Sunday Afternoon in Da Lat

It is Sunday afternoon. The air is crisp and cool. New year celebrations are over and life for members of my family are slowly returning to the rhythm of reality. Gone are the customary three days of New Year feasting, handing out of Li Xi (lucky money), and days spent carrying New Year wishes to different households. I am sitting at a cafe in Da Lat, slowly drinking my tea as I write this entry. Below me is Da Lat, the city of eternal spring, le petit Pari, the city of flowers. A city where cafes compete with towering pines, to see which one can proliferate faster.

The French founded this little hill-station to escape the tropic heat of South East Asia back during the colonial era. During the Viet Nam War, American, Vietnamese and Viet Cong generals used the city as a retreat--enemies down in the battle fields, but neighbours in Da Lat. The French have left Da Lat, however, their legacy of warm baguettes, slow-drip coffee and wine have not.

Below me, I see a sea of motorbike traffic. With the road acting as a stream, the motor-bikes are like minnows, moving effortlessly through the road. Every once-in-a-while, a car, SUV or truck moves into the road, and the stream of motor-bikes change their shape to accommodate the bigger fish on the road. The bigger vehicle moves out of the way, and the minnows again re-conform to their shape. There is an unspoken law or rule that the drivers know and follow, and yet, to the novice eye, traffic seems like a naturally flowing mess.

Surrounding my table are families, lovers, friends--all enjoying their Sunday afternoon. In front of them, tall glasses of slow-drip coffee are placed--the coffee slowing dripping down to the white milk at the bottom of the glass, a stark contrast from the fast traffic below. There is a young group of friends sitting and chatting at the table directly across from me. They are pulling out their mobile phones, taking pictures, texting, etc... Their clothes are decorated with Gucci, Armani, Prada--real or fake, I do not know. This image of Viet Nam causes conflict in my mind. As family and personal incomes increase, is this the image of a developed Viet Nam? Clothes decorated with Western brands, and motor-bikes racing below...racing to the next destination, racing onwards to the future, a brighter future?

Editor's Note: Shawn will be posting for David when he is unable to access the blog to post himself.