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Vietnamese people are on the whole brilliant! They have a great sense of humor
and attempt to use sarcasm. We found that even the stret sellers will joke with
you and bargaining with a smile and joke definately gets you further.
Our final stop in Vietnam was
Dien Bien Phu (DBP) . This is a town where France
lost many battles. DBP has had a quick, sharp growth rate going from minor
settlement to a town in 1992 to a city in 2003 to provincial capital in 2004!!
Wow!
The Journey here was on a night bus. Unfortunately I had the back seat in the
middle, my back rest was upright and would not lie flat. The chap in the seat to
the left of me was Canadian and offered me a couple of Diazepan to help me
sleep. I politely declined as taking pills from strangers didn't seem like the
wisest idea to me! I eventually made the decision to sleep on the floor in
between Ollie and my chair. It was a bit of a tight squeeze but at least I was
flat and lying on my side was ok, I only woke up a couple of times with a severe
Clostrophobic feeling but soon went back to sleep! In the morning Ollie said I
definitely made the right decision and he wishes he had thought of it too !
History and the Laos boarding crossings are the main attractions at DBP but it
still feels like it is off the beaten track. Very few people speak English and
there are very few signs of tourism here and definitely no western style
food-not that we found anyway! After a little morning nap we found ourselves in
the middle of a town siesta. It was eerily quiet so we decided the only thing to
do would be to find an open coffee shop. We eventually found a delightful little
place and had a traditional Vietnamese ice coffee served as an individual filter
coffee, short and strong. Here we passed an hour or so continuing our Uno
championship. (Not sure if I already mentioned but we have begun an ongoing Uno
card championship and at this stage I am winning :) ). About 2pm the town
started to come alive again and we found a 'supermarket' which sold neither
bread nor fruit but it did have a giant bag of mentos sweets-there'll do nicely
for our onward journey!
Early evening we were minding our own business in the hotel when suddenly the
hotel started to shake. This only lasted maybe 5 seconds and was very subtle but
we both felt it. The hotel owner didn't speak very good English but with hand
gestures.
And the Internet we deduced that we had experienced our first earthquake!
Dinner in the evening was delicious in a little local place that didn't speak
English never mind have a menu in English, but with a little help from the
lonely Planet phrase book we managed to order chicken noodles and vegetable
fried rice. It was absolutely delicious . The rice contained mixed veg and
peanuts and had a delicious sauce on it. Almost a shame really as it was served
with; a bowl of consume; some soy sauce and some garlic and chilli oil. We think
the idea is you mix them all together to concoct your own dipping
sauce/seasoning but mine was already tasty and didn't really need anything
adding to it! Our meal cost 2.50pound including 2 cans of pop.
We were up early to catch our 5.30am bus over the border into Laos. Just before
we go I'll leave you with A very brief round up of Vietnam;
The Food has been extraordinary. From delicious great Indians to fried noodles.
Street food and superb restaurants. Vietnamese eat everything and anything that
moves but there is also an abundance of vegetables and fruit including the
awesome purple fleshed dragon fruit. There is also a big emphasis on social
eating and many of the best meals take place on little blue plastic chairs sat
outside. Laughing cow cheese and condensed milk are widely available due to
their ability to withstand the immense heat-UHT wins in Vietnam!
The coffee has been astounding and I have found that my drink of choice would be
an ice coffee with sweet milk. It just does not taste like coffee from home,
it's better, thicker, chocolatier and definately packs a punch . And just a
quick mention for Bia Hoi. Delicious cheap beer enough said! :)
The Vietnamese people are on the whole brilliant! They have a great sense of
humor and attempt to use sarcasm. We found that even the stret sellers will joke
with you and bargaining with a smile and joke definitely gets you further.
Some of the Vietnamese People have lived through unimaginable horrors but just
get on with the hand life has dealt them. They don't volunteer too much personal
information, however they stop to say hello and whatever they have they will
share with you and will try to help even if they don't speak English. We heard
one story of an American girl being at the war museum in Saigon, when it just
became too much for her and she started crying. A Vietnamese lady went over to
her, gave hug and offered comfort. Whilst we were at the Waterpark a young girl
gave me her rubber ring at the wave pool and shared with her friend. As we
discovered in the mojitos bar they also stick to their word, at least some
people do!
Effects of war on the country are still visible if you look for them but the
country was never broken and the people emerged with their pride intact. One of
the poorest, war wounded corners of the globe has definitely managed to
transform itself onto a prospering nation.
The craft skills and handicrafts we have witnessed in this country have been out
of this world, suffice to say having not bought any souvenirs from the other
country's, leaving Vietnam our bags are full to bursting.
Traditional clothing items such as conical hats, shadow hats and AO Dai 's are
still widely worn and are both beautiful and so practical. However most of the
people are quite westernized in their style.
Motor bike is the most popular transport method in Vietnam and there are
millions of them; at least 5 million motor bikes in
Saigon alone. Cars are still
too expensive to buy. In the big cities traffic is constant and crossing roads
is an art form. You have to have confidence and just go. Once you are on the
road keep at a steady pace and the bikes will serve around you.
One of the challenges for us was the Immense heat, and the humidity seemed off
the scale. We had our air conditioning set at a comfortable 28degrees! We were
constantly sweating outside and it got to the point where the only clean clothes
were new clothes.
The Vietnamese Language is freaking hard! I was just starting to pick up basic
written words after 4weeks. Vietnamese Only has words of 5 letters or less and
uses only one syllable, then different accents denote the different meaning eg,
ga is either; chicken train station or wash.
Sport is greatly enjoyed here and we often came across a football, volleyball or
badminton match between the locals. In addition Vietnam is a country with
spectacular views, country side and the possibilities for adventure are only
limited by your ability and imagination.
What a country Vietnam turned out to be, our favorite country of our travels and
a pleasure to have traveled through. I was often behind on our blog as we were
too busy enjoying every minute or sleeping as we were so exhausted. It was easy,
relatively cheap, good food and beer, friendly and jam packed full of adventure.
Next stop is our 9th and final new country; Laos. We have heard it is meant to
be cheap and incredibly beautiful but it is going to have to pull out all the
stops if it is to become close to being our favourite country. |
