This trip to SE Asia included Bangkok and Hanoi and its surrounding area. The picture above is from the balacony of the Master View Apartments, where I was staying in Bangkok. To be honest I see more differences than similarities. Bangkok has been sweltering; everyday it has been in the 90s (F) with high humidity. The traffic and pollution have gotten me down more than on other visits. Bangkok is supremely more modern in contrast with more western influences. Hanoi is coming out of its winter, a couple of the days were outright chilly, and the first day there I had to wear all of my layers of long sleeved shirts and jackets. There’s less of a western presence-no McDonald’s or Starbucks here, but plenty of motorcycles and noise pollution. The single most prevalent memory will be of the chaotic streets filled with motorcycles and cars honking to let the drivers know that they are nearby. Furthermore, there are few stoplights, so you have to just slowly make your way across a busy intersection as traffic swerves around you. I did notice more cars, but they are many years behind Bangkok gridlock. I was in South Vietnam about 4-5 years ago and little has changed, but Vietnam has joined the world communication craze. Internet shops have ADSL lines and many Vietnamese can be seen talking into cell phones and texting messages to their friends. So I immediately noticed all the Samsung and Nokia cell phone outlets all over the city. There are a lot of French colonial architecture, as well as tree-line streets, parks, and lakes in the city. But is also probably filthier than Bangkok, which is quite a feat. The people throw their garbage (bagged and un-bagged) into the gutter, where it is collected each evening by a street sweeper-thus breeding rats, cockroaches, etc.
I think Thais and Vietnamese share a playful sense of fun in life. You always see them in groups laughing and joking, they make work fun. They do work hard, but they focus on making it fun. I think it is this aspect that really distances them from the Japanese, who are more reserved and less happy-go-lucky. The food of both cultures is similar, but actually quite different. I guess it’s similar in that they eat lots of seafood dishes, soups, rice, noodles and so forth. But Vietnamese food is less spicy and they seem to use more fresh herbs and letuce wraps withtheir food than the Thais. I think Thai and Vietnamese are among my favorite foods, so I have been eating at both food stalls and more upscale restaurants as much as possible. I’ll be making some posts on restaurants later in the week. Last week I got food posioning and had a long painful night running back and forth to the bathroom, but I think it was from a western style restaurant rather than from a food stall on the street.
If I were to plan the trip again, I would have gotten my visa to Vietnam in Tokyo-it took two full business days to get, and the first full day in Bangkok I forgot to bring my passport along to the travel agent. I think I needed 2 weeks to get a visa the first time I visited Vietnam, so things do seem to have improved some since then as far as the red tape is concerned. But I would have liked to have spent some more time in Hanoi proper. I went on two outings near Hanoi: the Perfume Pagoda and Halong Bay (more about both in upcoming posts). If I had another few days I could have went trekking up north among the indigenous tribes in Sapa, which a lot of people were doing. This is my fifth visit to Bangkok, I’ve seen most of the main attractions, done all of the day trips, but I can always eat inexpensive food, shop, and find new restaurants and clubs. On the plus side, I didn’t have to pay for a hotel since my friend Jason, who has a company Ardensys with his brother, has an apartment that they use for business (they often fly to and fro from India/outsourcing, Australia/they're from Melbourne, and Japan/they do a lot of business there) and let me stay there while in Bangkok. I think I’ve come to the realization that more than 5 days is too much time in Bangkok. I was hoping to meet some friends while in Bangkok but for various reasons they couldn’t make it. However, I made some friends with a couple of guys from Seattle, of all places, who are currently living in Bangkok. Last weekend I was able to meet up with some colleagues of a friend, Paul, who now works for the Tokyo branch of Accenture. All in all, a relaxing and inexpensive vacation.
A street in Hanoi's Old Quarter near where I stayed.
Love both cities but for totally different reasons. I have always seen a huge divide between the Siamese-influenced side of that area (ie Thailand, Lao, Cambodia) and the Chinese-infliuenced side--Vietnam. The chinese have left their mark on Vietnam so strongly--in food, language, religion temprament. As soon as you leave Vietnam you get that "mai pen lai" it's all good attitude much more. I have always thought that characterised the Thais and their cultural relatives much more than the Vietnamese, who seem much more like the businesslike Chinese. But what does this gwailo/falang/farang/gaijin know anyway...?
Posted by: Brendan | March 05, 2005 at 11:59 AM