Vietnam Top Ten Experiences List

I’ve been out of Vietnam and in Laos for several days now, but just recently got internet access – spent the last 4 days boating down a river and staying at various villages in northern Laos.

6 weeks and 12 towns have delivered many memories and excellent experiences from Vietnam. Here are some that top the list:

· Navigating through the floating markets in the Mekong Delta.· Crawling through the Cu Chi Tunnel network just north of Ho Chi Minh City.
· Experiencing Tet in Hanoi. From fireworks to acrobatics to dragon shows to free-flowing marijuana to mouse vendors these guys know how to party. Keeping the party going for a week with the backpackers I met in Hanoi was also excellent.

· Walking around small untouristed towns with all the little kids hollering “hello!” and all the gumpy old men glaring at me. The kids seem as excited as can be because they’re thinking “Whoa! White people do exist!” The older people seem more bewildered than excited, but a smile tends to avert their gaze and replace it with a smile of their own. The small towns are fun – I kind of feel like a rock star in them.

· Caffeinating up with the best coffee I’ve ever had. Vietnam is the 2nd leading producer of coffee worldwide and this stuff is good – strong, rich, and grown in the coffee plantation 20 feet away. Ditto for the peppercorn – excellent.

· Hiking and motorbiking around Dalat. What a sweet mountain town.
· Swallowing a snake’s beating heart, drinking it’s blood and venom mixed with rice wine, and chowing down on the rest of the serpent’s body. Really quite good.

· Boating around the fantastic rock formations in Halong Bay. Video here.
· Enduring the bus rides and violating all the senses: feeling no less than four bodies pushed up against me as the bus violently swerves from side to side, hearing blaring horns and my fellow passengers puke into baggies, seeing motorbikes veer away and pedestrians cower in our wake; all while smelling cigarette smoke, vomit, and fear. These rides were no joke and totally sweet.

· Experiencing the resilience of the Vietnamese. If I had to describe the Vietnamese in a single word, it would be (you guessed it!) resilient. Likely forged by their violent past, they are relentless in every way. Persistent in selling trinkets and motorbike rides, indifferent to personal pain and anguish, and unaffected by endless back-breaking work. Bleeding victims of street accidents are treated in the “walk if off” mentality. Homelessness and poverty are unacceptable and considered the individual’s fault – they must work at something, anything to survive on their own. Fruit vendors will stalk you for a kilometer, and they’re not begging – they’re selling. The infrastructure is piss poor, but they’re working to improve buildings and roadways everywhere you look. Vietnam is a fascinating and beautiful country that is inevitably on the rise, and it’s because of the resilience of the people. During what the Vietnamese call the “American War,” General Giap told the Americans “You can kill 10 of my men for every one of yours… even at those odds I will win and you will lose.” This is their unflinching and steadfast nature, and it’s certainly an experience to witness.