Blogs from Hai Duong, Red River Delta, Vietnam, Asia

Computer Training in Thuy Lam Hamlet I had two goals this trip, see the mountain areas of Vietnam and participate in library training in a local village and training with the National Library of Vietnam. This blog is about library training. In a country that claims a 95% literacy rate but just a few years ago was 95% illiterate, there is not a culture of reading books. A lot of the provincial libraries and university libraries are full of students but the small village libraries, in my opinion, are not proving their worth. What these small libraries need to do is develop programs to attract students and offer services the people need. For these reasons, I have developed the following suggestions for libraries. • ESL Training - Both English As A Second Language class and computer ... read more

I finally left Hanoi today, but I'm sure the city wanted me to stay. I paid a whopping $10 for a Vietnam road atlas, which had no map of Hanoi in it. So I figured if I head east using my compass I will be able to find the road to Halong Bay. So I set of on a bearing of East, and kept going. And Going. And going... Then I saw some toursits who I had met previously clutching a map. I spoke to them and it turned out I was almost back to where I had started after riding 23km. I am coming to realise that cities are not my strong point direction wise, and that internet deals on Casio Hiking watches maybe just are too good to be true if my watch is ... read more