Odds and Ends from Ho Chi Minh City - January 2013

street crossing in Saigon is always dicey

9-23 park, New Year 2013

More stuff I've picked up on over the past few weeks that I thought might be of interest to you.

Here goes: 

A bit of history - 1944, the British Air Force flew a mission over Berlin with 769 planes dropping 2,300 tons of bombs.

Propagandist jailed - HCM City people’s court sentenced Ms Lo Thanh Thao 36, to 42 months in jail for dispersing anti-national propaganda. She scattering leaflets on 20 March in Binh Than district and 4 days later scattered more in front of several buildings in district 1.  Ngayen Thi Nhi a living overseas Vietnamese in the USA is said to have given her a cell phone. Laptop and $490.00 in payment to carry out the mission.

Visiting HCM City -  Three Chinese navy ships made a 5 day port of call to Saigon, a supply ship and two destroyers.   While in port they had meetings with the Peoples Committee and the high command of Vietnam's Military zone 7 along with athletic and social activities with Vietnamese military personal. 

Military buildup in Indonesia - In 2010 Indonesia started a military expansion program that would allocate 16.7 billion dollars for military equipment. Including  Sukhumi fighter jets, KT 1 Wong-bee trainer/Lt attach planes from S. Korea, Toucan anti-insurgency planes from Brazil, Leopard battle tanks from Germany and two billion dollars worth of on spec fighter jets from South Korea.

Suicide rate a national tragedy in South Korea -    33.5 people per 100,000 committed suicide  or 50 per day in 2010 in Korea.  To stem the tide CCTV camera have be installed to monitor know hot spots for suicide.  One of these areas is the Mapo bridge in Seoul where 96 of the 196 suicide deaths occurred in that city.  The pressures of success in academics and career achievement are the major forces pushing people to try suicide. 

Han Noi projects increase in textile exports -   Na Noi has targeted an increase in textile exports in the range of 18 - 19 billion dollars  equaling a 12 % increase.

Glut of real estate in ha Noi - According to a recent report by CB Richard Ellis at the end of 2012 Ha Noi had 20,400 apartments on the market, which in today's real estate climate would take up to four years to sell.   In 2012 real estate prices dropped 15% but in order to get the market moving they would have to drop 30-50%.  The major problem is the lack of affordability, personal savings of Ha Noi residents would only put  2% in the new apartment market.  Then with regard to available office space it would take up to 10 years to absorb the existing vacant properties. 

Auto sales slump in Vietnam -  Auto sales slumped to 26,000 units or decrees of  37%.  A proposed decrease of government fees to 10 % on new vehicles and 2 % on used if approved will stimulate the market.  This down turn in auto sales will affect Vietnam's state budget tax rolls by an estimated 2 billion annually.

Gun sales in the USA -  In 2011 gun sales totaled 66.3 billion.  With that much money involved it's no wonder the NRA is calling the shots (pun intended) in Washington.

Good eat -  Ban Ong is a Vietnamese treat made from rice, sugar and coconut.  This is available street side in Saigon's dist. 1, at the Phu Dong Tien Vuong roundabout on Nguyen Tri Street. 

 

cyclo guys staff meeting

new and older Saigon

  

That's all I got for now, but always thinking of you...  Doug

Vetjet Air is a new low priced air carrier and the first privately owned airline in Communist Vietnam, based in Ha Noi.  The airline spread it wings and took flight December 25, 2011.  Now with six A 320 narrow body aircraft and staffed with all foreign flight crews, it's flying seven domestic routes - Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Noi,  Hi Phong, Nha Trang, Hue, Danang, and Phu Quoc. 

The auspicious date of 10 February, Tet is also when Viet jet’s makes its first move into the international market, flying once daily to Bangkok, leaving HCM at 1120 and returning from Suvarnabhumi at 1355.  Projected regular fares to be in the $129.00 range compared to Air Asia, around $159.00.  However, Air Asia discounts all of its flights regularly and Vetjet according to the pricing on its web site will follow the same business strategy as discounts are available on its upcoming flights.

Just for reference here are some of the major carriers who also offer flights in the HCM City – Bangkok corridor:

·        Vietnam Airlines - 3 flights daily

·        Thai Airways – 2 flights daily

·        Qatar Airlines – 1 daily

·        Turkish Air – 1 daily

·        Lufthansa – 3 times weekly

·        Thai Air Asia – 3 times weekly

While these airlines are a bit pricey but all offer special pricing from time to time and their baggage policies are normally more flexible than the discounters.  I'm away for a long time when I'm in Asia so I'm packing lots and I've had the cost of my ticket surpassed by luggage fees on Air Asia. Also, if you want a pillow or a blanket it's an extra charge on the discounters and its all part of your ticket price on the majors. 

I'll drink to that - Christmas in Saigon photos (updated)

Seventeen Saloon

Christmas is a special time in Saigon, making for a merry, merry, night life in some of it's night clubs..  Two of the more popular clubs for foreigners are the Number 5 bar and the Seventeen Saloon.  While the goings on is not your traditional Christmas stuff but it makes for an eyeful and a cheery good holiday for any guy.  

Seventeen Saloon

\

Remember I'm always
 here for you!

                 
             

Random photos of Hong Kong, mostly of the harbor but water and boats are my strong suit.  I've got more photos on my desk top in California, so look for additional photos in a couple months.  

Hong Kong harbor

                                         

Downtown Hong Kong

Hurricane Hole Marina

Odds and ends from Ho Chi Minh City

Stuff I've picked up on in the past few weeks that I thought was interesting but of course it's up to you to decide. Please comment one way or the other.

Here goes:

Made an interesting find when I was exploring a little alley that takes of  from beside Baskin Robbins on Lee Loi Street. Wondering down the small alley I found it opened up to reveal a newish hotel named the Little Saigon Hotel.

5:00 am heading across town to catch an early morning bus down to the Mekong and see bunches of Vietnamese playing badminton and exercising under the street lights.

The other day I watch a motor bike delivery guy pull up on a Honda dream scooter with 12 cases of beer on board.

Made note of US defense spending of 633 billion dollars, probably old news but I think, don't you, that it's worth repeating.  Especially, as the US government attempts to slash more social programs to balance the budget.

With regard to government spending - China just opened a new high speed train line, 2,300 KM long (1,429 miles) running at an average speed of 300 KM hour (186 miles per hour). Adding to its existing high speed rail network of 9,300 KM (5,779 miles) since the start of construction in 2007. The total train line is expected to be in operation in 2020 with 50,000 KM (31,000 miles) operational. Oh ya, but do they have Amtrak or a proposed high speed link between Northern and Southern California.

On life and living from the Vietnamese government via the "Vietnam News"

On tourists - "Every month I am informed 6 or 7 tourists are stolen on domestic and in-bound tours"

What is destroying the housing market in Saigon - "Investors cannot sell cheaply because their costs are high". Now isn't that the truth.

About the pot holes and depressions in a new 50 Km (31 miles) highway

This was a six year project and the explanation goes "the highway suffers from pot holes and depressions caused by the rush to finish on time."

On the quality of life in Saigon - The quality of life is down due to Social evils, red tape and environmental issues. All so it was added that 58 % of the residents have an income in the range of 2 - 3 million dong a month ($95-140.00 us). Workers are between the ages of 18 - 40 and normally, at 40 are dismissed from their job because they are worn out and in bad health. With no social services and probably no savings I can see where this might darken a person’s mood as you looked toward the future.

On Blogging in Vietnam - The founder of the Freelance Journalist club web site and blogger Nguyen Van Hai (60) was resenteced to 10 years in prison and on release 3-5 years of probation. Along with Mrs.Ta Phong Tan(42) who drew a 10 year term with also 3 - 5 year probation on his release. Also Phan Thanh Hai (42) was sentenced to 4 years. There sentencing was based on Clause 2, article 88 of the 1999 criminal code - conducting propaganda against the state - per the Vietnamese government.

                         
                           That's all I've got for today.
                                       Doug

                                              

 

farang get an instant status upgrade

In Thailand, farang get an instant status upgrade-

from the opinion page of The Nation

January 6, 2013
 

Western expats always complain bitterly about dual pricing, noise and air pollution, dangerous driving, unscrupulous cabbies, crooked police, no English commentary on the World Cup, feral dogs, etc, but they stick around. Why?
Generally, Thais respect Westerners. Thais are friendly, polite and helpful to them, so they feel important. But why do Thais look up to them?

When the Europeans arrived in Ayutthaya some 500 years ago, they brought with them fancy ships, cannons, telescopes, matches, compasses, pocket watches, personal firearms. The Siamese were entranced by those gadgets. The Europeans were welcomed by the King himself. They stood erect to the King and they talked to him face to face, something unimaginable to the Siamese. The only privilege the Siamese ever had was prostrating themselves before their king with their noses touching the ground. Thus, they felt Westerners and their King were of the same rank. The attitude has been passed along for generations. Later, in the 20th century, Hollywood, Elvis, the Beatles, Rolls-Royce, Mercedes Benz, Ferrari, the Apollo project and Coca-Cola added more prestige to Westerners.

But expats always rationalise their being here. They say they stay because they care. They say they bring money, jobs, technology, and we should be grateful. They won't admit they like Thailand because here they are somebody. In their countries they may be an average Joe, but here they are Mr Joe, the wonderful husband of a Thai woman, or Ajarn Joe the English teacher, or jovial uncle Joe who loves kids. And I haven't mentioned the low cost of living, cheap sex and drugs, and the Thai culture of "anything goes".

That's why Westerners love to stay in Thailand.

Meechai Burapa

Chiang Mai

 

 

  

 

 

 

Strange day

Saturday morning - 12/8/2012 Saigon   

 

Woke to the quiet in my room, that is, other than the normal random noise from the alley.  Sounds of people getting their day on, food vendors, the ever present motorbike sounds - horn beeps and buzzing engines charging past under my window.

 

Soon to find the quiet in my room was due to a power outage  silencing the drone of my ageing air-conditioning unit. 
 

Showered in the dark, skipped the shave, just too dark to see what I was doing and dressed.

 

The night before I’d had 3 or 4 rum and cokes, no hangover this morning but had this funny feeling in my stomach I often get.  As an experiment recently I’d given up rum and cokes for a couple weeks and my stomach improved.  Does that mean I need to give up the rum? Anyway for years I’ve had this problem, even before my daily rum but all kinds of tests in the states and over here give no conclusive results.  So I take Gaviscon, chew gum and exercise for relief. Even a few rum and cokes at times seem to take it away but the next day its back with a vengeance.

  

However, I’ve been thinking that the old school pho I’ve been breakfasting on, while tasting so good, might also be part of my stomach problem.  So this day I went in search for a stomach healthy food to breakfast on and found a tourist style restaurant offering a yogurt parfait, croissant and an iced coffee. Oh, by the way the change in breakfast didn’t make any difference in the way my stomach felt. 
 

Wondering if the power is back on in my room and wistfully thinking about a more upscale place where they had a backup generator.
  
Make the walk back to the room, still no air, so drag out one of those little plastic chairs and site  in the alley and wait. Really, overall not all that strange, just another day in Saigon.

  

The Mekong Rivers floating markets.

In Can Tho head over to Ninh Kieu Quay, the river front area, its land marked by the gigantic statue of Ho Chi Minh. As you look past Ho and down the river front you’ll see the larger tourist company boats tied up. Closer to you you’ll see a few small long tail boats pulled up to the shore and these are what you want.  Though, probably at this point even if you don’t see the boats the independent boat operators will have found you. I used a lady by the name of Huong. She was friendly, cute and gave me good couple hour tour of the Mekong and channels around Can Tho on day one. Day two was a long one, spent 7 hours on the river and visited Cai Rang and the Phong Dien floating markets. 

As far as what the cost is for hiring an independently run boat, bargaining is required but the bottom line should be around $ 7.00 an hour. However, like any transaction in Vietnam, make sure you have an agreed up on price before you set foot on the boat and pay when the trip is finished. 



A couple things about the floating markets, you need to get an early start and I'm talking 5:30 early. Vietnamese are up early and do their marketing first thing in the morning and the boat trip from Can Tho is an hour or so to the closest market and two plus hours to Phong Dien. So if you lolly gag around in Can Tho and arrive at the market late morning, you just might miss out. After all the floating markets are just that and its boats are free to come and go at will. Lastly you need an early start to get a jump on the Saigon based tour buses and the hordes of tourists disgorged into large tour boats over running the markets.

If you’re a fan of boats and enjoy time on the water like me, you'll find the Mekong, its people and boats plying its waters mesmerizing. The floating markets are interesting but being part of what's moving on the river is the real trip. Things like the floating gas dock where our boat lady bought a liter of gas in a reused plastic soda bottle. 

The soup lady at Cai Rang market ladling out hot soup when her boat leached and the hot liquid poured over her hand, only to wince and refill the bowl and pass it over to the boatman. Tough people these Vietnamese are. While visiting the markets it boats supplied us with great tasting iced coffee, had bowls of really great tasting soup, shared a fresh pinnacle prepared by a passing boatman with a very large knife and shared a lot of smiles.  

While in one of the cannels, Huong chopped a palm prong off of a water side plant, striped the outside away and fabricated an adjustable bracelet for me as she ran the boat. 

Then Can Tho comes back in view, she noses her boat up to the bank, ties a line, hops ashore and reaches her hand out to help you scramble up the bank and your land based again with uncle Ho smiling down on you.




As always, your hero is here
for you

On the bus to Can Tho, Mekong Delta

my bus

That mighty Mekong River is calling. So I'm heading down to Can Tho, one of the major cities in the Mekong region. Once there I'll check into my hotel and head across town to Ninh Kiew Quay looking for a small long tail boat to hire for some day tripping on the river. 

Spring Hotel, Can Thao

I'm overnighting at the Spring Hotel in Kuan Khanh ward, probably not the best chose, not because it's a bad place but it's location is a long way from the water front area where the boats tie up. The Spring Hotel is a small, quirky kind of place with a friendly owner/manager who not surprisingly is a bit quirky herself. Her quirkiness combined with her exuberant but limited English skills can make for some very interesting and confusing conversations. There room rate is $ 22.00 a night which gets ya a clean and quiet, air-conditioned room, cable TV, an in-suite bathroom with hot water and a bathtub/shower combo. 

Many visitors in Saigon when they decide to visit the Mekong head over to the Pham Nu Lao backpackers area and sign up for one of the inexpensive package tours offered by one of the many travel agents in the area. These trips are an efficient chose and are no brainier means to get a look at the Mekong.

and your seat on the bus

However, it's possible to travel independently also at a modest cost and leave the herd behind. You start by booking your own transport out of HCMC. In this case I booked an 110,000 dong ($5.30 us) ticket on one of Phuong Trang's spiffy Orange buses. Bus's headed south from Saigon, which would be the Mekong Delta, leave from Men Tay bus station ( Ben Xe Mien Tay) every hour or two.  

Ben Xe Mien Tay 5:30 am

Once away it's about a three and a half hours to Can Tho. Though, for me I also had the travel time to motorbike over to Phuong Trang’s remote bus station on Le Van Luong Street, district 7 where I picked up my ticket and then they shuttled me over to Ben Xe Mien Tay. Once at the bus station there was about a 20 minute wait before boarding and so in total my travel time was about four and a half hours. You can also take city bus # 2 from dist 1 to Ben Xe Mien Tay, either from the bus station across from Ben Tham Market or flag a bus down on the street by Zen Plaza. It should say Ben Xe Mien Tay on the bus but you never know so always look for the number. Bus fare is 4,000 dong, or about 19 cents US. Of course for those less adventurist souls there is always the taxi. 

alfresco coffee bar

My 20 minutes waiting at the station was spent mostly worrying about the bus leaving without me as all the announcements are in Vietnamese.  So to loosen up my mind I wondered over to the alfresco coffee bar, plopped down into those weathered and gritty, plastic lawn chairs and slid it up to a matching decrepit table, careful not to disturb two dogs sleeping underneath and gave them a little kick to make sure that they really were sleeping and not dead. Even with the half light of the unknown to me time of 5:30 am the eating area looked like the poster child for food borne illnesses. So passed on the noodle soup and went for a 17,000 dong, Vietnamese iced coffee (ca phe sua da) and a fresh loaf of French bread out of loosely, packed plastic bag from a passing bread vending lady and headed over to stand around by what I thought might be my bus. 

Phoung Trang buses offer a comfortable ride which is helped by the good job Vietnam does of taking care of this stretch of main road. After all, this route is where most of Vietnam's rice, vegetables and fruit grown in the Mekong heads to Saigon and points north to keep the nation fed. 

morning in the Mekong 1

morning in the Mekong 3

morning in the Mekong 2

Made a stop in Ben Ze Vinh Long but just long enough to drop off and pick up passengers and then stopped for a 15 minute break at Phuong Trang's facility, an hour or so from Can Thao. We pulled out of Ben Xe Mien Tay in Saigon at 6:10 am and arrived at the station in Can Tho at 9:30 am.  From the gaggle of motorbike taxi’s I hired one to get me over to my hotel, dropped my bag in the room and head back out and across town to the water front looking for a boat to hire. Good trip so far.

 

As Always your hero
is here for you.