Some More Passing Thoughts From Vietnam

At the moment, I am on the road somewhere in Cambodia heading from a little village to Sihanoukville, where I will get to spend some more time on the beaches. I am two or three days out of Vietnam, so I thought I’d get in some more passing thoughts before I’m too far away.

White Coffee: I should start this by saying that Vietnamese coffee has been one of my favorite coffees in the world. It’s strong and sweet and it doesn’t take much to give you your caffeine fix. In Vietnam, you can get Café Den (Black Coffee) or Café Sua (White Coffee). The White Coffee, which in most places is coffee with fresh milk, is coffee with condensed milk in Vietnam. It is very sweet and if you are not expecting it, and you add sugar before tasting it, you can be in for a very teeth-rotting experience. Again, the coffee in Vietnam is excellent, but if you don’t ask for it black, it’s likely to be very sweet.

Traffic: It’s not like anything that I have ever seen. Anywhere. There are thousands of motorbikes on the streets at all times. The farther south you go in Vietnam, the more cars you see, but there are always thousands of motorbikes. This, along with a lack of traffic lights, makes crossing the street a harrowing experience at all times. Thankfully, the Vietnamese drivers are used to this and are good at avoiding pedestrians as long as they don’t stop and/or back up. I’ve taken to closing my eyes and crossing, singing “Onward Christian Soldier” and surviving on blind faith. In all seriousness, though, I have seen a few accidents and I’ve heard that on average, there are about 35 traffic deaths per day in Vietnam. From the traffic that I saw, though, that number is amazingly low.

Westernization: As I sat in a KFC in Hanoi, I had to ask myself, “who won the war?” It is true that as you move further south, the more Western it gets, but Vietnam is still the most unique country that I have ever visited. The tourist spots are very Western, especially restaurants and bars and stuff like that, but the cities have a feel of being barely touched by Western influences, though the French colonialism period has left an obvious impact.

Soft Drinks: Like in China, I found a favorite soft drink in Vietnam. It’s 0 degrees, Khong Do. It is a lemon green tea that kicks ass. Fortunately, I can still find it in Cambodia.

Natural Beauty: The natural beauty that I saw in Vietnam is something that I haven’t experienced since I was in Jordan in January. There are beautiful bays and beaches as well as the greenest mountains that I have ever seen. We’ve travelled from north to south throughout the country and the views from the trains and busses have been phenomenal.

Weather: In the northern part of the country, we actually experiences some cool temperatures, especially in Sapa which is in the mountains, but since about Hue, which is midway down the country, we have hit the tropics during the wet season. The temperatures have been in the upper 80s during the day and the low 70s at night, with either rain or the threat of rain occurring almost every day. I can’t complain, though, since they call it the wet season for a reason and I chose to come here in the midst of it.

That’s it for here. I may have some more Vietnam stuff later, but I think we’ll cross the border into Cambodia for the next entry.