Wonderful Vietnam

We say goodbye to Vietnam today from the window of an air-conditioned taxi, maintaining our height above the dirtiness of the big city. In reality we said goodbye yesterday when we left the streets as backpackers and became “executives” for the night.
Unfortunately the luxury treatment stops when we get to the airport and are back in cattle class for an uneventful flight followed by an 8-hour wait for our connection in Bangkok. We pass the time investigating digital cameras in the duty free shops and reading. It is also time to reflect on what a fantastic trip this has been.
So what do I say to the people who say “Vietnam? For pleasure?” and make incredulous eyes when you say you’re going to a country famous solely for a war it actually won nearly forty years ago? I say: you have to go to Vietnam. Everyone should, to see how the spirit of humanity can overcome huge tragedy. With world affairs as they are, it would do some people good to see what horrors guerrilla war can bring.
Vietnam is a wonderfully friendly country, everything is kitted up for travelling tourists, conditions are good, the food is delicious, the weather is great if a bit sticky and you are almost guaranteed a fantastic time. Provided you don’t just stay in posh hotels, that is.
Get it before the masses who discovered Thailand do.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 31st, 2004 at 10:43 am and is filed under Vietnam. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.