Vietnam Reflections

Vietnam is loud, chaotic, and a country that’s rich for the senses. The food is delicious and very fresh, we are talking no preservatives, right from the garden and sea straight to your stomach. The country is geographically varied from large river deltas in the south to tropical coastlines to desert like regions with huge sand dunes to the mountains and cold weather of the north.
The people are independent and vary from friendly to rude. There is a theme of do whatever you can do to further yourself regardless of how you do it mentality that I find a little disturbing at times. This may stem from Vietnam’s past of constant attempts of colonization and control by the Chinese, French, Russians and the United States. The people here are very resourceful, able to make due with whatever they can find and make it work. The country seems to be one of little patience and order, but yet it functions and seems very successful capitalistically for a country that is supposedly communist. Perhaps Vietnam is a land of opposites.
Andrew and I have most enjoyed our time in Mui Ne where the lifestyle is about relaxing, enjoying nature and meeting interesting people. Most of the people, especially the Europeans, we have met are on long 2-3 month extended vacations. Some people have these types of vacations through their jobs, while others quit their jobs and are seeing the world for half a year before returning home and resuming their life. I found this concept so foreign to Americans. Compared to Europeans, we work so hard and for so little time off, plus many of us wouldn’t even consider quitting our jobs and traveling the world for a few months. This type of activity is just not in the American psyche, but maybe it should be. There is something to be said for seeing the world, there is also something to be said for taking responsibility for yourself and your financial situation.
Would I recommend visiting Vietnam? Yes. It is an interesting, beautiful and chaotic country. If anything, visit it for its gastronomic delights and its close ties to our own history during the Vietnam War. We found it a very different country from that portrayed in the media in the 1960s and 1970s.