travel asia vietnam phu my highway QL51 overview
As my introduction to Vietnamese culture, Highway QL51 provided me with a variety of "basics" which seem to reappear everywhere I travelled in Vietnam.
These "basics" ranged from motor bikes, to narrow houses with small business fronts, to busy street markets, to numberless temples, all somehow meshing
together to sustain a very simple but complicated society... a contradiction in itself.
LINK TO WIKIPEDIA'S WEB PAGE ON PHU MY
TRAVEL: 2020
This location has earned an over-all three star (average/good) rating from
Travel Fanatics Unlimited
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unless noted otherwise all images copyright d. holmes chamberlin jr architect llc
The first thing you notice is the abundance of motor scooters and the absence of cars, Highway QL51, Phu My to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 2020.
The next thing you might notice are the very narrow tall homes with store fronts, Highway QL51, Phu My to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 2020.
Guides told us that these homes often have a width of about 5 meters (about 15' feet) because they are taxed by their footprint.
According to one guide, these home businesses require no licenses.
There was no answer when asked about building codes.
"Upscale" looking cafes seemed to be everywhere, Highway QL51, Phu My to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 2020.
Another "basic" is the proliferation of temples of all kinds, Highway QL51, Phu My to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 2020.
One kind of temple or another seem to exist every few blocks... sometimes seemingly next door to each other.
Traffic circle, Highway QL51, Phu My to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 2020.
Traffic circles are an introduction to the practice of "domination of the biggest" and the lack of enforced traffic rules.
One of a proliferation of "arch" signs over roadways, Highway QL51, Phu My to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 2020.
Our guide explained that these were often commercial signs advertising one product or another.
New development sign, Highway QL51, Phu My to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 2020.
Possibly one of the most puzzling "basics" of modern Vietnamese culture in the south was the proliferation of new housing developments.
When we asked the guide who could afford these new homes that were advertised, she indicated they were mostly bought by people from Hanoi or overseas investors.
Lotus ponds, Highway QL51, Phu My to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 2020.
Leaving Phu My and approaching Ho Chi Minh City are open fields dedicated to agriculture.
Rice paddies, Highway QL51, Phu My to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 2020.
copyright d. holmes chamberlin jr architect llc
page last revised january 2020