
I will be stalking that cookbook shortly.
Oops, must run, more soon!