Spending a month in Vietnam - my random observations

[UserX]

You have a very different opinion of Vietnam than my friend who is a tourguide in East Asia, including doing tours in Vietnam. He's usually there for about 2 weeks at a time, and he said that for the most part, compared to other asian countries, the Vietnamese are rude, especially to females, and they don't know how to say anything without yelling it. He did say that the food is good though, but out of all the asian countries he goes through, Vietnam is by far his least favorite and by the end of his two week tours, he's ready to get the hell out of there.

Just wondering, does he tour both the North and South? Because I bet the commie bastards up North have an entirely different view of Americans.

[talisman]

Thanks Henry! I wish I could stay longer than a month... normally no matter where I vacation, I'm ready to go home after five days. But I could stay here for months no problem. And yes, this was a big reason in selling the Impy. Didn't want to do it, but ya gotta do whatcha gotta do. God willing I hope my wife and I can pop out a kid or two in the next few years, and the hot rod hobby has to take a back seat for a while.

I sold my Cobra to help move in the right direction with getting married. Hope it turns out better for you than it did me!

[UserX]

I sold my Cobra to help move in the right direction with getting married. Hope it turns out better for you than it did me!

I hope so too! I can tell you one thing... this will be my first and only marriage. If it doesn't work out for some reason, I will not do it again. I'm 35 now and have a pretty good grasp on what I want out of life, and I think I've found a woman that's on the same page as me. But I'm sure everyone that have divorced said something similar at some point in their marriage too.

Divorce is viewed completely different here in VN than in America. Unless your spouse is a cheater, beater or addict, divorce brings shame to the entire family. Back home, it's no big deal.

[Ratt]

make sure you try the durian!

Khanh used to make me sick with that shit. I'd be like, hey Khanh that stuff smells like shit, and he'd be all "Suxtobeyoudawg!" and do his little Vietnamese laugh like a crazy dude.

[talisman]

I hope so too! I can tell you one thing... this will be my first and only marriage. If it doesn't work out for some reason, I will not do it again. I'm 35 now and have a pretty good grasp on what I want out of life, and I think I've found a woman that's on the same page as me. But I'm sure everyone that have divorced said something similar at some point in their marriage too.

Divorce is viewed completely different here in VN than in America. Unless your spouse is a cheater, beater or addict, divorce brings shame to the entire family. Back home, it's no big deal.

I'll probably avoid a second go round. I sure as hell learned a lot though. A lot of people I know are happily married for the second time and refer to their first marriage as "practice." I wish you guys the best. I've always viewed marriage as an important and serious commitment. The ease with which it is thrown aside in this country disgusts me. My parents will celebrate 50 years this August.

[Osiris]

I'll probably avoid a second go round. I sure as hell learned a lot though. A lot of people I know are happily married for the second time and refer to their first marriage as "practice." I wish you guys the best. I've always viewed marriage as an important and serious commitment. The ease with which it is thrown aside in this country disgusts me. My parents will celebrate 50 years this August.

Awesome post.

[Hicompression]

I have only seen one black person so far...

Funny what you notice in a foreign country. I noticed the same thing when I spent a month in China. I only saw one...

[Taylor]

Funny what you notice in a foreign country. I noticed the same thing when I spent a month in China. I only saw one...

I bet their McDonald's are nice and calm at 4:30AM.

[CWO]

Awesome post.

Agreed. I know I learned a lot from my practice round.

[gat0r]

Congrats

looks like a nice trip

[MutherjuggZ]

I'll probably avoid a second go round. I sure as hell learned a lot though. A lot of people I know are happily married for the second time and refer to their first marriage as "practice." I wish you guys the best. I've always viewed marriage as an important and serious commitment. The ease with which it is thrown aside in this country disgusts me. My parents will celebrate 50 years this August.

I hear that a lot too. Doesn't mean I'm going to do round 2 though! LOL

[UserX]

One more observation... I would be willing to bet that 80% of the male population smokes cigarettes. I have not seen a single female smoking.

Cigs are $.75 a pack, 1/10th of what they are back home.

I've been noticing a lot of very young kids smoking, turns out there is no minimum age to buy smokes. I guess that explains the high % of smokers, get them hooked young. I still find it odd that only men smoke.

[UserX]

More Pictures

I added a bunch more pictures, added some reception and food photos. I can't believe I have to leave in three days

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fbx/?set=a.10150266179200830.391934.622955829&l=003264e40c

[UserX]

Re-reading this thread brings back a lot of memories, and I've forgotten a lot of things about this place. My wife and I had our first kid in April, so we likely won't go back for a couple more years. Vietnam was awesome, I can't wait to go back.

[cobrajet69]

Can't believe I missed this thread. Just don't log on as much as I used to, I guess.

Cool story Andy. Would love to visit it some day.


David