KSV News: Short Round 048

Modern Vietnam- 9

South On The Lower East Coast To Saigon

Driving south on our last travel day from Cam Ranh to Saigon.  Still, so much to learn about modern Vietnam. Today’s lessons include the following observations:

– The North / South Main Coastal Road: Route 1 that we knew (and did not particularly love) is now primarily a four lane toll road identified as Alternate Route 1. This is a great example of socialism at its finest. They get a private company to build and improve the road and then allow them to charge tolls to maintain it. In the urban areas, the houses and businesses on each side of what used to be a single lane road have been relocated to allow for four lanes. Pretty much zero traffic except for commercial vehicles, which is probably the intent.

– Railroad: The Railroad bed that we used to love to hide behind, still exists as a single, narrow, gauge track.  Trains still run sparsely, but regularly. A growing economy cries out for heavy movers to circulate both goods produced, and raw materials. So far, rail has not been a major item of investment with the N / S Highway system and trucks carrying the bulk of materials and production.

– Windmills: thousands of them!!  And each windmill probably costs in the $2 million-$3 million dollar range.  Those that we saw in and around Khe Sanh were a minor investment compared with what we have seen driving along the coast of the south China Sea in South Vietnam. I will assume with just a little research that the density of windmill turbines is similar in North Vietnam. In addition to that, they have 47 offshore wind farms which produce even more power than the land based facilities.  When I say impressive, that doesn’t begin to describe Vietnam’s commitment to wind energy.

–  Energy: As impressive as the windmill farms are, close to 47% of the total energy has been provided by coal fired generating stations.  The country is focused on changing to natural gas as an alternative to coal.  And, as mentioned earlier, they continue to build impressive dams and other Hydro power generating facilities.  Nuclear power started with two Russian built reactors in the north.  This has been an on again / off again proposition. And nuclear does not seem to be the current focus of the government.  All along our travels, we see.

–  Energy Grid:  When you get to the more open areas along the coast, you see the impressive investment in north/south power lines. At present, most of the power runs from north to south.  With most of the power sourced from coal plants, then oil, followed by natural gas and Hydro. 15% is non-commercial, which probably contains a lot of solar projects.  One thing is certain, the amount of construction, both residential and commercial, will require that the energy producing sector stay ahead of the roaring demand.

Resorts:  it seems as though every picturesque section of the south China Sea coastline has a new or upgraded resort on it.  Vietnam is becoming a worldwide tourist destination. And developers have brought their money to the country to build and improve  the tourist market.  Not quite sure of the exact relationship between the government and the many tourism companies who are investing there to make this possible. The end result is a modern tourist destination at every opportunity along the South China Sea coastline.  Where you don’t have resorts, you will generally have fish farms.  The place is booming!

Housing:  As a former home builder in Northern Virginia, I thought I would be pretty comfortable watching the housing market develop in Vietnam.  Not even close! The volume, breadth and depth of housing currently under construction is beyond my wildest estimates.  One commercial estimate showed that there are over 400,000 residential units under construction now.  I think I saw all of them on the route return to Saigon.  The government turns housing construction on and off by issuing permits based on their analyses of what infrastructure is needed to support more housing.  But for certain, every permit is high as sold after by developers, the majority of which bring in offshore finances- new money.

Returning to the downtown Saigon oasis of tranquility that is the Majestic Hotel is a wonderful sensation.  Quiet, calm and old-fashioned manners. We have not had a single unpleasant human created moment in our trip.  But it sure is great to be back at this oasis before the rigors of travel back home.

We had one day before our night flight departure. We decided to visit the Cho Lon district of Saigon.  This is where the famous photograph of a VC being executed buy a pistol shirt to the head during Tet was taken.  The name Cho Lon means “big market” and it certainly is that.  The population is largely Hoa Chinese who fled Bien Hoa to there in 1778 after over 10,000 of them were massacred for their support of the ruling Nguyen Dynasty.

The maze of small alleys and streets remains remarkable.  Most of the shops are family owned with the family living someplace on the property. I assume that many families have invested their life earnings into their inventory, which is, honestly, primarily with junk and crap.  All the tourists want to negotiate prices which is an absolute joke for the shopkeepers. After that, you go to the wholesale market where prices are not to be negotiated. The first shopper we encountered in the wholesale market, was a gal steaming up with her interpreter to buy a purse.  Armed with her iPhone open to check prices in the rest of the world, and absolutely demand the shopkeeper lower his price.  All this for a counterfeit piece of junk.

We stopped at the Sea Goddess temple, which is a real-deal working temple and Confucian place of worship.  The Pagoda of the Lady Thiên Hậu is a Chinese-style temple. It is dedicated to Thien Hau, the Lady of the Sea, who was born in 1044 in Fujian Province, China. She is revered as a goddess who protects fishermen and merchants at sea. When the Chinese migrated to Vietnam, they brought this belief with them and built many temples in her honor.  Danielle lit two incense joss sticks for her recently passed parents.  Quite moving.

I wandered off and simply turned into an alleyway with daylight visible at the far, far end.  It could not have been more than 10 feet wide with two scooters barely able to pass. It had to be more than 500 yards long going from a main street to somewhere absolutely unknown. Every 10 or 15 feet along this alley there was a different shop with the whole family living out of sight in its back.  A young female shopkeeper had gold bands on her forearm, running from her wrist almost to her elbow. I assume this was her life savings. When our guide finally found me, he told me that it would be best to leave- very quickly!!  But I was really having a good time, smiling and acting stupid.

Our guide was another interesting part of the story. He was an ethnic Chinese, who was born in Cho Lon.  Like other Vietnamese teenagers, he was required to serve in the army for two years. We shared great stories and a few laughs about disassembling and reassembling our military rifles in the dark- his an AK and mine an M14.  He would have been a very worthy adversary and a squared away soldier doing his two year commitment.  And I was really impressed that he started our tour with a PowerPoint presentation on his iPad.  All self-taught.

Our departure flight is at 11 o’clock tonight, so we are back to the Majestic hotel for a final cold beer, possible dip in the pool and into a shower with solid brass fixtures.

SF

Bob Koury:  Website & Digital Manager

Sea Goddess Temple Offerings:

Danielle Parents’ Incense

Wholesale Market:

Cho Lon Vendors: