“Oh my god, how am I supposed to cross the road and not get myself killed in the process?” Well, that thought was whirling in my mind when I first arrived in Hanoi. There doesn’t seem to be any order in the way motorcycles and cars weave through the streets and how pedestrians cross the street. Traffic lights that are spoilt remain unfixed as there is no need to fix them anyway. Horns blare from motorcycles and cars all the time and there’s a hardly a quiet moment in this city. But after awhile, I got the hang of it. Basically just step out of the pavement and walk straight on without hesitating or reversing your step. The cars and motorcycles will just weave round you to avoid taking the life out of you. Welcome to Vietnam.

So what else did I think about Vietnam? It’s a little gritty, raw at the edges and both interesting and frustrating at the same time when travelling there. As it’s still a developing country, the people are noticeably less well-off compared to more developed nations, but at least I still see children laughing and playing on the streets. But because people are poorer, there is more petty crime like pickpocketing. As a tourist, it is stressful having to always be vigilant about one’s belongings. I must have a look that says “Rob me!” because my bag got slit at the Dong Xuan Night Market and then a week later my backpack’s top flap was zipped open. The latter time, I found out in time before the woman could take anything and she even had the nerve to look pissed off at me and say something nasty to me in Vietnamese! Thankfully both times I didn’t lose anything valuable.

Due to all the “development” that’s going on, Hanoi has become so polluted. I felt that the air pollution was worse than HK (and that’s saying a lot) and as I looked around, people didn’t bother about things like recycling or throwing rubbish away properly. Parents have their children pee openly in the streets and the water in the lakes in Hanoi are so dirty. Even Halong Bay, a UNESCO site, has a permanent oil slick and rubbish floating around. I definitely didn’t want to jump in for a swim.

Travelling in Vietnam can also be a real test of patience. So often we had people telling us something would take only “10 minutes”. But we were soon to realise that could be anything from 30–90 minutes or maybe more! Anyway, we learnt to take it in our stride as getting frustrated wouldn’t help matters. Coming from Singapore and HK, I think most places will pale in comparison in terms of efficiency. So really, the thing is just to adopt the “Just chill” mentality when you’re there.

OK, there were stuff I liked about Vietnam too. Of course, there was the food! Goodness, there’s food everywhere. It’s pretty amazing how there’s so much street food around, with the small stalls at the side of the roads and people carrying baskets of fruits along the streets looking for customers. I was amused to see how the locals sat on plastic stools at low plastic tables along the streets eating heartily away. I have never seen a country with more plastic stools and tables! My friend and I really enjoyed the food we had, to the extent that I’ve put on weight after the trip! That just means a lot more hiking to burn off all the calories.

I liked that there are still many independent shops and only a small presence of supermarket chains, fast food restaurants and convenience stores. I was glad to see very few McDonald’s outlets and KFCs and there were no  7-Eleven stores at all. There was no Starbucks at all – hurray for the Vietnamese coffee trade!

In Halong Bay and up north in Sapa, we saw more of the natural terrain and geography that northern Vietnam had to offer. Halong Bay is beautiful, just a pity about the polluted waters and the permanent fog brought on by the pollution. Sapa, up in the mountains, is beautiful with its rolling peaks, rice terraces and waterfalls.

Overall, it was a good trip and an eye-opener for me despite some hiccups. More about specific places my friend and I went to in entries to come. And by the way, the blog header image is part of a photo I snapped in Hanoi.