I went to Vietnam as a sub-consultant to SNC-Lavalin (Vancouver) with in the position of Team Leader on the 110 MW Ban Chat Hydropower Project. Our base was Hanoi and our client was Power Engineering Consulting Company # 1 of Vietnam (PECC1). We were there to review and to advise on their designs for two projects (two teams): Ban Chat and Huoi Quang projects. I came as the replacement for the original team leader who had health problems. Later I took over as waterway design expert as well as the engineer assigned by SNC-Lavalin lacked the necessary design experience to do the work. The terms of reference and expectation of the client were far from clear and it seemed to me that there was little interest in many of the areas defined in the terms of reference. PECC1’s design was basically satisfactory and many of our suggestions concerned refinements in details that offered potential cost savings or simplification to construction. Most of the suggested cost savings were minor when compared with the overall price tag and were of little interest to the Vietnamese Director, Mr. Hung. His main interest, when all was said and done, was to access SNC-Lavalin’s expertise on the design and construction of RCC (roller compacted concrete) dams an area in which SNC-Lavalin is well experienced.
The easy interpersonal relationships which were the norm in Nepal were unfortunately absent in Vietnam. The several consultants working with PECC1 from Canada, Russia and Switzerland each worked in separated ghettos with limited contact with Vietnamese counterparts. Eating arrangements at lunch time were likewise segregated, foreigners at their assigned tables and Vietnamese at other tables, so much for solidarity of the proletariat!!
Communication was also a problem as few people spoke English or French, even in the professional classes. Vietnamese is a very difficult language to learn for foreigners and probably Vietnamese find European languages likewise incomprehensible. We relied enormously on our secretary/translator Tuyen as translator and advisor on protocol.
With the exception of the bureaucratic machine that was PECC1 there was little evidence of that Vietnam is a communist country on the contrary one gets the impression of a vigorous capitalistic economy with every conceivable consumer good on sale in hundreds of small shops lining the streets. The economy seems to be growing quickly and the standard of living improving apace. The country is now in the scooter age and the streets are saturated with scooters and motor cycles. Street crossing in day or night was guaranteed to provide a thrill. If the Vietnamese cannot resist the allure of the automobile one can predict monster traffic jams in Hanoi in the near future.
Altogether my assignment lasted seven weeks from Oct 3 to Nov 20, 2005. During this period I stayed in Hanoi and explored the city, checked out the restaurants, attended one show at the Hanoi Opera and joined the Indian community and friends for Diwali festivities. On my final weekend I made contact with a language school and looked forward to a part time volunteer job during the second phase of the project that unfortunately did not materialize. The limited traveling I did was at the completion of my assignment. An account of these travels is given below.
Sunday Nov. 20:
I packed up my belongings at Asean Hotel, stored books; extra stuff and computer then took an ordinary bus from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay. The trip lasted from 11 am to 3 pm with a stop for lunch. At Ha Long Bay I hooked up with a friend of the bus driver who took me over to Ho Toy Hotel on hotel row. In this part of town there are several small hotels that all look alike and have similar names therefore it was important not to lose the business card of the hotel!
Across the road was a small café/hotel with only one guest. Stopped there for a coffee and met the owner, her son, daughter-in-law and new baby. I was invited to join them for supper at no extra charge and then to watch the Vietnam vs. Thailand international football match on TV. Vietnam won.
Monday, Nov.21:
After breakfast of Vietnamese beef noodle soup, I joined three young ladies, a Dane, her Danish/Vietnamese friend and the latter’s cousin. We spent most of the day, from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm cruising among the islands of Ha Long Bay. We visited two of the islands, the first to explore a large cave and the second to climb to a lookout on the summit from which we had a splendid view of the bay and its many rocky islands. This area is now a famous tourist destination and is a “must-see” destination in Vietnam. There were tourists from several countries including: France, China, Korea, Japan, etc. It was passed the peak season, so tour boats of which there is a substantial fleet were only part full or tied up. Our boat with a capacity of 18-20 had only the four of us as paying passengers. It is indeed a spectacular place, but would be better still if there was less haze in the air. I was told that, on clear days of the rainy season it is much better. I joined my host (Mr. Fix-it) for beer and sausages followed by a Vietnamese supper at the German restaurant near my hotel.
Tuesday, Nov 22:
In the morning I took it easy and treated myself to a fancy breakfast in Hanoi Restaurant Dong 85,000 ($ 6.00) and then wandered along the beach until lunch which I bought on the sidewalk for Dong 9,000 (65 cents). In the afternoon I returned to Hanoi in a mini bus with back-packers from Ireland and Canada (Montreal). It took a while to find a hotel in downtown Hanoi but finally I settled in to Freedom Hotel at US $20.00 per night. Later that evening I visited my favorite restaurant the Green Tangerine and dined with an Australian couple I met there. They are writers. We discussed books and engineering as we ate.
Wednesday, Nov 23:
I breakfasted at Mocha’s coffee house where I met a young American lady working in the textile industry. She was in Vietnam to recruit a compliance inspector to monitor factories manufacturing garments for her company in the U.S. Spent the rest of the day organizing my trip to Nepal. That evening I had supper at Mama Rosa’s Restaurant where I bumped into a Canadian foursome from Quebec City. One of the group was a Ms. Pinsent from Grand Falls (NF). She has lived many years in Quebec City and speaks flawless French. That evening I decided to take in a concert at the Opera House where the Budapest Opera Orchestra was playing. Unfortunately, the tickets were “sold out” and only scalpers tickets were available at ridiculous prices $100!! I’ll wait until I visit Budapest to hear this orchestra.
Thursday, Nov 24:
I had breakfast again at Mocha’s and this time met a most interesting group of Americans: Suel Jones from Alaska a volunteer with Vietnam Freedom Village, Dan Rocovits – World Village foundation both organizations dedicated to repair some of the damages of the American War. Later a couple of young film makers joined us. They were researching the history of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Hopefully, we will see the results of their efforts on PBS someday soon. My project today was to visit and photograph the Long Bien Bridge and Sông Hông River (Red River). This bridge is very famous as it was the sole link to the coal fields of Haiphong which were vital to the Vietnamese war effort. The Americans made many attempts to take the bridge out, but the Vietnamese displayed extraordinary ingenuity in making repairs and were able to put the bridge back in service with extraordinary rapidity after each attack. The result is a curious looking bridge that appears as if each section was designed by a different engineer!! After a late lunch I attended a concert at the famous water puppet theatre a unique production in which the puppets all float in a shallow pool of water.
Then at 6:20 pm I left for the airport en route to Bangkok and Kathmandu.
After a three week vacation in Nepal I returned again to Hanoi on Dec 12.
Monday, Dec 12:
I got up early to avoid problems at Bangkok Airport. The flight from Bangkok to Hanoi with Thai Airlines was routine. Hanoi on arrival was overcast and cool so I could comfortably wear my new Nepali jacket. Staff at Asean Hotel were glad to see me again.
Tuesday, Dec 13:
For my last full day in Vietnam I decided to join a group tour to visit Perfume Pakoda, that is not a pagoda at all but a cave which has been a place of worship for many centuries.
Wednesday-Thursday, Dec 14:
I left Hanoi at 1:30 p.m. for Taipei, a trip of about two and a half hours arriving around 5:00 p.m. I checked into Transit Hotel until 9:30 p.m., then caught the plane to Vancouver at midnight arriving at 6:00 p.m. on Dec 14, thus regaining the day lost on the trip out! After supper and a movie on television I fell asleep and did not wake up until 2:00 p.m. so much for the benefit of an extra day!
Thursday, Dec 15:
I went over to SNC-Lavalin’s office for a debriefing session then caught Air Canada’s 2:00 p.m. flight to Montreal arriving just before midnight. So ended this most recent of Asian adventures.
I am attaching a few pictures that I took myself and also a power point presentation on Hanoi that Nicole found on the web. Enjoy.
Best wishes (belatedly).
Phil Helwig
Sept 22, 2007
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