Take Two – Vietnam
Our second round of Vietnam was completely different from the first, in a better way! Reese keeps telling me that in order to truly understand a country in depth, a person needs at least two different experiences of that place. Vietnam wasn’t one of my favorite countries until a few days ago. We gave the place a second chance, and it did not disappoint. Our first visit to Vietnam led me to see the country as an unsettling disturbance in Asia. It seemed to have a non-tranquil rule. Everything was loud, intimidating and rushed. It was pretty unnerving. On the other hand, our second visit was startlingly different. Peaceful, stunningly beautiful, quiet, and entrancing. My senses were overwhelmed with feelings that I had never ever thought Vietnam could give someone, and I loved it. The first visit to this amazing country had portrayed a completely wrong image in my mind. This new and refreshing opportunity was fantastic and I can’t wait to tell you all about it.
Our ship docked in Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon), which was the only city we visited on our first trip. The family decided to go to a cook off (think of the TV show “Chopped”), instead of seeing the city, for we had already toured it. We started at the crowded Ben Thanh indoor market to buy the supplies we needed to cook. This part of the trip reminded me of what we had experienced previously. The whole place was buzzing with noises and vibrations. People had no sense of order. We were in and out of there quickly. Sweating and itching, I was grateful to escape the chaos. Driving to the restaurant was easy and relieving. Once we had arrived, we readied the supplies and started to cook. Spring rolls, fried rice, fried spring rolls, and salad were the foods we were to prepare. The team I was on did amazing, and we won! Our prize was eating our meals (delicious!) and a bottle of fish sauce (not my idea of a prize).
Our next stop was to Hanoi and Halong Bay. Hanoi was roughly a much more mellow version of Ho Chi Minh. We only spent half a day there, for we were soon on our way to Halong Bay. Vietnam has moved into my top five because of this place, and look at where we have been. Utterly breath taking and completely mind shattering. I was dumbstruck. It was so spectacular that I couldn’t have imagined it. Huge vegetation covered gray limestone cliffs jutting from the dark blue waters in amazing formations. Some rocks had beautiful beaches or caves. They gave off these vibes of adventure and thrill. I loved it. We even had the chance to kayak around and explore. Truly, I was speechless. I would just look up at the rocks and be like, “Wow, this is incredible!” I don’t think I really realized how ridiculous Halong Bay was until I had a chance to look around and get myself into the mindset of, “I’m actually here’’. I had a huge “Aha!” moment on the kayaks with Keatten. I recognized that Halong Bay is a place unlike any other, and it truly struck me. I remember thinking “Holy cow’’. These rocks that we were looking at seemed more that just stones.They strangely represented something much greater. Something that only one who has truly experienced the place could really understand.
I guess one could say that I now love the place, or that I changed my mind about it, but to me, Vietnam is still the same Vietnam from before, only now, it has another scope. A whole new blob of feelings that have been added to my old ones. They haven’t taken over my old feelings, but they have shifted my perception on Vietnam as whole.
Recent Comments