Vietnam seems to be finding its way with a young, energetic population enjoying a better lifestyle.
In addition to the clothing industry, companies like South Korea's Samsung have set up shop in Vietnam. We passed by a huge Samsung campus that employs 12,000 people. There were large billboards advertising the Galaxy Note 7 but it wasn't clear that this was the place that manufactured the product that ended up in a massive recall.
All along the highway back from Halong Bay to Hanoi, there were many signs of new building construction and road improvements reflecting in some way the changing fortunes of Vietnam's 93,000,000 people.
Private land ownership is not possible. However, you arrange to get a lease on the land from the government and for $75,000 US you can build a home which more and more Vietnamese are now doing.
Family living arrangements are such that at least 3 generations will live under the same roof with a new bride going to live with her husband's parents. Our tour guide Rose was full of stories about her own mother-in-law and she finished her time with us hoping that her children would be able to make their own choices when it becomes time for them to leave the family home.
The motor scooter is the de facto travel vehicle and we often saw whole families of 4 traveling on one 125cc scooter - a child standing in front of his father, a mother behind holding a baby. If things in the country continue to improve and people start buying more and more cars, you shudder to think at what that would look like as the roads in the city are already clogged. And Hanoi has limited public transit with no subway system.
We'll be returning to Vietnam again after we visit Siem Reap, Cambodia and begin a boat cruise down the Mekong River to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).
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