Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Its been a while since my last update. I guess I'm lazy. Since my last update i have crossed the Chinese border into Vietnam, travelled the length of the country, and finally crossed the border into Cambodia. I had to do it quick like that because without a visa i only got a 15 days stamp in my passport. I spent a couple of days each in Hanoi, Hue, Hoi An, Na Trang and Saigon. By now i am pretty used to 12 hour bus and train journeys. Still these long journeys seem to upset my stomach a bit, so I found it best not to eating anything and drink little while traveling.
As for my impressions on Vietnam. Its very different from China. It was a bit of a culture shock, with the chaotic traffic and the aggressive touts. Southern China is relatively developed and modern compared to Vietnam. In the Chinese cities i saw lots of skyscrapers and shopping malls. I have not seen much of those in Vietnam. The atmosphere in Vietnam is more bohemian, even chaotic. Instead of modern shopping malls and brand name stores they have lots of street markets and small family run shops. The traffic consist mostly of scooters. There is probably fifty scooters for every car. The streets are usually to narrow for cars anyway. Its not uncommon to see a whole family of four people crammed on top of a single scooter. Crossing these narrow roads is an adventure in itself as the traffic stops for no one. The trick is to walk slowly across the road so that the scooters have a enough time to adapt and move around you. Crossing the road safely is a bit of an art. Mostly i just wait for some locals to cross, and just follow them. However this one time at a really bad crossing i was waiting for an old woman to cross so that i could follow. But she was waiting for me to do the leading. Finally someone took pity on us both and lead us across. If not we probably still would have stood there waiting.
In Vietnam there are lots of tourists around and it is easy to meet other travellers at the pub over a game of pool. I think I'll be pretty good at pool by the time my travels are over. As for the locals, although friendly and talkative, they always seem to have a hidden agenda of getting at your money. As a tourist you are constantly hassled to buy motorbike rides, "massages", drugs, books, food and anything else they can think off. Sometimes even after a friendly conversation you realize that the person you are talking to is in fact trying to sell you stuff. Surviving out here on a budget means you have to learn to just politely ignore the locals and not be so trusting. While it is easy to ignore people that are waiving at you from the other side of the street, it is less easy to ignore people that are following you around talking to you. Mostly it is the child beggars that will not take no for an answer. Its not uncommon for them to start swearing at you if you don't give them any money. I guess you cant blame them. But its a bit sad that you travel half around the world only to find that the only people you can talk to are the same people you would be talking to in a pub back home. As for the travellers, there are lots of Finns, Swedes, English and Australians just about everywhere you go. The scenery changes but the people stay the same. On the up side, the food has been great, the weather even better, and the beer is a third the price it costs back home.
That's it for now, Ill try and write another update before i leave Cambodia
Cheers Patrik
- comments