Greetings from Vietnam!
A new country and many things to discover. Something that became clear quite quickly was the random tendency of people to topple over while riding their scooty throughout Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. The situations causing these strange events vary widely. Sometimes the person just falls in the middle of the road due to texting and driving, sometimes the person decides to drive straight into a lamppost or sometimes they are the only ones on the road, but decide to go directly for the walkway with the common result of losing control and crashing. And then we only mention the people strangely falling over, not the people crashing into each other. The big question remains, why? Is it simply because they cannot drive their scooter? Or is it because it is Vietnamese/Chinese New Year and people had a little too much to drink? Let’s hope the latter because even though Indian traffic seemed crazy, in the months travelling on bike through that country we never saw such incidents. We will probably find out soon. In a couple of days we hit the road to discover the North of Vietnam on our nearly new bikes, a Yamaha XTZ and Honda XR. Two light bikes quite high from the ground. They make it a little challenging for my short little legs to reach the ground, so let’s hope I don’t take up that tendency to topple over!
Meanwhile, we have had the amazing experience to stay at the house of a friend of mine, providing us with the opportunity to discover a different culture from close-by. Novel foods, different ways of doing things and (Vietnamese) New Year celebrated in a totally new way. Have you ever tried an egg with a fully grown baby duck inside? Well, till recently, neither had I, but times have changed and here we go. Not that I was a big fan to be honest, but I tried. The taste is eggy, as you would expect, but seeing this little duck plays with your mind and changes everything. Coming from a primarily vegetarian country using a lot of spices such as India, followed by Nepal having small portions of meat and still many spices, Vietnam is certainly the opposite. Finding something without meat turns out to be quite challenging and spices are something they don’t really seem to use in the Vietnamese kitchen. Not that I or my boyfriend are vegetarian, but from an environmental perspective we try to at least limit the amount of meat we consume. Summarized, the food took some getting used to! Luckily they have Banh Chung, a tasty type of sticky rice cake with beans and meat inside that is boiled while packed inside of bamboo leaves and is consumed a lot during the New Years celebrations. Although I should warn you, the celebrations are quite different from what we are used to in European countries. Many rules and restrictions apply based birth signs, religion and family. Also travelling becomes much harder as even hotels and hostels tend to close during this time, so again we are very lucky to be able to stay at a friends place. I wish I could express how grateful I am, but sometimes words can’t cover everything.
Sleeping on a bed made of wooden planks and sharing our room with Bernard, our nightly visitor looking for food, we greet every morning with a smile filled with happiness and gratefulness for the kindness we receive. We come from a society where people are focussed on the individual, on themselves and on their own lives, but this doesn’t have to be. Something I have certainly learned is that letting people into your life can only make it better. Even if it turns out different from how you expected it to be, you will have learned something to take along with you. Sharing a laugh, giving a hug, exchanging ideas or having a simple moment together to have a chat can turn everyday life into a miracle. A smile doesn’t mean life is perfect, it simply shows there is something worth living for.
