Well tomorrow we float down the Mekong river towards the border with Cambodia. Before leaving Vietnam I thought I would write a more general post about some of the things I have learned about Vietnam. Here are some interesting facts. Vietnam is a socialist country, much of the population is very poor. The workers in the rice fields make about $200.00 a month. In general, health care is free or private ( a two tier system) the more you can pay the better care you get. Education is partly subsidized but high school is not free. University is both public or private. Our guide in Hanoi explained that all people strive to have some sort of business, to protect themselves with money so that they can leave Vietnam to go to elsewhere for better medical care or education if needed. The population of Vietnam is approximately 90 million people and the whole country is slightly smaller than Newfoundland and Labrador. Space is limited and this creates some interesting situations. Real estate is crazy expensive and the people all want to have road access, which means most of the buildings are tall and skinny. The family business is on the main level and they live above. In the city center of Hanoi or Saigon real estate can cost $300 000 dollars per square meter! The houses are all unique as are the street level businesses. Everything is all mishandle mashed together. It is not uncommon to see a restaurant next to a motor bike shop and a clothing store. The randomness of this is delightful and everywhere you turn there is something neat to see! Here is an example of the tall skinny buildings.
As you can well imagine, traffic is an absolute nightmare. There just isn't room for a whole bunch of cars and trucks. In fact, the tour vans get chased through downtown Hanoi by the police because they can cause traffic jams in the narrow streets! They are not allowed to stop and park for any length of time. Our guide explained to us that cars are triple the price they are back home and that the rich car drivers need to bribe the police to avoid fines and tickets. The majority of people here, scoot around on little motor bikes and scooters. There are an estimated 17 million motor bikes in Vietnam! 4 million in Saigon alone! Now this, is something that must be seen to be believed! I'll tell you these motor bikes can carry anything you can imagine and are a family ride! Officially, the law states a bike can only have 2 riders and they must have helmets. However, as our guide in Hanoi said " what is legal and illegal in Vietnam is same same!" Meaning, who cares about illegal! A regular bike costs between 1 and 2 thousand dollars and an Italian scooter will run between 2 and 4 thousand. I just couldn't resist, my people watching today consisted of getting some interesting shots of these drivers!
You can't really tell but this lady is nursing her baby while hubby drives!
This next guy is carrying a television set!!
This is a two in one! Flowers and groceries!
This guy has a new patio set strapped on his bike!!!
I had a fantastic time people watching and grabbing these shots :)
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Location:Bui Vien,,Vietnam
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