Vietnam, it was an absolute pleasure

I was lying in a hammock in my Laos paradise, the gorgeous village of Muang Ngoi, when I decided that Vietnam would be my next stop in SE Asia. As I was already behind on my theoretical travel schedule, I thought I would only have around ten days in the country, and I wanted to make the most of them. After two relaxing weeks in Laos not doing all that much, I was rearing to get up and see and do as much as possible, and with plenty of time on my hands to research and plan, I decided that my experience in Vietnam would be different to all the other countries I had been to until now.

With the exception of Sri Lanka, where we had time constraints and had planned a basic itinerary before we arrived, I had approached each country I had visited until now with the “arrive and see” attitude of most backpackers, meaning I would arrive in a country or city, get my bearings, see what there was to do in the place I was starting from, and move on from there. In Nepal, the first stop on my trip way back in October, I had pre-booked accommodation for my first two nights in the country, but in almost every other place, I had arrived with no pre-booked accommodation, preferring, as most backpackers do, to arrive, scout out the options, and try to find the best deal in person.

I spent a few days speaking to other travellers, started googling and researching on trip adviser, and put together a basic itinerary, realizing that I would need a little more than the ten days I had planned for Vietnam in order to do everything I wanted to do. With that knowledge in hand, I decided to reallocate the time I had left for South East Asia, shortening my time in Cambodia, and giving up the few days I had planned on spending on Thailand’s beaches and in Bangkok. Knowing that I needed to get my butt into gear, and recognizing that after two weeks of relative inertia in Laos, I might need to be forced into action, I decided to book as much as possible in advance. I approached Vietnam with the mind of a tourist on holiday, deciding that I would take a time out from backpacker traveller mode and just spend my time enjoying myself without budgeting and worrying about money too much.

I booked a couple of internal flights to save time, found some reasonably priced hotels and organized airport transfers. I researched day tours in the cities and booked multi-day tours to surrounding areas. I booked some food tours, as I’d been constantly told about the amazing food available in Vietnam, and found some free city tours run by Vietnamese university students, which I thought would be a great way to see the sights and to get to know some of the locals at the same time. Knowing myself, I also knew that I would need to factor in some time for relaxation, so I created an itinerary with a good balance of activities and down-time, deciding that I would book the day trips that interested me closer to the time, so I wouldn’t have the stress of my plans being too rigid. It felt good to plan after so much time just winging it. It felt good to be in control again, and it felt even better once I arrived in Vietnam and almost everything was already organized for me.

I fell in love with Vietnam as soon as I stepped off the plane and into the taxi. I l had taken an evening flight from Laos’s capital, the placid Vientiane, and found myself in Hanoi an hour later, projected right into the hustle and bustle of activity that is present at almost any time of day in the capital city. I spent a busy two days in the permanent drizzle of Hanoi, dodging motorcycles and scooters and taking my life into my hands every time I crossed the street. I did a food tour of Hanoi, learning about the differences in foods in the different regions, went to Chabad for megilla reading and a Purim meal and did a free tour of Hanoi with a Vietnamese university student, who raced through the city with me, taking me to the Hoa Lo Prison, the Temple of Literature, Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum, and the Women’s Museum, among other places. I finished off a busy two days in Hanoi with a performance of the world-famous Vietnamese water puppet theatre before boarding a night train bound for Sapa, a city in the north, high up in the mountains near the Chinese border.

Sapa was beautiful and colourful, full of village women dressed in their traditional outfits, hawking their wares to the scores of tourists milling around the streets. Sapa was challenging for me as it was there that I did my first official “trek”, two days of hiking with a homestay visit in the middle, and an additional day trek down to a nearly village. Accompanied by a gaggle of village women, intent on helping us through the difficult areas with the expectation that we would buy souvenirs from them later on in the day, we made our way through the picturesque terraces of rice paddies that were sometimes visible, and sometimes hidden entirely by the clouds which descended and lifted throughout the day. I started off the trek with blisters and with only my hiking sandals as footwear, was worried that my always-problematic feet wouldn’t last the distance. Luckily my feet surprised me, and I made it through relatively easily, although the trek on the second day was quite challenging. The only time I almost admitted defeat was on the third day when we trekked down to a nearby village, as the return was all uphill and my horribly low level of fitness almost forced me to take a motorcycle taxi back up to town. With the encouragement of my guide and fellow travellers, I persevered and made it back to the top, and I’m so glad I did. I loved the three days I spent in Sapa and the surrounding areas and it was with some reluctance that I boarded the train back to Hanoi.

From Hanoi I went directly to Halong Bay where we spent three days cruising through the magnificent limestone isles, eating incredible food and relaxing. We visited caves, climbed, kayaked, learned how to make fresh spring rolls and lazed around as we cruised through the stunning surroundings. The term “window shopping” took on a new dimension as we stood at the windows of our cabins drinking tea and being courted by boatwomen trying to sell us souvenirs and snacks. After docking in Halong on the third day, we drove back to Hanoi where I rushed to make my evening flight to Da Nang, gateway to Hoi An, a city famous for its ancient town, cooking classes, tailors and gorgeous lanterns. I spent four amazingly fun and relaxing days in Hoi An before flying to Ho Chi Minh City, capital of the south, still referred to by most people by its earlier name, Saigon.

Hoi An was a mixture of sightseeing, relaxation and visits to the tailor, where I had a couple of dresses made in preparation for Pesach in Australia in April, for which I needed to find something to wear that was more dressy that my travel clothes and elephant pants. My homestay on the river was enough of a distance from the old town that it was quiet at night, and close enough that it was an easy walk in. I spent every evening by the river, and every day busy with something else; an incredible food tour with the knowledgeable Neville (the original Hoi An food tour), a sunrise visit to the ancient Hindu temples of My Son, exploring Hoi An’s old town, and an easy-rider motorcycle day trip to Da Nang and the Lang Co fishing village. Hoi An was cheerful and colourful, and it was hard to leave.

I flew into Saigon in the morning and spent the afternoon visiting the War Remnants museum, a horrific testament to the atrocities suffered by the Vietnamese through the war, and the ongoing consequences of Agent Orange on the current population. After doing food tours in both Hanoi and Hoi An, I decided that I had to complete the trifecta and do one in Saigon as well, and so at 5:30pm I was picked up by Hun, a gorgeous Vietnamese girl, for a scooter tour of the city and the local cuisine. The tour was entertaining, the food was interesting, but for the first time in all the organized tours I’d been on during my travels, as the only single person on the tour I actually felt slightly uncomfortable. I enjoyed the tour, but I must admit that I was glad when it was over and I was returned to my hotel.

I did a final day trip from Saigon to visit the biggest and most gorgeously colourful Cao Dai temple in Vietnam and to the Cu Chi tunnels, site of Viet Com resistance during the Vietnam War, known to the Vietnamese as the American War, something that I hadn’t thought about before, but that made perfect sense once it was explained to me. From there I left on a three day tour of the gorgeous Mekong Delta, getting up really early each morning to visit floating markets and fishing villages, learning how to make rice noodles and rice whiskey, floating through the breathtaking wetlands and finally saying goodbye to Vietnam on the third day, taking the fast boat straight to Phnom Penh, capital city of Cambodia. Of course during my time in the delta I also managed to sprain my ankle wandering through the rice fields, something that had to have happened to me eventually (cue the “hop along” jokes), and so I spent most of my last two days in Vietnam hobbling along with the assistance of a very long stick, earning me the nickname of Moses, Little Bo Peep, or my favourite, Gandalf.

I retrospect, when I think about the fact that I almost didn’t end up going to Vietnam, I mentally both kick and congratulate myself. I kick myself for even considering not giving Vietnam a chance, and congratulate myself for overcoming my laziness, apathy and exhaustion after almost four months of non-stop traveling. I am proud that I listened to the advice I received on my family WhatsApp group, and that I overcame the irrational apprehension I felt about visiting this incredible country that in the end, I was so sorry to say goodbye to.

Vietnam was a mixture of sociable and solitude. I met so many amazing and interesting people at every stage; on tours, on buses, on the street, even sharing a cabin on the night train. The multi-day tours that I booked meant I spent a few days at a time with each group of people, and luckily I found myself with really nice and fun people at every stage of the way, some of whom I met up with later on during my time in Vietnam, and even in my first few days in Cambodia. With beers on the deck in Halong bay (coke for me) and “happy” water (rice vodka) at the homestay in Sapa, we saw what we already knew, that alcohol breaks all language barriers and we definitely had a few nights to remember on the way. With all the people around, I still managed to make time for myself, to do everything that I wanted to do, and to see everything that I wanted to see, without feeling beholden to anyone. It was a pleasure traveling alone, yet never really being alone. I met up with friends for dinners, for lunches, even for day trips and city explorations, without once compromising myself or doing anything that I didn’t want to do.

I feel that in Vietnam I finally came into my own as a traveller. In Thailand, when I split from the Israeli couple I had started traveling with after only a few short days, I made the conscious decision to continue on my own, and to not have to be dependent on, or wait for anyone anymore, something I had done too often in the preceding months. When I was in Laos, I put that decision into practice, but I was still relying too heavily on other people’s recommendations and on taking the expected traveller route. In Vietnam, unlike every place I’d been to so far, I made all my own decisions and planned everything on my own, only using recommendations as a basis. Traveling alone was a pre-determined conclusion, as even if I had met people that I could potentially have travelled with, it wasn’t really an option as I already had a timeline with options that couldn’t be modified. In Vietnam I finally made the effort and took control of my time, and I was definitely happier for it.

In Vietnam I took chances. I spoke to locals, tried all different kinds of street food (Vietnam is heaven for the gluten-intolerant), and immersed myself in as much of the culture as I could in the short time I had to spend there. While I was only in the country for just over two weeks, I had enough of a taste of the country that I was left wanting more, a lot more. Vietnam is touristy, and is getting even more touristy as time goes on, yet it seems to have retained most of its integrity, unlike some of the other places I visited in South East Asia. I could easily have stayed there for a few more months, and still not have seen all there was to see or experienced everything I’d wanted to.

My time in Vietnam was liberating, and the short time I have spent so far in Cambodia has been great. I have seen a lot, and have tried not to let my injured ankle impede me too much. I have met up with old and new friends (pre-Vietnam is considered old!), and have really liked what I’ve seen so far of this gorgeous country. While I am really looking forward to Australia, to seeing old friends and to finally spending some time exploring my birth country, I am left wanting more from Asia and from my travels. After five months on the road, I finally understand the wanderlust, and embrace the challenges and rewards that come from being a lone traveller. I will miss the language barriers, the interesting people, both locals and fellow travellers, the squat toilets and (most of) the unidentifiable foods. I will miss the stares of curious locals, and the waves of excited children. I will miss elephant pants, not wearing make-up or dressing up for months on end, and wearing the random clothes that only travellers can get away with. Asia, I will definitely be back. We’re not done yet!