Jim Bryant and reporter Hal Drake in Vietnam.

eMail the Photographer

When the Instructions
are made by the Vietnamese

Story and photos by Jim Bryant

When I got off the plane at the stark, foreboding Noi Bai Airport located 15 miles from Hanoi, two things hit me immediately.

There was an overpowering heat cloaked in humidity that suffocates the unwary and slows times to a crawl. And there was the reply I received from my ever-present Foreign Ministry guide every time I lifted my camera to record a truthful image of the gloomy and officious Communists capital of Hanoi; "No pictures! "We cannot allow you to photograph that!"

During my trip to the Republic of Vietnam, I learned a new meaning to hindrance, distrustfulness and constant observation. To start off with, my guide, Nguyen Quang Dy, says, "There's a list. You can't photograph the Chinese border, military equipment or camps, fuel or ammunitions depots, harbors, railway and highway junctions. Nor can you perform any aerial photography.

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