From NOLA
Hanoi: You wouldn’t want to drive there. There’s a code of some sort at work, but it’s only remotely related to traffic controls, which seem to be regarded more as a suggestion than a command. Scooters, cars and pedestrians flow amongst each other like a river.
The Temple of Literature is Vietnam’s earliest library. It once served as a center of learning and testing, where youth would congregate for examinations. (Photo by David Marcello, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune) (David Marcello)
Crossing streets is an adventure, since the traffic seldom stops. Pedestrians wade gently into the flow, trusting that the scooters and cars, buses and trucks will find their way around the walkers — no impulsive moves (which could be fatal) but no timid acquiescence either, because that would throw off everyone’s timing.
Young women in skirts and high heels motor along on scooters in the midst of the madness. I saw one sitting behind her boyfriend, legs casually crossed, looking as comfortable as Marcia Ball at the piano and showing no fear of a mishap on these streets!
Taxis are a great bargain — clean, air conditioned, and cheap. On my longest trip — a 20-minute ride across Hanoi amidst four to five miles of teeming traffic — I watched the meter mount up to a total of 88,000 Vietnamese Dong upon arrival at our destination. When I tried to give the driver a 100,000 VND bill, he asked, “Have you got American money, five dollars?” That $5 for the 88,000 VND would have been the equivalent of cab fare plus a $1 tip.
The changing climate
My flight from Tokyo’s Narita International Airport landed in Hanoi at 10 p.m., so first impressions of Vietnam were gathered at night. I rode 45-minutes into the city on a four-lane highway that laid down a ribbon of light through enveloping darkness, broken sporadically by large illuminated billboards advertising Vietnam’s connection to the products of other countries: “Kohler” from the United States, “Lotte” from South Korea, China’s “Haier,” Japan’s “Toyota” and “Toshiba.” The billboards signified Vietnam’s full participation in the global marketplace.
To maintain and exploit these economic opportunities in the world economy, Vietnam needs a “rule of law” system — statutes and regulations that trading partners will trust to resolve disputes fairly and predictably. My two-week visit in September launched a multi-year commitment by The Public Law Center at Tulane Law School to assist Vietnam’s move toward a “rule of law” system. We’ll help improve the skills of legislative drafting personnel, which will improve the quality of laws adopted in the country.
Vietnam fought a successful revolution in 1945, then resisted three decades of foreign intervention by France and the United States to maintain its independence as a “Socialist Republic.” Displayed on the walls of the Metropole Hotel, where I stayed during my visit to Hanoi, was a 1975 Time magazine cover with a red background and a map of unified Vietnam that identified the former “Saigon” as “Ho Chi Minh City,” alongside a drawing of Ho as big as the country itself, declaring him “The Victor.”
The Metropole is the most historic hotel in Hanoi. I took a tour of the hotel’s bomb shelter, where Joan Baez sheltered during the 1972 Christmas bombing campaign. The bomb shelter was lost to history after the war ended in 1975 and was only rediscovered in 2011 when the hotel drilled into unexpected concrete while expanding its poolside Bamboo Bar.
Joan Baez returned after 40 years to see the reopened shelter, and while staying at the hotel, painted an arresting portrait of a young boy and monk whose image now occupies a prominent place of honor in the hotel lobby.
The Viet Nam News was delivered outside my hotel room each morning and made for good reading at the hotel’s sumptuous and bountiful breakfast buffet. On the Monday morning after my arrival, one headline caught my attention: “Mekong provinces discuss climate change strategies.”
The article accurately observed that with 28 coastal provinces and cities, Vietnam is “one of the countries most affected by climate change.” The Mekong provinces’ two-day conference discussed “ways to integrate climate change response and disaster risk reduction into socio-economic development” and recommended building sturdier schools to serve as shelters if natural disasters hit, reinforcing dykes to prevent saltwater intrusion, and encouraging farmers to expand into aquaculture instead of cultivation. As if in immediate response, Saturday’s paper reported how farmers were reaping “high profits” from breeding giant prawns in paddy fields during flooding season. Vietnam seems to be accepting and dealing with climate change as a reality, not debating its existence.
Like Louisiana, Vietnam gets the occasional vivid reminder of climate change. I was scheduled to participate in a two-day conference in Haiphong, but a category 3 storm blew away those plans when Typhoon Kalmaegi (“seagull” in Korean) roared into the Gulf of Tonkin and made landfall north of Haiphong.
Read the full article HERE.
