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| Hustle bustle of the streets in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) South of Vietnam |
Vietnam! Can't say I'm well travelled but I really do believe that there isn't anything else quite like Vietnam in the world! The thing that hits you is the traffic. People commuting and transporting all sorts of things on their scooters...it's amazing how well the traffic flows even though there seems to be no road rules.
This was my third trip back to Vietnam - the first in 2005, the second at the end of 2010 and most recently in November 2011. Sadly this recent trip was to accompany my mum to my grandmother's funeral. I can't say i was close to her all that much but it always hurts to see your family in pain. After all family is everything in the Vietnamese culture - if you were to even entertain the thought of taking for granted your family - you would surely hear no end to how you an ungrateful being.
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| I love this photo...drinks on offer on the wall, the bicycle the scooter - so Vietnam! |
I've grown to like Vietnam more and more as a country and come to realise the significance of this place for my parents especially. A lot of people love the tourist scene that Vietnam offers - but for me what I admire the most about this place is the absolute resilience that these people show. Despite the devastation that war imposed on this beautiful country, these people don't show any of the expected and certainly entitled emotions of such a horrific history. They don't feel entitled like so many of us do in the Western world - where we are honestly spoilt with comfort and stability. Vietnamese people really work hard, they don't have any resentment for the war that created so much suffering - they just get on with life and creating a better future for their kids.
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| A temple near Thu Duc a province in the South where my mum's family is from. |
It's each generations wish for the next - simply put a brighter and better future. That same thinking is evidently alive for the refugees who fled Vietnam to places like Australia. My parent's generation worked hard to pay for a good education so that we could build a better future for ourselves and our families. I guess the same can be said for refugees of the Vietnam war. Their mentality is there is no time for resentment because that time is better used to build and support the next generation and their future.
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| This photo was taken from the 3 floor balcony of my grandmother's house in Cho Lon where my Dad's family is from. |
Might explain why Vietnamese parent's have high expectations of their children. Because they have put their all into raising the next generation. I can only hope in some why that through the path I have chosen in life that I am able to give my parent's some sense that they have succeeded. Because when I think about the loss their suffered and the dreams that they might have had as youths themselves - I feel deeply saddened that they weren't able to fulfil some of their dreams - maybe to be a well educated professional with a world of opportunity.
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| Rain, rain, rain ... |
It's difficult to describe Vietnam. It's a beautiful place. Slightly tortured by its past but always focused on moving forward. It is a place where the poor are very poor. You can see it all around you everyone is just trying to make some money and working really hard.
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| Taken from our hotel balcony in Thu Duc - a patchwork of housing and development. |
The people are resourceful. They make what they can, grow what they can, sell what they can just to make ends meet. It's hard for me to talk it up per say. To say it was an awesome holiday...I just see Vietnam like that. Not with the links that I have to the language, the culture, the people. I just can't hide away in the tourist villas by the coast and be pampered and ignorant to the poverty.
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| I was so lucky to get this shot - just by chance i was standing on the road side when they came past. So not your cardboard carton of a dozen from the supermarket! |
Despite my sadness for these people...I know that they don't want me to pity them. I love striking up conversation with complete strangers on the side of the street. They always love talking! They love to know if what you do for a living, where you are from and the most commonly asked question - are you married yet? They don't really get the concept that in Australia people do wait to get married!
I love the people the most! Cheery and full of stories to tell!
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| Just love this photos! Nothing says tropical like bananas! |
