Notes

Warm breeze blew my hair in all directions as we exited the Ho Chi Minh International Airport, but I didn’t feel it. I felt the looks of strangers standing in the heat; sweat dripping down their faces, dark circles under their armpits and the back of their necks. A sea of black hair and warm eyes. An unexpected sense of exposure overcame me. Everyone was looking. From afar a scent touched my nose. It was a smell I knew very well but couldn’t identify. A mixture of sweet fruit and sweat sealed together with tropical humidity of late spring days. As I stepped toward to our private tour bus, the warm air hugged me and I forgot about everything else. I am in Vietnam, I thought to myself in a quiet amazement. Two weeks in Vietnam were unexpectedly rewarding and unforgettable. Even in such a short period of time I developed daily routines, which enhanced the feelings of experiencing the country through the eyes of locals. In the morning I would walk across a busy street, roaring with ever-present motorcycles, to pick up a newspaper and a green-bean smoothie. I remember the authentic smell of French baguettes sold at stands on wheels. Children playing outside street shops, barefoot. They asked me for coins, I emptied my pockets to them with a smile. Apart from this, there was only one thing that surprised me more: the kindness of local people and their open approach, despite the horrifying past and its long lasting effects, which stretch into the present. From the start, this was a constant remainder of why were there. Evenings were reserved for sitting down to a bowl of hot ph? gà, the absolutely amazing and compulsory summer rolls with beef g?i cu?n and iced Vietnamese coffee that tastes like almonds. Vietnam has a way of bringing one back into the past. It is a country with a painful blend of ever-present past and the incentive to move forward, to make the present into a better future. The colors of Vietnam are captivating.