~ slipping into the future in Quy Nhon ~
...where craftsmen boat-builders still make wooden fishing boats. As the speed of Vietnam's economic development accelerates on the cusp of yet another decade, one shouldn't be too surprised to find that there's evidence of the new future even here...tall, modern buildings and hotels, new coastal roads and esplanades. Times they are a changing.
But also here in Quy Nhon in 2010 there's a nautical tradition that's keeping pace...changing and adapting. Skilled craftsmen not only repair wooden fishing boats. They still know how to build them using time-honored methods but with modern hand tools that save 'time and effort'.
For sure, time keeps slipping into the future. Boats have been slipping into the water for a long time too. After months of attention, as these artifacts, these crafted trees, these new wooden fishing boats eventually meet the brine...one can't help but reflect that they are the product of a considerable amount of knowledge acquired over past time. Time now...rushing down the yard's slipway into the future. As such perhaps, the wooden fishing boats of Quy Nhon are a metaphor of Vietnam's current modernization.
The boat-building yard in Qui Nhon isn't difficult to find. It's on Tran Hung Dao near the intersection with Dinh Bo Linh. Inside the yard you'll find a coffee shop. A place to sit and observe and reflect on the scene. Talk to the boat-builders too.
Quy Nhon of course has a wide range of accommodation and is presently, pleasantly uncluttered by other sightseers...