Shrimp Pond, Hoi An

Along with tourism, fishing, aquafarming, and rice and vegetable farming are important parts of the Hoi An economy. While tourism has had a very rough several months because of the pandemic, the water-based and agricultural economies in Hoi An seem to be doing just fine.

The waterwheels aerate the water in the enclosed pond to keep it from becoming brackish.

Bear Rescue Center, Laos

At the entrance to the Kuang Si Falls park area, there is a small wildlife preserve run by an organization called Save the Bears. The refuge is for Asian Black Bears. Poachers hunt these animals for their bile, which is an ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine recipes. The bears are also threatened by deforestation, one of those environmentally unfriendly, unsustainable by-products of economic development.

The bears are playing. As best as I could tell, the bear on the left was laughing in the face of the one on the right. I was standing in a building somewhat above my subjects; the fence separating me from the bears is not visible in the picture.