Crunchy Frog?
Cambodia is pretty drab, so the first thing we noticed coming into Vietnam was all the colors. The women wear brightly printed pajamas that make crowds into bouquets. In the provinces, every other woman wears a conical hat and everywhere they religiously cover up their faces and arms to avoid tanning. They look like bandits or incognito movie stars.
The Vietnamese have the Chinese habit of spitting and coughing with the mouth open. Its a very touchy society. Friends are often cuddling and strangers will place their hands all over you when they talk.
Vietnam is neo-communist, coming to grips with free markets. While not wealthy, Vietnam has an intact culture and functioning economy. These things are indescribably valuable. The French influence hinted at in Cambodia and Laos is much more pronounced and China, rather than India, is the dominant cultural parent. Replicas of French villas abut ornate pagodas and there are manicured public parks. Vietnam is nowhere near as well off as Thailand, but the wealth is much more evenly distributed.
The most obvious sign of wealth equality is the lack of cars. Cambodia was dirt poor, but the ultra wealthy had SUV’s. Here, despite the substantial average wealth increase, the only cars on the roads are mini-vans being used as taxis. Everything else is a scooter or a bicycle. Like in Cambodia, no traffic rules are observed. But here there’s pavement, so the motos and vans can make speed. People rely exclusively on the sonic bumper for safety. The highways are very perilous.
Good local food is back! In the streets you can find steaming rice cakes filled with spotted eggs and veggies sold next to cream filled croissants. Vietnamese steamed spring rolls, lemon grass frog, and fried eel have all found their way into our bellies.
We’ve seen several restaurants that claim to serve puppy. The dogs on the street are all much smaller than anywhere else in Indochina. Maybe a big dog looks too appetizing?
Many of the people are spotted. There’s a health practice called Gao Ya where they scrape circles and lines on the body with a palate to cure illness. Particularly nasty illnesses require an oily poultice to be scraped off. Its supposed to regulate the body heat or something. Television advertisements are always claiming their pill or potion works better than Gao Ya.
For some gorgeous images of modern Vietnam go download or rent the movie Three Seasons. Its one of my all time favorite films, its very well crafted and it will give you a good sense of where we are.
We entered this country on the newly opened Mekong border crossing at Chau Doc…