Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, it's off to Bac Ha Market we go!

In some respects 2012 has not ended, it is still alive and well because of the all the photographic memories I accumulated from last year.

As some of you may know, I spent the better part of last year on a photographic journey through Southeast Asia. My wanderlust took me to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. It was a visual feast of monks clothed in saffron robes, the brights lights of the Singapore skyline, the golden spires of Buddhist temples, the stunning temples of Angkor Wat and the many colorful markets.

One of the reasons Southeast Asia attracts so many photographers are the many colorful minority ethnic markets such as the Bac Ha Sunday Market, located in Northeastern Vietnam.

Every Sunday, Bac Ha hosts the largest and most colorful market in the area and attracts villagers from the surrounding hill tribes such as the Flower H'mong, Phu La, Dzao, Tay and Nung minorities where they gather to buy and sell local products.

I spent two nights in Bac Ha to get a predawn start before the throngs of bus tour groups from Sapa showed up. I photographed this elderly woman from the Flower H’mong hill tribe in a candid moment.

After six months in Southeast Asia I accumulated over 700 gigabytes of RAW photos, enough to keep me busy for all of 2013. Back to processing those images!

Happy Travels!

Text and photo copyright by ©Sam Antonio Photography

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Taken on: 6th May, 2012. Copyright: All Rights Reserved - See Sam Antonio Photography's page of Flickr

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