The Countryside of Viet Nam

[Comanche]

The cities of Việt Nam are booming – coming apart at the seams – but 70% of the population stills lives in rural areas. This is a different Việt Nam than seen in the cities. The nation is long past the time when people lived in deep poverty and were starving. Today, most countryside folk live in concrete houses, have a motorbike and television set, and send their kids to school. Nonetheless, the farmer’s life is a hard one.

To describe the Vietnamese countryside would fill a couple of encyclopedias. I just want to give TPFers a small glimpse of it – nothing more. This is the countryside of flat rice fields and rivers. I’ll save the mountain areas for another day.

To no one’s surprise, rice is the staple food. It is approaching harvest time in central Việt Nam, an area that normally has two harvests a year. In another few weeks, the grains of rice will be golden and the stalks bent with the weight of new rice.



Wet rice agriculture is labor intensive and requires large amounts of water. In order to move the water from the river to the fields, gasoline powered pumps move it around a system of irrigation ditches and canals.



Here and there in the fields are grave sites, most of them for entire families. These are Christian (Catholic) tombs, but most are Buddhist. Notice that the earth has been built up so the bodies are buried above the water line.



The cultivated flat lands are laced with small rivers and streams. Of course, there are a lot of boats, but there are a lot of bridges too. In the past, such rural bridges were made of bamboo (sometimes called monkey bridges), but those are all but gone now. This bridge is due to be replaced soon by a newer one that will be better able to withstand flooding.



Small villages dot the countryside. There are homes to fishermen and farmers as well as some small shops. These two ladies show off a new grandson as if he were a trophy. Traditional Vietnamese families include all the generations. It is common for four generations to live in one house. Just as the grandmothers care for the young children, the children will care for the grandparents in their old age.



Besides the small “corner store” where people can buy some soap or piece of pork, craftsmen often have small shops in the villages. This gentleman builds front doors for new homes. He has some power tools such as a table saw and power drill, but much of the tongue and groove construction is done by hand.



The area in and around Hûe has a higher proportion of Catholics than in the rest of the country. Hûe had its first Vietnamese Catholic congregation in the late 1600s, and today about 10% of the population is considered Catholic. Small churches like this one stand at the edge of many villages.



A river is always close by. An older man, probably too old to work in the fields, squats on the river’s edge and watches over a flock of flightless ducks. Close by is his son, and they are duck farmers. After the rice is harvested, these two will herd their ducks into the rice farmer’s field where the ducks will prepare the fields for the next crop by eating any remaining kernels of rice and depositing some fertilizer as they do so. The ducks are fattened in this way, then taken to market and sold.







If there is such a thing as “the real Việt Nam”, this is it. You won’t find it by looking through the windows of a tour bus, but is a place worth seeking.

[carrbowl]

Again...thanks for sharing..your explanations along with the photos are always so informative.

[ngoduyviet]

Thanks for the beautiful images. You have an "eye" for these types of things. It really shows a side of the country that not many can "see" just by visiting.

That little kid reminds me of the little monks I used to see growing up in a similar village in the South. My guess is that the kid is expected to become a monk later with that hair style.

Huế is on my list of one of the places that I'll visit when I get a chance to go back...man, day dreaming at work is not a good thing heheh

[Comanche]

Originally Posted by ngoduyviet

Thanks for the beautiful images. You have an "eye" for these types of things. It really shows a side of the country that not many can "see" just by visiting.

That little kid reminds me of the little monks I used to see growing up in a similar village in the South. My guess is that the kid is expected to become a monk later with that hair style.

Huế is on my list of one of the places that I'll visit when I get a chance to go back...man, day dreaming at work is not a good thing heheh

I agree - his family probably wants him to become a monk. In a couple of years, we might see him wearing a grey robe. Times are a-changing though. Kids don't always do what parents want them to do.

So - - quit daydreaming and come on back! Maybe we'll bring some other TPFers along too.

[hungt23]

Thanks Doug. I always look for your posts for new pictures of Vietnam.

[Hanky]

Originally Posted by Comanche

I agree - his family probably wants him to become a monk. In a couple of years, we might see him wearing a grey robe. Times are a-changing though. Kids don't always do what parents want them to do.

So - - quit daydreaming and come on back! Maybe we'll bring some other TPFers along too.

So this begs the question, How do the authorities react to SLR's? I may have an oportunity to see Saigon and I would like to bring my 70-200 for some bird shots and of course shoot everything I can possibly get.

[Comanche]

Originally Posted by Hanky

So this begs the question, How do the authorities react to SLR's? I may have an oportunity to see Saigon and I would like to bring my 70-200 for some bird shots and of course shoot everything I can possibly get.

Oh my goodness - bring anything you can figure how to drag onto the airplane! Vietnam is a huge tourist destination, and tourists bring lots of cameras, including SLRs. I'm shooting with both a 1D MkIII and a 30D. I have never brought anything bigger than my 70-200, but that's because I have no need for a 300. But - if you want to do birds, by all means, bring it.

You may be thinking Viet Nam is a police state filled with soldiers watching your every move. Nope - nary a soldier in sight.

As an aside, as I write this, it is April 30th - a big holiday called Liberation Day. To older Americans and Viet Kieu, this is the anniversary of the fall of Saigon in 1975. Think of Liberation Day as the 4th of July. It is a day (coupled with tomorrow, which is May Day) that everyone thinks of as a nice long holiday. It is no more anti-American than our Independence Day is anti-British.

So - bring whatever gear you want to bring, or can cajole the airline into carrying on board. Bring lots of memory cards!

Oh yeah - I am not a birder, but my wife suggests you bring a tape recorder for the bird calls you hear. There are many different birds here than in the US.

[lhdvies]

Man Doug, these journals are so very good. I really need to get an excuse or some way to get over there before I get much older.That whole part of the world is so beautiful and I love the culture.

[Hanky]

Wow!
Thank you very much and I apreciate your generousity with taking the time to answer my questions. Should I be able to visit it will be in early July and again Thank you.
hank