BIA HOI AND BICYCLES
Vietnam is amazing. This is the thing about travelling around the world; every place is so unique, and every place is unexpected. There are a lot of pre-conceived notions about Vietnam that hold true: the pace is a bit frenetic, many people are trying to sell you things at every turn, and the air is often heavily polluted in the big cities. But the positives are stunning: I’ve yet to see such an excited place: (Poland is a close second on our trip) You can feel the energy and optimism on the streets and in the bright faces of the millions of young people (Vietnam is YOUNG, with 60+% of the population below 30!).
TYPICAL STREET IN HUE, VIETNAM
86,000,000 people now which makes it the 13th most populous country in the world, but expected to rise to #10 by 2020. (They now have a 2 kids/child mandate after a too-successful population growth campaign after the bleak planned economic years following the American War. There are new scooters, cell phones, hotels, factories, and businesses sprouting up faster than you can say “Sin Jow” (~Hello) And they are fierce capitalists, with everyone seeming to be putting their full energy into a new life. Everyone seems to understand customer service which I’m guessing is a result of the many, many close ties and joint ventures with Western companies and perhaps the many relationships that developed during the French and American war years.
But Vietnam is not all new energy, as it is still a relatively poor country with a basic development level and a huge rural population eeking out a meager survival, along with urban poverty and its associated ills. Life for most is still very primitive, which presents the traveller with an endless overload of beautiful and simple living. (and sometimes desperation) This is a photographers dream, as almost every face in Vietnam is worthy of a photo. We’ve only caught about 3% of our moments on camera and of course, some of the best memories are only that, memories, as one golden rule of travel is, “the time you DON’T carry the camera is when you will see the most amazing sights” You know it’s true.
EASY WALKING IN AN ALLEY IN OLD HANOI
So we started in wonderful Hanoi, which is easily one of the favorite cities that we have visited to date, since it has this unique combo of historic French urban design overlain with a dynamic and changing economy. I can now better picture the way Thai cities used to be before being overdeveloped and overrun by autos. It’s a shame that “development” has to be associated with people giving up walking, cycling, and even the more intimate scooter life for autos. Right now there are virtually no cars (I’d say about 3-5%) in Hanoi, but over 2,000,000 scooters! Hue, the smaller city where we are now has even fewer cars, and about 30% of road traffic is still bikes, but the strong majority scooters. It’s wonderful to experience cycling in midst of a moving and vibrant city. Old men peddling to your right, and young men chatting on scooters to your left, while teenage girls cycling three abreast in front of you with no worries about being crushed by a driver on a cell phone. Why? There are almost no drivers in Hue. You can ride for a mile beofre encountering a car. Its a world virtually without cars…..hmmmm…..ooops dreaming of heaven again. No wonder everyone is smiling here.
FIND THE CARS IN THIS PHOTO – YOU CAN’T!
Hanoi alos has dozens of big lakes, with most surrounded by parks and walking paths, and it actually has nice wide walkable sidewalks….where they’re not obstructed by the ubiquitous scooter culture. But when the sidewalks are impassible, you just do as the locals do and take a lane on the street. Walk straight and don’t ever dash in any direction and the scooters et al will easily avoid you. Crossing intersections is like playing a bit of that old arcade game “Frogger”, with the real risk being the few, big obnoxious autos which honk and bully their way through the lively streets. Its amazing how one or two cars can completely paralyze this traffic flow on a Vietnamese street. Wait until there are millions.
But there is more. Vietnam has great food and a wonderful invention called “Bia Hoi” which translates to fresh beer and is delivered to small bars and cafes all over Hanoi (and other big cities) It’s picked up by the Bia Hoi outlets at 6 a.m. and sold only that day, as it has no preservatives. It’s really a nice a smooth taste which is reminiscent of the wonderful Czech pilsner that I have raved about in the past, which makes sense, since it was brought to Vietnam by the Czechs many years ago. I guess all beer all goes back to Belgians, Czechs, Germany, and the Brits.
We are also enjoying a local “Dalat” Wine which is made in the central hills of Vietnam and has a nice crisp and light flavor (both red and white). Drink and eat Local.
There is so much more for another post, but for now I must get to bed to rest up for our trip to Bach Ma National Park where we will spend tomorrow night about 4000 feet up into the central highlands. So my simple advice to you all is to get to Hanoi (and all of Vietnam) as soon as possible because it is changing by the minute and the magic of this living history museum may be gone in 5 or 10 years…20 for sure.
Tags: SE Asia, Travel, Vietnam, Tag Index
rich.coffin