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In late September I spent a week shooting a commission in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, Vietnam for the UK edition of American Express' Centurion Magazine.

Although I've recently written a handful of posts about this trip, as well as uploaded a series of images I made during this assignment, the Winter 2010 edition of Centurion Magazine UK is published this week, and I wanted to share the completed feature "A Tale of Two Cities" written by Anthony Dennis and photographed by me.

As Anthony writes in the article, "Hanoi and Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh City, as it's officially though not popularly called) are members of the unofficial club of the world's great rival metropolises.

"Hanoi, the capital in the north, is a city of tree-fringed lakes, wide boulevardsand petite, Paris-style parks tucked away in neighbourhoods full of faded, mustard-coloured French-style mansions and elegant Belle Epoque public buildings which have somehow survived Vietnam’s turbulent times.

"While not without some Gallic flavour, Saigon...more reflects the American era, with an aggressive capitalist spirit still less evident in Hanoi.  Paradoxically, it’s the

nation’s turbulent history...that renders Vietnam such an alluring destination, particularly as seen through the prism of its two principal cities."

Although I am pretty certain which of the cities is my favourite, as Anthony notes, "experiencing Hanoi and Saigon, and deciding upon which one you favour, remains one of the joys of a trip to Vietnam.  It is a country, after all, where, when it comes to cities, it takes two to tango."

Visit my website to see a larger collection of photographs I made while in Vietnam, including imagery that doesn't appear in the Centurion Magazine feature.