禁漫天堂

My Personal Review on Vietnam

I hope this is allowed on this forum as I watch this forum often for interesting topics.

Let me start off by describing who I am. I鈥檓 in my early 30鈥檚 with wife and child. We鈥檙e all Viet Kieu鈥檚 which is Vietnamese born overseas. We鈥檙e also mixed race too with Vietnamese last names. I don鈥檛 speak Vietnamese, but I have tried to learn and can only say a few words and numbers to get by. I鈥檝e visited Vietnam 5 times even before I was married, usually a month at a time. At this point in time as I plan for my early retirement, I鈥檓 torn between where to set my base in Vietnam or Thailand. It almost seems logical to pick Vietnam considering we have 5 year visa exemptions that鈥檚 easy to renew with-in the country verses Thailand鈥檚 3-month visa runs.

The Train Arrival:
My first time to Vietnam was actually a train ride from Hong Kong to Hanoi. The train had to stop at the middle of the night for an hour at 2am local time, to have visas processed. Everyone had to exit the train, baggage searched and waited standing while customs called your name one by one. It wasn鈥檛 too bad for me as I still had high excitement being the first time to Vietnam, but I could see the tiredness of other passengers as they wobbled down to the dirty train platform trying to stay awake. As we continued on, we arrived to Hanoi at 5am in the morning with nothing open and far walk from the hotel. I say far walk with heavy backpacks, but it was realistically only a 10 minute drive. Now, at this time of the morning, there was no safe metered taxis around, only scammer taxi. Having done plenty of research beforehand and experiencing something like this in Myanmar (Burma), back when before westerns were even going to Burma, I knew what to expect. As I looked and dressed very locale, all the taxi drivers descended on the white westerners with the huge 80L backpacks. They knew they hit jackpot verse when they saw me in my plain cheap t-shirt, pants and slippers and a school size backpack. I overheard them agree to $100-70 USD for a short taxi ride which they happily agreed too as they were tired as hell and in groups of 3-4, which I assume they were going to split. After all, that is the normal price in western countries. However, for me, still eagerly energetic and somewhat cheap, I decided to walk out further and try my luck at flagging down a metered vinasun or mai linh taxi. Of course at this hour, no taxi came by. The taxi drivers who didn鈥檛 get the westerners walked over to tell me I most likely won鈥檛 get flagged down taxi, but try to persuade me to use them. First started at $50, which was quickly rejected and told I promptly told them I was Vietnamese and I don鈥檛 pay that price for taxis even back home. Knowing he was probably right about catching a taxi on this road was going to take a while, I countered at $10, told him how far via my 鈥渘o data, but saved pictures of google map鈥� on my iPhone. He agreed obviously as there wasn鈥檛 going to be another train of westerners for a while and off I was. He got lost as it was a small hotel In the old quarters but no meter so it was on his time. Stopping to ask direction from the old lady鈥檚 cleaning the streets, who are the only people you see at this hour. Finally found the hotel, but it was under construction. Needing a place to go, the taxi driver recommended a place that was still open but affordable place. He took me there, still on his time. Got to the other hotel, it was actually better than what I had originally booked. Driver came in, carried my backpack and spoke with the front desk and only charged me $10. He most likely gets a small commission from the hotel or has family ties with the hotel. The hotel was the same $15-20 per night as what I originally booked. Got a refund from my first book and it all worked out pretty good.

Now, my first experience of Vietnam could have gone sideways had I not been more informed. I鈥檓 a very anti-trusting individual with diverse history most people wouldn鈥檛 condone. However, after my first travels, my perspective changed drastically, that it changed my morales too for the better. I don鈥檛 agree with non-meter taxi tactics, but I understand why they do it. Fast forward to the present day Uber, it essentially the same thing Uber does, charge surge pricing for when its high demand, low supply; after all, the passengers at the train station agreed to pay that price because their willing to pay for convenience. For some, they may find that a scam, which I originally thought to at the time. Now looking back, it wasn鈥檛 so much a scam, but lack of negotiating that I saw as wrong. For all I know, they could have been happy to be at their hotel sleeping while only paying what they normally would have back home for a taxi.

The Food Hunter:
There鈥檚 no denying Vietnamese food is delicious. Being mixed race and where I live, we have some of the best Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese food in the world. I won鈥檛 say where I鈥檓 from yet, but it is a huge melting pot of good food. Trust me, its second only to its native country.听 With high standards, it was a hard search to find the best foods. I almost always eat exclusively street food or small mom and pop shops. I could order most dishes back home pretty easily but ordering in Vietnam was on a different level. Theirs no small or large bowl size pho, just one size. Many different ingredients you have to point to, too add. No picture menus, which was mainly pointless anyways consider they specialize in one or two dishes. Through my travels, I found the best places to eat are where the locals are crowed. Weather in a small passing town or big city. I鈥檝e only ever found a handful of dishes better than what I can make or find back home. Pho is the stable, a beef noodle soup. This is usually the standard for westerners to compare, after all, in the western world, their not called Vietnamese restaurants, their usually called pho restaurants. I found most small pho shop that setup a table or two on the streets early morning satisfying, but not the greatest. Pho Le in Saigon wins that trophy for the greatest pho as their beef brisket has a long tenderized meat with just enough fat and hand cut soft rib eye piece of meat that was easy to chew. The soup had the perfect balance of taste and spice, with soft perfectly cooked noodles. That鈥檚 my preferred pho noodles, south style pho. Theirs also a northern style that doesn鈥檛 use hosien sauce, but I haven鈥檛 found any very good to put in my books.

They only northern style dish that鈥檚 worth writing about is Bun Cha, which is a grilled pork and patty, soaked in a light fish sauce with vermicelli. If done right, the pork is cook perfectly and fresh, than put into the sauce right away and served. Problem is, most precook the pork belly and it sits drying out, and burnt for sometime before serving. Find a very busy restaurant that specializes in this dish or a small show on the side of the road that you see bbq small batches at a time. You鈥檒l have to wait as it鈥檚 served slow since their grill is usually a 4x4 charcoal bbq and their fanning it by hand.

I love really Vietnamese food, from its style duck congee that鈥檚 not overly fatty, to mi quang which is a yellow noodle semi-dry noodle dish from central hoi an. But, my absolute favourite is a central Hue style Bun Bo Hue noodle soup, which is my standardized food in judge based on. If you can make this well, than you would rank on top of all my Vietnamese dish as champion. So far, only 3 places take the top and it鈥檚 all in my home country sadly. And I鈥檝e had bun bo hue in every major city in Vietnam. Even where it originated from in hue. The taste was almost there, it was the quality that lacked. Bun Bo Hue is a spicy beef and pork noodle soup with thick round style noodles, not like pho. The very best place makes it in a small 5 table cafe style restaurant back home and the soup has a slight hint of infused crab. Clear style soup with a good kick of spicy. Not so much lemongrass. The pork balls are usually a special home made mix that鈥檚 probably a family secret and tender pork hock that was boiled long enough that probably just pressure cooked it.

To be perfectly honest, if someone were to tell me where the best Vietnamese place to eat and they usually only compare by pho, I don鈥檛 take their opinion seriously enough unfortunately. 99.9 percent of the time, they aren鈥檛 Vietnamese because most Vietnamese, even viet kieus would set pho as the standard of good Vietnamese food. Only because, most families know how to make pho pretty good as home that they like anyways.

It鈥檚 Called MotorBike, Not Scooter:
I admit, I was the first to call motorbike scooters in Asia. I rode a really motorcycle back home, 1000cc to 600cc. Anything less than 500cc was considered a scooter. But, technically, scooters were anything less than 49cc. That鈥檚 what it felt like riding a motorbike in Asia, sitting upright was very little power. Usually only had 125cc to 175cc. Automatic or manual. Having a motorcycle license back home and a little picture of a motorcycle in the back of my license, I pretty much always rented a motorbike. I was a real rider, racer and eventual teacher for friends. Of course, after the wifey, had to say goodbye to the motorcycle, but only because of her, but my back was hurting from crouched forward to much.

First time renting in Asia was in Burma, and no foreigners ever rented there, especially back than. I鈥檝e learned never to give my passport to any rental company. I only give my 鈥渙ther鈥� photo ID that鈥檚 expired plus a photo copy of my drivers license. Most of the time, that鈥檚 enough, if not, I鈥檒l leave a deposit no more than what the rental will cost for that timeframe. Which I use at the end to just pay for the rental. Renting in Vietnam was easy as most hotels and arrange for drop off at the front of the hotel. That鈥檚 what I alway arrange to have ready when I check in. Gives me enough time to settle in, take a quick shower and by the time I head down to the lobby, the bike and drop off guy is waiting for me to do a quick walk around and hand the keys. They always provide a free helmet but I have my own nice one I packed. Not the full faced ones like back home as that鈥檚 overkill and way too hot to use in Asia. The law only requires a basic one, no really DOT or crash standards. Traffic is slow so I鈥檓 usually not too concern. My helmet if suffice. I鈥檓 kinda cocky a little still regarding my driving/riding skills, only because I truly do believe I鈥檓 really good. My peripheral vision is outstanding and my reaction is superb. I鈥檓 aware and focused at all times and I always know my surrounding. Habits and skills I picked up after so many 鈥渜uestionable鈥� racing days. Older and slightly wiser now, I鈥檓 thankful and grateful of what I experienced. I never went to far to put others at real risk. Never ran red lights or gone over the top and most where at dead of night on empty roads. I鈥檓 sure many will argue with me about this, but I鈥檓 not going to defend the merits of its rights or wrongs. It was history, what鈥檚 done is done.

Having said that, the first time I rode a motorbike in vietnam was in Hanoi and during the night, I just went in circles around west lake as it was a beautiful scene. The had one weird encounter where 2 young boys on one motorbike zipped by my at probably 70-80 kmph almost narrowly missing me by 6 inches. Odd and intentional only because it鈥檚 a very wide path and very few bikes at that hour. When they caught up again on their second round, they saw me ready to knock them over had they tried that again. It would have been a major accident as I would have ghost rides the bike right in their path as I know how to jump off a bike easily. Of course, I would not want this to happen and luckily it did not since we made eye contact and they knew I wasn鈥檛 one they could play these games with. Had this to had happen to an inexperienced white western, which is all too common of them to rent motorbikes in Asia when they don鈥檛 even know how to ride, things could be unfortunate.

Riding a motorbike in Vietnam is like second nature to me. Most travel websites or forums always warn not to ride but this has always baffles me. This must only apply to those who can鈥檛 drive or ride because I find traffic in Vietnam very easy. It鈥檚 super slow and traffic is always flowing, like a river. I鈥檝e never come across a motorbike that farted out from that was too close for comfort. You can ride on the side walk or wherever you can get the bike onto. One of the few reasons I love Vietnam.
As far as enforcement goes, they set up traffic blocks occasionally to target foreigner to check for helmets and licenses. If you are breaking the law, a small 鈥渄onation鈥� is secretly made into the man purse behind the truck and your good to go. Depending on the infraction, a mere 100-500k Dong, equivalent of $5-$25 USD, and your good to drive away. That鈥檚 a whole lot cheaper than a traffic ticket back home of $150-$400 plus demerit points that cost extra per year. I鈥檝e been in three traffic stops in all my time in Vietnam. Two were license check which I had so I didn鈥檛 have to pay anything, and one driving 80kmph. 20kmph over the 60kmph speed limit for the highway. That one I had to pay secretly in the back of the truck where I slipped 1M Dong, equivalent of $50USD in the man purse. Small price to pay for speeding on the slow highways. Btw, that was with a rented car.

I鈥檝e always be fascinated about Vietnamese coast shown on Top Gears special episode of Vietnam. So, like others, I did part of that ride on my second trip to Vietnam. Starting from Saigon, I rented a motorbike for a month for $75USD and loaded it onto a train for Nha Trang beach town. Unfortunately, the bike was on a different cart and arrived a day after I arrived. Frustrated I had to taxi for the day, I waited and picked up the bike back at the train station. It works out well in the end. Exploring Nha Trang is was like beautiful. At night, if you ride down the seafood street by the river, workers from the restaurant all try to get you to park and eat at their restaurant. As superficial as it may seem, I liked feeling wanted and fought for, even if it was just for my business. Some of the younger staff were a little more aggressive and jump in front of your bike if your going slow trying to look at the restaurant. It could be off putting for some on how aggressive they come off looking. I didn鈥檛 mind it and caulked it up to good entertainment. Once you select a place, they will park the bike for you safely in their designated spots. Good luck trying to go around to recheck the last restaurant, you鈥檒l have to be forceful and do a full turn around the block.

The first part of my Top Gear journey was a totally different route than what was shown on the show. I went backwards from Nha Trang to Dalat early morning. If you try this, use google map as it was hard finding the small side streets that lead you on a dirt road up the mountain path. That was the first true glimpse of everyday Vietnamese life. By the time I got in the middle of the mountain, it was surprisingly cold at 8-9am in the morning towards Dalat. As I only brought my sandals, I tried bundling up with whatever I had by it didn鈥檛 help as my legs were exposed since I didn鈥檛 have pants. Along the way, their are small white stones on the ground that says 鈥淒alat something KM鈥�. I presumed it meant how far is left, but oddly felt a lot longer. Or 50KM on a motorbike up the mountain is just naturally slow. One you get closer to Dalat, it warmed up quickly.听 You鈥檒l know your close when you see coffee farms around you. The ride up the mountain was was definitely picture worthy but not my top moments I was hoping for. Riding in Dalat was totally worth it consider how many hills. If I had to walk that many hills, my body would probably just give up. I鈥檓 not an unhealthy guy, only weighting 135lbs, lean cut, I could do most 10hr hiking trips if I鈥檓 well prepared. Being on vacation, it鈥檚 not something I wanted to do for the amount of things we saw. I like seeing every nook and cranny of town and all the beautiful European style building left behind. I had no destination point, I just rode until a dead and and turned around. Streets where locals live. They all look surprised as only they can tell we鈥檙e not locals. They never seen foreigners down their street. Life was good. The smells and ambience is what will stick to me as nostalgic going forward. It鈥檚 these moments I always recall. The air has a hint of burnt forest as the season was coming to and end where farms are burning their leftover harvest trash. I鈥檓 not sure what they are burning, it鈥檚 probably their household garbage, but it had a distinct smell that i love. It鈥檚 probably not healthy to breath either.

Travelling down from Dalat to Mui Ne was a little different. It was hotter and more garbage dumping sites along the way. Once you see the ocean from up high, it still took forever to get down to the coast. Mui Ne has one main road where the beach is hidden behind the many resorts. My hotel booking actually let me to a further point past Mui Ne were no foreigners were. I had to call my booking company to move hotels. Luckily their was room close to the beach. This is a very sleepy town. The only thing to do for fun is kite surf and walk the fairy stream. When I went, the stream was almost dried up and and was flying everywhere, into everyone鈥檚 eyes. The saving grace of that day trip was riding an ostrich long the farm path. Something I can now add to my bucket list and cross off right away. Never really thought about it before but was a fun experience. Oddly enough, having balanced many things in my life, I couldn鈥檛 balance an ostrich to sit long enough compared to my wife who lasted a good few minutes. It takes a totally different approach that doesn鈥檛 correlate to motorcycle riding. At night, their food shops setup along the ocean, not close to beach, where you can get fresh seafood grilled to your perfection. Their prawns with the salt, pepper and lime dipping sauce was to die for. Juicy and tasty. We ate their most nights. Not far down the road, they also bbq whole alligator right on the main road. Not much taste and kinda dry if you ask me. Than again, i don鈥檛 think I would eat it medium rare either. Once is good enough for me.

Continuing on my quest down the coast, I headed for Vung Tau. A small beach town most Saigon locals like to frequent during the weekends for easy of distance. Along the way had many sellers drying some kind of smelly strong shrimp along the main roads. Very odd I would think considering all the dust and dirt that lands on it. You鈥檒l see dragon fruit farms which I鈥檝e never seen before this and big man made ponds where they harvest salt rocks. Word of warning, don鈥檛 go up to the group of young farm works like what I did. I asked them what they were farming and they slowly looked at each other as if they were pondering whether or not to rob us. I still had some good distance between us and the bike will still running. Since I didn鈥檛 get a response fast enough, I drove off without hesitation. Nothing happened, but I had a sense of intuition that told me something dangerous could happen. I only found out what it was after taking some photos down the road and showing family members.

Vung Tau is a busy place during the weekend when we鈥檙e rolled in. It was my planned retirement destination at first, being close to Saigon but on the ocean side. However, the beaches were quite dirty and theirs not much else to do once you see the main attractions. I guess if I don鈥檛 care to swim in the ocean, it wouldn鈥檛 be too bad. You can ride up the small mountain to feed monkeys in front of the temple. My wife loved doing that as we would buy bananas at the market and bring it up. Everyone else would just buy chips up along the road and feed the monkeys that. Guess which one they went crazy for? We hiked the Jesus statues stairs and there鈥檚 nothing special there except the statue. Decent view of the ocean. Bring plenty of water as theirs no shade to hide in that scorching heat. Locals love using the back beach at Vung Tau, but it鈥檚 not much of a beach. Something I learned was Vietnamese, and probably some other Asian culture, they wear clothes when they go swimming. Every local who鈥檚 playing in the waters is in there with their shirts and jeans. Very unusual coming from a first world country. At my local pool, they would not let you into the pool with anything less than a bathing suit or shorts and you have to shower first. I can鈥檛 understand why anyone would want to wear clothes in water anyways, it would create huge drag and weight. I guess for argument sake, their not swimming, but just playing.

Towards Saigon was a badly dirt road, but they were just replacing it which I found out on after when I did a similar trip again a few years later. One eventful moment is when a guy riding beside up with a whole live pig tied up and lying on the back of his bike. My wife took a picture as this pig breathing heavily knowing it鈥檚 going to an unhappy ending. Saigon is huge, you know your close when traffic is building up already an hour away from city centre. Surprisingly, the first thing I notice coming into town was the first ever Popeyes chicken restaurant. We don鈥檛 even have a Popeyes chicken in my city. I鈥檝e spent many days in Saigon, but it always seems ever changing. It鈥檚 so vast that locals from other district don鈥檛 even go into district one where most of the foreigners are, unless their doing business there. District one is the first and last district more foreigners stay in. Also the reason I try to avoid the most. I go where most locals go, like Aeon Mall up close to the airport area. I have family relatives in Saigon, and their home is small and poor. There鈥檚 no A/C, but a small fan. Their washroom is their kitchen sink. Compared to my wife鈥檚 massive kitchen and counter space, I don鈥檛 know how they could live like that. Despite not having much, they are the most caring individual I鈥檝e ever met. Constantly always trying to make us comfortable as possibly and giving whatever they could, even if it was the shirt off their back.
Of course I couldn鈥檛 live with no A/C, we spent most of our rest time at the hotel. Food is
plentiful in Saigon, you can鈥檛听 step out of your hotel without stumbling over a food cart. One small bread bakery setup across from my hotel also sold banh mi sandwich. They sell most of their bread to other street vendors in the area. Their banh mi deluxe with a fried egg is mouth watering. The bread is fluffy but with a thin crispy crust and it absorbs all the flavours into a beautiful bite of sandwich. Most problems I have with banh mi bread shops back home are the crispy crust is usually thick and hard that it get stuck in my teeth when I crunch down and hurts my gums. It only seems to happen to banh mi back home.

Saigon concluded part one of the motorbike journey. We split some of the journey depending which city we were in at the time the next few trips. They best portion of highway was exactly as Jeramy, Richard and May described, the hai van pass between Danang and Hue. It was a picturesque moment if you go at the right time and right weather. Many locals and foreigners alike all line the highway and take selfie photos. If I could only do this trip ones again, it would only be for that stretch of highway. The rest is one and done, no need to see again. Which, unfortunately I did again, but instead, in a car as I had a baby that time around.

Theirs a lot more stories, like the flooded roads in Hai Phong that was waist high, and unexpectedly beautiful flower festival during TET in Binh Duong. I have many stories I would be happy to share but I wanted to get this portion out to give travellers a bette perspective of Vietnam. This is kind of in responses to Nomads Matts blog about never wanting to go back to Vietnam. I read it long ago but only recently stumbled upon it again as most travellers always refer to the blog when their considering Vietnam.听 My story shows their can be good and bad things that could happen, depending how you approach it. Their could also be just plain bad luck.

If theirs enough interest, I would be happy to share my experience. Who know, it might even open discussion about my own retirement plans where I struggle to choose between Thailand or Vietnam. I probably have enough experience of both country鈥檚 to write two separate interesting books, if only I know how to write.

If you made it this far, thanks for the read and I hope you don鈥檛 judge me to hard.