We have endured a month of lockdowns of a somewhat extreme degree and as of midnight on Monday most of these restrictions have been lifted. We are not free to go to bars, restaurants, and most other types of shops are allowed to open as well.
One thing that kind of annoyed me during the lockdown was the fact that small shops that sold a wide variety of goods seemed to face harsher lockdowns than the big shopping centers because all of those were open the entire time. Funny how the big guys are allowed to do stuff during lockdowns but the people who probably weren't making very much money to begin with are forced to shut down and suffer perhaps heavy losses.
These days when you walk the streets you will still see a lot of people wearing masks but unless I am mistaken this is no longer required.
It didn't take long for the news to spread in the expat community and messengers were abuzz with people meeting up at various bars all around the area. One such bar called "Shamrocks" is not a place I would normally go to because they let people smoke inside (and that stinks) was the center of all the action.
Alright so that probably doesn't seem all that packed but this pic was taken about 4pm and from what I was told when I turned up was that people were actually queuing up to get their drink on as soon as they opened the doors at 11am. By the time I arrived at 1:30 or so, my friends immediately tried to get me a shot and my reaction, even as a borderline alcoholic was "are you nuts? It's only just past noon!" Needless to say the crew got absolutely wrecked and a good time was had by all.
This bar normally functions as a local for just the folks that live on that street and normally would only have 5-10 people in it at a time. Yesterday, at the max I would say there was probably around 50 people there. It was a a call for merriment after being forced basically to stay indoors or at your own property for a month.
The fear that I have right now is the fact that Vietnam seems to react in a rather extreme manner if there is any sort of suspicion of an "outbreak" anywhere in the country. At the moment, the country is completely shut down from international flights, and getting flights out of the country is an exercise in frustration as well.
I fear that because of the way that Vietnam handled Covid towards the start of this will result in us being in and out of lockdown for the foreseeable future. The same can be said of the country I just moved here from which is Thailand.
Public spaces such as the beach, have a strange re-opening schedule that doesn't make a great deal of sense to me. People in Da Nang are allowed to use the beach early in the morning and for a few hours at night and these are the most popular time for the locals to visit because from what I have experienced, the locals tend to like to stay out of the sun and well, I'm not going to argue with them about that because it makes sense. It is also a million degrees in the afternoon anyway.
The problem with this in my mind is that the limited hours that the beach is open is going to encourage more people to come all at the same time, isn't it? Therefore, if there was any risk of spreading a virus wouldn't this increased amount of people all going at the same time actually going to increase the likelihood of something spreading? I'm not a scientist, I'm just trying to think logically here. I don't have much faith in government, any government so I am always very critical of what it is that they decide to do.
In the meantime many businesses have been seriously struggling over the past year, just like everywhere else so when I go out (and I will be doing some day drinking again today) I tend to revel in the look of joy on business owner's faces that they are now allowed to have customers again.
Nadi (my doggie pal) has also been enjoying this increased freedom as our walks have become longer and we are no longer restricted to throwing a rope toy across the mere 40 square meters of my condo. She also got a new bed that while it was disappointing in quality, it was only $8 so I can't really complain.
All tuckered out after a 2km walk... you would be too if your legs were only 5 inches long
So here's to hopefully us being able to go outdoors and patronize businesses for a while. I'm gonna go drink a beer or 12 with some friends to celebrate not being caged up like animals for the first time a month.
Hopefully this message finds most of you in a similar situation!
