I was in Northern Vietnam (mainly Ho noi, Ha long bay, and Hua Lu-Tam Coc) for five days with mom, dad, and my older sister. it’s the first time that i went with a tour in 15 years, and i must say it (still) isn’t my style of traveling, but i can also see why it’s so attractive to people like my parents =).
There’re three things that really stuck in my mind after visiting northern Vietnam, and i’ll write about the sites a bit later.
1. Developing nations are crazy
2. Women work much harder than men
3. There is no fat Vietnamese and I am taller than many of them (now this is something to remember).
I’ve never been to China, so my view can be quite limited. When a country is developing at a fast rate, there are many infrastructure upgrades. When a city like Ha noi is booming, houses are being built everywhere, new roads, new businesses, and these all came with increasing demand of electricity. Of course their original transmission lines aren’t capable to handle the growing demand, so this is what happens:
In some places, extra cables are rolled up and hung at the pole for future use……….
Apparently every woman works very hard in Vietnam, but not all men work. We noticed many men gathering around Chinese chess boards and playing cards, and I was later told that they were gambling. There’re also many men who’re just doing nothing and hanging out. Women, on the other hand, work very hard. Observing their lifestyle reminds me of what Muhammad Yunus wrote in his book: those who’re so poor have found their ways to survive! They need no further training to learn skills to live! Vietnamese women are certainly like that. They sell everything they can find or make, and they will do anything to get that money they need to live. I’ll have one example here why women have to work harder there. Upon entry to a highway, there is a toll station where women sell tickets about 50m before the toll station, rain or shine, while a man collects those tickets in a toll booth.
This is a picture of women selling French bread by the highway.
Finally… I am taller (and fatter) than many vietnamese people!!!!!!!! I don’t have any prove but by how excited and happy I sound, you know that is true =).
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