US embassy cable - 01HANOI3086

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 003086 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: SOCI, PINS, PGOV, ETRD, VM 
SUBJECT:  LIFE ALONG ROUTE ONE 
 
REF:  A.  HANOI 2964 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
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-     B.  HANOI 2963 
-     C.  HANOI 2949 
-     D.  HANOI 2885 
 
1.  (U)  SUMMARY.  ROUTE ONE IS BEAUTIFUL DRIVE BUT A 
SURPRISINGLY POOR NATIONAL ARTERY LINKING THE VARIOUS 
REGIONS OF THE COUNTRY.  THERE IS LITTLE INDICATION OF MUCH 
USE OF LAND OR RAIL TRANSPORT FOR INTER-PROVINCIAL TRADE. 
SMALL-SCALE PRIVATE ENTERPRISE SEEMS TO THRIVE.  RICE IS 
CLEARLY KING AMONG AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.  APART FROM SOME 
RANCOR AGAINST THE VIETNAM HUMAN RIGHTS ACT, PEOPLE 
UNIFORMLY SEEMED BULLISH ON THE US-VIETNAM RELATIONSHIP AND 
READY TO PUT THE WAR HISTORY BEHIND US.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (U)  NATIONAL HIGHWAY ROUTE ONE IS THE ARTERY LINKING 
VIETNAM'S THREE MAJOR REGIONS, STRETCHING FROM CA MAU 
PROVINCE ON THE GULF OF THAILAND TO LANG SON PROVINCE ALONG 
THE CHINESE BORDER.  MOST OF ITS LENGTH SKIMS VIETNAM'S 
DESERVEDLY FAMOUS COASTLINE, OFFERING SPECTACULAR VIEW AFTER 
SPECTACULAR VIEW.  TRAVELERS -- E.G., POL/C AND POL FSN 
DURING THEIR OCTOBER 25-NOVEMBER 2 TRIP BETWEEN HO CHI MINH 
CITY AND HANOI -- SOON GROW FATIGUED BY THE CONSTANT 
REPETITION OF "HOW BEAUTIFUL." 
 
3.  (U)  NO OTHER ROADS NOW LINK THE COUNTRY, ALTHOUGH WORK 
IS UNDERWAY ON TRANSFORMING PARTS OF THE ONE-TIME HO CHI 
MINH TRAIL INTO ANOTHER HIGHWAY.  TWENTY-SIX YEARS AFTER 
"LIBERATION" OF THE SOUTH AND NATIONAL "REUNIFICATION," ONE 
MIGHT HAVE EXPECTED THAT THIS NATIONAL HIGHWAY HAD RECEIVED 
CENTRAL GOVERNMENT LARGESSE OVER THE YEARS TO FACILITATE 
INTER-REGIONAL AND INTER-PROVINCIAL COMMUNICATION.  MAYBE IT 
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HAS HAD, BUT IF SO, THE RESULTS ARE DISAPPOINTING.  A FEW 
MILES NORTH OF HO CHI MINH CITY, THE HIGHWAY TURNS INTO A 
TWO LANE ROAD, MORE OFTEN THAN NOT WITHOUT CENTER OR SIDE 
MARKINGS.  IN MANY SPOTS FROM NINH THUAN ALL THE WAY THROUGH 
TO QUANG BINH PROVINCE, FLOODS HAVE TAKEN THEIR TOLL EVEN ON 
THIS BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE.  (IN LATE OCTOBER, TRAFFIC ON 
ROUTE ONE WAS SHUT DOWN ALTOGETHER AT TAM KY IN QUANG NAM 
FOR MORE THAN A DAY DUE TO HIGH WATERS.)  THE RESULT IS THAT 
STRETCHES OF THIS NATIONAL ROUTE ARE LITTLE MORE THAN DIRT 
OR MUDDY PATCHES.  CONCERTED EFFORTS SEEM TO BE UNDERWAY TO 
IMPROVE BRIDGES, ESPECIALLY SMALL ONES OVER DIKES AND 
CREEKS, BUT IN THE MEANTIME ONGOING CONSTRUCTION OFTEN MEANS 
ONE-WAY TRAFFIC. (NOTE:  ACCORDING TO PRESS REPORTS, 
JAPANESE OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE AND/OR LOANS, WORTH 
WELL OVER USD 130 MILLION, ARE FUNDING THE WORK ON 71 
BRIDGES OVER SEVERAL YEARS. END NOTE)  ONCE ACROSS THE 
FORMER DMZ, IN QUANG BINH PROVINCE, HOWEVER, THE ROAD 
BECOMES DRAMATICALLY BETTER PAVED AND MAINTAINED, ALTHOUGH 
IT CONTINUES TO BE TWO LANES FOR MOST OF THE REMAINING 
JOURNEY INTO HANOI. 
 
4.  (U)  TRAFFIC IS REMARKABLY LIGHT, WITH RELATIVELY FEW 
TRANSPORT TRUCKS.  IT IS POSSIBLE TO GO FOR MILES AT A TIME 
WITHOUT PASSING ANOTHER SEDAN OR TRUCK, ALTHOUGH THERE IS A 
STEADY FLOOD OF MOTORCYCLES AND BICYCLES AS WELL AS THE 
OCCASIONAL CATTLE- OR HORSE-DRAWN CART.  FLOODS OF PRIMARY 
SCHOOLCHILDREN HEADING HOME ON FOOT OR BICYCLE AFTER THEIR 
HALF-DAY SESSIONS COMPOSE ONE OF THE FEW PERSISTENT "TRAFFIC 
JAMS." 
 
5.  (U)  IT MIGHT BE TEMPTING TO ASSUME THAT MUCH FREIGHT 
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MUST BE GOING BY TRAIN FROM THE TWO ENDS OF THE COUNTRY. 
THE SOLE MAJOR NORTH-SOUTH RAILWAY LINE RUNS PRETTY MUCH IN 
TANDEM WITH ROUTE ONE, CRISS-CROSSING REGULARLY AND OFTEN 
WITHIN SIGHT OF EACH OTHER.  TRAFFIC ON THE HIGHWAY MUST 
COME TO A HALT AT MANY CROSSINGS, WHERE THERE ARE ALWAYS A 
SMALL BEVY OF PETTY MERCHANTS WITH LIFE'S DAILY NECESSITIES 
-- CANDIES, CIGARETTES, FRUIT, ETC.  IN EIGHT DAYS OF 
TRAVEL, WE SAW NO MORE THAN 3-4 TRAINS A DAY, VIRTUALLY ALL 
OF THEM PASSENGER TRAINS.  EITHER INTER-PROVINCIAL TRADE IS 
EXTREMELY LIMITED, OR MUCH OF IT IS GOING BY BOAT. 
 
6.  (U)  SIGNS OF A VITAL IF LARGELY SMALL-SCALE PRIVATE 
SERVICE SECTOR ARE EVERYWHERE.  DUSTY ROADSIDE RESTAURANTS 
POSITION EMPLOYEES IN THE STREET TO WAVE IN WOULD-BE 
CUSTOMERS WITH THEIR HANDS AND SMILES.  BEACHSIDE BEER HALLS 
DO A BOOMING BUSINESS, AS DO UBIQUITOUS COFFEE/TEA 
RESTAURANTS, SOME OF THEM QUITE ELABORATE.  AN ENTHUSIASTIC 
LEISURE CLASS CLEARLY EXISTS ALONG ROUTE ONE, ALTHOUGH THEY 
SEEM TO HEAD HOME FAIRLY EARLY.  EVEN NHA TRANG'S HOPPING 
DISCO SCENE APPARENTLY CLOSES DOWN AROUND MIDNIGHT.  NOT TO 
WORRY, THOUGH:  AMOROUS COUPLES CAN STILL HEAD TO THE 
BEACHES AFTER HOURS.  OTHER BEACH-SIDE HUTS EVEN IN A 
BACKWATER RESORT LIKE NHAT LE (QUANG BINH PROVINCE) 
APPARENTLY OFFER MORE THAN SEAFOOD SNACKS.  THEIR YOUNG AND 
HEAVILY MADE-UP FEMALE STAFF GAVE EVERY INDICATION OF 
BECOMING MORE AND MORE FRIENDLY AS THE DAY WORE ON (WE ONLY 
STOPPED FOR LUNCH, WHICH SEEMED TO THROW THEM INTO A GOOD 
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PAGE 02        HANOI  03086  02 OF 02  260644Z 
DEAL OF CONFUSION:  "SOMEONE ACTUALLY WANTS TO EAT HERE?"). 
 
7.  (U)  APART FROM A FEW STRETCHES OF RUBBER PLANTATIONS, 
THE UTTER DOMINANCE OF RICE CULTURE WAS STRIKING, ALBEIT 
WITH CONSIDERABLE VARIATION ON MATURITY AND FERTILITY AMONG 
THE REGIONS.  THE FARTHER SOUTH, THE MORE IMPRESSIVE.  SANDY 
STRETCHES IN PHU YEN AND BINH DINH WERE MORE BLEAK, IN 
PLACES WITH EXTENSIVE SALT FIELDS.  HA TINH, NGHE AN AND 
THANH HOA IN THE NORTH WERE AGAIN RELATIVELY MORE 
PROSPEROUS, WITH SOMEWHAT MORE VARIETY OF CROPS EVIDENT. 
HOUSING STANDARDS FOLLOWED THESE GENERAL PATTERNS.  HOUSES 
IN THE VARIOUS SOUTHERN PROVINCES OFTEN SPORTED THE DATE OF 
CONSTRUCTION, WITH A SURPRISING NUMBER HAVING BEEN BUILT IN 
THE 1970'S, BOTH PRE- AND POST-1975.  RELATIVELY FEW SEEM TO 
HAVE GONE UP IN THE 1980'S, WITH ANOTHER SURGE IN THE 
1990'S.  FOR FARMHOUSES, THERE WAS LITTLE TO DISTINGUISH 
THOSE FROM THIRTY YEARS AGO FROM MORE RECENT ONES, BUT EVEN 
VILLAGES AND TOWNS TYPICALLY HAD AT LEAST A COUPLE OF 
VIRTUAL MANSIONS IN THE TYPICAL TALL AND THIN FASHION 
FAVORED IN VIETNAM. 
 
8.  (U)  REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN ACCENT REMAIN SHARP, WITH 
ACCENTS IN CENTRAL PROVINCES LIKE QUANG NAM AND QUANG TRI, 
AS WELL AS THE MORE SOPHISTICATED CITY OF DANANG, DISTINCT 
CHALLENGES AT LEAST FOR ONE FSI-TRAINED DIPLOMAT.  NATIONAL 
EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS, AND STATE-RUN TELEVISION AND RADIO 
BROADCASTS APPEAR TO HAVE DONE LITTLE TO DISPEL SUCH 
REGIONAL VARIATIONS. 
 
9. (U)  WHILE THE ISSUE OF THE VIETNAM HUMAN RIGHTS ACT 
INEVITABLY CAME UP DURING OFFICIAL MEETINGS (REF A), ALONG 
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WITH OCCASIONAL COMPLAINTS FROM OFFICIALS IN PROVINCES 
NEAREST THE OLD DMZ ABOUT DOUBLE-STANDARD LECTURES FROM THE 
U.S. ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS PROBLEMS DESPITE DAMAGE CAUSED 
DURING THE WAR, ANECDOTAL IMPRESSIONS AND UNSCIENTIFIC 
SOUNDINGS WITH OFFICIAL AND NON-OFFICIAL INTERLOCUTORS ALIKE 
INDICATED AN ALMOST ACROSS-THE-BOARD INTEREST IN THE U.S., 
FAVORABLE DISPOSITION TOWARD THE U.S., AND GENUINE EAGERNESS 
TO SEE THE US-VIETNAM RELATIONSHIP MOVE FORWARD.  A GUIDE IN 
A QUANG TRI WAR MEMORIAL -- ON A HISTORICAL SITE WHERE IT 
WAS ALLEGED THAT THE US BOMBS DROPPED THERE HAD SEVEN TIMES 
THE DESTRUCTIVE POWER OF THE ATOMIC BOMB ON HIROSHIMA -- 
WENT THROUGH HIS RATHER HORRIFIC SPIEL WITH A STRAIGHT FACE 
AND CALM DEMEANOR.  WHEN ASKED SUBSEQUENTLY IF HE OR OTHER 
LOCAL PEOPLE REMAINED ANGRY AT THE U.S. OR RESENTED THE 
CURRENT DEVELOPMENT OF BILATERAL TIES, HE SMILED AND 
ANSWERED "NO, THAT'S ALL IN THE PAST.  NO ONE WANTS TO THINK 
ABOUT THAT ANY MORE."  IT'S NOT A BAD SUMMARY OF POPULAR 
ATTITUDES ALONG ROUTE ONE. 
PORTER 
 
                       UNCLASSIFIED