Well, pristine beauty isn't exactly how I would describe the country. Vietnam does have a population over 90 million people. The length of coastline is comparable to the entire length of our west coast from San Diego to Cape Flattery, Washington. But the people are basically wedged within the thin area between the coast and the mountains. The density is beyond imagination, even within "country" villages. The economy appears strong right now. We saw construction everywhere. Construction debris is everywhere you can imagine, alongside the rivers and roadways, even in the countryside areas. The rivers appear to be largely silted and/or polluted. There is no apparent attempt to control pollution. They don't seem to have any concept about controlling litter. All of the roads that we saw are strewn with litter and overgrown with vegetation that has little beauty. Except in the few features where they take pride, there is absolutely no attempt at beautification of the landscape. The jungle vegetation in the mountains is too intense for me to see much beauty. The countryside that is relatively level is very largely farmed or used to dispose construction debris. There are muddy ponds everywhere that they use to care for their water buffalo. There seems to be a lot of new housing going up vertically to replace the small village homes, but aside from the new attractive buildings, the great majority of buildings are very badly cared for. They throw up a lot of structures that look like they were intended to be temporary, but have existed for years. It seems that they use every scrap of material until it is past the point of disintegration. Sadly, much of the mountainside around Da Nang is still scarred by Agent Orange.
There must be an over-abundance of food in the country. The farming is intense to say the least. Just about every square inch that isn't in the mountains is farmed for fruits, vegetables, livestock fish and rice. Even the small residential properties have gardens to grow vegetables. It seems that a large percentage of the population is employed to produce and sell food. Markets are everywhere. I mean the density of markets where every imaginable thing is sold is something to behold and there seems to be a steady stream of customers coming and going rapidly. The people are very quick and active everywhere they seem to be. It seems that every single stall is constantly busy with activity! I can't even imagine that much food can be consumed. I was commenting that there must be a super-abundance of food and there must be a lot that is wasted or fed to livestock, I suppose. They seem to take pride that everything they prepare is really fresh.
The roadway traffic is beyond belief and chaotic. Most people get around on motor scooters and their mode of transporting goods and materials by scooters is ingenious. There is a growing number of cars and the streets aren't necessarily built for cars. There is very little traffic signalization, even in the cities. The traffic just seems to flow like rivers without interruption despite the intensity. I marveled at the way traffic just seems to be fluid despite the chaos at intersections.
The weather was intensely hot while we were there. It is not a place that conveys an image of tranquility (it appears chaotic to westerners, I think) and it certainly isn't undiscovered. Tourism is certainly being embraced. There are mega-resorts appearing along the coastline. To a great extent, they don't speak English and they don't take any currency except their VTN Dong. It is definitely not an easy place for tourists. You take the country as it is, which is very rough form at this point.
Despite everything described, I can't imagine a more kind, gentle and friendly people. Smiles communicate their kind intentions. Sue was embraced by all of the women as if she were family for life. As my son says, their kindness is very sincere. They do not present a false image of friendliness as is done in other countries. I never felt that any of the people that we interacted with were anything but completely trustworthy. They also seem to put the past behind. I have a new family in Dong Hoi now and several of my new family were in the North Vietnamese Army during the "American War". One uncle told me (via translation) that they look to the future and do not hold resentment for the past. He was a distinguished gentleman, whom served in their military from 1965 thru 1985. We were in Dong Hoi for Eric's wedding ceremony to Huyen and, sadly, for the funeral of Huyen's mother, which unfortunately coincided. We spent a week with her family. It was a family experience that we will never forget.
