Why do I love Vietnam? What’s not to love? The heat and humidity? The deadly city traffic and constant honking? Ok so there are some things not to love, but it’s a pretty great place. The food is so delicious, the people are so friendly, the landscape is so stunning, and almost everything is so something. I love this place even more the second time around and am even considering moving here for a while, if I can find an excuse to. I have a couple in mind.
We didn’t visit the northern half of the country as there wasn’t enough time, partially because HCMC was so welcoming that we had trouble leaving it. I spent a big chunk of my time there walking in the park where locals gather to exercise and dance. Huge groups of people from children to old ladies doing embarrassing aerobic dances in public? Sounds like fun to me. And it was. On top of that, if you sit in the park then you’re sure to have a group of Vietnamese people surround you within minutes, mostly to practice English: children and adults alike. Some speak well, some can hardly say more than hello. It’s so enjoyable to teach someone who wants to learn, and these people are approaching strangers on a Saturday night to practice.
Some of these are teenagers who can only say a few words in English, yet that doesn’t stop them from coming and sitting next to you for an hour or two and trying to communicate by any means available. How freekin brave is that? I can’t even do that and I speak English. Every time I sat in the park, which was often, at least a couple of people came to talk. In the US, if someone comes and sits next to you in the park and starts a conversation for no reason, you’d probably think they were crazy. I swear I thought this city was just full of crazies at first. But no, they’re just nice. Weird.
We finally pulled ourselves away from HCMC to see a bit more of Vietnam. Onward north on a bus to Da Lat, known here as “little Europe”. As I understand it, this town was built as a resort town by the French. Something like that. It certainly looks that way, at least. The town is nestled high in the mountains and offers a view of rolling mountains that disappear into the horizon. It was freezing, but lovely. Really beautiful. The town was full of tourists, but all of them were Vietnamese so it didn’t feel like as much of a tourist town as it is.
From there, we decided to tour the highlands on motorcycles. Cliché, maybe, but fantastic. We visited some tourist spots like a silk worm farm and silk factory, which was much more fascinating than it sounds. The real highlight, though, was the scenery. Waterfalls and national parks were the obvious scenic sites, but the view was constantly stunning while driving from place to place. I say “constantly stunning” because when you see something or someone that you find incredibly beautiful, you might at first feel stunned. That wears off, though. “Yeah, she’s beautiful. So what?” But, for whatever reason, the views never ceased to amaze me hour after hour and day after day. Maybe it’s because of the changes in scenery or maybe I was just giddy, but this is one beautiful country.
We sat under powerful waterfalls to be beaten by them, climbed giant black rocks that towers over the trees of parks, passed rice field after rice field, and wound up mountains. The mountains were often divided into great patches of steep farmland, each square for a different crop that, from afar, made a different color and pattern as if patches on a big quilt thrown over a lumpy pile of laundry. It was awe-inspiring, every moment of it.
Does that make it aweful?
I enjoyed my brief time in Vietnam more than I can say. Is it the best place in the world? I don’t know, but it’s one great package of a country and I can’t wait to go back. And I will, too.
Location:Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Related posts:
« Mot, hai, ba, ZO! | Indulging in Pain »
There are no comments, yet.
Why don’t you be the first? Come on, you know you want to!