Our first month in Vietnam

After spending a few months in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, we planned on staying in Vietnam for three months. We entered Vietnam from the southern border by bus and crossed the customs and actual border by foot. We could see the stark differences in Vietnam compared to other south east asian countries right from our first stop.


First was the crowds, scooters, and cars: Vietnam has a population of 96 million people, a lot more in numbers and density in comparison to the neighbouring Thailand (68 million), Laos (6.7 million), and Cambodia (16.2 million). This was evident wherever we went, on the roads, local buses, trains, and other modes of transportation. One thing that was very interesting for us that we rarely saw anyone walk on foot in Vietnam so far, not even children going to school. Almost everyone rides a scooter and kids ride electric scooters. It is a rare sight to see a pedestrian even on the side streets. According to the Vietnam Ministry of Transport, as of 2016 there were 45 million registered scooters in Vietnam, almost 1 scooter for every two people. This could also be due to the high import taxes on cars which ranged anywhere from 50% to 150%. However, this is changing since the new law that took into effect from Jan 1, 2018 which imposes 0% tax on cars imported from ASEAN countries. This is going to make the traffic situation a bit more crowded in the coming years.

Image source: http://www.travelettes.net/the-infamous-scooters-of-vietnam/

Image source: https://e.vnexpress.net/ (Feb 6, 2017 - Long lines of cars on Hanoi roads during rush hour)

The next thing that caught our attention was smoking. There was almost no place we have been to so far that you could not smell cigarette smoke or see cigarette buds lying on the floor. According to a recent report by Xinhua News Agency, 45 percent of Vietnamese men smoke cigarettes and many of them start smoking before the age of 20. Vietnamese spend about US$1.4 billion on this habit every year. Many Vietnamese historical figures, like Ho Chi Minh were smokers. Smoking was said to be associated with being manly and educated in Vietnam. Vietnam passed anti smoking laws in the past few years, but they have not been effectively enforced. So, we had to find our way on the streets to escape from the cigarette smoke and be extra cautious that Nora does not pick up the cigarette buds that are almost everywhere. 

Image source: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-lam/smoking-vietnam_b_3839177.html

The next thing that caught our attention was the Vietnamese food. While we traveled through Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos we did not see a drastic difference in their cuisines. But Vietnamese cuisine seemed very distinct. Outside Vietnam we knew mostly about their soup, Pho. But as we traveled across Vietnam for the past month, we saw a wide variety of food that were interesting and colourful. We tried a few dishes and we are looking forward to trying a few more as we travel for the next two months in Vietnam. Here is a nice article from CNN listing 40 dishes from Vietnam.

Ban Xeo, a Vietnamese pancake with seafood and beans

Spring rolls in Saigon

Kathi and Nora enjoying street food in Ho Chi Minh city (Saigon)

The other thing that was also surprising for us was the word Nguyen which was almost everywhere, literally. It's the most common Vietnamese name and 40% of the population has Nguyen as their family name. We have not seen a name this common in any country we visited so far. The prevalence of this in Vietnam is due to a series of events since 13th century where many people changed their name to Nguyen in fear of retribution and prosecution. As with other common surnames, people having Nguyen as their surname are not necessarily related.

These were interesting first impressions we had about Vietnam and we will share a few more as we continue traveling across Vietnam for the next two months.

During our first month, we traveled through Rach Gia, Can Tho, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), and Dalat.  We crossed the border by foot from the southern border. It was an interesting experience exiting Cambodian immigration and walking for 5 minutes between the borders to get to Vietnamese immigration and enter Vietnam. The immigration process was straightforward and simple, except that one fact that we had to deny a request to bribe by a Vietnamese immigration official to fill-up our health certificates. We read online and also followed the lead of a person travelling with us to just say "no" and we walked away into Vietnam :)

Cambodian Immigration

Crossing border from Cambodia into Vietnam

 The first stop in Vietnam was a small town called Rach Gia. This was where we got the first look into Vietnam and their people. We stayed at an Airbnb where we had our own private room and access to living room and kitchen. We cooked most of our meals here and took walks to a nearby boat pier almost every day. Like other cities in Vietnam, Rach Gia was busy and people were smoking almost everywhere. As it was monsoon season in Vietnam, it rained almost every day. We had to time the hours we go out so we don't get fully soaked in the pouring rains.

From here, we went to another small city called Can Tho. This was a short stop for us before we headed to Saigon. We stayed at a nice hotel with kitchen facilities. Our hosts, who also stayed in a room in the hotel, had a 4 year old boy and it was fun for Nora to have a playmate at home for a few days.

Nora and Kathi enjoying an apple and waiting for the rain to stop in Can Tho

Sam and Nora watching the boats pass by on Rach Gia pier

Sam and Nora enjoying the views on a sleeper bus to Saigon

Our next stop was Ho Chi Minh city. The first thing we got was a red warning sign on our smart phone that the pollution index was inching towards Red and we should stay indoors. It was pretty obvious how heavy the pollution was given the number of scooters and other vehicles on the road. We tried to take short trips outdoors and came back indoors when the air quality seemed bad. The nice part about the place we stayed was that it was an apartment complex with a small play-area/park outside the reception. Kids ranging from a few months old to a few years were outside playing and socialising every evening. We used to sit with them some times and see children interact and play. The other interesting experience we had in Saigon was meeting up with Sam's friend of 14 years for the first time. Sam and Huyen knew each other for 14 years but they never met. It was wonderful to meet her and get to know her in person after knowing her online for so long. She also gave us some local food tips that turned out to be very delicious.

A group of Vietnamese musicians playing traditional instruments outside Saigon post office

A view from our room where we could see trash being burnt almost all day in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)

Nora enjoying the views from the our room in Saigon

Meeting with Huyen at a traditional Hanoi style restaurant in Saigon

From here we headed to Dalat. It turned out to be a pleasant surprise for us that Dalat was a hill station and the temperature ranged between 15 to 25. After being in temperatures above 30C for almost 7 months, it was nice to feel cool. It also had a downside for us that we had to wear too many layers that we couldn't wash and dry easily due to the cloudy weather and rain almost every day. We had a nice week in Dalat walking around the lake exploring the local markets.

Nora watching a skateboarder pass by her in Dalat

Dalat lake

A view from our hike to a nearby mountain near Dalat

Nora exploring a park in Dalat

Our first month in Vietnam was exciting. Our next stop is a small village where we rented a villa to stay at least for a month. We are excited to experience village life in Vietnam and looking forward to sharing about it soon.