Leaving Hanoi

This is my last post as I am on my way home from Vietnam.

I have had a great experience here and I am looking forward to seeing everyone who may have been reading along with my adventures.

Vietnam has a very different and intriguing culture, and some beautiful scenery.
I hope to return to investigate the centre and South of Vietnam at some later date.

Best wishes to my friends at the Masters for Development Economics at the National Economics University of Hanoi, I hope to meet you again.

Seeyas!

The Vietnamese Constitutions 1946-1959-1980-1992

I am currently reading the Vietnamese Constitutions. It has been amended three times since its original form in 1946.

As Vietnam changes, the constitution can change. If two thirds of the National Assembly agree, they can amend the constitution.

It describes a one party system with socialist ideals, operating in a free market economy, where everyone is equal and can do whatever they like regardless of sex, ethnicity or religion. However, no one is entitled to act against the state, that's not on.

Its a very interesting read - it's got everything, war, heroes, glory, honour and evil henchmen. It really does mention evil henchmen.

Ho Chi Minh

Today I went to see Ho Chi Minh. He is embalmed and lies in state in a mausoleum in Hanoi.

No cameras are allowed. There is about eight soldiers guarding him, with machine guns.

After passing through the mausoleum you can wander through the Ho Chi Minh complex and museum, which includes the Presidential Palace and Uncle Ho's used car collection.

Lao Cai station

After leaving Bac Ha, I have to wait at Lao Cai for about four hours before the sleeper train leaves for Hanoi.

Lao Cai is 9km from the Chinese border. Quite a few people are hanging out waiting for the train. The sleeper arrives in Hanoi at about 6am.

Bac Ha Markets

Bac Ha markets is a bustling event. Every Saturday locals and ethnics from surrounding villages come to town to trade livestock, textiles and handicrafts.

The dominant ethnic group are the flower H'mong.


They sell embroidery as they wander through the crowds. You can see an example of their work in the bottom right hand corner of this picture.

Business in Sapa

The mountains of the area are terraced to allow rice crops. A typical day long guided trek takes you through paddy fields and through small villages. Pigs, chickens, and buffalo wander through the fields.

Our guide was a 17 year old local H'mong girl, called Lily. Children from the villages wait along the paths to sell you their handicrafts.

Black H'mong children

The children of the Black H'mong tribe are as persistant with their sales patter as they are delightful.



Only girls come to Sapa to sell their handmade goods. Small groups of little girls come with even smaller children strapped to their backs.

They generally speak excellent English, and can engage in conversations in English, Vietnamese, and French.

Trekking in Sapa

I have been having a great time in Sapa. It is very comfortable here as the town is dedicated to tourism.

The ethnic minority groups that live in the villages around here add local colour, as is evidenced by this typical market scene.




The main groups that come to the market at Sapa are the Black H'mong who are the largest ethnic group,



and the red Dao people. This tribe shaves their forehead and eyebrows and wear these striking red turbans.

Date error

Apologies for the date errors in the postings. There are new posts which have published out of order.

Cabbage disaster

Today I had a scary experience at the student canteen.

I asked the dinner lady to give me the cabbage dish. Some of the cabbage wasn't crunchy, it was the same colour as the cabbage but it had a rubbery texture and a honeycomb appearance. I feared it was not cabbage.

When I got back to the office I asked Thuc Anh what it was.

It was the lining of the stomach of the pig.

Martin Rama

Last night we went to the World Bank to hear the lead economist Dr Martin Rama give a talk about the Vietnam Development Report for 2006.

The three pillars of the report have been conducted over the past three years, first addressing a social concern - poverty, then an institutional area - governance, and finally the presentation last night addressed the structural area - business.

Massive household surveys have been completed to try to piece together what is happening in the informal urban economy and how to facilitate movement towards a more formal economy. This will require a more transparent banking system and access to finance.

It has been clear to me since I've been here that most business is conducted using a co-operative game strategy and the legal framework we use does not exist here.
The World Bank reports that most enterprise operates outside the legal system, and that incidence of reported crime is also very low.

However, corruption is rife in the policeforce, customs and land administration.

Dr Rama also stated that the banks do not have the skills to assess credit and there is absolutely no sophistication in financial products.

The survey concluded that Vietnam is no longer a 'poor' country, having made massive improvements since the economic reforms of the late 1980's.

The main reforms now required as a result of his findings were to move Vietnam to middle income status by reducing corruption, increasing healthcare, increasing access to finance and formalisation of legal title to land.

Malnutrition and the infant mortality rate

In a previous post I mentioned that one of the passengers on the boat in Halong Bay was a Iraqi pediatrician, (cousin of Shabu).

She was originally from Baghdad but has lived in Boston for many years, and regularly volunteers abroad.

I asked her about the staggering statistics quoted by the World Bank about child malnutrition (20%) and infant mortality under the age of five. (34%)

Her opinion was that the greatest problem is lack of education in early childhood care. Breastfeeding is not practised aggressively, and children are fed the same foods that adults eat, which is not always optimal for child health needs.

I still consider this is a symptom of poverty. This little guy minds the boat while his mother begs on the boat ramp.

Sapa

Tonight I travel to Sapa, on the overnight train.

It is a small mountain town near the Chinese border. Thuc Anh says, it is a very sensitive province. The people who live there are ethnic minorities such as the Dzao, H'mong, Tay and Thai people. There are quite a few different groups that are clustered together under the definition of Hill tribes. They are sometimes referred to as Montagnards which is French for Highlanders, apparently.

Phuong just came back from there and he confirms that the Hill tribes don't speak Vietnamese and don't like Vietnamese people.

Action plan for the MDE

Today is my last day attending the MDE.

I spent the last two days developing an action plan for them to use to continue work on the loans scheme. I've made a lot of good contacts and there is a lot of willingness in the AID community which supports the idea of development of financial services.

I hope they are successful and I hope to stay in touch with everyone I've met since being here.

I've enjoyed my time here and certainly had some interesting experiences. Volunteering is a really worthwhile way to make a contribution to others and learn about other cultures.

Tonight I take the sleeper to Sapa, a village in the mountains near the Chinese border.

Move over Les Mills

Apparently pre dawn aerobics is becoming popular in Hanoi.

I haven't made it to the park before 5am to join in the Tai chi, but now the women of Hanoi have discovered aerobics.

Not all the men approve, apparently.

This article says it all.

Good news for TV lovers in Vietnam.

The price of a flat screen has dropped by 25%-40% following the ASEAN free trade agreement. Now even low income earners don't have to put up with those curved screens anymore.

The article is here.

Elders Association

The Vietnam Elders Association met in Hanoi earlier this week to set their goals for 2006. One of their goals is to recruit more members. Another is for elderly people to enhance their household income.

The Elders Association works to serve the interests of elderly people.

The association has 6.5 million members, 8000 of them are over 100 years old.

World Bank Seminar

Tonight the MDE will host a seminar at the World Bank. The guest speaker is Martin Rama, an economist who will explain the World Bank Vietnam Development Report for 2006.

The focus of the report is going to be business. It follows from previous years where the governance and poverty were the central issues.

Vietnam still faces many constraints regarding business development. The lack of access to finance and poor infrastructure mean that small business means family business. There is a gulf between these small entrepreneurs and state run business.

I look forward to hearing what Martin Rama has to say about this.

Scenes around campus

This a picture of one of the reading rooms. Students pay to sit and read the books which you can see on the bookshelves. A lot of them are reading Manga comics, not their text books!



This is an example of an internet cafe on campus. I often do my blogging from one of these places. The kids seem to enjoy violent interactive video games. Groups of them hang out and play these games together as the computers are networked. There is much shouting and excitement when someone beats their friend. The cost is 2000 VND per hour, compared to my hotel where it is 36000 VND per hour.



The market operates next to the uni where you can buy food, ceramics, and clothing. These flower vendors bring the roses to market, each one individually wrapped in newspaper. They unwrap them for display and aren't they lovely!

OHS

I was walking to the bus yesterday past this building site adjoining the university campus. This type of bamboo scaffolding is pretty popular in Vietnam.



You can see one of the workers doing a spiderman impression climbing up and down the outside wall of this building. I am guessing Worksafe don't have much of a presence here in Vietnam.

Tax system

Chatting with the students in the computer lab about taxes, I learnt that no income tax is levied on earnings below 5,000,000 VND per month. This is approximately 300USD.

After this, 10% income tax is applied until earnings exceed 15,000,000 VND per month. The next bracket is 20% tax if your earnings are between 15,000,000 VND and 25,000,000 VND and continue up to 50% in 10,000,000 VND increments.

As many transactions are completed in cash, VAT can also be avoided.

The cultured pearl trade

There is a small pearl farm at Halong Bay which provides seed pearls for the tourist industry. Strings of pearls, earrings and bracelets are for sale at every tourist stop, and most of the boats have a keen saleswoman on board.

It's pretty hard to avoid the girls with the pearls.

Caves at Halong Bay

The boat stopped at a cave, called Hang Sung Sot. The display inside was done really well, complete with mood lighting in violet and red. The ceiling of the cave had a scalloped texture, it looked like something out of the seventies.

Halong Bay has several caves, entry to them is included in the entry fee to the Bay. Most tours stop at only one or two, and spend the rest of the time cruising around the still waters.

Halong Bay

My trip to Halong Bay was fantastic. The boat trip was very peaceful. Many private boats operate in the Bay. Our boat slept 16, and we had a mixture of people on board. Including an Iraqi pediatrician, a jazz pianist and three Filipina dentists.

After arriving in Halong City, we transferred to the boat and cruised around before stopping at the houseboats to buy seafood. After lunch we cruised a bit more before visiting a cave.

It was very fortunate that the visibility was good, the boats cruise quite close to the islands. There isn't any bird life so it is absolutely silent. The upper deck was open so it was the perfect place to observe and take pictures.



In the evening we cruised around as the daylight dimmed, and a light fog descended.

Show me the money

Fishermen live on houseboats in Halong Bay. The tourist boats stop at the houseboats so the passengers can buy fresh seafood. People on our boat bought crabs, squid and prawns which the cook prepared for their lunch.



This child is deployed by her mother to beg from the passengers. She rubs her fingers together and says, 'One dollar'.