Paddy fields with palm trees border much of the road; egrets, cows and buffalo abound
View an enlarged image The five kilometres of road from the district town of Tĩnh Gia to the village of Thành Công runs through paddy fields and palm trees with a backdrop of hills. Until recently it was more of a potholed track than a road, but a couple of years ago it was finally surfaced making it a straight easy run with plenty of interest for the visitor.
Cattle grazing near the road, in the distance is a graveyard
This is where the road leaves the town of Tĩnh Gia
The thatched and white huts are in fact hairdressers. Hairdressing everywhere attracts young people who are able to start a business for minimal expense
A shop selling 'miscellaneous goods' and the de rigueur flag
These new buildings have been constructed by the army in the last couple of years. Previously their construction would have meant no foreigners in the area. Life gets steadily more relaxed here
Every area has its 'Culture Room', the equivalent of a community centre
Location. Location. These two women with their stall have got it right
The countryside is laced with a network of concrete channels that feed the paddy field
Close-up of the stall in the picture above sells meat, on the right, and vegetables, on the left. They are likely to be selling produce from their own land, and the stall is likely to have been erected without any permissions
This cafe offers billiards, coffee, ice cream and teas. Another sign of change, five years ago 'cà-phê' (the use of the English 'coffee' itself is very new) was only found in the big towns
The road under repair. At least now there is a surface to be repaired, and it can be done in a few hours. Previously the whole road was such that repairs were meaningless
One section of the road by village is still in its original state - with rain, and that is much of the year, this is just mud
Road surface, or lack of it, near the level crossing
Cutting across the village road are two major infrastructures. The old railway line, and a new road being constructed from the new airport to the new chemical-petrol complex. Progress...
This is the biggest railway in Vietnam bequeathed when the French occupation ended: single track, narrow gauge, running from Hà Nội to Hồ Chi Minh (Saigon) City
The new road leaving to the area its dust
A train passes on the level crossing at 40mph. My bike is just visible to the left
Nearly all level crossings are barrier free in Vietnam. Here are a couple of images of trains crossing this otherwise bucolic road. The picture further down the page shows a cohort of children just out of school approaching the line.
The railway line from the road, note the clear view over - no barriers
The road ends at the village of Thành Công
Pupils coming out of school - 10.30am - this is the tropics and schools start at 7. By 10 it is often too hot to work
Despite the intrusions, and the increasing frequency of cars, the road is still a peaceful place where the workers in the fields and shops spend time in gossip as well as work, and are happy to enjoy passing visitors
Rather amusing. A man seems to be in tow to a buffalo, maybe he will put on the harness and plough, and the buffalo will lead him across the fields
Tombs dot the landscape and are not confined to graveyards.
There is more on local cemeteries
Testimony to the nature of the area; a buffalo lazies into the road with the normal
bovine indifference to cars and bikes The next page introduces the village at the end of this road
- Thành Công.
The last page was about the market in Tĩnh Gia
A page about the road in the other direction, from the town down to the sea
A rather different road in the far north of Vietnam going to Lũng Cú
