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    Haiphong photoblog

    / Last updated 02 Sep 2011

    Introduction

    Haiphong may be Vietnam's third largest city and a major player in the country's history, but it doesn't see a whole lot of travellers. We spent 24 hours wandering the streets of the northern port city.
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • ©Photo: Mark Bowyer
    • Haiphong doesn't make it to the "Vietnam travel essentials" list but it's a perfectly pleasant place to spend a day enroute to Cat Ba Island - one access point to Halong Bay.
    • The country's third biggest city runs to a far less frantic rhythm than Saigon and Hanoi. It's the major port serving the north of Vietnam.
    • Haiphong's sights are modest but the streets are photogenic with friendly people who see few tourists. There's also some handsome old colonial architecture and street markets.
    • Haiphong
    • By the time you get to Haiphong, you'll probably have worked out the template for Vietnam's provincial museums - landmark colonial building, no visitors, little or no English captioning, some ancient artefacts, lots of images from the Revolution. Allow yourself 10 - 15 minutes.
    • There are usually some curious inclusions too - like these chairs, reportedly donated to Ho Chi Minh by Chairman Mao.
    • Haiphong played a big part in wars against the French and the US. US bombers devastated areas of the city and mined the harbour.
    • Preparing the for the National Day, September 2, Haiphong
    • Haiphong streets
    • Street market, Du Hang St, Haiphong
    • Street market, Du Hang St, Haiphong
    • Street market, Du Hang St, Haiphong
    • Street market, Du Hang St, Haiphong
    • Street market, Du Hang St, Haiphong
    • Street seller, Haiphong
    • Street market, Du Hang St, Haiphong
    • Du Hang Pagoda, Haiphong
    • Du Hang Pagoda, Haiphong
    • I was seeking out the former home of Duong Van Mai Elliott in Haiphong. Her father represented the French colonial administration here in the early 1950s when the empire was collapsing under the strain of Ho Chi Minh's forces. Elliott is the author of the highly recommended "Sacred Willow". I'm guessing this is her former residence.
    • The French colonial Opera House.
    • French era architecture, Haiphong
    • Even provincial Haiphong has not been spared the kind of architectural disasters that have ruined Ho Chi Minh City
    • The French liked their bank buildings in heavy stone throughout Indochina - and so it was in the port city of Haiphong.
    • Haiphong
    Quicklink - Introduction - Haiphong