Vignettes of Vietnam
Hanoi just like Delhi. The hotel is like a typical one in Karol bag. The area is just like Karol bag
The countryside looks exactly like Assam
Indian power points work and there’s jet in the loo 😄👍
Saw a 1000 year old puppet theatre in their national theatre outlining Vietnamese mythology, history, Relegion and culture. Its a completely pastoral society that could be Bengal.
Wonder why USA spent so much in lives and money in their failed attempt to keep this as a colony. There’s no oil or any major resource here
Traffic is chaotic and suicidal. Crossing roads an adventure sports only Indians can attempt with panache. Europeans get nervous breakdowns: Food is exotic but vegetarians beware, everything is cooked in pork fat
Temples to many gods and goddesses. Mother goddess is very powerful. Offering includes beer chocolate packed food cookies.
Here even in restaurants you get raw ingredients and hot pot and are expected to cook it 😄
Today’s resturant had dog 🐕 on the menu 😄
The unbelievable halong bay
Looks like the set of a jurrasic film. Actually the set of King kong
Went exploring caves, trekking, kayaking, boating. Tried my hand at rowing, and swimming 🏊♀️
Now I’ve swam in 3 oceans 😄
Groups of men sit around cooking drinking and eating on the roadside till late. It’s the adda. Else it is cofee beer and ice tea on the pavements. Both sexes. They squat on very low stools
Teachers and exam toppers from historical times are worshipped as Gods in the temple of literature. Education was paramount after throwing off 1000 years of Chinese rule when they were 2nd class citizens
Ghosts are part of daily life. Respected members of family
Karma is specific. The result of each action is clearly and logically defined
Did something hilarious today. Through lost in translation communication we’ve booked ourselves into a Vietnamese group tour to the village of hoi an where no one including guide or driver speaks English. It’s a surreal experience 😄
Our official English speaking guide in danang spoke even more spectacularly than our honorable CM. He apparently learnt it by listening to tourists. Probably mainly from gujrat and japan. We had a entertaining time trying to guess what he was trying to say. And of course he understood very little of anything we asked and gave random responses, mostly yes OK 😄Hoi an is a most exotic place, Venice of Vietnam
Buddha has 18 emotions in Vietnam twice as many as Indian rasas
: A slice of medieval France in Vietnam at bana hills French village
The dog God and the dog pet, or dinner?
At a restaurant so I wasn’t sure.
Dog is worshipped as a god and also eaten, though only in the countryside and a few niche eating places in the city
Funnily, in India we suspect that cheap eateries feed us dog and cat pretending to be mutton or chicken, but here they apparently pass off duck and chicken as the expensive dog and cat in small eateries 😄😄😄
Here language can be fascinating. A guide was surprised that she could understand our English. She was an English graduate. She said, “word come out of India mouth not enter my head. Maybe local language get inside word ”
A very popular food is called ban cho. A Punjabi would appreciate. Others might beat up the resturant owner.
Our driver once actually said aaaanwanwanwanwanwah in a sing song voice exactly like a petulant child throwing tantrums, and our guide understood and responded 😄
Vietnamese and Cambodian cuisine, foodies delight
Finally had frog, but they served the whole thing not just legs. Bony chewy and not too good. The French do it better
The forests and hills do look like jurassic Park scenes
Mekong delta
So far seen only in war movies especially apocalypse now.
Boat ride from motor boats to row boats to tiny dingy sell rowing, village life, fantastic food, snake wine, folk music, and siesta on a hammock. Opted out of bicycle tour
The stomach churning atrocities and the unbelievable heroic fightback by the villagers at cu chi, living physically underground for 8 years and haunting the American soldiers at night.
A very disturbing experience
Vietnamese believe in forgive but never forget. Unlike us. We have selective amnesia
Abhi to party shuru hui hai
The night is still a toddler
The earlier r&r of the US army has led to a thriving scene of music dancing and drinking in the streets and parks from evening till late at night and amazing and incredibly cheap pubs and clubs
Of course there’s objectification, but there’s no stigma. Families enjoy the show together and a little girl was dancing away with the performers to the amusement of her parents
Saigon nightlife
The famous or in? Street in Saigon, the walk Street. No traffic allowed at night. The nightlong nightlife . Music and dancing in the street. Football on giant screen. Blaring music. Cheap beer and street food
The only difference between pavements and roads is that cars don’t drive on pavements
In Saigon
Idyll Dreams of an Idle Fellow 