Dave the Nomad

As I knew from my water blessing by the monks in Siem Reap, the Cambodian New Year was approaching, and I was happy to leave the country before the holidays started. Unfortunately, my bus was stuck in gridlock traffic leaving the country, and we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) about 5 hours late.

I only spent two weeks in Vietnam, as I am behind schedule, and wanted to spend as much time in China to make up for the high cost of my visa; this also meant I missed out on visiting Laos. Before traveling to Vietnam, I talked to many fellow travelers who were unimpressed with Vietnam, and said it embraced too much cookie-cutter tourism ploys; sadly I had couldn’t disagree.

Vietnam is a war-torn country which is striving to find its identity again after years of tumultuous fighting with the French, Chinese, and Americans in the last century. I do not want to belittle the conflict that has taken place here, but it seems the new war in Vietnam is that of the wayward traveler trying to find genuine people to meet, and glimpses into the real Vietnam. The devastating effects of chemical deforestation and charred towns has offered Vietnamese level ground; perfect to build a vast tourism industry. Unfortunately, this means everyone looks to foreign money for income, be it hokey tours or straight exploitation. The native faces are bent in latent unwelcoming angry poses, unless there is a chance you will be giving them money. It is a stark difference from the Thai’s beaming smiles and amiable attitude.

I visited the War Remnants Museum in former Saigon, which presented ‘the American War’ in biased favor of the Viet Cong, making a one-sided argument against the oppression of foreign influence. However, it was hard to ignore the grotesque effects of deforesting agents like Agent Orange on the Vietnamese population.

I found myself trying to make the most of the country, and started by negotiating with a local to take me to a non-tourist section of the Cu Chi Tunnels outside of Saigon. The Cu Chi Tunnels is an infamous area north of the Mekong Delta and west of Siagon were Vietnamese embedded their livelihood underground, and waged a successful guerrilla front against occupying forces. There is a group of original tunnels about 25 km away from the touristy widened tunnels for the larger foreigner clientèle, which are rarely visited, which I planned to check out with Travis from Vancouver.

After riding on the back of mopeds for almost two hours we stopped for lunch, our guide tried to bring us to the tourist tunnels, hoping we wouldn’t notice the two dozen buses in the large parking lot. Unimpressed with his sly ploy he reluctantly brought us the rest of the way to the other tunnel system. This area was tastefully developed into a beautiful park, but it was hard to see more than a handful of other people. The tour was informative, and fun, and I was happy to take the extra time to visit the real thing. I managed to squeeze into one of the real-life sized VC holes, and enjoyed putzing through the underground maze of rooms.

After leaving the moped insanity of Saigon, I went to the beach towns of Mui Ne and Nha Trang. Both of these were a pleasant escape from the city. Mui Ne is a kite-surfing haven, but unfortunately the winds were unkind, and I instead visited the nearby red sand dunes, and white sand dunes. Although they were very beautiful, they were paltry in comparison to Warren Dunes close to my home in Indiana; at best they were 1/3 the size of my hometown dunes. Nha Trang was a nice town, but very over-priced with highlights including a water park, and cheap scuba diving. Thankfully, I visited both of these towns with a large group of friends, and we made the most of these beach side towns. My favorite experience was walking along the beach in Nha Trang near the famous Sailing Club bar and being offered a platter of decadent shellfish for only 10 euro. Our host for lunch was a petite Vietnamese woman who was jolly, insisted on dancing with her fingers in the air and shouting, “Oh My God! Delicious!” as she roasted our food on a small wood fire while wearing her blue moped helmet. The food was fantastic, and it was a nice change to see a smiling Vietnamese person.

The last stop of on my journey was in the capital Hanoi. I insisted on taking the local 22-hour train instead of the flight as I firmly believe this is a better way to meet real people in any country. Thankfully, Vietnam upheld these expectations just as I was losing hope. My five Vietnamese cabin mates stared at me as we prepared to sleep through the night. I was awakened in the morning to one of the guys poking me with food and a beer they bought me. Now, this wouldn’t be as much of an issue if they decided to wake up at a casual time, but the cabin was alive with activity at 7 am. Furthermore, I can firmly say having a beer can cracked open in your face is not the most pleasant way to wake up, but I was happy to have the hospitality. My beer and vinegar egg and rice breakfast wasn’t the most appetizing, but the smiling faces certainly were.

I stepped off the train in Hanoi rested, and ready to stretch my legs. I opted not to travel to Halong Bay as I had a limited amount of time, and there was no good way to visit the beautiful bay filled with steep jutting islands without paying a ghastly amount for a day trip, or avoiding poorly reviewed cheaper options. I decided this would be a great jumping off point on a return trip to visit Laos and the Philippines, and stuck to exploring the city limits before heading off to China. I like to think with more time, Vietnam will emerge a country proud of its heritage, willing and capable of holding its traditions over tourism…and I also like to think with more time to explore it, I would be able to find the Vietnam I was truly out to experience.