Good morning Vietnam!!!

Vietnam is very different from all the other Asian countries we have visited on this and past trips.

This country has been ravaged by wars in its nearly continuous struggle for autonomy. First came an entire millennium of Chinese domination, then occupation by the French, followed by Japanese invasion in WWII, then the French Indochina War ensued, the communist divide of north and south, aka the Vietnam War, followed by War with Cambodia and finally with the collapse of the USSR in 1991, peace.

Why the history lesson, well it helps to explain what you see when you visit, its a country with clear Chinese influence in its temples, palaces and old towns, you see the French influence in the buildings in the cities (2 of our stays have been in historical french hotels) and we walked across a Japanese covered bridge yesterday. The new homes are Vietnamese style which is a kind of blend between all three (see pic). The infrastructure is still under development, given so much was destroyed in the most recent wars, it is much more underdeveloped than China, Thailand etc.

The people however make up for this lack of development, it was explained to me that they really don't have this concept of unemployment because everyone does something to make money, thus they are employed. In most countries you would see the poor in shanty towns etc.. in Vietnam many of these people live on their boats on the rivers, dredging sand to sell for construction, fishing or taking tourists for trips. Others take to the streets on there bicycles or motorcycles serving as make shift taxis to take people from A to B. When you drive along the roads you will notice that virtually every house serves as both a house and some sort of business, many of these folks are rice farmers and try to supplement their income with any other activity that is needed. You will see old women carrying trash in 2 baskets tied to a pole over their shoulder, these I was told are the recycling ladies, making something out of nothing. Other women carry fresh fruits and vegetables from one location to another, selling them to houses and businesses as they go. Everyone is working and this goes on from early morning until late at night.

The sense of community is alive and well, as you walk the cities both in the morning, afternoon and late at night you will see people out and about enjoying each other. From groups of old ladies playing a game of make shift badminton on pavements along the streets, or women doing aerobics at night in park along the lake and kids rollerblading with their parents on the flat area in front of a monument. People look happy and yet they don't have much, this should be a lesson to us all.

Now the traffic! Firstly if you want to cross the road don't expect cars and bikes to yield to you, or a nice crosswalk/ light. To cross you need to step out into the street and walk slow and deliberately, no hesitation, for the motorcycles will miss you even though it looks like they are going to hit you. However if you hesitate, then they cannot anticipate your movement and they may well hit you. How did we learn this, well the old saying watch and learn is how... Danielle and I also took a cyclo trip around the old quarter in Hanoi, you sit in the front while a 55 plus year old man peddles a bicycle behind maneuvering you through the crazy streets. We really enjoyed this but you need to let go of your fear and trust the old man because if not you will be terrified, as we came inches from being hit by buses, bikes etc. We have not got to Saigon yet, but I hear it is exponentially worse than anything we have seen just yet. Another aspect of the traffic is what these folks manage to transport via scooter, it is just amazing (see pics), the most incredible thing we saw (unfortunately not fast enough with the camera) was a live cow on the back of the scooter. Also just like Thailand the whole family, father, mother and 2 kids fits on a scooter and weaves in and out of some very scary traffic.

The highlight so far for me has been the 2 days sailing on a junk in Halong Bay. Halong Bay is a UNESCO World Heritage site and was made famous in the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, James and Wai Lin attempt to chase down Elliot Carver played by Jonathan Pryce in the Ha Long Bay area. It is just beautiful (very similar to the Adaman Sea off the coast of Thailand) with thousands of limestone islands jutting out of the ocean. We did some kayaking from one island to another and spent 2 days cruising aboard a traditional Junk with only 2 other couples, so we had the place to ourselves. The food prepared on board was awesome. We also got to explore one of the largest caves within the islands and see the floating villages.

Danielle wants to go explore the shops in town, so I have to go...

One last thing, because Vietnam is not fully developed as a tourist destination yet, the 5 star hotels are affordable (this is the holiday part of our Round the World Trip, got to take a break from the job of traveling) and the food is really cheep. You can take 2 to dinner with drinks (good food) for $10.

- Ryan