South East Asia Adventure | Ca Phe at the DMZ

We made the obligatory stop at the DMZ bar and cafe this morning, just a short block or so from our hotel. Named for the area around the 17^th parallel which separated north from south Vietnam under French occupation and subsequently reunited in 1975, the bar is a local attraction. The focal point indoors is the pool table, although when we walked by at night none of the several hundred backpackers inside was playing. It's a full menu of western food including burgers, fries and pizza, and they serve lattes. It's not so easy to get a latte; the preference here is for sweetened condensed milk topped off with just a little Vietnamese coffee. So mid-morning, after picking our way through a couple of local markets in search of cheap rain covers, we parked ourselves at a noisy outside table on the busy Le Loi boulevard and took in the sights and sounds of a Monday morning in Hue.

The honking of cars and poisonous exhaust are, well, exhausting. We are probably the only ones here not covering our mouths to protect against the fumes. (Our guide, Hai, here in Hanoi, tells us that honking is a big part of driving culture in Vietnam: it's meaningless but you have to do it.) There are motorcycles, scooters, cyclos, bikes and pedestrians all sharing the road. Tiny women laden with daily wares for sale cobble along, their feet and ankles like shock absorbers against the weight of the pole. No one drives fast, and everyone seems to move quite peaceably along, through, and across this busy thoroughfare. Today the street scene is particularly colourful because it is raining and the brightly coloured and patterned rain capes keep riders and bikes dry. The hood is tucked under the helmet, and faces are covered with masks. A clear plastic window at the front of the cape allows the light on the bike to shine through. We watch the traffic, laughing at the sight of the faceless drivers, their capes billowing out the back, like sails on a ship.

Our first guide, Dong, taught us how to cross a busy street like this. As the three of us approached a busy five way intersection in downtown HCMC, Margaret and I both hesitated, but our guide just stepped off the curb, and kept walking, a barely-noticeable hand gesture indicating our intent to cross. Noticing the looks of horror on our faces, he assured us it was fine. “Just keep walking, slowly”, he said. Motorcycles and cars approached from every direction, swerving around in front and behind us, but never getting close, and never stopping. We just kept walking until we reached the other side, not missing a beat in our conversation. We've not had any difficulty getting across a street since. I think the key is that small hand gesture, walking slowly, and the fact that no one is actually driving very fast. I don't think I'll try this in Edmonton though!

Back to the DMZ bar, where they actually know how to make a latte. A little coffee, a lot of milk and some foam! We had lots of offers of cyclo rides, with covered seats to keep us dry, and I chatted for some time with a young man working there. At 25, he told me he didn't like living in his parents home, and he wanted to get a better job so he could move out on his own, and start his life. After studying at tourism school for two years, he thought he should have a better job, but he would need to keep studying English (there's not much in Hue for young people to do), and possibly move to the city where there are more opportunities. He is typical of the young men and women I have talked to here. They have studied hard, have big hopes for a better life here in Vietnam, but are very uncertain about whether that will ever actually materialize.