rubber plantation

On the way to the Cu Chi tunnels (about which Rusty will write), we stopped along the road at what was obviously a plantation: rows and rows of neatly planted trees, each of which had diagonal strips of tape along the trunk and small bowls attached about three to four feet above the ground.

This rubber plantation originally belonged to the French -- Michelin Tire, to be precise.  Taken over by the state, now rubber production is a huge revenue producer for Vietnam.  About a quarter of the 630,000 hectares in production are privately owned, 72% publicly owned; not sure about the balance. The value of rubber increases annually about $500 US per ton, according to Huy.

Trees are planted sequentially; we did pass some very small saplings in what looked like a private yard.  They can be harvested until they are about 30 years old.  Then the wood is harvested for furniture.

We got out of the bus and (like sticky rice) crossed over the road to take a closer look.   Small diagonal cuts in the bark allows the sap to drain down, guided by the tape to a small trough of a spigot, where it drips into the bowl.  The thin white liquid has the consistency of condensed milk, but as you rub it between your fingers, gradually becomes drier and somewhat the consistency of rubber cement.  The sap is collected early in the morning.






There are few homes near rubber plantations, apparently (again according to Huy) because rubber trees are not healthy for humans.  He said they "suck the oxygen from the air," and the life expectancy of people living near or within rubber plantations is five years shorter than that of other Vietnamese.

Not surprisingly, near where we stopped there were two vendors of trinkets for tourists.  This sweet young girl had necklaces made of the seed of the rubber tree, and this man (her father? with a little puppy beside him) sold some beautiful wood carvings, as well as bracelets made of water buffalo horn (I couldn't resist!).  

Saigon snapshot

This image taken from our hotel room window at the Intercontinental Asiana Saigon says a lot about Saigon today: the contrast between the architecturally and historically significant Notre Dame Cathedral and the cell tower immediately next to us.

The windows of the cathedral, built by the French, are from Chartres, the brick was shipped from Marseilles, and the statue of Mary outside is a late 19th century Italian sculpture.  It sits across the street from the vernable post office designed by Gustav Eiffel of tower fame.

Visit to a Brick Factory along the Mekong

Traveling along the Mekong River, we saw many barges carrying loads of gravel, soil, sand, rice, fruits, and more, such as this load of rice husks.  The visit to the rice factory a day or two earlier (all time is beginning to merge for us!), showed how every bit of the rice is used -- polished for sticky rice, brown rice for other dishes, broken rice for flour and rice husks for fuel.

Barges carry the husks of rice to the factory for fuel.

Rice husks are a much cheaper source of fuel than coal or gas.

Because rice husks burn at a much lower temperature than coal or gas, the bricks must be fired a much longer time -- up to 45 days, with another week to cool.  The ash is then sold to farmers to be used as fertilizer.

Unfired bricks covered a large portion of the floor.

The open core of the bricks makes them lighter, to be used for upper story of buildings. In buildings we saw under construction, it looked as if rebar was only used at occasional joints.  Asked about earthquake stability, Huy said this area -- unlike the Pacific Rim -- is not subject to earthquakes.  Nevertheless, I wonder about building codes.  (Things like steps are irregular in their risers; ramps are certainly not ADA compliant; setbacks are non-existent.  Many aspects differ from US zoning and building codes.)

Two women load fired bricks into a wagon to stack by the dock.

These women were loading fired bricks into a cart, then pulling it to unload near the dock for transport to the next buyer.

One enormous room had kilns lined up on both sides.

Each kiln can hold up to 100,000 bricks -- these are huge!  Similar in design to the bee hive oven that is part of our 18th century fireplace, but monumentally larger.  None were in use when we visited, but I can only begin to imagine how hot this area gets when they are firing.

Each kiln had a small alcove where incense is burned as an offering.

The inside of the kilns was as artful as the exterior -- the hole at the top probably 15 feet or more above the floor.

Inside one of the kilns.

One kiln was in the process of being loaded -- the other piece of machinery (other than the extruder) was a narrow conveyor belt a portion of which you can see at the upper left of the photo below.  One man stands at the bottom loading bricks onto it, another climbs up inside to stack the bricks.  The hole is covered, rice husks tucked into the slots at the bottom, and once the fire is set everything is closed up for a month and a half, with occasional refueling.

Kiln being loaded with bricks to be fired.

Steps built into the outside of the kiln allow workers to climb up and open the vent to cool bricks.

We moved into an adjacent building, and discovered that bricks were not the only thing made in this factory. Piles of gnomes, shells, decorative motifs, and endless stacks of garden pots and other ornaments awaited shipping, or perhaps glazing or painting in another shop.

Not just bricks!

Many styles of garden ornaments and pots.

As with rice fields, a grave may be auspiciously placed right in the middle of a factory.

Despite the presence of graves honoring ancestors showing up mid-rice field, farmland, and other places that might seem random to us but are carefully sited by fortune tellers (a mainstay of Vietnamese culture), I was surprised to see this rather magnificent grave in the middle of the storehouse.

I found the carts particularly photogenic, but they also indicate the number of workers who would be here on a normal production day.

More About Motorcycles: Taxis, Licenses, Helmets

Huy said:

"We have everything: FEDEX, DHL, but the best mode of transportation is the motorcycle.

Typical Saturday morning intersection

"People use their motorcycle to make money. You will notice a man on a motorcycle with one extra helmet, or maybe 2 or 3 extra helmets. That's a taxi.

Taxis

"You can negotiate the price when you hire him to take you to your destination. Then, after you agree on the price, he will race through the streets to get you to your destination quickly so he can be ready to get another fare or to get back to his original place. Because he will be speeding, the passenger often needs to hug the driver. We call that a 'hugging taxi'. I don't recommend that you hire a hugging taxi.

"Motorcycles get about 120 mpg.

"Every time you buy a new bike, you will need a new license plate which will cost about $50 USD. You must be 18 years old and take a 2-part driving test: a written part and a driving part. The written part covers the 'rules of the road.' The motor vehicle laws are not really 'laws', they are more like suggestions." We noticed a young school boy driving a motorcycle. He did not appear to be 18; perhaps between 13 and 14. Negotiable. Because children are taken on their parents' cycles from infancy, driving one is "in their blood."

Huy shared another personal story.

"When my daughter was 2 1/2 years old, I needed a safety belt to take her with me on my cycle. My wife was not going to be riding with us. I belted my daughter behind me. After the ride she said, 'Daddy, the next time we ride on the bike, may I ride in front of you?' I answered, 'Yes, you may. But why do you want to ride in front of me?' 'So that I can see better. And also so I can beep the horn whenever I want to.'" Huy's face lit up with a big grin as we bus passengers burst out in laughter.

Helmets:

Motorcycle operators must wear a helmet. BUT...many people have excuses for why they don't wear a helmet. "If I wear a helmet, then I can't hear my cell phone." "It messes up my hair." Negotiable. So people wear helmets for the police, not for their own safety. Huy said there are helmets made with a cut-out at the back of the head to accommodate a pony tail.

Women in Vietnam

I approach this topic with humility because surely many doctoral theses and special commissions have studied it widely but it still calls out for blog reflection. Women are clearly a notable force in the daily life of Vietnam.

Our guide book tells us about the Ba Trung sisters Trung Trac and Trung Nhi who in 39 A. D. replaced their executed husbands in a rebellion against the Chinese in the northern kingdom. In 1945, after the retreat of the Japanese, Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam an independent nation and in its first constitution laid the legal framework for women's equality. Despite French occupation and influence, the Vietnamese people's spirit of equality and fierce independence persisted.

Women fought side by side with men in military forces before and during the American war. Women work in the rice fields; women are key vendors in the marketplace; women drive water taxis and market boats; women are mainstays in family life; women typically dress for action (pants and loose shirts), with very occasional high heeled shoes in the city. None of this may seem remarkable, but taken all together, it is a portrait of resourcefulness that is impressive.

There are sobering realities, too. We know that difficult domestic issues confront many women. And we had the benefit of hearing the experience of a young Smith alum in Hue who, in an internship in Vietnam her junior year, volunteered in a safe home for very young girls recovering from forced child prostitution. These challenges span countries and cultures and we can only hope international and national pressures work for their amelioration.

Really Nifty Post Office!

My family knows how much I love post offices (I even still love the United States Postal Service and relentlessly support its services by sending items through the system using beautiful stamps). Here in Saigon the central post office is a grand colonial building that shows the influence of Gustave Eiffel. Uncle Ho's portrait presides; you can purchase the right denomination to actually mail a postcard; you can purchase books and gorgeous first day covers or pretty stamps from the past; you can gaze at the huge maps of Vietnam on the walls or consider making an international phone call from one of the many mahogany phone booths lining the corridor with international time clocks above.

I visited a second time at 5 pm on Friday afternoon, and clearly the plaza out front is a meeting place for Saigon young people as they begin their weekends. Fun.