PLACES by We Love 2 Design
The Golden Bridge at Ba Na Hills disappearing into dense fog, a giant stone hand holding the walkway

Issue 02 · North to South

Vietnam

Fifteen days. One country, top to bottom. Fog, gold and the last light.

Vietnam 15 Days 2,100 km November 2025

Hanoi to Phu Quoc in fifteen days. A train a metre from the coffee, gold-clad lobbies in Ha Long, a bridge held by two stone hands in the fog, and an island that ends every day with the same sunset and never repeats it.

HanoiHa LongDa NangBa Na HillsHoi AnPhu Quoc

15
Days
2,100
Kilometres
1
Country
2025
November 2025

Chapter 01 · Day 1 · The city that never lowers its voice

Hanoi

Hanoi, Vietnam
Train approaching along Hanoi’s train street at night, cafés lit up on both sides, people filming from the tracks
Train Street, Old Quarter. The train comes twice a night. Everyone knows the time.Vietnam · 2025

The train comes twice a night. The cafés put their stools a hand’s width from the rail and everyone knows the time. Then it is gone, and the street goes back to being a street.

Chapter 02 · Day 3 · Limestone in the bay, gold in the lobbies

Ha Long

Ha Long, Vietnam
Hotel lobby in Ha Long with a gold-clad arched ceiling, a round table centred under it and a marble floor with a black oval inlay
Ha Long, a lobby at midnight. Symmetry is the whole idea. Ha Long · 2025
Cascading crystal chandelier between two stone columns above teal and copper lounge chairs in a hotel lobby
The chandelier weighs more than the sofa arrangement beneath it. Ha Long · 2025
Hotel bar with a ceiling of illuminated butterfly-shaped lights, leather armchairs and a back-lit bottle wall
Butterflies on the ceiling. The bar was empty, which is how it should be photographed. Ha Long · 2025
The hotels here are stage sets. Photograph them empty, at midnight, and they play their part.

Chapter 03 · Day 8 · Fire on the bridge

Da Nang

Da Nang, Vietnam
The Dragon Bridge in Da Nang spitting fire at night, a crowd watching from the promenade, the river lit in blue
Dragon Bridge, Saturday, nine o’clock. Fire first, water second.Vietnam · 2025
Carved stone dragon head with a lotus bud on a staircase balustrade at the Marble Mountains
Marble Mountains. Every stair has its own dragon. Da Nang · 2025
Four Vietnamese coffees on a wooden table: egg coffee, coconut coffee and two with cream and cocoa prints
Hoi An. Egg coffee, coconut coffee, and a cocoa print of a tree. Hoi An · 2025

Chapter 04 · Day 9 · Fourteen hundred metres up

Ba Na Hills

Ba Na Hills, Vietnam

Fog as a material

Some days you see the valley from the Golden Bridge. This was not one of them. The fog took the mountains, the cable cars and the crowd, and left two hands and a strip of gold.

The Golden Bridge

The Golden Bridge in fog. Some days you see the valley. This was not one of them, and it was better.

The Golden Bridge at Ba Na Hills disappearing into dense fog, a giant stone hand holding the walkway
The Golden Bridge in fog. Some days you see the valley. This was not one of them, and it was better. Ba Na Hills · 2025
Two weathered giant stone hands lifting the Golden Bridge out of the mist at Ba Na Hills
Two hands, fourteen hundred metres up. Ba Na Hills · 2025
Gilded dragon sculpture with open jaws against a pale foggy sky
Gold against grey. The fog does the retouching. Ba Na Hills · 2025
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Chapter 05 · Day 12 · The island at the end

Phu Quoc

Phu Quoc, Vietnam
Illuminated brick clock tower at Grand World Phu Quoc at blue hour, palm trees and tuk-tuks in the street
Grand World. An Italian clock tower in Vietnam, lit like a film set. Phu Quoc · 2025
Tiered stone fountain at night with water pouring over its rim, hotel lights behind
Water, long exposed. Phu Quoc · 2025
Two leaning palm trees with a rope swing over a white beach and calm turquoise sea, sun flaring through the fronds
Ong Lang. The palms lean because everyone has sat on that swing. Phu Quoc · 2025

Sunset Town is a pier lined with wire figures. Every evening the sky goes orange behind them and every evening the same figures become a different picture.

Wire sculpture of a fairy on a pole in silhouette against an orange sunset over the sea at Phu Quoc
Sunset Town, Phu Quoc. A wire fairy, the last light, nothing else needed. Phu Quoc · 2025
Wire sculpture of a figure holding a net in silhouette above the sea at dusk
The same pier, a different figure. The series continues along the coast. Phu Quoc · 2025
Wire sculpture of a fairy blowing a dandelion in silhouette against the evening sky over the sea
A dandelion, blown towards the mainland. Phu Quoc · 2025

The route · Vietnam

6 stops

01 Hanoi 02 Ha Long 03 Da Nang 04 Ba Na Hills 05 Hoi An 06 Phu Quoc
  1. 01HanoiVietnam
  2. 02Ha LongVietnam
  3. 03Da NangVietnam
  4. 04Ba Na HillsVietnam
  5. 05Hoi AnVietnam
  6. 06Phu QuocVietnam
Deep orange sunset over the sea with a red sun on the horizon and two small fishing boats

Two boats, one sun. Last frame.

Issue 02 · Vietnam

Next issue

Issue 03 · United Arab Emirates

Dubai & Abu Dhabi

A skyline built to be photographed at night. And a ceiling that is the main event.

Illuminated Downtown Dubai towers reflected in the lagoon at night