Feb 21 Cruising the South China Sea

A day of rest. Gary went to gym this morning and hurt his back. Hopefully he will be better tomorrow. There is a fresh breeze which is a big relief after the heat of the last week. All week we have been in temperatures of 35C and over with high humidity. Thank heavens the buses have all been air conditioned and carry lots of cold water. Most buildings are not air conditioned and it sounds like very few houses are.

Impressions of Vietnam: 
Still a lot of poverty but we didn’t see people begging, the same in Thailand. There were lots of street vendors selling polo shirts, watches, postcards – the usual stuff.
The motor bikes are overwhelming, they seem to take endless risks both in their driving habits and in what they pile on the bikes. The cadillac of motor bikes are the Japanese scooters. There are a lot of Chinese built bikes as they are the cheapest. Our tour guide was very proud that he had recently been able to afford to buy a new Honda.

At least half the people on the bikes wore bandanas to covert their mouth and nose. Mostly for protection from the pollution, most wore helmets. The law requires the wearing of helmets and most adults comply, but they often had their kids on the bikes with them and no protection. We often saw families of four on the bike, some of the smaller children would be standing especially in front of the driver. A few times we even saw women with a small baby in their arms. We saw many close calls but no accidents.

The main streets of Saigon are well laid out. Large boulevards with a green space down the middle, also a number of small parks scattered around.

Average wage is $400 per month in the city and around $200 in the country. Jobs in the tourist trade, government and for foreign companies pay the best, around$1,000 per month. Cheap bikes sell for $500 and Japanese bikes for $2,000 ($1,000 used).

All land is owned by the government but people can own their houses. In the city they pay by the square meter about $3,000 for one square meter. Most workers live in the suburbs. Rent for an average flat in the city is $1,500 per month, so need two wage earners to afford to live in the city.

One difference we noticed is the horns and noise in the city. Very different from Thailand. Also Saigon is very dirty with trash everywhere.our guide said they sweep the streets every night, but I find that hard to believe.

Most of the population is Buddhist with about 5% Muslim. Both Vietnam andThailand are considered safe for tourists and I certainly felt we could have wandered around most places on our own. Like most large cities in the world we were cautioned about pick pockets and were advised to take off any jewelry.

They do believe that if they get to North America they will be rich. Relatives that emigrate send money home to help support their family here and it sounds like that creates some problems as the people here then think they don’t have to work. The young families are smaller now and parents want to ensure their children go to school.

The medical sounds very bad. Few hospitals, crowded, few doctors, no nurses. There may be 30 people in a room with 10 beds. Family members have to stay with the sick to care for them. The family sleep under the bed while three patients may share the bed! There are some god hospitals in Saigon but as the medical care is not free most people can’t afford these hospitals. They often cant afford any care.

Seventy percent of the land is still forest and it is quite mountainous.

The people are tiny, especially the women. We are giants by comparison. We often see people in traditional dress, conical hats. A lot of the women wear scarves over their faces, gloves, long sleeves, long pants or dresses. They want to have pale skin and go to great lengths to avoid the sun, I can’t imagine how hot they must be.  Most people appear well dressed. Did see a lot of men smoking, not many women.

Speaking of dress, I missed the memo about the dress code on the ship. All the brochures call for country club casual – for a lot of the women that meant Jamie Saddock (a designer of womens golf wear). I missed that boat! With the amount of her designs on board she could open a store.

Schooling is a big issue for young families as they see that as the wY for their children to get ahead ( and subsequently support them ). Primary schooling is free, high school and college/university is not free. By our standards it is cheap at $2,000 per year for tuition but parents have to be diligent to be able to afford it.