My travel memory : Vietnam (Hanoi, Ha Long Bay)
Socialist country
During my trip in Vietnam, I had some chances to see its face of a socialist country. I was interested in how people had dealt with the conflicts between socialism and their greed, I am not sure this could be called capitalism. Four days trip was not enough to find the answer but I was satisfied with touching the culture to some extent. I didn’t know Vietnamese language and rules in a socialist country, so I joined a tour group. This essay was based on my trip in the late summer of later 2010s.
Hanoi
Heavy traffic on Friday night
It was evening when I arrived at the airport. Soon after feeling humid and warm breeze, I got on the shuttle bus. When the bus was entering central of the capital and waiting for the traffic lights, I found that our bus was surrounded by a lot of motorcycles. The spectacle of motorcycles crossing the road was overwhelming. It was like the migration of gnus. To my surprise, a whole family got on the same bike. Most cases, there were 3 or 4 people.
The tour guide told us that they were going to the beach after the work on Friday and they would swim in the sea from next morning. She also said that it was recently booming and meant people became afford to enjoy leisure. Then, I thought this night exodus implied the development of Vietnam toward dawn.
Road to Ha Long Bay
Our tour went down to Ha Long Bay from Hanoi. The bus was running on the highway. According to the guide, the road was not paved decades ago and bumpy. I sometimes saw a stand which sold something in long plastic bags on the side of the road. The guide told us that it was a baguette stand and lorry drivers often bought those. Vietnam and a baguette, it seemed intriguing combination. However, given this country is a former colony of France, it is natural. Other things bumped into my sight were skinny cows which were not for milk but for supporting cultivating the land, vast crop fields, and leaf cone hats. The hat is known for the symbol of Liberation Army of South Vietnam in Vietnam War. Agriculture is the main industry in this country and most of rice is exported to China, another sociologist country next to Vietnam. Unexpectedly, it is said that relationships between both is not good.
Defoliant and factory
On the way to Ha Long Bay, our tour bus stopped at the factory and its shop for a break. The factory was run by public organisation and hired disabled people. They had been disabled since their birth because their mother had been affected by the toxic defoliant in Vietnam War. They made elaborate crafts. But those were expensive and not my preference. It might have focused Chinese people.
Ha Long Bay
Ha long Bay includes thousands of isles in it. Each of isles has different size and shape and is monolithic. The rocky islands were covered with deep green plants. It seemed that they showed that they had been there for a long time.
According to the old folklore, when Chinese invaded Vietnam, the parent and child of dragon appeared and defeat them. At the same time, the dragons put out jewelleries from their mouths and they became each islands of Ha Long Bay. The bay was the den of pirates until a few centuries ago.
In the perspective of geography, the bay is on the limestone plateau which extends to Guilin in China. Certainly, the scenery of Guilin is similar to the bay.
Cruise
I got on the luncheon cruise to see around the bay. I enjoyed local seafood seeing the beautiful and magnificent landscape. While having lunch, the small boat was approaching to our boat. It was local fishing boat and the family sold fresh fish, shells, and crabs on the deck. I bought some and the chef of our boat cocked it soon. Those were much more delicious than the inclusive meal. I also landed one of islands where had a large limestone cave. The lighting in the cave was so colourful and it spoil its natural taste.
Electricity failures
The area had been developing for sightseeing and there was new amusement park which attracted many young people. Vietnam labour population had been increasing constantly. People consumed more electricity and it made the provision of electricity unstable. It could have cause a few electric failures at the hotel overnight.
Other miscellaneous things
Make a chicken
Our tour guide was a woman in 30s and told a lot about the daily life of common people in that country. All of the land was possessed by the government. People bought the ownership of the land for a duration. In most cases, the shape and size of the land was determined uniformly. The type of residential house was also regulated such as it had three floors.
The woman who would get married had better know how to make chicken meat from living one. The guide said she was not good at it and her step mother might not think well about it.
Bat Trang grill
Our tour visited the village where was known to traditional pottery, Bat Trang grill, and the workshop. We observed the process of making the pottery. The staff eagerly explained how it was difficult to put the colours on the surface and I was impressed and bought a few pot mats. After coming back to Japan, I found the same kind of pottery was sold in one dollar store. I didn’t know it already became common products.
