Da Nang

I'm now in Da Nang. Instead of normally flying into this city and heading straight to Hoi An, I decided to spend the night and visit my late friend's family. This shot is of his funeral altar at his home. For now and forever, there will be an altar at his home and he will be remebered every month on the 14th day of the Lunar calendar. They will burn effigy, place an extra setting at the dinner table and burn incense for him. Then on the anniversary of his death they will throw a great big party.

(It's interesting how much the Vietnamese worship and remember their ancestors but have completely forgiven the French and Americans for the wars that were fought on these soils.)

At Tu Duy's house I hung out with Minh, Duy's son. He's been a little stressed recently as his mother has also taken ill. He's enrolled in college up the coast little bit in Hue. He's promised to have a scooter ready for me for my next trip back to Vietnam.

I brought a new lense for his father, for us to shoot with but now I had hoped that he could use it. He suggested that it would be fair trade, not that I was trading Duy anything for the lense, for a vintage scooter that I wanted.













Before Duy's passing he got very prolific with his artwork making 200 paintings within the span of three months. He also purchased this mini-jeep to haul around his artwork and to go on trips. He had planned on going to Pleiku, in the hills southwest of Hoi An. He spent three months getting a driver's license, failing the test twice. And, before his death he was only able to drive the jeep twice.

Minh called a friend with a driver's license and we took the jeep down to Hoi An. It would be his first trip to Duy's gallery since Duy's passing.