Vietnam Observations
Animals
Particularly in the South there are no cats anywhere. In several parts of the country there are puppies and kittens in abundance but few adult dogs and cats. There are almost no horses in the country. I saw two on the beach (pony rides) at Sam Sun and have seen about 3 asses pulling carts, they normally use buffalo. There appears to be a general rule that anything that moves can, should and will be eaten. It is common to see "dog" on menus and also "fog" which is a mispelling of frog!
Travel
There are very few cars in Hanoi as they have been taxed out of existence other than for the very rich. This means that there are no bangers and the cars that are driven are normally swanky models. It’s easy to get annoyed with the cars in Hanoi as the streets are simply not designed for them.
Women
I previously noted that Vietnamese women covered up due to the heat and due to modesty. I have now decided that the main reason for covering up is more simply vanity. The Vietnamese (and particularly the women) are obsessed with light skin and not getting any darker. Someone was telling me that the best compliment to pay a Vietnamese woman is not, "you’re so beautiful" but, "you’re so white"! This preoccupation has also made it impossible for me to buy face moisturiser in Vietnam as they are all "Whitening" creams. It’s funny really when you think that English people want to look darker and people here are desperate to look lighter. I guess it harks back to those who have light skin and dark skin. In England a tan is a sign of someone who can afford to travel to hot places, a sign of affluence, whereas in Vietnam the darkest people are those who work in the fields and complete menial labour, a sign of poverty.
Vietnamese women are also absolutely tiny. I don’t just mean height-wise, although they are by no means the tallest nation. They have a crazily small build. In England when you go to shops the mannequins have their jeans pinned at the back so that they fit. In Vietnam all of the jeans are undone as they don’t even fit on the stick-thin mannequins. This can make clothes shopping something of a demoralising experience. I bought one top in Vietnam and it’s an extra, extra large (XXL). I was pottering around Hanoi one day and a slightly large Australian woman got very excited as she saw a sign at a shop saying, "Larger sizes", she said with glee, "larger sizes, that’s me" and made a bee-line for the store. When she got there she held a shirt up to herself which covered one breast. They -were- larger sixes which probably meant that they were about a size 8 rather than the normal Vietnamese sizes!
The VIetnamese people
I generally found the Vietnamese friendly as a nation. Some tourists get fed up with what they see as the Vietnamese trying to make a quick buck out of tourists. This can be irritating at times but I think it’s only natural really. In my month in Vietnam I didn’t see any bully-boy tactics and there was nowhere where I felt unsafe that I visited.
Food
The food is lovely. My particular favourites were the pancakes in Hue which I have already spoken about and the seafood pho (noodle soup). The cakes in Hanoi are also amazing. I actually managed to spend a month in Vietnam without getting a dodgy stomach.
Drink
By far my favourite drinks are the fresh fruit juice and smoothies. In the South I spent a lot of time drinking watermelon juice and then changed to lemon juice in the North. The cocktails are STRONG. If a cocktail menu lists three spirits it’s likely that there will be a shot of each in the resulting cocktail. All the local beer I drank including the "Bia Hoi" beer was very palatable. In the South "Ba Ba Ba" (333) is good. I cannot say the same for the local rice wine!
Crime
I didn’t see any whilst in Vietnam. The Vietnamese apparently don’t get the Police involved preferring to settle disputes with either their fists or money. I did see one quite serious fight on the street actually. Someone was telling me that if you kill someone on the road you have to pay the family – the amount was absurdly small.