Don't Let Foreign Bosses Do Whatever They Like

I'm not even going to offer my opinion on this article from the state-run Thanh Nien news agency. I think a fertile mind can glean everything they need to from the article titled Don't Let Foreign Bosses Do Whatever They Like. The inserted comment on visas is particularly illuminating.

Vietnam Changes and Experience Becomes Memory

It's a sad thing when the things we treasure disappear and can never be restored.

(Before) I had a favorite swimming hole, pictured above, just 2 hours north of highway 1 in the mountains. It was situated behind an remote Rag Lai village in NE Binh Thuan Province.

(After) I was distraught to return over Tet and find that the government was in the process of pulling down the mountain and building a dam over my swimming hole.

(Before) Previously the villagers had built a lovely waterworks. The trough on the left had water about should-deep. It was crystal clear and the little minnows were friendly. They'd come up and nibble on your skin. You could ride the current in the trough to the end like a river ride at a water park.

(After) This rock pile now sits in the trough. It's easy to understand why the government would want to built a lake at this spot. The valley here forms a perfect crater and is pinched off to a tiny exit here, with a distinct ridge on each side. The troubling thing is, from the top of the ridge, this valley has a distinct sort of super-volcano look to it. One has to wonder if the added pressure of a lake could have some unintended consequences. I'm not sure I'd want to live in the Rag lai village with a big new dam at my back door either. The resulting lake will probably be lovely, assuming any part of it is accessible--but it will be five to ten years before the muddy water settles and the vegetation fully regrows around the disturbed areas.

Sick of Being Blocked

Dear Ho Chi Minh City Post and Telecom Company (HCMPT), branch of the VietNam Post and Telecom Corporation,

Please stop blocking my blog. You've been using the same method that you use to block Facebook. What sort of message are you sending to the world? I'm promoting your country to most of the English speaking world by the guidebook work that I do. I have official permission to be here and do the work that I do--which is travel writing. What threat could this blog possibly pose?

More Questions on Vietnam's Sea Levels

Recently I wrote a story for CNNGo (read the article here), which was also featured by CNN.com, about the dilemma that Vietnam’s whale temples pose for proponents of climate change. Namely, top scientists claim that the world’s sea levels are rising (or going to rise) due to increasing global temperatures, yet Vietnam’s whale temples, originally built along the sea, are finding themselves further and further from the shore due to just the opposite phenomenon—receding sea levels.

I was concerned to find that the World Bank’s very famous 2007 gloom and doom report didn’t make use of historical sea level data collected by tidal-gauge stations. Instead they used current satellite imagery as their starting point. In other words they forecasted that Vietnam would be most affected by rising sea levels without actually checking to see if there was already a pre-existing trend for the country. The obsessive media coverage of supposed climate change in the Mekong, which was born as a result of this report, likewise did not reference this data.

The few scientific papers or policy reports that did reference any data at all, such as the recently discredited University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit, admitted that three of the four tidal-guage stations showed “other trends” yet went on to quote data from only the fourth station at Hon Dau anyway. Certainly this gives the appearance that this station was selected because it may have been the only one to support a foredawn conclusion.

It is apparent to me that the scientific community has at the very least manipulated information to illustrate a theory that the data, taken as a whole, may not actually support. It appears that Vietnam’s sea levels may in fact be lowering, despite scientist’s claims to the contrary. Driving the point home, Vietnam’s lowering sea levels go back even further than our present era. A 2004 report by Boyd and Lam (Holocene Elevated Sea Levels on the North Coast of Vietnam, Journal of Australian Geographical Research) shows that 5500 years ago, mid-tide lay approximately 5.4 m above national datum, or 3.25 m above present local mid-tide.

I’m afraid that if the tide goes out much further, the scientific community may capsize.

Go Ahead, Sue a Guidebook Writer for Injury, Illness or Damage

Did you know that guidebook writers are liable for "injury, illness or damage to the user"? They are at least, if they write for one very prominent publisher based in the UK. Folks, if you are a writer, please don't feel you have to agree to rediculous contract points like this. I didn't, even though it cost me the job. There are plenty of other publishers out there who don't resort to such predatory schemes. On the other hand, if you are an ambulance chaser looking for a frivilous lawsuit opportunity, this could be your new meal ticket...

Whale Funeral in Bac Lieu

Cau Ngu Whale Worship Festival in Phan Thiet (pictured above)

The AP/Washington Post reported on a whale funeral held in Bac Lieu province in Vietnam's Mekong Delta today. I've often written about Vietnam's whale-worshipping "cult" and the whale temples built by fishermen to house whale bones, for guidebooks like the most recent Insight Guide to Vietnam (2009). Very little has been written about the subject in any literature or media, so I've had to become a bit of a local expert in order to understand the phenomenon. You can see my previous posts on the subject which include lots of photos from whale worship festivals like Cau Ngu and Nghin Ong.

Why Vang Vieng is not on the Indochina Top 10 List

Popular though it may be, this is the sort of tourism taking hold in parts of Indochina that turns my stomach--and why it didn't make the CNNGo top 10 for Indochina. Of course this isn't new--Vang Vieng and Don Det have been like this for nearly 10 years. May it never take hold in Mui Ne. Wait for the skull fracture towards the end of the video--it's horrid.

Binh Thuan Not Protecting Its Coral Reefs

For the seven years that I've been in Binh Thuan, there have always been coral stands--by the dozens, on display beside Highway 1A, hawking poached corals to Vietnamese tourists. It's obvious that these pristine specimens, bleached and dyed, were plucked live from the reefs and did not die and wash up on the shore naturally. It is a shame that at Ca Na, where one of the best reefs in the country is to be found (which isn't saying much any more), that the locals are seeking to destroy the reef and in doing so, their own economic futures. The reef could be promoted as a major tourism point of interest, particularly with the included island and cham temples.

Eve of Tet (Lunar New Year) in Phan Thiet

Below are some photos of festive lights and lanterns from Phan Thiet on the Eve of Tet (Lunar New Year). All are from back alleys in residential areas of the old city or temples around the areas.

Tet in Phan Thiet

My story on Tet in Phan Thiet is currently linked from the front page of CNN.com. Read it here at CNNgo.com.

Lotteria Phan Thiet Upgrades

Serious Mega Kudos and Dittos to Lotteria Phan Thiet. After featuring soft-serve ice cream on their menu for two or three years, ice cream is indeed finally now available at the location in the COOP Supermarket downtown. Besides cones and dishes (with or without chocolate sauce), there are now Dairy Queen-style blizzards in flavors of green tea, oreo, chocolate chip, peanut and rainbow sprinkles (isn't that just confectioner's wax and food coloring?). While the ice cream isn't quite on par with Dairy Queen (which doesn't do business in Vietnam yet), it's overall pretty good.

Lotteria isn't the first vendor to sell soft-serve. There are a few street vendors selling ice cream near schools and internet cafes downtown. However, whether you order chocolate, strawberry or vanilla (all in infant-size servings), it all seems to taste like durian.

Also of note, Lotteria has apparently doubled the size of their soft drink cups--and no more handing customers just half a glass when you order no ice! Great job guys! And don't miss the new line of double burgers with cheese! Mmm mmm bulgogi burgers!

Audition Video

I was recently invited to audition for a new program for an American cable television network. The new show will be related to adventure travel and archaeology. Below is my audition video, put together with just 48hrs notice. It was a fun exercise. The first scene is at the 8th Century Thap Po Sha Nu Cham towers overlooking Phan Thiet. The next scene (with two angles) takes place at some ancient temple ruins that I discovered in Binh Thuan Province last year. The final scene takes place in a Rai minority village. I'm standing in front of an ancestral spirit house on stilts, known colloquially as a "Rice House." The girl in the background was a bit of a random, comical distraction, and made the scene more fun. The video is a little ruff, but not bad for something done so quickly.