Personal Space

I’m going to start this post by talking about our experience leaving Chiang Mai. I should just get over it because it will likely never change but yet I find myself continually annoyed by how people exit an aircraft. I just don’t understand why people are always rushing to stand up (even if it means crouching under the overhead bins looking like Gollum) as soon as the plane has landed. Just cool your jets. God forbid you just keep your butt in your seat and exit row by row like civilized people once the doors are actually open. I feel like airlines should show a video that goes over flight etiquette. I think this is reasonable based on the fact that they still feel it’s necessary to show us how to fasten and unbuckle a seat belt, or inform us that we can’t smoke on the flight. I would love to see a video like this shown on every flight.

 

I just like well mannered people. Which leads me to my story. As you enter the Chiang Mai airport all your bags get checked at the front doors. There are multiple points of entry and we chose the one with the shortest cue. Made sense. As we waited some people from the longer line beside us moved over. Made sense. But apparently the shorter cue wasn’t good enough for them. As we began putting our bags onto the belt a couple of ladies behind us tried to push our cart out of the way. Where she was going to push it was anyone’s guess as there was really no space to move it and she basically ended up crawling over our things to reach a tub. Made no sense. We are well organized and travel enough that we have the process down, but it still takes a moment to get everything sorted. As she tried to push in front of me and over my bags to put her things on the belt I put my arm up and told her to wait, to which she responded with a decent stink eye and a comment that while not in English was most certainly not complimentary. She then pushed her tub onto the belt while we were still unloading our liquids etc and tried again to force our things forward. To my absolute delight, the security guy running this entry point glared at her and pushed all of the tubs backwards until hers toppled off the end and proceeded to yell at her to wait. She looked stunned and enraged. She was so obnoxious it was comical.

The sad truth is we have experienced this type of behaviour in different forms and in different situations often throughout our travels and it’s almost always people from the same place. Now before I go further, let me be clear, there are plenty of people from this area who are not like this and who behave in a manner that most Westerners would consider courteous and polite. Not to mention that over the years other countries have taken their turn wearing the “bad tourist” badge. Unfortunately, at this time in history it appears to be the Chinese who have now taken over this label. We have had so many unpleasant encounters and received so much negative feedback from locals and travelers alike throughout Europe and Asia that it lead me to do some reading.

In most ways we are all the same. All behaviour serves a purpose. As humans we do what works for us. If a behaviour doesn’t produce a payoff we don’t do it. The way we are raised and the environment we are raised in also affects our behaviour. I am not telling you anything you don’t already know, but I am simply stating these things because I have a professional background in behaviour and yet I still shake my head when I see behaviour like that of our dear airport lady. I don’t want to get cranky about it. I want to understand and have tolerance. But when someone invades my personal space so aggressively I fully admit that all of that goes out the window. It’s good to remind myself that I need to be more understanding, and of course the key to understanding is continue to educate ourselves and re-educate ourselves. I enjoyed reading through the website China-Mike. Particularly the page on Chinese Manners & Etiquette Tips for Travelers. Reading this reminded me of the huge cultural differences between my country and theirs and made me think about how I would be perceived in their land if I behaved how I would at home.

There are no shortage of articles written about Chinese tourism, most dating from 2013 onward. Prior to 1995 the Chinese were only allowed to leave their country under very limited circumstances. After their government loosened these constraints and implemented the Approved Destination Status (ADS) program the Chinese began to travel abroad. Nowadays with more of the population having a higher disposable income they are traveling in record numbers. Like all things in life, this has had both positive and negative effects. The positive being that a group of people that were prevented from seeing the world are now free to travel it (kind of). Also, for those places that the Chinese are allowed to travel there is a boost to their economy. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Chinese tourists overseas spent $277.3 billion in 2018. The negative being that the Chinese government uses this spending power of their people to punish countries that disagree with them or behave in ways they don’t like by banning their citizens from travelling to those countries. The other negative is that as a result of the past limitations on their travel, and some would add limited access to information, many lack awareness of cultural norms and etiquette. 

This lack of understanding has resulted in some individuals behaving in ways that are considered by other cultures to be disrespectful or inappropriate, and in turn has led to a negative view of Chinese tourists. We have met people from China who have spoken to us about their concerns about the mainland Chinese specifically and they have expressed that places within their country like Hong Kong also struggle with these issues. They are feeling the impact from this growing negative perception. Steps have been taken by the Chinese government with some people even being banned from travel if they have misbehaved overseas.

Back in 2008, the Beijing government published 4.3 million instructional manuals to prepare residents for the Olympic Games. In 2013, China’s National Tourism Administration released a 64-page handbook called “Guidelines on Civilized Travel Abroad. This guide included visuals to accompany rules such as not leaving footprints on toilet seats, not cutting lines, not picking their noses or spitting in public pools, not taking more than they can eat at buffet tables, or forcing locals to pose for photos.

I personally find it enjoyable to be recruited for photos and we have had a few large groups ask us during this trip and we gladly do it. In fact one thing I really love about the Chinese is their unbridled enthusiasm and I get a kick out of jumping in photos with them. It’s all good fun. Having said this, I have never felt like anyone has forced me, in which case I probably wouldn’t have this view.

Since then Thailand has also issued an etiquette manual to Chinese tourists (2015) and the Chinese embassy in Singapore put out a similar booklet in 2017.

It is a pity that the actions of some are leading to a negative view of the many, and I hope that with time, education, and experience, this perception will change because the number of Chinese traveling the world is only going to increase.

If you are interested in reading more about the political and economic side of Chinese tourism the following article is worth a look.

Outbound Tourists and Policy Reforms under the Chinese Mobility Regime

 

Entry to Vietnam

There are two options for entering Vietnam. You can do a visa on arrival or apply for an e-visa online. Both cost $25.00 US per person. We chose the visa on arrival because we had read that some people had encountered issues with their e-visas once they landed, like the photo was deemed unacceptable, the print job was not adequate and other trivial things. They would then be told they needed an emergency visa which obviously would cost more money.

For the visa on arrival we simply went and got our passport photos taken in Thailand so we had them before landing in Vietnam, hopefully saving time, although you can get them at the airport if you need to. If you don’t do the e-visa then you also need to apply for a letter that invites you to visit the country (an additional $18 US per person). This was simple and we received an email of the invite within 24 hours and printed them off. Once we arrived we handed over our invites, photos and passports and waited about half an hour to get everything sorted. While it was slightly more expensive the way we did it, it potentially saved us a lot of money had we done the e-visa and encountered problems.

Now is a good time to mention that we had initially planned on going into Laos before Vietnam but after talking with several people we decided we needed to get into India sooner than we were originally planning because of weather. If we kept Laos we would end up frying in India. We needed to eliminate something and the areas we wanted to go in Laos would require more flights and longer travel days so we decided to scrap it. You can’t see it all.

Bumper to Bumper

It took about 2 hours from the time we landed until we got out of the airport. This was partially due to the fact that we were waiting for our bags for a good 30 minutes with some other people from our flight before realizing they had been taken off the belt and put on the ground on the opposite side just out of sight. Awesome.

Once we made it out of the airport and found our guy (who had been patiently waiting the entire time) we got our first taste of the insanity that is Hanoi. Our driver was excellent and chill despite being continually cut off left and right. He just laughed and said it was crazy here. The entire 20 minute drive was nothing but constant honking. We laughed as we counted the seconds until the next horn and never once made it to three. There were so many motorbikes and in the denser spots they would almost be touching as they weaved through each other. They also have Grab (Uber) motorbikes for those needing a lift.

Heart of the Madness

The hotel manager, Simon, greeted us gave us recommendations on food, things to see, and general advice like only take taxis booked through the hotels as there are metered taxis that are rigged… I don’t know if that was legit, or just a way to ensure that certain people got our business. Likely a bit of both. We were in the center of the action so we didn’t require a taxi anyway. Up in our room we were amused to discover swan towels with rose petals… and balloons. It was a strange combination but seeing as we have different last names perhaps they thought they would play it safe and cover all bases. Rose petals for the couple, or party balloons for the lady and her well dressed and manicured man friend.

From our balcony we had a view of the chaos surrounding us. We were right down the street from beer alley. The streets were lined with tiny stools that looked like something you’d find in a preschool classroom. Lord help those of us with big bottoms. In this area you could order a draft beer for between five and ten thousand Dong. One Canadian dollar will get you almost 18 thousand Dong so it’s basically like 25 cent draft night at Cowboys back in the day.

Around Town

After making our way past the hundreds of toddler tables stacked with beer there was something like a smaller and less crazy version of Bangkok’s Khao San Road. There were tons of restaurants and shops and the streets are full of people trying to sell you things like pop-up cards, fruit, nuts, and doughnut holes. The doughnut ladies were everywhere and they were relentless. One lady kept pestering Andre to buy a bag. She kept holding the tongs up to him urging him to just “try” one. He finally relented and told her that it was good but he didn’t want to buy any. Or course she then wanted money for the sample he took. He asked her how much and she told him it was five. As he went to give her the five thousand dong she shook her head and pointed to the fifty-thousand dollar bill in his hand. She basically wanted three Canadian dollars for a Tim Bit! Andre was not impressed and told her she was a scammer to which she responded with a big grin. We simply walked away and gave her nothing after that. Welcome to Vietnam. Each day I watched as these ladies continually bombarded tourists and tried to trap them into paying for their free sample. Everyone’s gotta make a living I suppose. One afternoon I laughed as I watched a guy practically get force fed when a woman shoved the doughnut loaded tongs up to his mouth. I can only describe his slick evasive response as a move out of the Matrix. He literally bent backwards to dodge her.

 

Speaking of dodging, you need to keep your eyes on the road at all times because that’s where you’ll be walking. There are sidewalks in some places but they are obstructed by parked vehicles, tiny doll chairs and tables that street food vendors put out, racks of goods and pretty much anything you can imagine. You need to be paying attention at all times so that you don’t get run over, and if you’re a woman carrying a bag (or a fancy man with a satchel) you need to be mindful of drive by snatchings.

It’s basically chaos. Along with the visual overload there is also the noise. I found this the hardest. The constant honking just got to me. You already need to be continually super alert because of all the action within the place so the incessant honking is really unnecessary.

Street lights and signs are only extremely loose suggestions, so I can kind of understand the honking as you approach intersections, but even then it seems excessive. Even when there is nowhere for another vehicle to move, people are immediately honking for them to get out of the way. 

I noticed that there were several tiny dog breeds here. Many of them breeds that would be considered “yappy” and high strung. Oddly none of these dogs looked at all sketched out and they never barked. It seemed like they had been completely desensitized by living in this environment. It was off putting to see normally skittish creatures so relaxed with gangster attitudes. 

While I was irritated by the honking Andre became downright homicidal. His normally chill demeanor changed to that of a scrappy street cat who had been in one too many fights and suffered from a nervous facial twitch. 

While I laughed about how the place reminded me of a game of Tetris when the pieces are coming down insanely fast and your tiles are nearing the top, Andre simply replied, “Really? That’s what it reminds you of? It reminds me of hell.” This was day three. Time to get out. Unfortunately we still had two nights to go.

 

Even though I found myself irritable at the onslaught of action I still found the humor in it and enjoyed watching the insanity from a bar stool. One evening we were sitting at a table out on the street having a hot pot. Prime position for taking it all in. There were about a dozen tables out front of the restaurant and extension cords everywhere so that the hot pots could be plugged in.

While we were eating the police came, yelled something, and all of a sudden the tables placed around us that were further out into the street were quickly picked up and the patrons, the food and all were moved. Apparently they were too far into the road. It all happened within a matter of minutes. It was obvious that this was a regular occurrence. The most entertaining part was that no sooner had the cops started walking back toward their vehicles, the staff were already putting things back exactly where they had been. It was ridiculous and I gave our server an amused look. He laughed and said that it was silly and that they did it all the time. The police apparently never look back.

Train Street

I was really interested in wandering down “train street”. I had seen pictures online and read about this area where homes and cafes are perched along the sides of the one hundred and seventeen year old railway track that was built by former colonial rulers. The railway once shipped goods and people across France’s former Indochina colony. The train remains in use today by Vietnam’s state-run railway company. We found a train schedule (it only passes through a few times a day) and headed out to get there early and grab a good seat at one of the cafes.

As we walked toward the tracks we noticed that there were barriers up and that there were also guards patrolling the area. A woman came out of nowhere and asked us if we wanted to come to her cafe. She then told us to follow her and we went around the corner and through a narrow passage leading into the back end of the cafes and homes. We had great seats right outside of the cafe doors. We were told we would have to move inside just before the train arrived, but I would still be able to get a good video of it as it passed.

The police began to stop the traffic on the main road that crossed the track and crowds of people started to gather waiting for the train to approach. We had moved into the area we were told to be in… but then one of the police officers came up and basically told us we weren’t far enough inside. It made no sense but I wasn’t about to argue. After he walked back to his post we asked the lady if we could go sit in the cafe across the tracks on the upper level since we would no longer get much of a view. She took us across quickly and we got positioned upstairs. The officer saw us and directed us to move again. WTF was with this guy. We ignored him this time and the lady who had invited us in went and sorted him out.

To my complete irritation, moments before the train came some more people were brought in and sat down where we had previously been on the street level with their chairs outside and a great view and nothing was said. It was still cool to watch from upstairs, one guy stuck his finger out and ran it across the train as it zoomed by.

It’s a shame they have shut the area down. I can understand the safety concerns with all the selfie takers but nothing has happened to date. And natural selection, right? Most of the cafes have had to shut down and that’s unfortunate.

 

Museum Day

Our trip to the Vietnam Military History Museum was very short. Andre now refers to it as the birth control museum. Basically when we arrived so did about a million school children. Honestly. It was like every school child in Hanoi was there. Buses and buses. As a teacher I am accustom to school excursions and the excitement that goes with it. This was next level. Kids were running around screaming bloody murder and some were playing Tag. Tag!! No one working there said a thing nor did the teachers/parents. I’m not gonna lie, I wanted to yell at all of them. It’s the teacher in me. I managed to keep my mouth shut, but I did give some death stares to a few who immediately stopped running. My teacher death glare game is still strong.

So basically we were in and out without seeing much of anything, and it was our last day, so unfortunately there was no opportunity to go back another time.

What the Pho?

We eat a lot of Pho in Edmonton. We love our Pho, and we are spoiled because we have an amazing place close to us called Pho Hoan Pasteur that we hit up sometimes once or twice a week. It’s amazing.

Given our love of Vietnamese food we were super pumped to get into the food here. Simon recommended a place called Pho Manh Cuong. This place was just a tiny little hole in the wall but the Pho was really good. I liked the addition of garlic on the table that you can add along with lime and peppers. Delicious.

The most hyped place was called Pho 10. We stood in a long line waiting to get this phenomenal bowl. It was super average. I wouldn’t even rate it.

Overall we were disappointed in the pho in Hanoi. The only one I really enjoyed was from Pho Manh Cuong. The search will continue.

Highlights/Lowlights

 

There are many cool things about Hanoi and I think we would have enjoyed it a lot more if we had only stayed a couple of days. The Old Quarter contains Hoàn Kiếm Lake, and the road surrounding it is closed off to vehicles on the weekend. It is really lovely to walk around and there are plenty of things to take in. There are many artists around the lake who sit and sketch portraits. There is one road that is full of tiny remote control cars for kids and parents can plop them in and steer them through the street.

We also ran into a lot of kids who wanted to chat with us to practice their English. We both ended up talking with some primary school students and their teacher.

I love that every bit of available space is used. There are so many tiny shops, some so narrow you wouldn’t be able to stretch both of your arms out. And you can find pretty much anything you need or want, although brand names items are likely not legit. Who doesn’t need a pair of fish sandals? If you need any lights you can go to an area that has shop after shop to meet your lighting needs. Need any pots, tin or aluminum cooking instruments? There is a whole street for you too. 

Sometimes it’s just the little things. For some reason Hanoi has great toilet paper although there is no actual center to hang the roll…

Oh, and Andre loves the toothpicks. He’s a man who loves a good toothpick and the ones here are super thin and crazy strong.

Like I said earlier, perhaps if we had only stayed a couple of days we would have enjoyed our time there much more. But we were idiots and stayed for five days. During which time I found out the answer to the questions “Is it possible to have a headache for 5 straight days?” and “What is the national instrument of Vietnam?” The answers were yes, and the horn, respectively. I have a new appreciation for primary school music teachers because being in Hanoi was like listening to class after class playing the recorder for the first time.

Despite the fact that I said they sell everything under the sun, I could not find the one thing I truly wanted. There were plenty of shops hawking souvenirs. The typical fridge magnets and tchotchkes. Some sold t-shirts. Sadly I was unable to find the shirt that summed up our experience. I was just after one of those simple shirts that start with “I went on vacation to…” (obviously mine would say Hanoi) and then it would be followed by, “and all I got was PTSD.”

166 days in…

Leaving for the island of Cat Ba before Andre ends up in a straight jacket or prison.

I’ve never been one of those women who wanted to date an inmate.