Let me start by saying that I had an amazing trip. I am, however, glad to be home! I felt the difference of being a year older than last year, I felt the impact of having ‘stuff’ going on at home and needing to stay connected, and I also discovered that the format of this trip was not as pleasing overall as last year’s Thailand trip. So, after two manic weeks back working full-time (and some), here are some reflections on my experience.
Travel and transport
Seven changes of location over three weeks was a lot. And in Vietnam, my trip focused predominantly on big cities. Even Hoi An was bigger and busier than I expected, so in spite of my beach location, I didn’t feel that I gave myself enough downtime or enough time in nature / in smaller, quieter locations in this trip. I also found that doing my solo travel first and having company for the last week (as I did in Thailand) worked better for me than doing an organised tour for the first week, and then two solo weeks – all good learning for future planning. Being a solo traveller was greeted with more surprise in Vietnam than it had been in Thailand, which is weird because there were just as many backpacking singles around. Maybe it was my age? But in several restaurants and on my Halong Bay cruise, it seemed to cause some consternation or maybe bemusement.
With regard to travelling within the countries, I think I learned something from the Chiang Rai experience last year, and actively sought not to do too many road trips in my attempts to see as much as possible. The exception to that was my day in Hue, where having a private driver made the day less tiring and the distance more tolerable. I seriously wished I had more time there, as it was one of my favourite places. My experience with internal flights in Vietnam was less successful than in Thailand, even though I chose a more reputable / less budget carrier. Vietnamese domestic terminals are nothing short of chaotic, with long queues, gate changes and delays to both flights.
I am quite clear that driving in Cambodia and most definitely in Vietnam is not something I would ever attempt! In the entire time I was there, I can categorically say that I made zero progress in understanding the rules of the road… in fact I would be tempted to conclude that there really weren’t any. And that applies to car drivers, moped drivers, and pedestrians. Drivers seemed inclined to use the ‘mirror, signal, manoeuvre’ rule definitely without the mirror bit, and usually without the signal bit either. I think the assumption was that the driver behind would take responsibility for not colliding with vehicles in front 🤷♀️
The moped population of the cities is almost as high as the population itself – I learned that there are 13 million inhabitants in Ho Chi Minh City, and over 9 million mopeds. They are the mode of transport of choice not just of the young, but of all ages… grannies and grandads included. I have witnessed mopeds carrying
- whole families
- dogs
- ladders
- fridges
- building materials
- more fruit and veg than I could eat in a month
… and that’s just the things I made a note of! The mopeds in Ho Chi Minh City were something of a wonder to behold. They moved in a pack… like a swarm… I guess safety in numbers… but I wouldn’t have wanted to be in a car when the swarm began to …well, swarm… In Hanoi, not quite so homogenous, and not quite so many. In both cities, so much beeping of horns from all road users 😱
I had been warned about crossing the road in Vietnam before my trip. Having found Bangkok quite scary in that respect, I was a little nervous. My adviser told me that I should ‘walk into the (constant) stream of traffic and keep a steady pace while maintaining eye contact with any vehicle driver coming your way… They will make allowances and go round you. It’s important that you keep walking. Be confident!’ I have to tell you that in the beginning it was TERRIFYING! I had and still have no idea how I didn’t get mown down. But it soon became apparent that heading for zebra crossings (I think they were purely decorative) or traffic lights (obeying them seemed purely optional) was a waste of time, and I needed to just choose a ‘reasonable’ moment, and march out into the road, sometimes with my hand held up as if that was going to protect me from anything 😂 All I can say is, if you don’t want to spend your entire visit wandering round the block, you *have* to just inhale deeply and do it. And I have lived to tell the tale!
Food and drink
I really enjoyed the food. And it was so cheap. The drink too. Even in hotels, the bar / minibar prices were unbelievable- £1 for a beer, 75p for a coke, £6 or £7 for a cocktail in the sky bar of a 4* hotel. I loved the Khmer food in Cambodia – flavourful but not especially spicy curries. Although I did try one beef salad which had so much chilli in it that I couldn’t eat it! In Vietnam, I tried as many local dishes as I could and loved the Hanoi food especially. I did a moped food tour on my first night in both HCMC and Hanoi and loved absolutely everything I tried.
That said, I have discovered that breakfast for me is sacrosanct. You can keep your noodles, pho, omelettes or whatever. I am a cereal and toast girl, maybe with some lush exotic fruits thrown in for good measure 😂 Oh and several cups of coffee…
On the subject of which, Vietnamese coffee was something of a revelation. For a woman who at home won’t have her coffee adulterated in any way, I have tried and loved all the variations of Vietnamese coffee – coconut, salted, iced, egg, etc. I even brought home a pack of ‘robusta’ coffee and a little one-cup filter and intend to try out some of the recipes from my coffee-making class at home.
Humanity
An important part of travelling for me is seeing and hopefully understanding how people from different places live. Getting better acquainted with the history of Cambodia and Vietnam was a major feature of this trip and it was fascinating, disturbing and moving all at once. That so much tension could have occurred in these two countries in such recent times is astounding. The genocide in Cambodia was in my lifetime, and this is a country living in the knowledge that there are likely members of the Khmer Rouge still living undetected in their midst. And the effects of the war in Vietnam are still evident (interesting too that they call it the American War, not the Vietnam War…) – it’s amazing that they are so open and welcoming as a people and ready to share their history with visitors of all nationalities.
I feel that travelling solo gives a unique perspective – at the very least it allows me to choose to observe in silence, to linger where I want to linger, to strike up conversations from time to time with other travellers or with locals. I suppose it’s not surprising that travellers can have been to the same places and have had totally different experiences. Travelling with a company that ‘takes the strain’ out of the logistics (or in some cases doesn’t!) gives a different, often sanitised perspective; travelling solo sometimes gives the same, but can also offer opportunities to get closer up to local life. Either way, the different reactions to what is seen and done, with some people giving positive reports while others say ‘don’t bother’ is amazing – I say this having met people who didn’t think Cambodia was worth seeing (it was), or found Vietnam far more welcoming than Thailand (I didn’t ). We are, in the end, all so different.
Reflecting on my solo travels in general, and this trip in particular, I think I can confidently state that I am often too much of a ‘human doing’ and would benefit from accustoming myself more to ‘human BEING’. I seem to need to be on the go, and solitary down time, especially when away from home, has the capacity to terrify me.
Finally, this trip has brought me something of a more positive take on the institution of marriage… which is as much a surprise to me as it will probably be to you!! I met at least 4 or 5 couples of around my age who seemed genuinely happily married later on in life. They laughed together and it really looked as if they liked one another’s company. One couple, Martin and Marleen, who I met on the cruise, had got together when he was 67 and she was 64. The laughter between them was incredible, and Martin told me he’d had a non-negotiable list for a new partner, which when he met Marleen he’d had to tear up! (I have such a list… 😂) “You will meet someone,” Marleen told me, “because you’re a lovely person. Love will find you when you’re not looking for it…” A lovely sentiment to hold on to when the single life stings a little and solo travels seems like too much trouble ❤️
50shadesofbrave 