Paddy has a great old Russian motorbike...
After dinner we wandered around our hotel district and found a road with tiered seats on both sides where copious quantities of cheap beer were being consumed by rows of tourists, watching the waves of motorbikes flood by- of course we had to join in!
A great way to finish our time in Vietnam. Here's a few closing impressions:
Like Myanmar, Vietnam has a single ruling party that implements similar restrictive practises on its people. It has a large state mechanism, and corruption is again rife. But there is a free press, and discontent with the ruling party is openly voiced, although affecting change is another thing. However, in recent years Vietnam's economy has expanded rapidly and poverty within the country has been greatly reduced-it is clearly a vibrant country on the rise, and although many may feel unhappy about the government, there appears little dissatisfaction on the surface.
It is labelled a 'communist' state, but what this means today is hard to say, as the economy appears to embrace capitalism and Western consumerism.
From a tourist perspective we found many nice hotels at very reasonable prices, great food, good cheap travel options and many things to see and do - a wonderful place to spend a few weeks or more.
Where to next?
We're on the plane now, heading back to Blighty - snow permitting!
Thank you for following the adventures of Captaincol and the Mehmsahib over the last 11 weeks - we've had a ball!
I feel there might be one final blog left in me when we arrive back at our home in the Suffolk village of Tattingstone, where we are looking forward to seeing all our friends and family.
Location:Saigon
No comments:
Post a Comment