Crocodile Smooching, Pig Races & Cock Fights

[Martin Hash]

I've seen pictures from the 1950s of homemade amusement parks, cheesy but sincere, and ultimately slipping away when the individual who imagined & implemented them was gone. A modern day version of this phenomenon is being created in Yang Bay, Vietnam, including concrete statuary of famous cartoon characters, carnival rides, and even a small zoo of local animals: tropical birds, albino horses, tigers, crocodiles & bears, some real, some made out of concrete.

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Each exhibit, be it a hot springs, entertainment stage, themed restaurant, transport train, archery, playgrounds, and dozens of handmade statues, are constructed & maintained by local families, who also work together to create them. The park is not entirely connected geographically, for example the crocodile fishing is several kilometers away from the place you can bottle-feed giant goldfish, and the pig racing, cock fighting & bear feeding are in the main part of the park by the ostrich riding & restaurant where a monkey on a chain begs for handouts. My wife, Gwynne, and I spent most of our time soaking in the hot springs with a lot of Russians.

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[Speaker to Animals]

Weak. You teased us with a Joe Dirt moment and failed to deliver.