Vietnam-You’re Beautiful But So Difficult at Times

Prior to going to Vietnam, I met and talked with plenty of backpackers who have visited the country. When asked about their impressions of Vietnam, I often got “but the people……” responses. For example, “It’s a beautiful country, but the people……….,” “There are so many places to see and things to do, but the people………” and “There’s fantastic art and shopping, but the people………” What about the people, I asked? “They’re pushy and rude.” “They yell and get angry when you don’t buy anything from them.” “They’re always trying to rip you off.”
I didn’t want to believe the travellers. I really hoped that the negative perceptions were due to cultural misunderstandings from the legacy of their recent history, the occasional off-chance bad experience or the possibility that they’ve just gotten so used to extremely nice people from travelling around this region that a notch down the niceness scale shocked them. I also didn’t want to believe the statement on travelfish.org about Vietnam having a lower rate of visitors returning to the country than the rest of the countries in Southeast Asia due to scammers. Loaded with this knowledge and keeping an open mind, I entered Vietnam hoping to be proven wrong.

Phu Quoc Island
Phu Quoc Island is on the southern end of Vietnam. Geographically closer to Cambodia than Vietnam, many Cambodians feel that the island should be theirs instead. My travel mates and I entered Vietnam from Cambodia via Ha Tien in south Vietnam. Crossing the border was relatively easy and scam-free, with no corrupt officials asking for bribe money or “extra” fees.
During the Vietnam War, Phu Quoc Island housed the largest prisoner camp. Today, it is famous for fish sauce production, pearl cultivation and beautiful beaches with clean, deep blue waters and soft yellow sand. Huge resorts have not invaded the island yet, and beaches are lined with half-filled guesthouses and small boutique hotels. It seems as if the infrastructure for tourism has been built, and is waiting for mass tourism to take off. In the meantime, the kilometers of nearly deserted beaches were great for us, as the serenity made for a peaceful stay and restful start of my Vietnam trip. The island is also very romantic with lots of vacationing couples, which prompted us to leave after a few days.

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
We arrived in Saigon at night after a long 9-hour journey from Phu Quoc Island which included a taxi to the dock, a hydrofoil to Rach Gia, a taxi to the minibus station and finally a minibus to Saigon, where I was inquired relentlessly by a local about why I was travelling without a man, why I didn’t have children at my age and why I was not distraught over not having children yet (I wanted to punch him).
I have to admit that my travels have been pretty easy so far in terms of communicating with locals. Many locals I’ve interacted with in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia had enough knowledge of English that enabled me to communicate with them (even if much of the communication involved hand gestures and acting). Vietnam was a lot more challenging because it seemed that a lower percentage of the people knew English. Being dropped off at the bus station in Saigon was the start of a frustrating communcation challenge in Vietnam, as we tried for an excruciately long time to find a taxi driver who understood where we wanted to go.
The Cu Chi Tunnels and the Caodai Holy See Complex are two tourist attractions that we visited outside of Saigon. Located about 15 km outside of Saigon, the Cu Chi Tunnels are a 200 km subterranean web of kitchens, hospitals and armouries used by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. Even with my small size, the tunnels were dark, narrow and claustrophobic as I barely squeezed through the passages. I can’t imagine living in these tunnels for years, as the Viet Cong did. The Caodai Holy See complex in Tay Ninh serves as the headquarters for the indigenous Caodai sect, which blends Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Christianity. Interestingly, Sun Yat Sen and Victor Hugo are considered saints. The temple itself is very colorful and ornate and the noontime ceremony was spectacular to witness with rows of worshippers in brightly colored garb, hypnotic chanting and the strong aroma of incense.
In Saigon, the War Remnants Museum was pretty heart-wrenching. I grew up hearing so much about the Vietnam War but I didn’t realize the extent of the effects of the war until I visited the museum. The damage from the use of Agent Orange is inhumane and mind-blowing. Today, there are still people being born with physical and mental defects because of their parents’ exposure to Agent Orange. It was interesting to see how differently the Vietnam War was portrayed from the perspective of the Vietnamese as opposed to the Americans, which was the view I grew up with.
The first negative encounter I witnessed in Vietnam was at a handicraft store. A tourist inquired about the price for an item and the shopkeeper gave the price. Five minutes later, the tourist asked about the price again, and the shopkeeper rolled his eyes and yelled across the store, “I told you it was 20,000 dongs! You don’t listen to me!” Another negative experience I encountered was when I was struggling with my duffel bag to get on a bus with a narrow door. The bus attendant impatiently yelled, “Hurry up!” as he pushed me through the door so forcefully that I nearly fell on the steps. I was happy to leave Saigon, hoping for more positive experiences as I traveled further north.

Nha Trang
Nha Trang is a popular seaside town north of Saigon. It is well developed with high rise hotels, a cable car that connects to an amusement park on an island and dive shops. I have to admit that after Thailand and Indonesia, I was a little disappointed with the diving in Nha Trang. There were huge dead coral beds due to dynamite fishing and the water was pretty cold, but it was still exhilarating to be back in the water and dive amongst marine life.

Hoi An
Based on travellers’ tales and research on Lonely Planet and travelfish.org, I was prepared to spend some money and fall in love with Hoi An. This is the city of custom made clothing, art galleries and historic architecture (Hoi An Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Sight). The numerous art galleries were filled with beautiful paintings mixing traditional Vietnamese subjects with modern techniques and styles. They were also very affordable, and I wish I had the space and ability to travel with art conveniently.
What I wasn’t prepared for was how delicious the food was, in particular, cao lau, a Hoi An noodle dish served with vegetables and broth. Authentic cao lau noodles are prepared with water from a particular well near Hoi An. It is absolutely delicious; a perfect blend of noodles with a faint unami flavor, fresh greens (basil, bean sprouts, mint, cilantro), a savory sauce and crunchy croutons. I loved the dish so much that I ate it everyday I was there.
The numerous tailors promising the clothes of your dreams for a cheap price made spending money very easy. As such, I felt that I spent the majority of my time in Hoi An at the tailor’s for numerous fittings, and ended up with more clothes than originally expected, which is a typical consequence of travellers to Hoi An.

Hanoi
We took a bus from Hoi An to Hanoi, with a short stopover at Hue. There is a long tunnel between Hoi An and Hue (I felt that the bus drove through the tunnel for half an hour) and it seemed that the season literally changed from summer to winter when the bus drove out of the tunnel. We stepped out of the bus at Hue, and the temperature dropped to winter conditions from the heat and humidity in Hoi An. By the time we arrived at Hanoi, we were shivering. Fortunately, I had a pair of jeans and a fleece jacket, but my travel mates discarded their jeans the night before arriving in Hanoi, thinking that they wouldn’t be needing them for the rest of our travels. Therefore, we spent the majority of our time in Hanoi shopping for warm clothes. Our hotel was located in the Old Quarter of Hanoi, with each street filled with shops selling specialized items, like clothes, hardware or handicrafts. This organization originates from the 13th century, when craftsmen moved from villages to the Old Quarter and worked and lived together in artisan guilds.
Unfortunately, we had some unpleasant encounters that strenghtened the negative perception of Vietnam from travellers. For example, Katrina was shopping for jeans and was told by a sales assistant that she could not try them on because the jeans were for men. Katrina did not care that they were men’s jeans, but the sales assistant yelled to her with an angry “No!” as she grabbed the jeans from Katrina’s hands. One bizarre incident that happened to me was that while studying a map on a busy street, a man approached me asking where I wanted to go. I started conversing with him when another man approached me pointing to my right foot. I looked at him inquisitively while trying to get directions from the other man. Then the man who pointed at my right foot crouched down beside me, took out a syringe out of his pocket and was about to jam it on my foot when my instinct took over as I quickly stepped away and yelled, “What the hell are you doing?!” I was pretty shaken up by that experience for a few minutes, and was glad to be leaving soon for Halong Bay.

Halong Bay
Halong Bay is a UNESCO Heritage Site for its geographic richness in its limestone formations and stunning beauty. We stayed overnight on a ship, and activities included kayaking, caving and drinking. It could have also included swimming if the weather was warmer (at least for me). The fog and mist created a misty romantic atmosphere that looked like a scene from a movie. I would love to go back to Halong Bay again in warmer weather.

Sapa
Ah, Sapa. What a beautiful place. Located in northern Vietnam near the Chinese border, Sapa turned out to be the highlight of my Vietnam trip. Sapa is the home to several hill tribes, with the Hmong being the most prominent. We did an overnight trekking trip and spent the night at a homestay in Ta Van village with a Hmong family. The hill tribe people live difficult, labor-intensive, simple lives dedicated to farming and handicrafts (which are beautiful). Each tribe has its own language, customs and unique patterns on their clothing that distinguishes themselves from other tribes. Initially, the tribes appear to live separately from modern society; however, there are tell-tale hints that it isn’t so, such as the satellite dish on top of a thatched roof of a house, the portrait of Ho Chi Minh hanging above stacks of hay and modern toilets in primitive looking homes. There are also government-run schools in the villages where children learn how to speak Vietnamese and other subjects. The landscape while trekking was breathtaking, especially the mountains, the stepped rice fields, the rivers and waterfalls.
Sapa town is delightful. It’s definitely touristy as most businesses operate to meet the needs of tourists going trekking and collecting handicrafts. The architecture has a “Swiss Alps ski resort” feel to them, with tall white buildings with wooden trimmings set back against tall green mountains. The people in Sapa were really helpful and friendly, which helped me leave Vietnam on a high note before going to Laos.

I hate to admit that I found Vietnam to be the least friendly of all Southeast Asian countries that I’ve visited. The negative experiences that I described above are just a few of the many I have encountered. To be fair, I’ve met some very friendly and honest people who went out of their way to make me feel welcome and didn’t rip me off. Maybe Vietnam just isn’t a tourist friendly country? Or no matter how conservatively I dressed and how polite I tried to be, I managed to offend them? It’s a pity that the number of negative experiences outweighed the number of positive experiences because Vietnam has so much natural beauty, history and culture to offer to the world.

Nha Trang

Cao Dai Great Temple, Tay Ninh

Hoi An

Sapa

Tags: Halong Bay, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An, Nha Trang, Phu Quoc, Sapa, Vietnam