The “good” and “not-so-good” parts from my pov
Introduction
In the past 2 years, I’ve visited Vietnam 3 times and explored Central and North Vietnam (across 31 days combined). The beauty of travel is that we not only get to enjoy the views & food of another place, but we also get to experience the culture there.
During my most recent trip this Nov, I found myself observing the locals and how things worked more closely. When I realised that I had a mixed feeling towards Vietnam’s culture & people, I decided to dig a little deeper and understand why.
I’ll share the “good” parts and the “not-so-good” parts, all gathered from my own travel experience. It’s definitely subjective in nature, so don’t take my perspective as facts! I know that everyone may have a different point of view based on what they’ve encountered and I’ll be happy to hear other people’s stories 😁
The Good Parts
Very friendly and accommodating homestay hosts
In general, all my homestay hosts were very welcoming and made sure that their guests had a comfortable stay! They were responsive to requests and addressed questions patiently. I also remember chatting with them sometimes and they were so open to sharing.
An “honorable mention” to my homestay host, Van, in Haiphong! She was such a sweet host!
Back then, I didn’t know if I could get to Cat Ba without having to call for taxi or book a tour, so I asked her for help. It was already quite late at night (9-10pm), but she sat patiently in the living room with me to find information online. The language barrier did not hinder us as we used Google Translate transcribe function to communicate 😄
p.s. Read here to find out how to get from Haiphong to Cat Ba! (written from my own experience)
Van even suggested that instead of staying 2 nights at her house (as I’ve booked), I could just stay 1 night only and spend the other night on Cat Ba. No cancellation fee at all.
Another fond memory was when my fanny pack’s slide buckle broke and I asked Van if she knew where I could fix my bag. To my surprise, she took my bag and helped to stitch up the bag strap right there and then. How kind of her truly! It was such a heartwarming moment for me 😄
In fact, I felt well taken care of all the same when I stayed in other places like Hoi An and Mai Chau too! There was just this sense of “personal touch” from the hosts, which was not found in most commercial service provided in hotels.
Very hospitable and caring tour guides
Another “honorable mention” to my motorbike driver, Khanh, when I went for the Ha Giang Loop!
He consistently checked in on me and asked me if I was tired or hungry. During the loop tour, my stomach was unfortunately not well. At lunch spots, he would serve me a cup of warm tea, of his own accord!
He also helped to carry my luggage bag from the motorbike whenever we were checking into our homestays. I was certain all these were not expected of him as I observed that not every other rider did the same. Hence, I appreciated how he went above and beyond in his service 🙏
While on the road, Khanh would point out things like the crops grown by the locals, or when children got off from school. And his driving skills were top notch, so I felt very safe being his passenger 👍
Not forgetting, he was very proactive in helping me take excellent photos! 💯 And that’s such a great deal to me as a solo traveller, especially since I couldn’t use my tripod.
All in all, I was really grateful to Khanh for taking great care of me throughout the 4D3N loop tour. Of course, I gave him a decent gratitude tip too!
p.s. Read here to find out more about my Ha Giang Loop experience and gain some tips!
The Not-So-Good Parts
Low hygiene and cleanliness levels
Restrooms hardly had hand soap. Within my accommodations, I only saw hand soap a couple of times. And even less common in public restrooms. As such, hand sanitizers came in very handy often.
Besides that, there were very few thrash cans in public. And people just discarded their thrash anywhere on the floor. Usually, street stalls had paper baskets underneath the tables. But even then, I’ve noticed locals who just threw their used serviettes on the floor.
Another example was when I was at the departure lane queue in Noi Bai airport. The man behind me just threw his water bottle on the floor because flight check-ins did not allow liquids.
To add on, when locals sneezed or coughed, more often than not, they didn’t cover their mouths. That made me wonder if they were even conscious of spreading germs, or that they knew but didn’t bother?
Haha, I once joked with another traveller that kids who grow up in Vietnam would develop a very strong immune system 😂
Low sense of personal space
I’ve experienced this since day 1 when I flew to Vietnam recently and my subsequent experiences only further confirmed my thoughts.
Onboard my flight to Hanoi, I sat beside a Vietnamese man. He was spreading both his arms and legs. Even when our elbows and knees touched, he didn’t retract his limbs at all. The only saving grace was that I was sitting along the aisle so I could scooch a little to the side.
After our flight touched down, we had to board a bus to go to the arrival terminal. This time, another Vietnamese man stood so close to me. I tried to tap his back to hint to him that he was in my personal space, but he did not budge.
This happened again when we were queuing at the immigration counter. Another guy stood so near behind me that I felt uncomfortable. I tried to use my duffel bag to create some distance but to not much avail. Hello sir, the queue doesn’t shorten just because you are breathing into my hair…
While walking in the city or even looking through exhibitions, I’ve had several encounters where locals brushed against my shoulders when walking pass me. And the pathway wasn’t even that narrow ._. It was very frustrating for me.
It was as if there was no concept of personal zones. They would only move away after they had made contact and realised they were “blocked” in their way.
Another puzzling situation I witnessed was when a lady boarded a local bus. While getting to a seat, she just placed her hand on the thighs of another male passenger to maintain balance as the bus was moving. And the male passenger didn’t react at all. Which makes me infer that such behavior was socially normal for them ._.
My guess is that in Vietnam, people still have the kampung (village) spirit, where people are usually huddling together and therefore body contact is commonplace for everyone? Just a guess…
Disorder in traffic and transport
Traffic was often chaotic, especially within Hanoi Old Quarter. Traffic rules seemed to be non-existent, and vehicles just flowed along. Even when the light turned green for pedestrian crossing, vehicles did not stop. I had to be very alert when crossing roads.
Lanes were sometimes just paint on the concrete. I’ve seen so many motorbikes travelling in the opposite direction of the supposed lane direction .-. Surprisingly, not many road incidents though.
As for transport, I’ve taken numerous sleeper and limousine buses to travel between cities or provinces. And I’ve concluded that nothing was on schedule there, because timings were as flexible as rubber bands 😂
Sometimes the bus came 10 mins earlier, sometimes the bus departed 30 mins later than the scheduled time. You never know! Gotta be prepared anytime because once the driver wants to set off, they hardly waited.
I guess as travellers, we just have to adapt and flow with the transport system. It was quite amusing when we cross paths and share about our different but similar experiences.
I also have this hunch that there was a timing for foreigners and for locals? Here’s why:
One time, I booked a cabin sleeper bus at 7pm from Ha Giang to Hanoi. There was a minibus that picked us up from the hostel at 6.50pm. And we were on board the sleeper bus by 7.10pm. But then at 7.20pm, locals started to board the bus too. The bus then finally set off at 7.30pm.
Another time, I booked a limousine bus at 9.45am from Hanoi to Mai Chau. The instructions I received was to be at the pick up point by 9.15am. However, the bus didn’t leave until a local family of 3 appeared closer to 10am.
What was going on? 🤔
Ending Note
All in all, I’ve had both positive and negative experiences with the locals in Vietnam. On one hand, I’ve made unforgettable great memories with some people. On the other hand, I’ve also had frustrating or upsetting encounters with others.
Nonetheless, I think it’s important to remember that no country is perfect. Vietnam is still a developing country and there are reasons why so. Also, culture is always evolving, what is relevant & true today may change years down the road. I’m aware of that and was thus mindful to use past tense when speaking about my experience.
Happy to hear from other people’s perspectives! 😁
Thank you for reading! Happy travels!