Photo: Vietnamese life in the 1990s

During his trans-Viet tour in 1992, talented French journalist and director Raymond Depardon captured the essence of Vietnamese people and their environment in a series of evocative images.

Here are some photos taken by Raymond Depardon two decades ago: 

Bicycles were a common means of transport in Hanoi

A Honda Cup 82 was considered valuable personal property in HCM City

At a State-owned newsagent’s shop on Trang Tien Street, Hanoi

At a Thuy Ta ice-cream store corner in Hanoi

Transporting a fridge home on the Hanoi-Haiphong Highway

Coal mining workers on Ha Long Bay

A contrast between traditional and modern fashions

Reading a book on a former war tank wreckage in Quang Tri province

A HCM City corner viewed from Continental Saigon Hotel

The bustling Saigon railway station in HCM City

A cinema on Pasteur street, HCM City

Posing for a photo in NhaTrang city

At a department store in Haiphong

Ha Long beach during the tourism season

Hang Bong street in Hanoi’s Old Quarters

Selling guitars on the pavement in HCM City

Nha Trang beach

Kids playing in Hanoi’s Lenin Park

A paper shop on Luong Van Can street, Hanoi

Wartime military equipment along National Highway 1 passing Quang Tri

The presence of foreigners aroused public curiosity in front of Hue railways Station

Relaxing in the shadow near NhaTrang seaport

Kid toys available on Luong Van Can street, Hanoi

Vendors selling goods at a train station

A petrol station in southern Dong Nai province

April 30 Park near Duc Ba Church in HCM City

French-built Long Bien bridge in Hanoi

Local people in Danang

On a trans-national train carriage

Transporting goods up a steep hill in Quang Tri

A pile of wartime bomb shells in Quang Tri

A road in Dong Ha, Quang Tri

A ferry in Haiphong

This shop offered beverage and garment services in Lam Dong

A rural house on National Highway from Hanoi to Haiphong

Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi

Saigon taxi

Photo: Vietnamese life in the 1990s