This series will go country by country through my two-year trip. I plan on sharing some experiences, thoughts, and photos of each country that I visited.
Country by Country 20: Vietnam
My 20th country ended up being my favorite country on this trip. I had taken a bus from Kampot, Cambodia and found myself in Ho Chi Minh City. I had plans to buy a motorbike, ride through Vietnam for 30 days, then ride the bike through Cambodia. In the end, I rode through Vietnam, went to Laos for a new Vietnam visa, and returned to Vietnam for another 3 months.
I've written in excruciating detail about my journey through Vietnam, here on Steemit. I tried to break my trip down day by day. If you have more free time than is probably healthy, you can read about days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 7.1, 8, 8.1, 9, 9.1, 10, 11,12, 13, 14, 15-17, 18, 19, 20-21, 22, 23, 24+, 29+, and 39+ by clicking on the links.
With so many photos and so much already written about Vietnam, I wasn't sure what to make this post about. When looking through my photos, I decided that I would only use photos that had people, animals, or motorbikes in them. That made my job a whole lot easier. Here are some photos from Vietnam.
A beautiful road for motorbikes in Vung Tau. For someone who loves cycling and motorbiking, riding on roads like this is almost like flying in a dream.
Vietnam has some very interesting contrasts. It's one of the most developed and modern countries in the area, but outside of the cities many people are living lifestyles that haven't changed in hundreds of years.
Rice fields outside of Mui Ne, on the way to Da Lat.
Da Lat
Outside of Da Lat. These farmers are taking their dogs to work. Does anyone know if the dogs perform a function, like killing rats?
I will never stop being amazed by how much stuff people can fit onto scooters.
My wheels for a few months. It treated me a lot better than I treated it. This was taken during a break on my way to Nha Trang.
This was on my way to Buon Ma Thuot. I stopped for a drink and these kids kept yelling "Hello!" at me.
I met these guys while taking a break on my way to Buon Ma Thuot. The fed me fried sparrows and vodka.
A restaurant in Kham Duc. I don't know if this is an ethnic minority town, but many of the people here were big. Everywhere else in Vietnam, the people were much thinner. Maybe the food is better here.
Hoi An is a great place for photography.
Kids riding by in Hoi An.
The world famous Dragon Bridge of Da Nang. I'm considering dragons as animals for this post.
Monkey Mountain in the Da Nang area.
The Hai Van Pass on the way to Hue.
A city gate in Hue.
Water buffalo cooling off outside of Hue, on the way to Khe Sanh.
A market in Dong Hoi.
This is a church in Dong Hoi. I was surprised by how many Christians there are in Vietnam. I think Vietnam is the only place where I saw Christian churches that weren't leftover from colonization.
The lady at the gas station (a house that sold gas) wanted to try my helmet on. This was between Dong Hoi and Vinh.
These kids came to say "hello" when I stopped for a break outside of Vinh.
It was very easy to make friends in Vinh. I was trying to read my book and have some beer, but everyone wanted to say hi. The phone belongs to the man on the right. He called a friend who spoke English and wanted me to talk to him. It was pretty funny.
This is a school getting out in Hanoi.
This guy kept trying to talk to me while we were riding outside of Hanoi. He liked the GoPro on my helmet.
A woman tending her animals in a small village.
These kids fed me all kinds of amazing food and vodka. They loved my vape.
A pretty farm with some ducks walking down a path.
I believe this town is called Than Uyen.
A market in Than Uyen.
Buffalo on the way to Sa Pa.
A kid and her grandpa in Sa Pa.
Ethnic minorities in Sa Pa.
Women with baskets, on the way to Coc Pai.
A baby animal of some sort.
This restaurant hung a new sign while I was there. They had amazing homemade hot sauce.
Buffalo and their shit are a big hazard on the roads.
Ha Giang. This is where I had to stop my journey and go to Laos for a new visa.
Those were some of the photos I took while riding through Vietnam. The land of Vietnam is truly amazing to see and experience, but the real treasure of Vietnam is the people. I've never been to a country that was so friendly, curious, generous, and welcoming. In many of the countries in Europe, the only locals that I talked to were employees of the businesses that I used. In Vietnam, it was hard to go for more than an hour or two before someone said hello. The Vietnamese are very proud of their country and seem excited to share the beauty and magic of Vietnam with visitors.
Thank you to all of the people who made my visit to Vietnam incredible.
Here are some of the people I met on my trip. Many of these photos are from the Da Nang area.
After several months in Da Nang, it was time to move on. My family was having a reunion in California, so it was off to the USA! Stay tuned for my next post about that.