Chao Doc to Ha Tien
The bike riding today was pleasant but really hot. We spent most of the day on a road that was actually wide enough for two lanes of car traffic to pass eachother. Easier said than done with the bikes and scooters but possible. The road parallels a canal that is the border between Cambodia and Vietnam. Tomorrow we cross in to Cambodia. The canal has rice paddies on both sides and we saw the first hills of the trip. Ha Tien has a beach and is supposed to be a tourist destination for Vietnamese people.
I think I've talked a bit about the sights of this country, but to experience Vietnam, you must smell it.
As previously stated, Vietnam is still fairly primative in some ways. Most of the cooking done in the home is done over open flame or in a wood stove. Wood is expensive so they dry and burn everything they can. Coconut husks are often lying in frount of homes to dry along with fruit rinds. There is a fair amount of smoke in the air from the cooking fires.
There is the cigarette smoke and insence burning and smells of food cooking. There is the smell of drying fish. Exhaust is prevalent in the list of aromas (see previous blog about 2 stroke engines). There is the smell of damp air and water. There is also the occasional burning field or burning of weeds on the side of the road and the burning of garbage.
To say that Vietnam is polluted is an understatement. The growth of the country has far out stripped its infastructure. The people are very poor, the average income is around $1,375 a year. Very few people outside of the cities have plumbing. In the Mekong river, people have sewage from their homes piped into the river and then use the same river to wash their dishes and laundry. Because of the lack of garbage collection, there is a lot of litter. People are culturally not used to throwing things away and don't have a place for plastics and other non-compostable items.
The crazy thing is the attitude of the people. They seem very satasfied whith what they have since it is still so much more than what they used to have. During the Vietnam war people had nothing. No food, no nice clothing, no nice homes. Now people have nicer homes, scooters, cell phones, nice clothes. They are happy for what they have.
Jeff in a Vietnam Rest stop.
Others from the group enjoying the rest stop.
Rice paddies across the canal in Cambodia.
Hotel room tonight.
Cool looking pagota across the water.
I think I've talked a bit about the sights of this country, but to experience Vietnam, you must smell it.
As previously stated, Vietnam is still fairly primative in some ways. Most of the cooking done in the home is done over open flame or in a wood stove. Wood is expensive so they dry and burn everything they can. Coconut husks are often lying in frount of homes to dry along with fruit rinds. There is a fair amount of smoke in the air from the cooking fires.
There is the cigarette smoke and insence burning and smells of food cooking. There is the smell of drying fish. Exhaust is prevalent in the list of aromas (see previous blog about 2 stroke engines). There is the smell of damp air and water. There is also the occasional burning field or burning of weeds on the side of the road and the burning of garbage.
To say that Vietnam is polluted is an understatement. The growth of the country has far out stripped its infastructure. The people are very poor, the average income is around $1,375 a year. Very few people outside of the cities have plumbing. In the Mekong river, people have sewage from their homes piped into the river and then use the same river to wash their dishes and laundry. Because of the lack of garbage collection, there is a lot of litter. People are culturally not used to throwing things away and don't have a place for plastics and other non-compostable items.
The crazy thing is the attitude of the people. They seem very satasfied whith what they have since it is still so much more than what they used to have. During the Vietnam war people had nothing. No food, no nice clothing, no nice homes. Now people have nicer homes, scooters, cell phones, nice clothes. They are happy for what they have.
Jeff in a Vietnam Rest stop.
Others from the group enjoying the rest stop.
Rice paddies across the canal in Cambodia.
Hotel room tonight.
Cool looking pagota across the water.
Comments
Post a Comment