My journey on the train was cut quite short when landslides damaged the rail lines and left no way to pass through the central part of the country, foundering our train south of Nha Trang. With the oh so kind help of Vietnamese law enforcement (I use that word lightly), we were shuttled into small, miserable buses to traverse the flooded roads to the next station.
I can say with complete confidence that Vietnamese buses can also double as small flotation devices when necessary.
I spent my Halloween wading through knee-deep water throughout the city of Nha Trang, shooting the flood in a torrential downpour... Praying to the Photo Gods' that my homemade rain cover from my only poncho, which of course was covering my camera and not myself, held up against the weather.
Finding something endearing about the clumsy American girl snapping their photos, soaked to the bone in the pouring rain with no jacket... I wanted to make myself as raw and exposed to the elements as they were in flimsy ponchos, doing nothing to keep out the inevitable rain. You can't ask someone for access, if you guard yourself literally... or figuratively, from what they endure.
No communication necessary, no similar language to exchange, just one smile & one nod to the camera. Seeing something genuine in my determination to brave the downpour photographing their efforts on the beach that day.
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