By Alexander Stram
May 21, 2005
We left Hanoi today to Danang, which, by recognizing it's history,
I expected to be much more adapted to the recent decision of
Vietnam to switch to a free market economy, from it's past
communist economy. Since Danang had been a part of South Vietnam
during the Vietnam War, which the US sought to defend, it had been
exposed to a capitalist economy in the past. I therefore expected
it to be much more on track with the free market economy, and
generally more developed than Hanoi had been, which had been the
communist capital of North Vietnam.
However, upon entering Danang's airport, we found a much smaller
airport than Hanoi, and certainly much less developed. Arriving at
our hotel, we found a relatively cheesy hotel, which was attempting
to boast all the features, such as a night club, spa, and diner,
but failed at doing so. The hotel reminded me of a run down Motel
6, a big turn from our hotel in Hanoi.
On our walk to dinner, I began to realize that Danang does not have
anywhere near the amount of tourism that Hanoi has; nearly everyone
on the streets was staring at us as if we had come from another
planet. Those selling goods street side jumped on the occasion to
sell these American tourists something, and often did not leave us
alone until we had refused them for several blocks of walking.
Their persistence often became annoying; it seemed as if these
people's lives depended on selling a few postcards today. It also
gave me a hint of while communism may have appealed to the
Vietnamese; without the community that comes with communism, the
people resort to beating out each other to survive.
At dinner, which turned out to be on a boat cruising the nearby
river, we were met with once again, a rather worn down environment.
Afterward, we headed to the nightclub next door to our hotel.
Inside, there were a few rather attractive women giving us looks,
which we soon learned were actually prostitutes, soliciting sex.
Apparently a prostitute in this area costs about 50,000 VND, or
$3.
This all served as a testament that while an area may not be
used to a new economic system, it is likely to do much better in
that system if it has things like tourism, than a place that is
adapted to that economic system but does not experience tourism.
Overall, this experience taught me how beneficial tourism is to an
economy, and gave me an insight as to why some would not favor
capitalism for their people.
May 22, 2005
Today our main events were a visit to Hue, and a French castle on
the side of a hill. Hue was of particular importance due to the
large battles that were fought there in the Vietnam War. However,
to my disappointment, our tour guide did not even mention the war.
She instead focused on the history of Hue before the Vietnamese
war, which was obviously a much lighter point of history for
Vietnam. This really shows that the Vietnamese have a "forgive and
forget" attitude about the "American" War.
May 23, 2005
Today, our main events was a visit to the beach. I was able to rent
a kayak for a mere $7, which I promptly took out into the ocean. I
did not need to sign any liability forms, and the owner of the
rental place did not seem to be in the least bit worried about me
getting hurt. This, combined with past experiences with dangerous
driving in Vietnam, and steep stair cases with no hand rails has
gave me the impression that there are very few lawsuits here. The
Vietnamese seem to have an attitude that many conservative
Americans have about liability; "if you get hurt, it was probably
because you were doing something dumb". They seem very laid back
about taking risks and treat people appropriately for their ages.
Not once have a had a Vietnamese look at me as if was young here,
and not once has a resident tried to help me when it was not
completely needed, which is something I greatly value.
May 24, 2005
Today our main events were a visit to the "granite
district", a hike to the top of "Water" mountain, a visit to a
number of museums, and finally lunch. The granite district was
right next to a high mountain, which is most likely the district's
source of materials. Inside some of the shops, we were able to see
workers creating sculptures from the slabs of rock. Considering how
cheap some of the sculptures were, and with no doubt that they were
hand made, we really learned how much more buying power Americans
have over Vietnamese. For example, at a later visit to a shop where
fabric was being made, we were told that one piece of artwork on
fabric that took one person "several months" to make, sold for only
$200. In a country where one only needs $30 a month to live,
certain goods that American tourists enjoy, such as a Coke, which
can cost up to $1 here, obviously bring a lot of light to the
Vietnamese economy, thus strengthening the role of tourism in this
developing economy.