Good Morning, Vietnam!
I’ve discovered that crossing the street as a pedestrian in Hanoi is a pretty solid metaphor for life... You have to be confident. If you hesitate or have a moment of doubt, that’s where you’ll be in trouble. You make your presence known, be mindful of your surroundings, and then freaking own it.
Vietnam is a special place. Jeremy and I have only been here for a short while, but already we’re taken by surprise with how much we’ve fallen in love with it. There’s a rawness here that’s fresh to my eyes. This country has its own energy and it pulses right through me. Micro, plastic chairs and tables take up every sidewalk with locals and tourists drinking and eating and smoking outside every minute of every day. They are the tiniest pieces of furniture I’ve ever seen; adults sitting as though they are playing pretend tea parties like children, except rather than holding plastic china, they are holding tobacco bongs. But somehow, it works. Coffee shops everywhere, and not Starbucks... Serious coffee shops. I’m talking so strong and rich and bitter that I have to generously sprinkle sugar into it and I never use sugar… I’m always a black coffee kind of gal. The Vietnamese know how to do coffee and I LOVE coffee, so I love Vietnam.
The Vietnamese are people I respect. They are the New Yorkers of Southeast Asia. They are real, down to earth, badass, and warm. I prefer knowing where I stand with people rather than dealing with any kind of phony falsehood. The Vietnamese are those kind of people... If you are rude and don’t even try to respect their culture and language, they will be rude right back. If you smile and attempt to say, “Xin Chao!” and still annihilate it, they will smile back and appreciate your effort. It’s a give and take, and you always have to be the giver when visiting someone else’s country.
We began in the northern city of Hanoi, beers are 80 cents, meals are 1-3 dollars, and this is my kind of place. We sat up at a cafe overlooking the mishmash street scene below and devoured to-die-for Banh Mi sandwiches, the baguette bread perfectly toasted and warm, just like the weather. Vietnam is so lush and green and the streets are tree-lined and scooter-filled. We watched as school children were picked up in the afternoon by their families, everyone on scooters and the children in matching uniforms. Grandpa would roll up with a head of white, thick hair, rocking a tropical print shirt, his little grandkid would hop on the back, and off they would go. No car seats, no seatbelts, just the tropical breeze blowing through and happy kids waving goodbye to their friends and zipping down the street while straddling the back of a scooter.
Jeremy and I boarded a wooden ship that set sail through the calm, emerald waters of Vietnam’s most popular tourist destination, Ha Long Bay. The water is a greenish glass and the mountainous islands jut out of the water with sheer, limestone cliffs on every side. Ha Long Bay is scattered with nearly 2,000 islands and dwindling fishing villages are tucked away within the protected coves of this wondrous bay.
We’re heading south aboard a train, Vietnamese music blasting over the blown-out speakers. An elderly Vietnamese woman, salt and peppered hair and wearing a floral print dress, nudges me with a smile and kindly gives me roasted peanuts for the ride. Suddenly, the train comes to a slow, screeching stop and we are told to get off. We get squeezed into warm buses like a can of sardines, snaking through traffic, with the train tracks to our right. Jeremy eyes a group of men hunched over, trying to fix a deserted train that went off the track. Confusion to clarity, buses back onto trains, and Hanoi to Ninh Binh. We finally made it. It was supposed to be a 2.5 hour train ride, and with the snap of a finger or a jump off the track, it turned into a 5 hour adventure.
Vietnam, you are already warming my soul like a steaming bowl of Pho. I look forward to experiencing your caves, corners, beaches, bays, and Banh Mi sandwiches... Many, many more Banh Mi sandwiches. And, of course, your coffee.
Cheers,
Tera
