I spent three months backpacking through South East Asia
earlier this year, spending three weeks in Vietnam. We moved from south to
north, jumping on nightbus and tuk tuk and taxi and motorbike, making our way
through all the usual backpacker haunts.
Our first stop was Ho Chi Minh City. By the second month of
travelling through Asia I thought I
could navigate my way through an Asian city like a seasoned traveller, I was
very wrong. Leaving your hostel without
a map – never a good idea. A leisurely
stroll through the streets with my boyfriend Chris(our attempt at ‘alone’ time,
which is impossible when you’re backpacking on the cheap with a group of
friends) turned into two hours of back
and forth through the streets, trying to find someone who speaks English , and
wanting to help (also very hard to come by in Vietnam).Crossing the streets was
always a bit of fun too, especially in the city, trying the avoid the onslaught
of cars and motorbikes without looking
like a complete fool, it’s hard work people! And always remember, you do not
have right of way, they will knock you over if you get in their way.
Families and friends would gather in huge groups, on
beaches, outside houses, even on the streets and they would eat and chat, for
hours and hours on end. They weren’t on their phones, there was no facebook, no
tv, they were just enjoying each others company. The Vietnamese in particular
were such a social group of people, and they placed so much importance on the
family unit. The art of conversation, which sometimes seems all but lost in the
Western world, is still thriving in Asia.
We had one really lovely experience in Vung Tau, (a popular
holiday destination for the Vietnamese but relatively untouched by Westerners)
My boyfriend and I arranged to meet our friends for dinner on the beach (this
place had the best seafood!) and after about half hour we were still wandering
up and down the beach. We managed to find them eventually, sitting down on makeshift
stools surrounded by older Vietnamese men.
We were very enthusiastically invited over to join them and proceeded to
have one of the best nights of our trip. They couldn’t speak English, we
couldn’t speak Vietnamese, but the beers were flowing and somehow we managed to
communicate to each other, much to the amusement of all involved. Vung Tau was
also well known in Vietnam for its huge Jesus statue, second in size to Rio’s
and rather an odd monument to erect in a primarily Buddhist country.
Drinking on boats made up a large portion of our Vietnam
trip. In Nha Trang we jumped on a day booze cruise (with a little bit of
snorkelling included). We had some very lively, cross-dressing hosts but the
highlight was definitely their ‘floating bar.’ Which consisted of one man
sitting in a donut shaped floaty pouring Vietnamese whisky (nasty stuff!) into our plastic cups whilst we
drunkenly swam around him. Needless to say we passed out as soon as we arrived
back to hotel room.
My favourite part of Vietnam was our backpacking booze
cruise in Halong Bay (yes, any excuse to drink!). Halong Bay is breathtakingly
beautiful and untouched(something you can’t say about a lot of Asia). Part of
our cruise included kayaking through the bay, which will go down as one of the
most amazing experiences of my life, beer between the legs (yes still drinking
the beer, even to kayak) we set off at sunset, already a little pissed and
explored the vast landscapes of the bay. It was a phenomenal and a memory I will always
cherish.
Vietnam is a great country to travel through, the beers are
cheap, the people friendly and you’re spoilt for things to do; you’ve got bustling
cities, lazy coastal beach towns and one of the most beautiful bays in the
world.