We have been to two remote areas of VN. Yes there are some areas where the western plastic is not well tended...but in general, the folks get up in the morning and exercise, eat lots of veggies and fish and look very healthy. Sapa and and the little villiages is very north and at the border of China. We stood next to the check point and watched the "porters" drag product accross. When they get it to the VN side, it is dumped out and then repacted for resale.
Halong Bay is now a world herritge site with limestone rock formations coming out of the water. We kayaked to villages and saw folks living on boats about the size of my bathroom... a man and woman and children... cooking, eating, fishing, scraping to get money for clothing. The live, eat, work, and poop on the water... no education opportunities so the children will be on a boat... etc..
The fuel is purchased from corner stores and is sold in bottles. The corn whisky which is made at home, is also bottled in plastic bottles...
In some ways it is not a hard life....since there is always a roof... even in the moonsoon..when many hundreds die... but there is always fish, rice, and food.... who amoung us can spend day after day in my bathroom... no place to say... take a hike... every minute is hard.
Then there are the dogs that guard the houses, boats, and water village until they are old... and they they are on the plate.
It is appropriate that the beauty is in the rocks rising out of the sea... tommorrow we are in Hanoi and then back to BKK...
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