Day One in Paradise

I'm at a loss for words. I just walked about ten kilometers, or sevenish miles, from Ninh Binh to Tam Coc and finally to my hotel, Anna Tham Hotel View. This is by far the best place I've stayed yet, though at precisely three places over the course of four or five nights, my opinion might not hold much weight. Don't worry. I'm processing some photos to convince you otherwise.

I haven't even really seen much yet; it's overcast today, still, and a bit foggy, but this place is at least among the most beautiful places I've ever been in my life.

I should start back at the Bamboo Restaurant a bit outside Tam Coc.

I walked in there, having walked about five miles already, so ready to just sit down and rest for a while, and I'm greeted by a woman who I was almost certain wasn't Vietnamese. She assured me I didn't have to buy anything, but could just rest if I so chose, but I insisted, and bought a banana shake...which in retrospect was more like a smoothie, but was delicious nonetheless, and cool to boot.

Side note: get yourself T-shirts a size larger than you would here. I bought a T-shirt in the US just before I left which was small, and a bit too tight (but I could get it on and off pretty easily); I got a T-shirt just a day ago here in Vietnam, medium, and taking it off now was exceedingly difficult.

Back to the restaurant, on the road to Tam Coc. So, I met this woman who was working in a Vietnamese restaurant in a slightly off the beaten path town which was nonetheless a tourist destination for its beautiful views and wildlife. And she wasn't Vietnamese. This perplexed me somewhat. She initially tried to speak to me in French, as I was wearing a Tintin in Vietnam shirt, bought from a man in Hanoi.

I finished the shake and struck up a Hangouts conversation with my family back home, which lasted at least thirty minutes, probably an hour. The internet here is amazing. I mean, it's not fiber optic, but I was getting full bars walking through what seemed to be wilderness in the middle of no-where. Upon entering Tam Coc, I realized that there were two radio towers easily within a kilometer or two of each other, to which I had line of sight with both. Also, I remember seeing multiple TVs in houses along the way. The road along the way looked dusty and almost post-apocalyptic, but there were people and there was cell coverage throughout the ten or so kilometers I walked.

Walking through Vietnam's half-completed everything is kind of a thought-provoking experience; you see things being fixed and built, cleaned and kept up, but the entire time I've been here, it's been dirt and messy; the day I got here, I saw rats running on an awning above a street shop, which later caused me to wonder if I'd eaten some rat meat on the street. 

It looked like a hot dog and some pork.

Anyway, getting back to the Bamboo Restaurant, I talked to the woman a bit more before leaving, and found that, in fact, she was Swiss. She said she came to Vietnam for freedom, which strikes me as strange, being that Vietnam is a socialist "republic."

I should heartily recommend the Bamboo restaurant. They have soap. It's strange to think that not toilet paper, not showers, not any other modern convenience would be important, but rather soap. It might just be the Hanoi Youth Hostel. Despite its many virtues, all the bathrooms have in them are the various shower products of those staying there. Maybe my expectations have been ruined by it, and the rest of Vietnam will be a pleasant surprise, over and over.

The smoothie was also good. I intend to visit the Bamboo Restaurant again, simply because this Swiss woman, while a bit shy, was exceptionally hospitable. This hospitality has been fairly uniform when it comes to restaurants and hotels in Vietnam. The Kinh Do Hotel of last night, despite being a lonely and grand sort of place, had a very kind and hospitable receptionist, who made me feel as welcome as I could.

Further, as pertains to the Bamboo Restaurant, it is furnished and built to a degree that few or no other establishments I've visited have exhibited. It was beautiful and solid, had lovely decoration, and a good view of the street. There may be a rooftop or back porch sort of thing, but I was not adventurous enough to explore thereto.

Between the Bamboo Restaurant and my current lodgings, I have experienced enough hospitality and quality for a week. I shall not be happy to leave this place.

This is the view toward the window of my room at Anna Tham's room 303.

I walked into the front parking lot/patio of the hotel, and was met by a man who called Anna and she checked me in; said man returned to the restaurant portion of the hotel, where I was resting for a few minutes, and brought me a cup of tea. I oversteeped and ended up drinking only half of it, but I appreciated the gesture greatly.

One thing that some hostels and hotels do is take your passport, and keep it while you stay with them. I assume this is at least in part for safekeeping, as the only other purpose I can conceive of is to ensure that nobody walks away from the hotel without paying. This is also a legitimate reason, but I'd much prefer to pay up front at check in than leave my passport so far from my person, and outside my control.

At the Anna Tham Hotel View, she writes down the details on your passport and gives it back to you (to the best of my knowledge). I much prefer this policy, as it leaves me in control of my passport as I stay, giving me much greater peace of mind.

Here is the view out my window. It's still rather cloudy, but simply beautiful. If the sun comes out any time in the next few days, I'll be taking photos like there's no tomorrow.

I thought to myself somewhere between Hanoi and here that I should really just spend the entire time here, learn Vietnamese to the best of my ability, and talk to people.

It struck me that so much of the interaction we have with the Vietnamese these days is simply sales and bartering. I don't even remember the name of my Vietnamese hosts at the Hanoi Youth Hostel. That's in part because I never really talked to them much, but that's at least half the problem; we spend our days being tourists, touristing and being touristed. We travel thousands of miles, take days-long flights, spend our hard-earned dollars, and the most I can say in Vietnamese (if I really tried) is thank you.

And think about it, last time America and Vietnam met, we were at war, speaking with tactics, bullets, and the volume of violence. We return years later and all we want is to see the beauty here (a worthy and good purpose, I think), eat their food, see their homes, sleep comfortably, have a "western" breakfast...

What of what we see, eat, and do is actually Vietnamese? Some people learn a little Vietnamese as they travel (you probably pick up some if you stay long enough), but truly having a conversation with one of them in their own tongue...

I feel like that is a far more worthy cause. Attraversiamo.

!Noah!