Hard at work on a Tuesday morning, this Vietnamese fisherman looked exhausted as he rowed through the South China Sea’s choppy waves near Mui Ne.
The woven bamboo boats, known as thung chai, are common in Vietnam. Surprisingly, they are reputed to be waterproof.
Said to be unappealing to tropical creatures — which devour hardwood boats — the thung chai boats are less expensive as well.
Photography & text © Tricia A. Mitchell. All rights reserved.
Tricia A. Mitchell is a freelance writer and photographer. Born in Europe but raised in the United States, she has lived in Valletta, Malta; Heidelberg, Germany; and Split, Croatia. An avid globetrotter who has visited more than 65 countries, she has a penchant for off-season travel. Tricia has learned that travel’s greatest gift is not sightseeing, rather it is the interactions with people. Some of her most memorable experiences have been sharing a bottle of champagne with distant French cousins in Lorraine, learning how to milk goats in a sleepy Bulgarian village, and ringing in the Vietnamese New Year with a Hanoi family. She welcomes any opportunity to practice French and German, and she loves delving into a place’s history and artisanal food scene. A former education administrator and training specialist, Tricia has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in international relations. She and her husband, Shawn, married in the ruins of a snowy German castle. They’ve been known to escape winter by basing themselves in coastal Croatia or Southeast Asia. Her writing has appeared in Fodor’s Travel, Frommer’s, and International Living. View more posts
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Travels With Tricia
Another great shot!
Thanks, Andrew! I swiftly left the breakfast table to snap this one; I’m happy to report that the coffee cups didn’t rappel from the table as a result. :-)
beautiful blue of the water. and thank you for the text to accompany – so interesting about the boats!
It was a serene morning – at least for those of us relaxing and dining. Certainly the rowing is hard work, and I wonder how many of the local fishers know how to swim? We saw variations on this boat theme — the bamboo basket variety and also some blue plastic bucket-like ones.
Great shot and I love the sight. I found some tranquility in the Mekong delta and here they are
http://grightnow.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/tranquility-of-the-delta-mekong/
cheers
Thanks for sharing your Mekong Delta images, grightnow. We also went on a Mekong Delta excursion — to My Tho and Ben Tre. I’ll be sharing my pictures soon. Seems as though we might have floated to some of the same destinations!
Very interesting, and a great photo.
Thanks, Maggie! That’s one one of things I enjoy most about traveling and blogging – I learn so much in the process!