Vietnam: Lost in Translation
Vietnam is so wildly different and counter intuitive than any country I have experienced. First off, everyone is L-O-U-D. I mean piercing to the ears to the point where I unintentionally jump at the unexpected sound. Yelling isn't considered rude here; it's simply how you communicate. Music blares from storefronts and a Vietnamese voice thunders from a PA somewhere. And horns...oh my gosh the horns. Honking one's motorbike, car or bus horn literally every 5 seconds is just what drivers do - it means "I am behind you" or "get out of my way" or "I'm honking just to honk because honking is such fun!" It's multiple times more intense than New York City. And you don't wait for a break in traffic to cross the street or else you will stand there all day long. You just enter into oncoming traffic and somehow the vehicles swerve around you. There is no strolling-on-a-Sunday-like walking, either. You've constantly got to be on the lookout for giant holes, boulders, muddy puddles, children, someone cooking, a pig, a stray dog, motorbikes on the sidewalk and pickpockets. Andy already had some lady sneak her hand into his pocket at the crowded night market in Hanoi a few nights ago as he turned around and said "What in the heck do you think you are doing?!?" Of course, she pretended like she didn't hear and walked away. You've got to be on your toes at all times with a hand squeezed around your valuables and a prayer.
The sights are so strange. Random giant bottles of brownish liquid contained with dead cobras or a goat stand on store shelves and restaurant bars. Raw mystery meat fills spring rolls. Dog meat is on the menu for 1/3 of the price of other meat. Smokers are allowed everywhere. This Internet cafe has burn marks along the top of the keyboard from smokers playing their Warcraft video games with a cigarette in hand. Scammers trying to nail you in any way they can, "Excuse me sir, I am an English student and need your help." "Oh no, this is the right hotel, the other one is full." We saw someone peeing on the sidewalk in midday. Vietnamese men call out to us from tuk tuks, "Where are you going? Let me help you. Let me give you a ride, cheap. Want a motorbike?" and they just follow us for a block right on our heels! You can't waver, it's got to be a loud and clear NO! Imitation restaurants, travel agencies and hotels are omnipresent. (Lonely Planet Vietnam is absolutely essential which we unfortunately received a day late and a dollar short - another story on that later.) Fish sauce on everything. My stomach is starting to feel weird all the time. A pizza has never tasted so good! And it is the hottest and most humid weather I have ever been in to boot. Sweaty, sweaty all the time.
It's tough because our nature wants to trust people, to assume someone is giving you the straight story. Sadly, that truth is a rarity so it's vital to continually remain skeptical. It's quite frustrating to feel discriminated against on a regular basis. Because we are white, immediately prices are more than doubled for everything from meals to hotels to cab rides to bottles of water. It pays to name a price in advance before agreeing to anything. I've heard a couple of stories of cab drivers in Hanoi and Saigon who even use a remote to speed up the meter. It's so messed up! Living most of my life in the US as a white person I have been very fortunate to never feel discrimination directed at me. Let me tell you, it is an incredible eye opener.
Last night I got really frustrated with it. We were charged double at an Internet cafe and tried to protest it but they spoke no English. Double meant $1.20 US vs. 60 cents so it really wasn't worth the hassle but to me it was more of the principle. So we just paid it and left feeling annoyed. Why should we be charged double because we are American? As we walked back to catch a much-needed shower and our overnight bus ride south to Hoi An (or so we thought - yet another story of the unexpected) I discovered that I was taking how we are treated personally. Why am I taking this personally? I asked myself. Then a light bulb came on - it's not personal at all! And if it is not personal, than why should I let it bother me? So I chose to laugh at the experience instead of internalizing it and letting it make me frustrated. As soon as I let go of the feeling of taking it personally I was set free.
It was a challenge, but I had to carry over that feeling this morning. After an overnight bus ride from Ninh Binh in the north we had a stop over at Hue on the central coast. Our plan and our open bus ticket showed that we stay on the bus and continue on to Hoi An. Well, the lady talked (very loudly of course) to us saying we had to get off here, that the bus was full. What the heck? So we tried to argue with her but she insisted that we had to get off the bus. It took all my strength not to crack - I bit my lip, got off the bus, grabbed our bags and stared blankly at Andy. We were fortunate enough to discover there was another bus ride in 5 hours and there were seats available to us. As you might imagine, we asked, "Well how do we know we have tickets for a seat? Because our tickets also said to stay on the bus to Hoi An!" Eye yey yey. So much miscommunication between the bus company employees, us, and who know who else. I had to take a few deep breaths and remember that expectations, even seemingly obvious ones only lead to disappointment. I told myself, Ok, don't take this personally, it's not this guy's fault. There are daily occurrences like this (like being told the overnight bus was new with a bathroom - nope! Not new, no bathroom) and we are faced with two choices: 1) Get frustrated and mad or 2) Take a deep breath, accept the situation and be thankful I have my wonderful husband at my side and my pack on my back. And who knows, Hue might be interesting for a few hours. And I get to spend this time venting on my blog, woo hoo!
Ok, so I am probably not selling you too well on Vietnam at the moment. Despite these idiosyncrasies, we've have a great time and learned many things about ourselves and our limits. We have seen natural beauty in Halong Bay that absolutely took our breath away. (See the photo album.) We are having so much fun with an awesome couple who we are now traveling south with. We laugh together over dinner and drinks at all the crazy things we've seen and endured. We are healthy, have each other and looking forward to Greece in a couple of weeks. We're going to a beautiful tropical beach next to chill out for a few days. And we are stronger for it all.
The sights are so strange. Random giant bottles of brownish liquid contained with dead cobras or a goat stand on store shelves and restaurant bars. Raw mystery meat fills spring rolls. Dog meat is on the menu for 1/3 of the price of other meat. Smokers are allowed everywhere. This Internet cafe has burn marks along the top of the keyboard from smokers playing their Warcraft video games with a cigarette in hand. Scammers trying to nail you in any way they can, "Excuse me sir, I am an English student and need your help." "Oh no, this is the right hotel, the other one is full." We saw someone peeing on the sidewalk in midday. Vietnamese men call out to us from tuk tuks, "Where are you going? Let me help you. Let me give you a ride, cheap. Want a motorbike?" and they just follow us for a block right on our heels! You can't waver, it's got to be a loud and clear NO! Imitation restaurants, travel agencies and hotels are omnipresent. (Lonely Planet Vietnam is absolutely essential which we unfortunately received a day late and a dollar short - another story on that later.) Fish sauce on everything. My stomach is starting to feel weird all the time. A pizza has never tasted so good! And it is the hottest and most humid weather I have ever been in to boot. Sweaty, sweaty all the time.
It's tough because our nature wants to trust people, to assume someone is giving you the straight story. Sadly, that truth is a rarity so it's vital to continually remain skeptical. It's quite frustrating to feel discriminated against on a regular basis. Because we are white, immediately prices are more than doubled for everything from meals to hotels to cab rides to bottles of water. It pays to name a price in advance before agreeing to anything. I've heard a couple of stories of cab drivers in Hanoi and Saigon who even use a remote to speed up the meter. It's so messed up! Living most of my life in the US as a white person I have been very fortunate to never feel discrimination directed at me. Let me tell you, it is an incredible eye opener.
Last night I got really frustrated with it. We were charged double at an Internet cafe and tried to protest it but they spoke no English. Double meant $1.20 US vs. 60 cents so it really wasn't worth the hassle but to me it was more of the principle. So we just paid it and left feeling annoyed. Why should we be charged double because we are American? As we walked back to catch a much-needed shower and our overnight bus ride south to Hoi An (or so we thought - yet another story of the unexpected) I discovered that I was taking how we are treated personally. Why am I taking this personally? I asked myself. Then a light bulb came on - it's not personal at all! And if it is not personal, than why should I let it bother me? So I chose to laugh at the experience instead of internalizing it and letting it make me frustrated. As soon as I let go of the feeling of taking it personally I was set free.
It was a challenge, but I had to carry over that feeling this morning. After an overnight bus ride from Ninh Binh in the north we had a stop over at Hue on the central coast. Our plan and our open bus ticket showed that we stay on the bus and continue on to Hoi An. Well, the lady talked (very loudly of course) to us saying we had to get off here, that the bus was full. What the heck? So we tried to argue with her but she insisted that we had to get off the bus. It took all my strength not to crack - I bit my lip, got off the bus, grabbed our bags and stared blankly at Andy. We were fortunate enough to discover there was another bus ride in 5 hours and there were seats available to us. As you might imagine, we asked, "Well how do we know we have tickets for a seat? Because our tickets also said to stay on the bus to Hoi An!" Eye yey yey. So much miscommunication between the bus company employees, us, and who know who else. I had to take a few deep breaths and remember that expectations, even seemingly obvious ones only lead to disappointment. I told myself, Ok, don't take this personally, it's not this guy's fault. There are daily occurrences like this (like being told the overnight bus was new with a bathroom - nope! Not new, no bathroom) and we are faced with two choices: 1) Get frustrated and mad or 2) Take a deep breath, accept the situation and be thankful I have my wonderful husband at my side and my pack on my back. And who knows, Hue might be interesting for a few hours. And I get to spend this time venting on my blog, woo hoo!
Ok, so I am probably not selling you too well on Vietnam at the moment. Despite these idiosyncrasies, we've have a great time and learned many things about ourselves and our limits. We have seen natural beauty in Halong Bay that absolutely took our breath away. (See the photo album.) We are having so much fun with an awesome couple who we are now traveling south with. We laugh together over dinner and drinks at all the crazy things we've seen and endured. We are healthy, have each other and looking forward to Greece in a couple of weeks. We're going to a beautiful tropical beach next to chill out for a few days. And we are stronger for it all.
posted by Stacy @TheZenGirl at
9:11 PM
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