Best of Vietnam

Vietnam is just fantastic. From the cheap good food to the silly motorbike culture. It is just the right amount of excitement, crazy, and danger. While we weren't daring enough as some other white people and decided to forego renting motorcycles, we did have a satisfyingly good time. Here are some highlights. 

Swimming on (somewhat polluted) beautiful beaches only accessible by boat, like this. 

Sipping fancy drinks like this on luxurious tour boats. 

Visiting caves like this. 

Ha long bay is absolutely beautiful. The government restricts access to the bay to a limited few sites, but they are good ones. Next time I would love to take a boat with a special license that can go out to restricted parts of the bay. Next time! The places we went gave us sunset views like this, so I can't legitimately complain. 

Jordan really enjoyed the relaxation time - 

They let us do whatever we wanted on the boat, including jump off it and crawl to obviously dangerous places and play Titanic. 

After ha long we were off to hanoi for our last Vietnam evening. Jody was forlorn to leave the bay. 

Hanoi is the soul of the country from what I can tell. Full of life in the form of motorbikes, it is busy, alive, growing, and charming. The center of the town surrounds a lake with a temple in the middle. 

From its food, architecture, prevalent Catholicism, and coffee obsession the town does not forget its colonial French roots. 

A mor morbid reminder is the prison in hao la (known to Americans as the hanoi Hilton). The gate and front portion of the prison is now a museum (yes, the Vietnamese communists have propaganda chambers, too!) that tells of French and imperialist American oppression. What I did not know was that the French built the prison to jail political resisters during colonial times. When they were booted, it became a Vietnamese POW prison. The inside shows atrocities committed by both the French and Americans, and oddly does not mention it's dark days during the war. The place was eerie and you could actually go into some cells. 

Hanoi is a really fun city to walk through. The old town is full of architecturally significant cafes, restaurants and shops, and, of course, is a little overrun by Europeans. We didn't mind them too much but it did bother us at times. All in all, a lovely town and we had a great time, despite the typhoon that nearly drown us all. 

The Vietnamese didn't seem to mind, though. They just sped up an drove through. (Treating it just like a traffic signal really - there is no traffic control whatsoever!)

When I say this, I use the term "developing" liberally, but don't mean it negatively by any means - Vietnam is certainly a developing country. In some senses it is already developed. The people have a strong sense of identity and an obvious culture. While it is somewhat typical of other Southeast Asian cultures, they certainly embrace it - sidewalk restaurant eating, beer drinking, and relaxing. Oh, and coffee drinking. In other senses it is not developed. Labor is cheap and the people are generally usurped by foreign mega-corporations. While I have no idea how these companies treat their workers, their oppressive presence is felt through Canon, Honda, Foxconn, and other factories. And then there is the tourism. I always feel guilty in my travels; in someways I feel bad making a spectacle of the local culture, and in other ways I enjoy spending money that I am sure they appreciate. Tourism seems like it is by far the most accessible industry to the typical viet. In that sense I foresee the country becoming overrun by foreigners, eager to get cheap stuff and view the beautiful scenery. I just hope Vietnam can strike that elusive balance of tourism/industry/innovation economy and not get destroyed in the process. They have a treasure on their hands! 

The biggest hurdle I see to the country's development is their government. The communist party seems to rule with an iron fist, while not providing any benefits to their citizens. Healthcare is not free (10 million Dong to see the dr!), school costs money, and they restrict access to high paying government jobs only to those with friends in high places. Not to mention the government owns many of the most successful businesses in Vietnam. Here's to hoping! As I'm sure the French said as they were booted from their colony - c'est la vie! 

The people are so nice and strong I think they will make it through. We befriended all of our boat crew including our guide, and I can say they are truly lovely people. With that kind of hospitality, beautiful scenery, and interesting cities, I'll go back there any time. Until next time, Vietnam!

Sorry, no typical closing train photo. There was no transit to be found in hanoi!