6 May 2006
The ability to travel as a commodity of wealth
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/6/2006 1:30 AM
Categories: Commerce in Vietnam
It was not until my second visit to Vietnam that my wife Heide brought to attention the notion of "travel as wealth." At our hotel in Saigon, I had been talking to a fellow ex-patriot American traveling in Asia. He was a public school teacher. I was complaining that the street vendors, taxi drivers, cyclo (three-wheeled bicycle taxis) drivers, and wheeler-dealers would ignore my insistence that I was just a blue-collar poor American traveling on the cheap. The vendors would still hound me for a dollar's worth of business. "Look at us." My wife and the teacher seemed to conclude at once. "By the very fact we can leave our homes for two weeks implies a type of wealth." And so I added, "Of course - the intangible wealth of free movement." It is a freedom we Americans take for granted until we can contrast our situation first hand with another culture like the Vietnamese. So even though my pants were dirty, thin, and were beginning to fray, I was considered a wealthy American to the Vietnamese.
I think often about the doorman at the Rex hotel in downtown Saigon where I would go to catch a taxi or to cash a traveler's check now and then. Even though I did not stay there (it is an upper-end place even by Western standards) he always opened the door for me no matter what disrepair my cloths or appearance had become after a day of exploring the endless abyss of streets in Saigon. I am reminded of a fancy hotel in Dallas where I was once asked to leave by the doorman. All I had wanted to do was see the elaborate design of the inner foyer.
Saturday, May 6, 2006
Friday, May 5, 2006
Prolific businesses, cafes, and shops - not America
5 May 2006
Prolific businesses, cafes, and shops
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/5/2006 1:230 AM
Categories: Vietnam Commerce
Busy, busy, people - as a first impression
Everywhere I traveled in old South Vietnam I came upon little shops and cafes. There are open markets everywhere as well. Now days it seems like a land of abundance. I understand that after the war this was not the case. In Saigon there are bigger stores, even some supermarket type businesses. I realize the people work everyday - from sunup to sundown. And, I notice many people have several gigs going on either at once or they finish one job and go to another. There does not seem to be much regard for what we Americans worry about as weekends. Work continues everyday. The women who work in the small hotel in Saigon were I stay at rotate shifts all day. The hotel, as does the town as a whole, only go silent from about midnight to five in the morning. The hotel women and girls sleep in the kitchen.
Who are the real capitalists anyway?
Immediately, on walking the streets of Saigon, I began to feel a bit sad. I feel bad for the hours of work so many seem to be toiling away at but something else begins to dawn on me. The streets are bustling everywhere from morning to dark. And when I thought of my stuffy midwestern town in America I feel even stranger. I draw a contrast in my mind of the seemingly impotent silent downtown streets of my Wisconsin town (many vacant buildings) verses the veracious business environment in Saigon streets and other Vietnamese cities. If they don't have the product you want, a complex system of networking will emerge to find what you want. Relatives, friends, and competitors will be summoned to accomplish the sale. Even villages in the jungle have an entrepreneurial enthusiasm that seems to shame my Midwestern homeland. I couldn't stop wondering who the real capitalists are - we Americans or the Vietnamese. At least at the grass roots level, I will never look at my sterile, quiet down town streets in my Midwestern home the same again after maneuvering the commerce crazed streets of Saigon.
Prolific businesses, cafes, and shops
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/5/2006 1:230 AM
Categories: Vietnam Commerce
Busy, busy, people - as a first impression
Everywhere I traveled in old South Vietnam I came upon little shops and cafes. There are open markets everywhere as well. Now days it seems like a land of abundance. I understand that after the war this was not the case. In Saigon there are bigger stores, even some supermarket type businesses. I realize the people work everyday - from sunup to sundown. And, I notice many people have several gigs going on either at once or they finish one job and go to another. There does not seem to be much regard for what we Americans worry about as weekends. Work continues everyday. The women who work in the small hotel in Saigon were I stay at rotate shifts all day. The hotel, as does the town as a whole, only go silent from about midnight to five in the morning. The hotel women and girls sleep in the kitchen.
Who are the real capitalists anyway?
Immediately, on walking the streets of Saigon, I began to feel a bit sad. I feel bad for the hours of work so many seem to be toiling away at but something else begins to dawn on me. The streets are bustling everywhere from morning to dark. And when I thought of my stuffy midwestern town in America I feel even stranger. I draw a contrast in my mind of the seemingly impotent silent downtown streets of my Wisconsin town (many vacant buildings) verses the veracious business environment in Saigon streets and other Vietnamese cities. If they don't have the product you want, a complex system of networking will emerge to find what you want. Relatives, friends, and competitors will be summoned to accomplish the sale. Even villages in the jungle have an entrepreneurial enthusiasm that seems to shame my Midwestern homeland. I couldn't stop wondering who the real capitalists are - we Americans or the Vietnamese. At least at the grass roots level, I will never look at my sterile, quiet down town streets in my Midwestern home the same again after maneuvering the commerce crazed streets of Saigon.
Na Trang, Vietnam
5 May 2006
Na Trang, Vietnan
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/5/2006 9:41 PM
Categories: Urban scenes in Vietnam
Na Trang, Vietnan
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/5/2006 9:41 PM
Categories: Urban scenes in Vietnam
Taken from a Buddhist temple on the hill overlooking the edge of Na Trang. Photo by Heide Keith
Da Lat, Vietnam - urban scenes
5 May 2006
Da Lat, Vietnam - urban scenes
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/5/2006 1:30 AM
Categories: Vietnam - Urban Scenes, The many sides of Da Lat - Vietnam
Photo by Heide
Photo by Heide Keith
Photo by Heide Keith
Street scenes from Saigon, Vietnam
5 May 2006
Street scenes from Saigon, Vietnam
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/5/2006 1:30 AM
Categories: Vietnam - Urban Scenes
All pics by Heide
One more picture pending from achieved files
spill over to street
gin pole roaster
narrow gem of a street
pork chops to die for
fish market
Street scenes from Saigon, Vietnam
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/5/2006 1:30 AM
Categories: Vietnam - Urban Scenes
All pics by Heide
One more picture pending from achieved files
spill over to street
fish market
The rural-scape around Da Lat, Vietnam [Da Lat tree-scapes]
5 May 2006
The rural-scape around Da Lat, Vietnam [Da Lat tree-scapes]
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/5/2006 9:00 PM
Categories: The many sides of Da Lat - Vietnam
These three rural photos could just as easily be scenes from rural Wisconsin, yet they are in the middle of the what we Americans knew as the southern part of Vietnam. Few scenes in the media during the war or movies after the war look like these photos. These are all in and around the mountain town of Da Lat (you could say high lands - mountains, highlands, or something in between).
All photos by Heide Keith
The rural-scape around Da Lat, Vietnam [Da Lat tree-scapes]
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/5/2006 9:00 PM
Categories: The many sides of Da Lat - Vietnam
These three rural photos could just as easily be scenes from rural Wisconsin, yet they are in the middle of the what we Americans knew as the southern part of Vietnam. Few scenes in the media during the war or movies after the war look like these photos. These are all in and around the mountain town of Da Lat (you could say high lands - mountains, highlands, or something in between).
The above photos are in a strange little corny and hokey park called The Valley of Love. There are Vietnamese guys dressed like cowboys wandering around. They are suppose to add character I guess.
All photos by Heide Keith
Monday, May 1, 2006
Bob and Heide in Saigon, Vietnam - August 2005
1 May 2006
Bob and Heide in Saigon, Vietnam - August 2005
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/1/2006 1:30 AM
Categories: Pictures from Vietnam
This picture was taken by one of our motor bike drivers outside the big Chinese market in Saigon. Inside the buildings the vendor stalls are packed together tightly and the vendors seem like they are so crowed. The outside picture does not capture the inside economic frenzy going on in the main and adjacent buildings.
Photo courtesy of Heide Keith
Bob and Heide in Saigon, Vietnam - August 2005
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/1/2006 1:30 AM
Categories: Pictures from Vietnam
This picture was taken by one of our motor bike drivers outside the big Chinese market in Saigon. Inside the buildings the vendor stalls are packed together tightly and the vendors seem like they are so crowed. The outside picture does not capture the inside economic frenzy going on in the main and adjacent buildings.
Photo courtesy of Heide Keith
Wisconsin, Germany, or Vietnam?
1 May 2006
Wisconsin, Germany, or Vietnam?
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/1/2006 1:30 PM
Categories: Vietnam - Urban scenes
Wisconsin, Germany, or Vietnam?
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/1/2006 1:30 PM
Categories: Vietnam - Urban scenes
We were taken aback when we came out of the long drive in the mountains to this scene of Da Lat. It looks like it could be a town tucked in the hills of Wisconsin. For me, having lived in Germany for three years, it also looks like a village in the hills of Bavaria. Photo by Heide Keith.
Back streets of Vung Tau, Vietnam
1 May 2006
Back streets of Vung Tau, Vietnam
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/1/2006 1:30 AM
Categories: Vietnam - Urban scenes
Back streets of Vung Tau, Vietnam
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/1/2006 1:30 AM
Categories: Vietnam - Urban scenes
This is a back street in the coastal town of Vung Tau. It is a departure from the bustling streets of Saigon. Photo by Heide Keith
The back panorama of Da Lat, Vietnam
This is one of Heide's favorite scenes from Vietnam. The city rims a bowl of agriculture. If the picture could be panned out more, you could see we and the fields are pretty much surrounded by city. Also rather hidden is the reality that the whole scene is up in the mountains. Photo by Heide Keith
Who invented what?
1 May 2006
Who invented what?
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/1/2006 1:30 AM
Categories: Vietnam's biggest - best - original - first
It does not take long to realize that origination of some things in Vietnam are hotly contested. The other First Original Banana Split Cafe is across the street. I belive this was in Na Trang. Photo by Heide Keith
Who invented what?
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/1/2006 1:30 AM
Categories: Vietnam's biggest - best - original - first
It does not take long to realize that origination of some things in Vietnam are hotly contested. The other First Original Banana Split Cafe is across the street. I belive this was in Na Trang. Photo by Heide Keith
The author taking a break in Eastern Saigon
The author taking a break in Eastern Saigon
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/1/2006 1:30 AM
Categories: Vietnam -pictures from
One of my favorite places is on the east side of Saigon on the other side of the river. It is a departure from the Westernized main city and its big modern buildings and breakneck commerce pace. But, the roads on the other side of the river are mostly unpaved and my driver's motor bike tire picked up a nail. Never fear - there is a cafe every 25 yards in many places. Likewise, there is a repair shop every 25 yards as well. If one has a couple plastic kindergarden chairs, a stump for a table, and a cooler full of Coca-cola you have a cafe. If you have an air pump, a tire repair kit, and a screw driver you have a motor bike repair shop.
My mini DVD camera was giving me trouble the whole trip so it never bothered me to have an excuse to stop and put it back together again. In the picture is a shady tree, a river view, a small chair, a class of Coca-cola, a tree stump for a table, and my driver's cigarettes - the consumate Vietnamese cafe. Photo by Heide Keith
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/1/2006 1:30 AM
Categories: Vietnam -pictures from
One of my favorite places is on the east side of Saigon on the other side of the river. It is a departure from the Westernized main city and its big modern buildings and breakneck commerce pace. But, the roads on the other side of the river are mostly unpaved and my driver's motor bike tire picked up a nail. Never fear - there is a cafe every 25 yards in many places. Likewise, there is a repair shop every 25 yards as well. If one has a couple plastic kindergarden chairs, a stump for a table, and a cooler full of Coca-cola you have a cafe. If you have an air pump, a tire repair kit, and a screw driver you have a motor bike repair shop.
My mini DVD camera was giving me trouble the whole trip so it never bothered me to have an excuse to stop and put it back together again. In the picture is a shady tree, a river view, a small chair, a class of Coca-cola, a tree stump for a table, and my driver's cigarettes - the consumate Vietnamese cafe. Photo by Heide Keith
Heide in Saigon, Vietnam - August 2005
1 May 2006
Heide in Saigon, Vietnam - August 2005
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/1/2006 1:30 AM
Categories: Vietnam - pictures of
Heide on her first day in Vietnam in Saigon. I could not remember this location and first thought the picture was in another town. It is way to easy to get lost in Saigon and other cities in Vietnam even in a familar neighborhood, but Heide says she had the blue outfit on for her first day in Saigon. I think we just walked around the block from our hotel to get the lay of the land. Note the dude climbing a wood ladder leaning against the utility wire. Wires hang everywhere in Vietnam. They must be behind in the underground wire technology. It often looks like they have dozens of wires on any given overhead pole system. Sometimes they hang low. I recommend not touching stuff like that but that's just me.
Heide in Saigon, Vietnam - August 2005
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/1/2006 1:30 AM
Categories: Vietnam - pictures of
Heide on her first day in Vietnam in Saigon. I could not remember this location and first thought the picture was in another town. It is way to easy to get lost in Saigon and other cities in Vietnam even in a familar neighborhood, but Heide says she had the blue outfit on for her first day in Saigon. I think we just walked around the block from our hotel to get the lay of the land. Note the dude climbing a wood ladder leaning against the utility wire. Wires hang everywhere in Vietnam. They must be behind in the underground wire technology. It often looks like they have dozens of wires on any given overhead pole system. Sometimes they hang low. I recommend not touching stuff like that but that's just me.
Saigon has pretty wild traffic. Da Lat and Na Trang are better places to get the hang of the motor bike culture if you are inclined to rent one. Photo courtesy of Heide Keith
Some pictures of the author entering the motor bike culture in Vietnam
1 May 2006
Some pictures of the author entering the motor bike culture in Vietnam
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/1/2006 1:30 AM
Categories: Vietnam -The two-wheel-culture of
Photo by Heide Keith
The above photo is of a motor bike (we would probably call it a moped or scooter) I rented in Na Trang. The helmet is required in the open state highways and this photo is at the edge of town. The police, if they are out in the countryside will stop every five-hundredth helmetless rider or so. Talk about selective enforcement. I am told foreigners can get away with more latitude. But, the locals say the fine is very high, and I did not want to push it. The helmet cost about five U.S dollars. Photo by Heide Keith
Above is a photo of the two guys we used in Saigon to motor us around. There are 8 milliion people in Saigon depending on who is doing the counting and most of them have motor bikes. If there is a stop light to be found and if it actually works, consider it merely a suggestion. In Saigon we opted to have experts drive for us. Teo to the left and Ho to the right. The author is safely kneeling between them. Photo by Heide Keith
Some pictures of the author entering the motor bike culture in Vietnam
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/1/2006 1:30 AM
Categories: Vietnam -The two-wheel-culture of
Bob in Vung Tau, Vietnam - August 2005
1 May 2006
Bob in Vung Tau, Vietnam - August 2005
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/1/2006 1:30 AM
Categories: Vietnam - pictures from
This pic is from Vung Tau, the coastal town south of Saigon. In the background is a hydrofoil boat that is used to shuttle people from Saigon to the coast. They get up to maybe 70 miles an hour (seems like anyway) and lift up out of the water. They are a pretty rough ride and the machines are old (the Vietnamese seem to be able to make anything run), but one runs about every half hour both ways up and back most of the day until evening. The trip takes an hour or so. I think it is about seventy miles down the river to Vung Tau from Saigon.
Photo by Heide Keith
Bob in Vung Tau, Vietnam - August 2005
Posted by Bob Keith at 5/1/2006 1:30 AM
Categories: Vietnam - pictures from
This pic is from Vung Tau, the coastal town south of Saigon. In the background is a hydrofoil boat that is used to shuttle people from Saigon to the coast. They get up to maybe 70 miles an hour (seems like anyway) and lift up out of the water. They are a pretty rough ride and the machines are old (the Vietnamese seem to be able to make anything run), but one runs about every half hour both ways up and back most of the day until evening. The trip takes an hour or so. I think it is about seventy miles down the river to Vung Tau from Saigon.
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