Vietnam | Hole In The Donut Cultural Travel

A New Way of Thinking About Trash

Published April 11, 2011 | By Barbara Weibel

Some years ago an elfin man approached me as I walked along a boulevard in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He could see I was puzzled and wanted to help. What did I need? Holding out my handfull of trash, I pantomimed dumping it, then shrugged my shoulders and swept my hand in a semicircle to indicate my search for a trash bin. He pointed to the street pavement. No! I shook my head. Yes! he replied with a nod. Springing forward, he grabbed the trash from my hand and threw it on top of a pile at the curb then, flashing a huge grin, turned on his heel and ambled away unconcernedly. Had it not been tossed upon a fetid, stinking garbage heap I would have picked it back up.

Trash on the street in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam

Later that same afternoon I came back to the same neighborhood after a day of traipsing around old Saigon and noticed a woman clad in a green smock and conical straw hat pushing a two-wheeled cart. Every few feet she stopped and bent to the asphalt with her hand broom of twigs to sweep up piles of trash and deposit them in her bin. The pile that had horrified me earlier in the day was long gone, and I suddenly realized that my trash was her job security.

Flash forward to 2010 and my four months of travel around Mexico. A beach bum from way back, I was stunned by the dazzling white sands and crystalline turquoise waters of the Yucatan. The beaches of Tulum and Playa del Carmen are among the most magnificent in the world. As I traveled further south to a largely undeveloped part of the peninsula, mile after mile of exquisite beaches stretched as far as I could see. Unfortunately, so did piles of rubbish. Shampoo bottles, shoes, needles, plastic containers of all kinds had washed up just above the high tide mark; where there were no houses or resorts there were no efforts to clean it up and in places the trash was a foot deep. At the southernmost point of the Yucatan I rolled into Xcalak, a sleepy town best known for its diving and deep sea fishing, and put down roots for a few days.

I brought up the subject of litter with the managers of Casa de Suenos Resort, who insisted that it did not originate in Mexico. Although some claim it comes from cruise ships that dump their trash at sea, current regulations for the cruise ship industry require weighing of the trash when ships return to port. Using available data about the average number of pounds of trash generated per person at sea, a formula is applied according to how many passengers were aboard. If the load is light, the cruise line is subject to severe financial penalties. The more commonly accepted explanation is that currents wash trash up from Central and South America and as evidence that the theory is sound, the resort manager produced a yellow hard hat he had picked up on the beach. Scrawled across the front were the words “Panama Canal.”

Trash on beach in southern Yucatan, Mexico

More trash on beaches in Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

For the past several months I have been back in Asia, where the problem is as severe as anywhere in the world. To a large degree I have learned to look past the garbage; though I still cringe each time someone leans across me to toss their trash out of a bus window, I find myself reasoning that even the plate is made from biodegradable palm leaves. Rather than being appalled, I am Continue reading →

Posted in Travel General |

Tagged blogsherpa, cultural travel, culture, garbage, Ho Chi Minh City, Kathmandu, Mexico, Nepal, Organic, Pokhara, recycling, rubbish, Saigon, trash, Vietnam, waste, world travel, xcalak, yucatan peninsula |

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How To Cross A Street

Published January 10, 2008 | By Barbara Weibel

It seems a simple thing, crossing a street. But my idea of how to get across a busy street in the U.S., whether on foot or in a vehicle, is significantly different from methods employed to cross streets in other places in the world. For example, take a look at this video showing a busy street in India:

Above YouTube video courtesy of SteveInSpain35

As I traveled around the world I was intrigued by the various means employed to cross a street. On my very first morning in Saigon, Vietnam I spotted a bakery across the street from my hotel. I stood at the curb for 15 minutes, waiting for a break in the monstrous traffic but the vehicles just kept coming. Just as I was about to give up, a local man stepped off the curb, walked out into the midst of the traffic, and slowly crossed the street as the vehicles weaved and darted around him. Eventually, I got up the nerve to try it and stepped out into the stream of traffic. Continue reading →

Posted in Travel tips |

Tagged Africa, cross a street, India, New Zealand, Singapore, Tanzania, Thailand, traffic, Travel, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe |

4 Comments

Three Words

Published June 4, 2007 | By Barbara Weibel

When I began this trip I decided I would select three words that best described each country I visited. Initially I was going to wait until the end of the trip and compile them all into one post, but I have decided to do this immediately upon departing each country, as the reasons for selecting those particular words will be fresh in my mind. So, here goes for the countries I have visited to date:

VIETNAM

Industrious (With the possible exception of Hanoi, people were bustling about everywhere I went – busy selling, buying, doing. Not surprising, since Vietnam is currently the fastest growing economy in the world)
Emerging (rather than poor)
Stuck (There is severe mistrust between the multitude of ethnic groups that inhabit Vietnam and abiding oppression of the non-Viet peoples by the government; there is distinct dislike between North and South Vietnamese – I heard over and over again from northerners that they wouldn’t want their daughters to marry a slow, stupid southerner and from southerners I heard repeatedly how northerners couldn’t be trusted; and there is severe corruption in the country at the government level. The result is that Vietnam is identity-less – the people themselves do not yet have a feeling for who they are as a nationality, much less a national identity. They are well and truly stuck.)

BALI:

Lush (Greenery and lush jungle was everywhere)
Spiritual (The most beautiful temples I have seen anywhere in the world)
Beautiful (A feast for the eyes in a small island that has such diversity – dense jungle, towering active volcanoes, colorful offshore reefs, and lovely beaches)

CAMBODIA: Continue reading →

Posted in Indonesia travel, SE Asia travel |

Tagged Around The World, Bali, Cambodia, New Zealand, Thailand, Three Words, Travel, Vietnam |

How To Make A Hanoiite Smile

Published March 27, 2007 | By Barbara Weibel

If not for a late plane today I would have left Hanoi believing that most Hanoiites are sourpusses. Instead, I spent two hours in a room full of locals, waiting to board the delayed flight to Saigon. With the exception of one vacant chair, the seats directly across from me were all filled with men – most of them dressed in suits and ties. At my back, a couple of rows away, a TV was tuned to one of those campy martial arts movies, with Vietnamese subtitles running across the bottom. Slowly, I became aware that all of these proper-looking men were watching this ridiculous movie. Some of them were openly and avidly watching it. Others were feigning only a casual interest, but it was obvious that they were hanging on every word. About this time, two tiny little girls from one of the duty free counters sat down together in the remaining empty chair and, holding onto each others’ hands, became transfixed by the program as well.

Only one man – his nose buried in a newspaper – seemed to have no interest. Suddenly I caught this guy surreptitiously sneaking glances over the top of his newspaper. His head didn’t move – just his eyes, as they rolled up and over the newspaper every few seconds, in an attempt to hide his interest in the movie. Little by little, each of the men began to chuckle at the antics in the movie. Soon they were laughing out loud and joshing with each other over the movie. I looked beyond my aisle and saw that, as far as I could see, every face was painted with a broad smile. Even the guy with the newspaper finally relented and openly watched the TV.

So despite the delay, by the time we got on the plane everyone was in a pretty good mood – me included. For a few moments I thought I was going to get lucky and be in a row with no passenger in the middle seat but it was filled at the last minute by a short man in jeans, a knit top, a baseball cap, and simple sandals. From his appearance I guessed he was a Continue reading →

Posted in SE Asia travel |

Tagged Around The World, Free Spirit, Hanoi, Humor, Travel, Vietnam |

2 Comments

Whole Lotta Screamin’ Goin’ On

Published March 26, 2007 | By Barbara Weibel

From the moment I arrived in Hanoi things got difficult. The taxi trip from the bus stop to my hotel on the day of my arrival was no more than a kilometer and the fare should have been around 8,000 Dong. Half way to the city center I glanced at the meter and saw it already said 90,000 Dong. I pointed to the meter, asking, “Meter say 90 – that mean 90,000 Dong?” (I’ve slid into the simple English spoken by the Vietnamese because it’s easier for them to understand). “Vuong (yes), 90,000 Dong,” he replied. I had warning of this – there are discussions of Hanoi’s rigged taxi meters all over Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree Forum. “Meter no work – you turn off,” I said sternly. “Vuong, vuong, 90,000 Dong,” he insisted. Although I had few options at 5:30 AM on dark, deserted streets with not another taxi in sight, I bluffed. I yelled, “You cheat me – I report you – you let me out of taxi right now!” “No – it OK – I fix,” he said. By the time we reached the hotel the meter read 108,000 Dong. We negotiated and I ended up paying him 50,000 Dong. Had it not been for the fact that he held my suitcase hostage in his trunk I would have simply walked away without paying him at all.

On Sunday I booked an all day city tour. Our first stop was supposed to have been the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum to view the preserved body of Ho Chi Minh. Uncle Ho, as they fondly refer to him, was the President of North Vietnam until his death in 1969. His embalmed remains have been lying in state since and there is a long queue every day to view his body and pay respects. Instead, our guide took us first to the Museum of Ethnology, which features displays and films on many of the 54 different ethnic groups that inhabit Vietnam. Interesting, but not what I had signed up to see – this stop wasn’t even on the itinerary. Just to be sure, I asked if we were going to the Mausoleum. After informing us that she was a new tour guide and politely asking us to “be sympathy for her” because she “is learn English,” she told us we would go to the Mausoleum in the afternoon. From that moment Continue reading →

Posted in SE Asia travel |

Tagged Around The World, floating fish farms, Free Spirit, Halong Bay, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, photos, taxi scam, Travel, Uncle Ho, Vietnam, Water Puppet Theater |

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Hanoi, City Of Contrasts

Published March 24, 2007 | By Barbara Weibel

If Saigon is the irrepressible teenager, then Hanoi is the genteel, elderly aunt. There is a strange energy about this city. Wherever I went, I felt a heaviness; an oppression. Stone-faced police are everywhere, standing around in groups. Whereas in Saigon smiles come easily, in Hanoi most people scowl. Hanoi residents in general are thicker-bodied and move more languidly than their Saigon counterpart – as if they are just going through the motions of getting through another day. Even the traffic here is more sedate. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but perhaps it has to do with an almost unbelievable corruption that permeates the north of Vietnam.

In the Old Quarter, one vendor offers live eels

For example, I have been traveling throughout the country using a company named Sinh Cafe. They’re a good company and come highly recommended by Lonely Planet, but there is a problem with the Sinh Cafe name in Hanoi. Sinh Cafe holds the copyright for that name from the southern tip of Vietnam, all the way to Hue. North of Hue, however, there are no copyright laws, so there are a total of 86 Sinh Cafes in Hanoi – 85 of them being copycats that regularly steal the money of clients who think they are booking with the real Sinh Cafe. Fortunately I knew about this ahead of time, because I passed four other Sinh Cafes on my way to the real one this morning to book a city tour for tomorrow and a Halong Bay tour on Monday.

After arranging these two tours I took a walking tour around the Old Quarter, snaking through impossibly narrow streets where vendors set up in the middle of the road, leaving only 18 inches or so on either side for pedestrians, motorbikes, and bicycles. You have to see this market to believe it. One lane was nothing but clothing. Another was fruits and vegetables. A third was fresh meat – huge beef and pork slabs were carelessly tossed out on wooden plank tables and freshly plucked chickens were suspended from makeshift roofs while flies buzzed around the carcasses. Yet another lane featured seafood of all types – huge live catfish swimming around in white porcelain pans bowls full of squirming live eels. Running water from hoses is continually pumped into the pans to keep the fish alive and the excess water overflows onto the narrow concrete walkway, making for slippery, treacherous footing,especially whenever I had to dodge a speeding motorbike. Continue reading →

Posted in SE Asia travel |

Tagged Around The World, Free Spirit, Halong Bay, Hanoi, Hanoi Hilton, Hoan Kiem Lake, photos, Sinh Cafe, Travel, Vietnam |