Get Busy Livin or Get Busy Dyin!

Here are my final thoughts on Hanoi and Vietnam. I spent three weeks in this country and learned an incredible amount. Vietnam has been blessed with some of the most beautiful countryside i’ve ever seen. Miles and miles of endless beaches. Amazing lush, green hillsides that flow majestically down to the sea. Rice patties that litter the sides of the road for miles with a color of green i’v never seen anywhere. It was really out of sight. The main issue for me was the people. Honestly I could take them or leave them, preferably leave them. Maybe leave them in the middle of the desert without any food or water. Unlike Cambodia, where they couldn’t do enough, in Vietnam they couldn’t do anymore but still wanted your money and would do whatever they could to get it. The stories from other travels were way more astounding than mine. Travelers being locked in hotels until they agreed to stay. Being threatned if they didn’t. Stories of travelers being robbed. It seemed completely out of control. Walking down the street in Hanoi and having a motorbike driver pull right up to you and beep in your face until you would move would sometimes almost make you violent. I have to admit a couple times I did break and got really pissed, but to no avail. It doesn’t get you anything. Now don’t get me wrong, there are alot of great people here in Vietnam. Go into a few shops and look around and talk to the shop owners and they are great. The problem for me was that there seemed to be more bad than good. These people had a terrible chip on their shoulder. You couldn’t joke around and if you did you got a tongue lashing. You got the feeling that when they saw you they instantly didn’t like you because it was assumed you had money, yet whenever they had the chance they would go to great lengths to get it from you.

Then I sat and wondered. Why do they act this way? What gives them the right to treat people the way they do? Does the fact that until 30 years ago this country had done nothing but try and preserve what sort of individuality and culture it had? Does the fact that they were constantly under the threat of invasion have anything to do with it? For hunders of years Vietnam had to constantly be at war with wealther nations to protect what they thought was rightfully theirs.

I’ve been reading this book called, “Vietnam Now,” written by David Lamb. He was in Vietnam during the war and went back in 1997 for the LA Times to be a post war correspondent and tell people what Vietnam was like now. He provides some great insight into the people, and great historical accounts of the war and america’s controversial involvment. Reading the book did help me understand what these people had went through. After being at war for so many years, it was time to move on and grow. Looking back on the past only took away from what you could do in the future. They wanted to progress, to learn, and catch up. In America the Vietnam War is still a black eye for us. We have memorials and movies that you can never really seem to get away from. In Vietnam, the American War as it’s called, is over and what’s done is done. These people don’t want to be told how to run their country. They are still a communist country led by people who refuse to adapt and to grow with the world. Somehow that’s what they need. Maybe they need to do things their way, the hard way, until they can figure out a better way. There is a stronger generation of young Vietnamese who look at the way things are done in the west and want that way of life. They want cell phones, internet, western clothes and things that we may take for granted. They do ultimately want to stay attached to their heritage however.
I can’t say I blame them however what’s rude is rude and what i represent being american will unfortunately continue to follow me around on my trip. I can’t say that I get positive responses when I tell people where i’m from. However when I don’t get a negative one, i view that as positive.

The Vietnamese are strong, hard working, persevering people. They do what they can to survive and as frustrating as it may be for me and other tourists it’s just a reality that you have to deal with if you want to go there.

I would go back to Vietnam in a heartbeat. I’m now armed with the knowledge that I have and i think it might be easier. I’m sure when I come back things will be greatly different but that’s ok. The challenge alone was worth it and accomplishing it was greatly rewarding. I guess they say it’s not the destintion but the journey. Vietnam and most of southeast asia is like that…and i’d have to say that I liked it alot.
I said goodbye to Andy this morning and headed to the airport to go to Hong Kong. We gave each other manly hugs, exchanged a few warm insults then said goodbye with the knowledge that we both know we will see each other again. Andy became a great friend to me over these past few months. I feel lucky to have met him and to have shared his company. People come and go everyday day but I’d have to say we probably both had a profound impact on each other. (You better be reading this Douchebag and know that i’m not crying.) I also said goodbye to the Kiwi’s. The 5 of us formed a tight group for about 3 weeks or so. I will see Kim and Lil in London in September and If i ever go to New Zealand, Officer Amy Austin will surely get a visit.
I wish you well Andy Smith and my Kiwi Friends…until we meet again!

So after our grueling bus ride we finnally arrived in Hanoi. How convenient is it that after you sit on a bus for almost 20 hours you then get dropped off at a garage full of bags of sand only to be told the only way to get into the city is by going to the hotel owned by the travel company. If you didn’t want to stay there you were on your own…now that is service. We reluctantly gave in because we were all so damn tired. This place would have made a dungeon look like a 5 star hotel but the price was ok and it was clean.

The next task was to organize an excursion to World Famous Halong Bay. The prices and the quality for these trips can vary dramatically. Basically you get what you pay for but there is always room for bargaining. We ended up going with the travel company based out of our hotel. It would be a 3 day 2 night trip to Halong Bay. It would include a night of accomodation on the boat and in a hotel on Cat Bai Island and all meals. The total price was around $49 and after we haggled we got it down to $44. The lady we dealt with was very difficult. She agreed on the price with us and then when it came down to handing over money she also threw in that there would be an exclusion from the trip. There was another island we thought we would visit but apparently that was out of the question. One of the most frustrating things, and it seemed to happen more in Vietnam, was that along with language barriers you constantly felt like you were being lied to and having things kept from you. It always seemed like you would be told whatever you wanted in order for you to say yes and open your wallet. We came to an agreement with the lady that we would pay half of the trip up front and then the rest when we came back. She said if we were not happy we would not have to pay for the rest of the trip. We didn’t want that to happen, mostly because we knew if we said we didnt’ like it they would make us pay anyway and because we wanted it to be a good trip.
Ultimately we knew we were down to our last couple of days in Vietnam and we wanted to enjoy them. The next day we were picked up at our hotel and were whisked away to Halong Bay. After the 3 hour bus ride we arrived to the sight of about 100 to 150 boats all piled into one tiny little harbor with hundreds of tourists being turned every which way. It made everything look that much more confusing. We had a very nice english speaking guide named Thin who took good care of us. In order for us to get on the boat we had to walk across several others, it was quite a task. We finnally made it to our boat and we were all pleasantly surprised. After the disaster in Nha Trang our expectations were extremely low.

The boat had three levels. On the top were some deck chairs where you could sit out and lounge. In the middle was a dining area and down below were the rooms. The boat looked like it had logged some miles at sea but was still chugging right along. We had lunch on the boat which was fantastic. Me and the Kiwi girls elected to go the vegetarian route and were once again pleasantly surprised with the quality and quantity of food. As we ate we made our way out to the bay. The views in Halong Bay are absolutely off the charts. Giant Limestone cliffs just rise right out of the emerald green water. They are covered with lush green vegetation and it truly makes for a spectacular site.

After lunch we visited some caves which were quite a sight as well. All in all things were going better than expected. After the caves the boat cruised over to an island for us to go swimming and to get some sunset shots of the Bay. We were so hot all we wanted to do was get in the water. The boat pulled up we jumped off, put our things down and immediately got in the water. The water was filled with Vietnamese tourists all wearing life jackets. You would think that living in a country that has almost 2,000 miles of coastline would make for alot of people who could swim, but it obviously doesn’t. The swim was great. Me and Andy threw the “Grid-Iron” as he calls it, or the football around. After we got out we were informed by a Scottish guy who was on our boat that he saw a “Joby” float by or a baby ruth as you might refer to it as…priceless.

After the swim I hiked up to the top of the mountain on the island and got some great views of the Bay…i’m posting them on the site as we speak, so go check them out after you read the posts.

That night on the boat we had a great meal. We then sat up on the top deck had a few drinks, chatted about life and then was entertained by the galaxy above. Some of the best views of stars i’ve seen in a while. I counted at least 5 or so shooting stars, all of them lit up the sky. I made a wish on each one of them. Subsequently the next day when I took a shower I was utterly disappointed when I saw that non of them had come true.
The next day we headed for Cat Bai Island with some sore heads. We did a hike up another peak…sweated are you know what’s off and then headed for the hotel. The hotel was nice. Me and Andy fell asleep and missed the Kayak portion of the trip but oh well…we were tired and had HBO in our room so we got to watch some movies.

That night we went down and had dinner in the hotel around 7. Earlier at lunch an Israeli guy and his wife were sitting at the table with me and the girls. Me and the girls had to sit together cause we were eating vegetarian and for whatever reason this guy and his wife were there as well. This guy was unhappy at lunch because he said they didn’t have the food he wanted. He was assured that at dinner things would be rectified. When we got to dinner he instantly started complaining.

“Where is the meat…we don’t have any meat again. I don’t want seafood, I want meat.”

Then he proceeded to say the dumbest thing in recorded history.

“What about fish, why are we not getting any fish?”

My brain almost melted. The guy serving the food looked at him tottally confused and said:

“Fish comes from the sea…you say you don’t want seafood.”

He ultimately insisted that fish was not seafood. “Ask Anyone.” He said. “Fish is not seafood, it is meat.” I almost jumped in and put my two cents in but I didn’t. What a complete loser. I felt like it was when you tell someone you are vegetarian and then they ask you immediately if you eat chicken. Since when is chicken not meat and fish not seafood…what the hell is the world coming too?

The next few days were spent on Cat Bai Island. We moved to a different and cheaper hotel across the street and spent most of the time on the beach. I took a day to myself and paid a few dollars to go sit by a nice pool and read while the others hit the beach. Cat Bai Island was not one of the best places i’d ever been too. It was tottally full of Vietnamese tourists and there wasn’t much english to be spoken.

I’d describe the place in this way. For the vietnamese my guess is that for your summer holiday you go to Halong Bay and spend a few days on Cat Bai Island. For us as kids it would be maybe Hampton Beach or go up to the mountains up in New Hampshire. You usually have a good time but when you go back to school and play the “Where did you go for summer Vacation,” game you are certainly not the first kid to raise your hand.

I really enjoyed the time spent out in Halong Bay and on Cat Bai Island. It was relaxing and time well spent with Andy and the girls. It was a nice way to wrap up the trip. However all was not over. We still had to get back to Hanoi and deal with the Lady. During the time on the Island she had called the girls in their room repeatedly and told them we all needed to pay for the rest of the trip now. We refused and then she threatened to tell the hotel to hold our passports until we did. We refused once again. The problem was we checked out of the hotel the trip had us in because we were staying the few extra nights and it was too expensive, this made her think we would ditch on the bill.

When we arrived back in Hanoi we were all tired and just wanted to get into our rooms that we had already reserved when we left. The lady greeted us and of course insisted on payment right away. She was so annoying and so rude it was unbelievable. She spoke english well enough to say, “Give me my money,” however when you told her how annoying it was that she kept harrasing us she then didn’t understand. I told her I would pay her when they would give us our room and she didn’t like that. We reserved the rooms 4 days prior and they weren’t ready. Then we were informed we’d be moving to another hotel because the rooms were not available. It took alot to not want to tell this lady where to go but it ultimately doesn’t do any good and would only make you more mad.

We moved to our new hotel and left it at that.

So let's catch up on the happenings of the past week...shall we? From Nha Trang Me, Andy, and our Kiwi friends, Amy, Kim, and Lisa (Lil'), all headed north to Hoi An. Hoi An is a cozy little ... [Continue reading this entry]

When we purchased our bus ticket in Saigon we were offered for an extra $3 a day trip out to the islands off the coast of Nha Trang to do some snorkeling and swimming. Nha Tran was our first stop ... [Continue reading this entry]

When me and Andy purchased our tickets and signed up for the 10 hour overnight bus trip I don't think either one of us knew how bad it could actually be. I had taken an overnight bus from Phuket ... [Continue reading this entry]

Goooooooooooooooood Morning Vietnam! Ha Ha...I've always wanted to say that from Vietnam. So I've finnally arrived in Vietnam, what a lovely place. Took a bus ride from Phnom Penh all the way to Saigon or Ho Chi ... [Continue reading this entry]