Photographer Huynh Long Tien on his way to Lao Cai City (photo provided by the character).
Spring travel by motorbike
Last Tet Giap Thin 2024, Mr. Dinh Van Quoc Thanh (28 years old, residing in An Binh commune, Chau Thanh district) and a 70-year-old friend (residing in Ho Chi Minh City) - both passionate about photography, traveled by 150cc motorbike, from Tay Ninh to many provinces and cities in the Central and Northern regions to hunt for photos. Quoc Thanh is working in a company in Ho Chi Minh City.
In 2016, Thanh won third prize in the Tay Ninh province tourism photo contest. In 2023, he won second prize in the province's art photo contest. To satisfy his passion for photography, in recent years Thanh has planned to go on photo hunts across the country, with his goal being to set foot in the four poles of the country: East, South, West, and North.
During the recent Lunar New Year holidays, Thanh decided to go hunting for photos in the northern provinces.
To make this trip, Thanh carefully researched necessary information such as the route, places to eat and stay along the way, travel costs, travel time, weather, culture, regional specialties, etc. At the same time, Thanh invited a person with the same passion for photography to be his travel companion.
Before leaving, the two spent time exercising and taking short motorbike trips to get used to the change in environment and gain experience. After preparing the necessary things, on the morning of February 5 (December 26), Thanh and his friend started to set off.
“We drove along National Highway 1A and the residential roads parallel to the national highway to conveniently enjoy the scenery. Wherever there were beautiful places, cultural activities, and festivals, we stopped to film and take photos,” Thanh said.
Along the journey, Thanh and his companions welcomed the sunrise over the sea of clouds at Violak Pass (connecting Quang Ngai province with Kon Tum), took photos of Trang Tien Bridge on the Huong River (Hue city), and recorded fishing and salt production activities in the Central provinces...
Photographer Huynh Long Tien was delighted when he first reached the top of Fansipan - the roof of Indochina to hunt clouds (photo provided by the character)
Along the Northwest route, the two captured the panoramic view of the Dong Van stone plateau, Lung Cu flagpole, and the daily life of ethnic minorities in the village. Thanh excitedly recounted: “The first time I saw the Dong Van stone plateau with my own eyes, standing on the top of Ma Pi Leng and watching the Nho Que river, I did not expect the vast stone plateau, the majestic mountains, and the beautiful scenery of our country to be so vast.”
After 11 days of traveling, Thanh returned to Tay Ninh with 2,800 beautiful photos. “I will choose some of the most satisfactory photos to participate in art photography competitions. The remaining photos will be kept as souvenirs and for professional work at the company where I work,” Thanh said.
This young man said that in 2023, he had conquered the Easternmost point, and in 2024, he would spend time going south to Ca Mau Cape - the southernmost point of the country. After that, he continued to plan to conquer the Westernmost point in Dien Bien province.
Twice across Vietnam
Photographer Huynh Long Tien, residing in Hoa Hiep Commune, Tan Bien District, has traveled across Vietnam twice to take photos. Now 69 years old, he is preparing for his third trip to the North.
In 2014, when hearing that he planned to travel from Tay Ninh to the northern provinces to visit and take photos on a 110cc Wave Alpha, everyone in the profession tried to stop him. Because at that time he was 59 years old, the road was far away, and the vehicle was difficult to ensure traffic safety. However, on a beautiful Christmas day, he still set off alone on his "iron horse". From Tay Ninh, Mr. Tien followed National Highway 1A straight to the capital.
“Every day, at 5am, after eating, I leave. At noon, I stop to eat, drink, and rest at the roadside stalls. At 2pm, I continue my journey. At around 5pm, I find a place to stay overnight. To avoid affecting my health with strange food, throughout the journey, I only eat rice with fried tofu and braised tofu. Every 2-3 days, I reward myself with a bottle of beer,” Mr. Tien recalls.
One of the artistic works of photographer Huynh Long Tien (photo provided by the character).
While traveling on the road, observing, wherever there was a beautiful scene, Mr. Tien stopped the car, took out his camera and carefully recorded the location and time in his notebook. However, because it was his first time traveling by motorbike, he had no experience, and had not prepared enough clothes and camera accessories, so he could not take many good photos.
Mr. Tien said: “At that time, in the South, it was the sunny season, I only wore a leather jacket and simple gloves. When I arrived in Lao Cai, the weather was cold, so I bought a raincoat to wear. On the road, many people looked at me with surprised eyes as if I had fallen from the sky. It was so cold that my teeth chattered, my fingers were numb and I couldn’t press the phone. When I got to Sa Pa town, I found a motel, left my motorbike outside the gate, immediately went to bed, and curled up under the blanket. Luckily, the bed there had a heating function, so it took me an hour to warm up again.”
After taking pictures of Sa Pa landscape, he went to Fansipan peak - the roof of Indochina, in Lao Cai province to hunt for clouds. In the following days, he continued to travel along the Northwest route back to the capital and followed National Highway 1A to Tay Ninh. Mr. Tien recalled: "The round trip took 32 days, the total cost was nearly 10 million VND".
Not satisfied with the first trip, in 2023, Mr. Tien decided to return to the North for the second time. Learning from the previous experience, to save time, this time he traveled by plane. When he arrived in Hanoi, he asked an old comrade to take him on a motorbike to take photos. "This trip also did not achieve the desired results. Because this friend is not into photography, all day he just took me to visit friends, then partied endlessly, he did not have time to stay up late and wake up early to take pictures of the landscape."
Drawing on the experience of the last two trips, the 69-year-old photographer plans to continue his photo hunt from the South to the North in September and October this year. Although his family has a car, he still decided to travel by motorbike for the convenience of taking photos. “This time, I will follow the Ho Chi Minh trail to find new scenery.”
Passionate about creating, up to now, photographer Huynh Long Tien has won a number of art photography awards such as: in 2017, his photos were exhibited at the 9th International Art Photography Competition, held in Vietnam; Third prize in the Marathon photo composition competition of the Southeast Art Photography Festival 2017; Encouragement prize in the Spring Art Photography Competition, 2017 2019 in Ho Chi Minh City and many high prizes, exhibition photos at art photography contests in the province.
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