It appears to be recently planted corn that is growing on this steep hillside. There are actually six people working on the mountainside field pictured here. In this made-to-post, low-res jpeg, they show up as little more than fuzzy specs. Above the left side of the house and a bit above the bottom of the stand of trees that extends towards the middle of the photo, there is a tiny red speck. That is the shirt of a farmer working in the field.
Many of the fields I saw during my trip through the mountainous north of Vietnam were not the lush green one commonly sees in photos of mountain farming in Vietnam. Some fields had crops growing, but many had been recently harvested or were fallow, waiting for the planting of rice and other summer crops.
This was taken from an overlook on a rugged mountain road running along Vietnam’s border with China, probably in Cao Bằng province.
The mountainous north of Vietnam is a land of spectacular, almost magical, scenery. Now back home, I am just beginning to look through a pile of images from the 10 day trip through those mountains. More to come.
This woman was being photographed by a man who I presumed was her husband or boyfriend. The shoot did not look commercial, though who knows. In any case tourists passing by were snapping away and I figured why not. The colors really are gorgeous.
