Ubiquity

There are many recurring images in Vietnam. Let me take you through a few.

Motos - everywhere - cities, suburbs, towns, rice fields. Honda and Yamaha must be making a killing

Conical hats - cheap and practical, these are seen everywhere in both towns and the countryside

3 story houses - with very narrow street frontages - reminds me of Amsterdam. Clearly land is scarce and homes have to build up. The strange thing is, even new homes in the middle of the rice fields are built in this style. Their highly rectangular plan looks strange when one would expect a squarer section to be more versatile

Shanty houses - bits of wood and corrugated iron nailed together, sometimes with sandbags and sticks keeping the roof on. They're the standard form of living for the poorer people (which is most). Typically they'll have a little shop out the front flogging off veges or basic commodities

Bamboo - this stuff is amazing. Not only does it grow everywhere, but it's put to every conceivable use - food, art, hats, matting, tools, construction, flooring, roofing, scaffolding, retaining walls, bridges and decks, fence posts and rails, and of course pipes for irrigation and drainage when hollowed out. Pipes for smoking too, no doubt.

Hot water cylinders - While we hide ours inside, the Vietnamese have stainless steel cylinders polished to a high sheen sitting on top of their roofs. (Why, Nik?)

Small shrines - as a Buddhist country, worship and offerings are integral to society. All shops have a small (about a 500mm cube) shrine containing a Buddha statue, candles, decoration, offerings, and often some incense. It's highly offensive to stand close to them - they must be treated with respect. The same shrines also sit on posts along the highways. The opportunity to reflect on one's karma is ever present.

Cemeteries - Every village has a little burial plot for its residents. Tombs range from simple slabs to quite elaborate pagodas depending on the wealth of the deceased's family. It's quite amazing seeing yet another cemetery tucked in to the rice fields every few km down the road. After death the body is buried in an interim grave while the family mourns, and there are quite strict rules about what the family can do over this period - eg no marriage. Once the flesh has rotted away the family exhumes the body, scrubs the bones clean, and formally reburies the body in the family plot.

Bidet attachments - part of the French heritage I guess. Rather than a full bidet, every toilet has a little hose attached to a mini-shower head. Cold water of course!

Primitive infrastructure - everywhere you go the quality of basic infrastructure - roads, sewers, water reticulation - is poor. If Vietnam really wants to make it in the 21st century they need to tackle the basics first. But conversely I'm continually surprised by ubiquitous mobile coverage and Internet access. Hence the frequency with which I can update my blog.

These will be among my lasting images of Vietnam.