I took this photo in Sa Pa, Vietnam this past January just a few days after New Year’s. I haven’t posted much about Vietnam on this blog because, well, I’m not entirely sure why. In the immediate aftermath of a trip none of my photos or stories seem to convey the vividness I want them to. Every shot is just a little less magnificent than what I see in my head. Every tale falls just a bit flat.

So, seven months later, I’m finally ready to accept the version of reality in my photos. This is a shot of a house I passed by in the mountain town of Sa Pa near the Chinese border. The city is under fog and rain much of the year, and in the winter it’s particularly damp with a constant penetrating cold and little in the way of indoor heating. The benefit of the climate is that plants seem to grow everywhere. The local indigenous groups grow rice on watery terraces carved into rolling green hills, and even rooftops in town play host to impromptu gardens. This modest home caught my eye for its living roof.