Virtual-Doug

I’m Back Home

My Vietnamese friends may be wondering if I made it back home as I haven’t posted since my return.  Yeah – I’m fine, but life is interesting.

On the day I returned, the Mystery Guest Blogger and my 90 year old mother went to the airport to welcome me.  That’s when my mother got her feet tangled while walking across the parking lot, fell, and broke her left hip.  The past few days have been a blur of hospital trips and talks with doctors while trying to recover from jet lag.  I doubt if I will have much time to write and take photos for awhile.

This has been a tough time for the MGB.  Besides caring for both Moms, our cat of 13 years disappeared and we assume she is dead.  Thanx for the life of Pookah.

I still have a little more material to post from my trip to Việt Nam – I’ll get around to posting when I get around to it.

Be Back Later

By the time you read this, I will be on the way home.  I thought I would leave you with this last picture.  It represents Việt Nam in transition from the old days of ox carts to the newer days of heavy trucks and motorbikes.

I have a some more pictures and I’ll write another post when I get home.  In the meantime,  I’ll try to get a little sleep during the 34 hour trip home.

Keeping It Clean

Western visitors sometimes think Huê is trashy – until they see that the system is just different.  Tourists observe locals throw trash on the street and see small piles of garbage at the curb.  They cluck their tongues because the Vietnamese don’t put trash in nice little containers as people do back home.  They  assume the city is full of litterers.

Not so.

In reality, the city is quite clean.  There is a very good sanitation system.  During the day, the trash carts are neatly lined up waiting for duty at dusk.  Around 5:30 PM (or so), workers unlock the carts, and await their work partners before going on their assigned routes.

As she moves up the street, the worker does two things:  first, she sweeps the street while picking up the trash.  But, notice the bell on the cart handle silhouetted against the white bag  – she rings that bell to tell business owners to bring out their trash, which they dump into the cart. 

How about recycling?  Its done at the same time, though not formally a part of the sanitation program.  Most of the workers have a friend come along with them.  The friends are not in uniform, but they not only help with the work but they sort through the trash to find anything resalable:  cardboard, aluminum cans, old clothes – whatever.  Notice the sack on the side of the card.  The woman emptying the can into the cart will sort through trash and put the “good stuff” into the sack.  The following day, it will be sorted through for possible resale.  Keep in mind that in a poor country like Việt Nam, labor is cheap and nothing goes to waste.  There is always someone who is willing to work hard to make a living doing what requires massive government programs in more developed countries.

The streets get cleaned and the trashed emptied every night, not once a week.  I’d say that makes Huê a nice clean city.

The Alleys of Huê

Huê is no different than the other cities of Việt Nam - - life is lived in a warren of alleyways, not in neat suburbs or broad boulevards.  These are places tourists seldom go, but down these narrow paths is where living takes place.  In Huê, they are known as a kiêt, though Antidote to Burnout tells me they are called a hem in Sài Gòn.  Mark of “Six Months in Hà Nội did a great job of describing the alleys of that city.

Lets wander up this alley that leads away from a small market.  Its wide enough for a motorbike, but not much else.  Other alleys branch off of this one, creating a maze of twisting walkways.  You are unlikely to get lost, but you will be amazed at what goes on back here.

(Be sure to click on each photo to see a larger version.)

Along both sides of the kiêt are homes.  Children play in the alley, though they have to dodge bicycles and motorbikes.  This picture is a little unusual because there are usually herds of children playing together. Notice the concrete slabs in the middle of the kiêt.  The sewers are underneath the slabs which can easily be lifted for repairs and maintenance.

Some men peered out of a doorway.  Seeing my camera, they boisterously invited me in.  After seeing the clear liquid they were drinking, it soon became obvious why they were so noisy.  But they were having fun and hurting no one.  Though I was offered a shot of the “Vietnamese whiskey”, I knew I wasn’t man enough to drink that stuff. After sharing some laughs when they saw their own pictures, they went back to their eating and drinking, and I walked on up the alley.

Don’t think for a minute that only poor people live on the kiêt.  The house on the right is quite nice as can be seen by the pretty stone masonry.  There are no zoning laws, so wretchedly poor homes are next to luxury houses.

Each house has a street number.  The kiêt has a number corresponding to the total number of kiêts off the main street, then each house has a number on that kiêt, though sometimes it can be confusing if a house is on a branch kiêt off of another kiêt.   This gentleman’s house is number 10 on Kiêt Number 36.

The elderly have a job on the kiêt – they are to watch the goings on and report their findings to the other old folks nearby.  I was checked out thoroughly by this man, but after I was approved we shared many smiles.

Children playing, old men smiling, eating, and drinking.  That’s life in one of the many alleyways of Huê.

By Popular Demand

Some Gentle Readers have asked for specific bits of information, so here goes.

When I lived in Huê, I would occasionally take photos of a house that was under construction.  Sister and Nephew both requested to see the finished building, and here it is.  I saw a young man enter the gate and say hello to a woman I suppose is Mom.  This is a nice house – I would enjoy living in it.  It is in Vỹ Da, the upscale new “suburbs” of Huê. 

A few days ago, I was eating at The Mandarin Café and saw a German couple sitting astride a motorbike.  Big deal, you say, but this was once my môto.  When I left last June, I sold it to a young man who now rents it out to tourists.  The couple was a bit startled to see me frantically grabbing my camera and taking pictures, but smiled once I told them why.  Do you think they believed me when I told them I used to live in Huê?

The Mandarin Café is moving.  The Army owns the land and building that currently houses the café, and it is going to put a bank on the location.  That means my friend Mr. Cu will have to move again.  This will be the sixth location for the Café.  This time, he and his daughter decided to buy the land and erect their own building.  It is right across the street from the new 5 star Imperial Hotel.

Finally, Jeff asked for a picture of me – here I am in my new chosen profession.

Rain Scenes

Huê residents do not “cope” with the weather.  This is the only weather they have ever known, so they just go on with life when the winter rain comes.

If you visit Huê, you have a choice of methods to stay dry.  You can put on a poncho, or carry an umbrella, or wear a rain suit.  You may as well accept the fact that your feet will get wet.  Many people wear sandals,  but when it gets cold, most wear shoes.

If you are riding a motorbike, you have a choice of ways to use your poncho.  Most people flop it over the top of the handlebars.  Notice that many ponchos have a clear panel in the front to allow the headlight to shine through.  Of course, if you use your poncho this way, your rear view mirrors are obscured.  Since nobody in Việt Nam uses the mirrors, that poses no problem.  Other folks just let the poncho hang down in front of them, though that means you may get a little wetter on your lower legs.  I was near the football stadium (soccer to Americans) just as people were going home for lunch.

Many people do not go home for lunch.  Places like this bình dân (say bin yahn) offer good solid workingman’s food inexpensively.  You get your serving of whatever the vendor sells, pay for it, then have a seat on a plastic stool. Nothing fancy.  Of course, it becomes a bit more difficult to stay dry  when everyone tries to crowd under shelter during the  rain.

In the market, business proceeds as usual despite the rain.  These two ladies cannot afford a stall, so they merely drop their baskets in the street and sell their products.  On this day, people had to buy food, but they also had to buy flowers.  The middle of the lunar month is a time for remembering loved ones who have died, particularly relatives, and these yellow flowers are used as part of the prayer ceremony conducted outside the home.  Such religious duties usually fall on the older women of the home.

But, there were those who do indeed wish the rain would stop.

New Life

It is the rainy season in Central Việt Nam.  In a countryside village in Quảng Trị Province, in a house along a muddy dirt path, a new life begins.  Its an appropriate time because it is the beginning of the rice planting season – the new plants will grow as will a healthy new baby.  This little two room house will now hold four generations.

(As always, be sure to click on each photo to see a larger version.)

Near the entrance to the house, a ten year-old watches the goings-on as friends and family come to visit his aunt’s new baby.  He is a well behaved young man, and curious.  He is content to wait near the family altar until called into the other room to see the newest child.

This is the mother’s first child.  She is a well educated woman – a school teacher – and has looked forward to being a mother.  She is allowed to rest and bond with her new baby in a corner of the kitchen area, curtained off from others.  Dad is a health professional working in the local hospital.  He seems to enjoy the idea of being a father.

I wish the new family well.

Night Scenes

The Perfume River bisects Huê.  Along its banks, the city has built some beautiful parks.  In the evening, young couples like to sit near the esplanade and watch the ever changing lights in the old Trương Tiền bridge.  In conservative Huê, where holding hands in public is frowned upon, it seems to be okay to engage in a little bit of huggy-body kissy-face in the park.

The bridge is both old and beautiful.  Built by the French in 1897,  and rebuilt after the war with the Americans, it may possibly be the most famous landmark of the city.  It is too narrow to carry anything more than bicycle and motorbike traffic.  The colors of the lights change independently on each span creating a kaleidoscope effect.   I admit it – I couldn’t decide which picture of the bridge to post, so here are two:  one from each side.

On the southern side of the bridge is the Morin Hotel.  Originally built in the early 20th century by two French brothers, it fell into disrepair for years until it was bought and restored to 4 star glory by the big state owned SaigonTourist Company.  The atmosphere has an old colonial era feel to it. 

If you get a bit hungry while walking,  perhaps some hot fresh corn is in order.  The vendor pushed his cart along Hùng Vương (say hoom voo-ong) Street and did a brisk business with locals and tourists alike.  Not so with this lady and young boy.  They had little to sell – just some candy and chewing gum and cigarettes – but they waited patiently outside the gate of the university hoping someone leaving night classes would want what they had.

Back down by the river, two young people take the first tentative steps in getting to know each other.  What better place to do that than on the banks of a beautiful river reflecting the lights of the city.

Cell Phone Madness

Does that young lady driving the car next to you scare you a little bit?  We’ve all seen people eating burgers, putting on makeup, or talking on a mobile phone while driving.

How about talking on the mobile phone while riding a môto?   It was Sunday morning when I took this, therefore I doubt this gentleman was making a business call.  Maybe he was calling his girlfriend to meet him for coffee.  At least the traffic was fairly light on Lê Lọi Street, one of the main drags through Huê.

But not so with this young lady.  She was on another busy street and appeared to be paying no attention to the other riders around her.  I also wondered about the person on the other end of the conversation.  Between the noise made by the wind and the muffling of her mask, I would think she would be close to unintelligible.

This young man was on the same street going in the opposite direction.  He was riding very slowly, trying hard to be safe, yet he occasionally wobbled and almost knocked a young girl off her bicycle.  The saving grace of the Vietnamese using their mobile phones while driving is that the speeds are so slow.  Most of these riders were going about 30 kilometers per hour – about 18 mph.

Scary to think of what it will be like when they have freeways in Việt Nam, eh?

Hungry?

McDonald’s has not made it to Việt Nam - - yet.  KFC has arrived in Sài Gòn and Hà Nội, but there are no western fast food joints in the smaller cities, such as Huê.

Maybe you are like this young man – on his cell phone at 7 AM, and late for class at the university.  (Yes, classes start at 7).  He has his choice of many different foods served up by the street vendors.  Possibly he wants some bún bò Huê, a beef noodle soup , or maybe bún hen, a spicy noodle and mussel dish found only in Huê.  Across the street is a small sandwich shop on wheels.  This is nourishing food – and very cheap.  A dish of sticky rice will cost 3,000 Vietnamese đông– about 18 cents.  Most westerners shy away from street food, and that is a shame.  Its good stuff.

(Be sure to click on each photo to see a larger version.)

The characters change as the day progresses.  In the late afternoon, a new vendor peddles her corn-on-the-cob,  hot and fresh out of the boiling water.  She will stay in place well after dark or until her supply is sold.

The vendors do not make much money.  Most likely each will take home about $1.00 to $1.50 each day.  That is not quite as bad as it sounds as most likely, there is another source of income.  They provide good cheap food for the working men and women of Huê, as well as the students at the nearby teacher’s college.  These girls fuel up before taking a final exam at the end of the semester.

Hey – there are starving students in every culture.