Story Archives

Vietnam Travel Stories

Cat Ba, Vietnam: What’s an endangered monkey worth? - Story by Jeff Greenwald
- 8th Online Issue

If it’s a Golden-Maned Langur – found only on Cat Ba Island, off the coast of North Vietnam, a few hours’ drive from Hanoi – the answer is, about a hundred bucks.

The Cat Ba langur is one of the world’s most endangered primate (second only to China’s Hainan Gibbon). There are only 64 Cat Ba langurs left - but that fact doesn’t mean much to poachers.

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Vietnam: More than Food: Shared Conversation, Shared Lives - Travel Story by Alice Driver
- 7th Online Issue

His hands are spotted and old; on the left hand a large wound is covered by a puff of bloody cotton and a piece of clear tape. These are the hands of Do Kha, a 77-year-old bamboo coracle builder who lives on Cam Kim Island in Vietnam. He is small in stature, with a look of frailty about him that disappears when he sits cross-legged on the ground to cut strips of bamboo and begins a new boat. My husband Isaac and I arrive at his house in the morning and greet him with a loud “Chao buoi sang” (“Good morning”). Isaac explains “Toi noi duoc mot it tieng viet” (“We speak a little bit of Vietnamese”). He has a difficulty hearing, so we exchange a few sentences of Vietnamese, but are never sure exactly what has been communicated. His wife, children and grandchildren are on the porch, and neighborhood children roam in and out of the yard.

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Hue, Vietnam: The New Nam: A young American's view (however skewed) of Vietnam
- Story by Dakota Gale
- 6th Online Issue

A thrill-seeking Vietnamese sprite on the back of my rusty one-speed bike clings to the rack and squeals gleefully as we roar down the pot-holed road. My friend Eric parks his bike and sings a Red Hot Chili Peppers' song to three young Vietnamese girls while they laugh uncontrollably at the funny white guy with sweat stains on his back; even with the monsoons, seething temperatures turn all travelers into fountains. The full moon is suspended in the sky over Hue and illuminates dozens of houseboats lined up on the river. I can see the flicker of TVs aglow, families relaxing after a day in the fields - a woman rocks her baby in a makeshift hammock, a hypnotic motion.

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China Beach, Vietnam: Early Morning - Story by Alice Driver
- 6th Online Issue

We woke up at 3:45am, walking out into the clear night, stars bewitchingly bright and unhindered by city lights. There were cottony wisps of clouds floating in-between the night sky and land, somehow neither here nor there. The moon was a thin crescent, but brilliant, turning the waves silver as they curled and broke neatly on the beach. Isaac and I sat down facing the water to await the appearance of a fisherman who he had befriended. There were already some men on the beach gathered around a pile of embers glowing red in the night, a pinpoint on the dark beach.

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Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: First Third World Experience… and Musings on Happiness
- Story by Tania Campbell
- 6th Online Issue

A recent sojourn to beautiful, scarred Vietnam; my first visit to a third world country, was a profoundly eye opening experience as well as a steep learning curve – not only did I gain knowledge of the history and culture of Vietnam, but more so I learned about the wicked ways of the West and the nature of happiness.

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Ninh Binh, Vietnam: Further Afield - Story by Mary Slaughter
- 5th Online Issue

We were wrong to think that border towns blend or that the line between two countries blurs with the green between them. The line is distinct and the change is palpable. Crossing from Laos to Vietnam we may as well have changed continents. The pace notched up along with the infrastructure and suddenly our relaxed senses were snapped awake. When the bus we were on pulled over in a rice paddy between towns, 30 km from Vinh, I was instantly aware of the struggle we were in for. The bus driver demands more cash. We refuse. He chucks our bags onto the asphalt and orders us off. Half an hour later we are hoarse, sweating, flushed and fuming; but back on the way to Vinh for the original price.

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Nha Trang, Vietnam: Roadside Vietnam - Story by Danielle Bell
- 5th Online Issue

"You buy something?"

"Cheap, cheap!"

"What you want?"

Thus, the well-practiced cries of Vietnamese vendors to wary white foreigners, where language barriers on both sides halt any further hope of conversation.

Street-market stalls peddling everything from fish-filled pastries to sweet rice wrapped in banana leaves and Louis Vuitton knock-offs are crushed into every corner.

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Fansipan, Vietnam: Climbing Fansipan - Story by Paul Young
- 3rd Online Issue

Through the unsettling cloudy haze, I saw an alignment of charred trees and was grateful for the greener more vibrant vegetation near our base camp. My leg was wounded but not seriously, so I could still walk, despite the throbbing pain emanating from both of my callused feet.

The four of us all sat quietly resting after hours of a non-stop hiking up the side of Fansipan mountain. It was too late to turn back now – and we had already come halfway and were determined to finish what we had started.

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Hanoi, Vietnam: Life is good in Hanoi - Story by Betsy Campo
- 2nd Online Issue

One of the many pleasures of being an ex-pat in Hong Kong is the myriad travel opportunities within the region. Just get out the atlas and see the proximity of all those exotic places! Vietnam is high on the list of desirable destinations for many Hong Kong ex-pats. As an American who grew up with graphic footage of the Vietnam War every night on the evening news, I was dying to go, albeit with a sense of ambivalence and guilt about my homeland’s ill-advised presence in Southeast Asia.

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Mekong Delta, Vietnam: Misadventures in the Mekong Delta - Story by Mike Tonkins
- Premier Online Issue

One night I got a text message when I was sitting in a bar. I thought it was going to be one of my nightly 'Good night MIKE I hope you have sweet dream' texts that my students take turns to send me. Turns out that 'Student Unknown 9' wanted me to meet her parents. After a heavy weekend in Saigon, the peace and tranquility of the Delta seemed like a great idea.

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