Reflections on Vietnam

Vietnam is difficult, beautiful, and intriguing. From three weeks of travel throughout the southern half of the country, these have been the consistent themes. Difficulties arise with a dense language barrier, an erratic transportation system, and uncertain relations with locals. The challenge can be enjoyable, however, and the reward is access to a country that knows no bounds to its beauty. Where the scenery is lacking, a bizarre and fascinating culture is on display and doesn’t allow for a single dull moment.

Not being proficient in the local language is generally not a problem in well traveled foreign countries. However, the smaller (and more interesting) towns in Vietnam are not well traveled and very little English is spoken. The little Vietnamese I’ve learned is helpful, but pronunciation is key in a tonal language, and we all know that’s not exactly my specialty. While I’ve had to do without some niceties on occasion, lodging and food have always been managed without too much effort and I really do enjoy the challenge. It’s more fun when you have to work for it.

My experience with the transportation system has been ridiculously eventful, but perhaps a little less fun. Bus rides have been unreasonably overcrowded, smoky, claustrophobic, erratic, vomit-inducing, and sometimes on the verge of suicidal. They regularly pack four times as many people as there are seats into minibuses or tour vans where all the old men proceed to chain smoke for the duration of the trip which takes two or three times longer than scheduled due to the 25 unplanned stops made along the way. This is not an exaggeration: five hour trips take at least ten hours and it’s common for the bus to break down at least once. To top it off, most of my bus drivers blare their horns non-stop, swerve madly and frantically between motorbikes and pedestrians, and consistently pass slower traffic on the left in the face of imminent oncoming traffic. To up the thrill level a bit more, the mountain ridge roads are incredibly winding and poorly maintained, encouraging my fellow passengers to puke nonstop into little baggies. Can’t decide if the sound of them vomiting or the lingering smell is worse. Not necessarily happy experiences, but certainly exciting and memorable.

Relations with locals have been interesting, though quite variable. If they’re not trying to sell you something on the street (“Hey, you – want moto?” when offering motorbike taxi services, or “Hey, you – look” when selling sunglasses or $2 Rolexes) their response to a white guy tends to bring out one of two reactions. Either they stare at you intently or they’re delighted and offer a friendly “hello.” Almost every little kid hollers a happy “hello,” even from across the street if that’s where he/she first notices you. I’ve also had several positive conversations with locals in bars and such. This is always happy, but I’ve been trying to determine the intention of the stares I’ve received – curiosity or animosity – and according to other backpackers and friendly locals, the popular opinion sways to the side of curiosity. This is comforting, but the sensation of being stared at is still a bit unnerving and it can’t all be good-natured inquisitiveness. Other than the occasional stare, however, I haven’t encountered any hostility, which I was sort of expecting after the French (whitey) colonized for almost a century and then the Americans (whitey) invaded for several years a mere four decades ago.

If nothing else, Vietnam is superbly unique. Likely due to their late entry into free markets and open trade, as well as strange control regulations imposed by the government, the country is poverty stricken in many areas, yet everyone has a cell phone and wifi hot spots are common in small towns. They’re definitely playing catch-up in the technology sector, but it’s still interesting to see electronics stores selling TVs from the 1950s along side brand new iPhones.

All the men smoke. Boys start young (or just look really young) and chain smoke right along with the wrinkly old men all day long. I’ve seen no more than a few Vietnamese men who were not actively smoking, and if I had to guess, I’d say at least 90% of the guys puff away like it’s no one’s business. They also litter like crazy, which really amazes me. The clean up crews must be pretty good because the streets aren’t overly filthy, but it seems like littering is completely tolerated and almost expected as people do it openly and frequently. Very weird.

On a happier note, there’s virtually no homelessness due to the importance of family. Everyone’s got a place to lay their head. There’s no violence either, though I’ve heard occasional incidents of theft. They really like badminton for some reason. Yeah, you know, the one with mini tennis rackets and a little rubber ball with feathers. Yep. Badminton...