Pan-Asian Gallivanting

After a little case of traveller’s diarrhea, which kept me in bed for 2 days, it was quite a relief to have energy and get back into the groove of things.

Following Ninh Binh I ended up in Hue, a quaint town with numerous pagodas and historical sites dotting the surrounding landscape. On the second day there I opted to rent a bike and pedal my way to all of the numerous attractions. However, once I reached my first destination I met an extremely friendly moto driver named Tran Van Thinh who offered me a tour of everything that intrigued me for $10. Since the bike rental only costed $1 I opted for his service. Boy was I glad I did.

Our itinerary for the moto tour included: Thien Mu Pagoda, Ancient Elephant and Tiger Fighting Pit, Elephant Tomb, Tu Hien Pagoda, American War Bunker, Trung Tam Van Hoa Huyen Tran, and Thanh Toan Bridge. Of course all of these sites were interesting and worth the visit. But what really made the day was the insight I received from Tran.

Despite losing his father, at the age of 11, during the Vietnam War he was very accepting of his circumstances and even humble towards how it shaped his life. Not once did he claim that his father’s death was the fault of the American’s. Rather, he emphasized that people’s preoccupation with greed and anger during the period was what caused his loss. Furthermore, he has accepted his fate and moved on with great strength and courage; much like the rest of the Vietnamese.

If you spend a good deal of time in Vietnam, one of the first things that you will realize is that the Vietnamese are mentally strong. Your first experience with this might be the aggressively weighted approach that moto drivers and shopkeepers take during a transaction. But if you look past that then you can see it in their faces and how they interact with others. There’s almost this stench of passion and devotion towards their country which trickles off of their bodies with every twitch, bead of sweet, or smile. Maybe it’s because they’ve been fighting various foreigners for the past couple centuries and now that Vietnam rests in the palms of the Vietnamese…they won’t give it up!