On the Beaten Path

When you visit a place that’s full of old people, you know you’re ON the beaten path.

Right now we’re on a little cruiser in Halong Bay, a beautiful enclove in the South China Sea known for its huge limestone cliffs that shoot straight up out of the water.

I was more excited to see this place over any other on my trip here based on the pictures I saw on the Internet.
And apparently so was everyone else.

This place is packed with tourists, which is fine. There are some touristy things you just gotta do when you travel. But when I was in a long line of 70-year-old Euro-looking people wearing bright white Reebok sneakers and navy blue windbreakers waiting my turn to walk thru one of the caves within these cliffs, I realized how commercialized Vietnam has become.

I kind of I feel that because I’m carrying a backpack on my back and staying in cheap guesthomes where I have to leave the nights on at night to deter the bedbugs from coming out to feed on me while I sleep, that I deserve more of the “real” Vietnam experience over someone with a more credit on their AmEx dragging a Samsonite suitcase on wheels. But if someone with a cane can visit the same places I want to visit, I don’t feel like I’m really being that adventurous.

But I don’t know if I’m really all that gutsy. Language, standards on acceptable sanitary conditions, and my blonde hair seems to always keep me on the beaten path. Last Spring when I ws traveling South America, my Spanish helped me connect with the locals and spend time away from the “What To Do” recommendations in the guidebook. That’s not the case here.

But I’m fine with it. The Vietnamese people are very warm and friendly; I have never seen faces smile so big. Sure, some are just trying to get me to buy a used John Grisham novel from their pile of books, but I appreciate the smile nontheless.

Below is a list of some interesting things I’m noticing about Vietnam:

-Very safe. Have never sensed any eyeballs on me. Granted, I’m with a dude who is 6′5, but I imagine the consequences of attacking a tourist are pretty severe in a communist country.

-Not a lot of smokers, compared to what I’ve seen in other countries.

-This is a spa lovers paradise. Hour massages for ten bucks. Ninety minutes for $17. And they are the best massages I’ve ever had. (But the beds are awfully hard. Like sleeping on a brick. A country needs cheap massages if they sleep on stuff like this.)

-Although the traffic is crazy, they don’t drive that fast, so it doesn’t feel that dangerous really when we pass people on the opposite side of the road through oncoming traffic.

-Hanoi, and Northern Vietnam right now, is cold and dry. I’ve been freezing the last few days. Definitely needed a parka at Halong Bay.

-And some others I can’t think of right now. I’ll throw them in later.

Next I’m off to Siem Reap in Cambodia to visit the temples of Angkor Wat. My fantasy of becoming Lara Croft Tomb Raider are finally going to come true! (Movie was filmed there, if you didn’t know.)