Southeast Asia Part VI — Central Vietnam
Read: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V
Hello everyone! Welcome to the final post of my Southeast Asia trip series. Whenever I reach the end of a project, I always enter a period of disbelief. At one time I had nothing written about this, and now there are six parts of it! It feels weird, but also gratifying, to be here. This last part takes place in Central Vietnam. If you recall from Part I, I made the choice to extend my trip during the early stages of it, so everything that occurred in this section wasn’t originally supposed to happen. The way I see it, it was an extra cherry on top of an already amazing experience. As always, thank you all for being here. Let’s get into it!
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Hue
From Da Nang, we hopped on a train and took a roughly two hour ride to Hue. Hue is a historic city and was formerly the capital of Vietnam. Tourists come to see the Imperial City, royal tombs, and the pagodas of the Nguyen Dynasty. At the hostel, I noticed a sign that advertised a day-long tour of all the must-see spots of the city. We didn’t have a lot of time there, so we figured this would be an efficient way to see everything and scheduled it for the following day.
That night we found a roadside spot serving one of Hue’s most iconic dishes, Bún Bò Huế, a noodle soup with strips of beef, pork, spicy broth, and thick and round rice noodles. Like pho soups, it is served with a side of fresh herbs and vegetables like cilantro, mint, bean sprouts and green kumquats. This moment was a delightful deja vu to our first noodle night in Hanoi, where street food welcomed us into a new city.
Night turned into morning and Syd and I got ready a little too late and didn’t have time to eat breakfast before the tour began. We met the guide and made our first stop at the Citadel. We were both dying a bit until we spotted a small cafe, and stopped to eat coffee and chips. Not the best breakfast, but sometimes you gotta work with what you’ve got.
Walking through all of the historical landmarks, we tried our best to listen to our guide, but he wasn’t the most engaging storyteller and was a little difficult to understand. I knew beforehand that Hue was a historically important city, but I can’t say I took in too much.
What I do remember was learning about an emperor who had 500 wives and concubines, and who had produced hundreds of children. I also learned about another emperor who, despite having hundreds of wives and concubines, didn’t have children because he was impotent. All I thought about from hearing these tales was, “these men really needed therapy.” I also recall visiting a tomb where the emperor pre-ordained that those involved in his burial be beheaded afterwards so that no one would ever know exactly where he was buried. A whole day of history, but I’m ashamed to say that those are the only details that stuck in my mind. But hey, I still got to see cool monuments. Here are some photos of that day.
Syd and I were disappointed that we’d spent our entire day on that tour, but luckily our evening redeemed it. I had suggested we do a street food tour, and found one online.
We met with the food guide that evening, a man named Hoa, and he took us to some of his favorite spots in the city. He was a lot more charming and advanced at English than our day guide, so it was already a better start. My only criticism arose when Hoa talked about his two young children and lamented to Sydney and I about how we had so much freedom and that you have “no freedom” when you have children.
I thought this was interesting commentary considering that he was running a fun food tour and cracking jokes with us all night while his wife was at home with his kids. I mentioned this to Sydney after the fact and she said, “I was thinking the same thing!” Undoubtedly one has less personal time when kids are in the equation, but c’mon man. Onto some of what we ate!
The first stop was located down an alley. It wasn’t a restaurant exactly — it was a woman’s house with a couple of small tables outside of it, and we never would have found it without a local to show us. The woman who owned the home specialized in bánh nậm, a glutinous rice dumpling cooked inside banana leaves.
We unwrapped leaf after leaf and ate the slippery contents inside. One was filled with pork and another with shrimp. They were extremely delicious, but I tried my best not to over-indulge since there were several more stops after this.
Subsequent stops were more official and were obtained from streetside eateries filled with locals. We ate banh beo, also referred to as Vietnamese crepes, which are savory and crispy pancakes made from rice flour, and tinted yellow from turmeric. We tried fresh oysters with different fillings, and one had melted cheese on top. Not the best, but interesting nonetheless.
Another “only the locals would know” stop was to eat hột vịt lộn or duck embryo. I know what you’re thinking because so was I, but I was there to try it all. The fertilized egg is boiled or steamed and then eaten from the shell. Our guide started to crack an egg and boasted about their nutritional properties. He then looked at us with the face of a challenger, wondering if we were actually going to eat them. I came to this trip wanting to get as immersed as I could so I wasn’t going to back down now. I cracked the shell with a spoon, scooped out the contents, and put it into my mouth. It was…not bad? It didn’t taste like much to me to be honest. It was like a boiled egg, but also not? It was meatier, but in a rubbery kind of way. Should I have added a trigger warning to this? Well, too late now. Sorry.
The first dessert was sugar apples, a fruit I had never seen before. There is a soft outer shell that is easy to peel, and the inside is a texture that is creamy and milky. We then went to a stand that served Chè Huế which is a Hue-style sweet soup. You can pick from a variety of tapioca-based puddings and choose different jellies to mix in.
Syd and I walked back to the hostel feeling full and content. Our day of history may have been a bust, but walking our way through the street food of Hue was the perfect remedy.
Phong Nha
Phong Nha is a town known for its impressive caves and hiking. At the homestay we booked, we met a group of friends who were traveling together. They were a sizable group, and I wondered how they had all coordinated this trip together. I later found out that most of them had met on their travels, and then decided to keep traveling together. They had picked up people along the way, and other people had dispersed.
It reminded me of the group I had met in Chiang Mai and I wondered how long I could have traveled alongside them if that had been an option, or if I would have dispersed to new places or new friends. All digitally connected, I checked their Instagram stories each day to see what they were up to, and at times wished that I was with them. But I also realized that this was a dream life. In reality, I had no idea how that version of life would have panned out, or whether it would fulfill me in the ways my imagination told me it could. I was where I was, and the best thing to do was appreciate what was right in front of me.
The Caves
There are hundreds of caves in Phong Nha, but only a small fraction are open to visitors. The largest cave in the world, Hang Sơn Đoòng, happens to be in the area as well and contains a complete ecosystem within it. Oxalis Adventure Tours is the only tour operator that grants access to this cave. They offer a package to take visitors through a 6 day tour of the Sơn Đoòng, and camp within the cave. It’s $3,000 USD, the visitor cap is limited, and 2024 is already fully booked. It’s kind of weird that a private company has exclusive rights to a cave, but I guess that’s just one of the dystopian aspects of modern life. Even natural land is gatekept. Anyway, I didn’t do any of that.
What I did get to see was Paradise Cave and Phong Nha Cave, both of which are easily accessible to the public. Caves in this region were formed between 200–400 million years ago, which is insane for my tiny human brain to comprehend.
Paradise Cave (Thiên Đường) is a cave which was discovered by a local man in 2005, and eventually opened to tourists in 2010. It was nicknamed “Paradise Cave” for the incredible stalactites and stalagmites that fill it. It is the longest dry cave in Asia at 31km, is 72m high, and 150m in width. You can feel this expansion in your soul. There are well-placed lights so that you can see the details of the rock formations, but the darkness is also preserved.
I was struck by how tiny I was compared to this massive space. Gazing at the ancient limestones, it was like I was looking at godliness. “I designed this, aren’t you impressed?” A god might ask. And impressed I was.
After exploring Paradise, we went on a 20 minute boat ride to see Phong Nha Cave, a wet cave, and where the name of the town comes from. There is a long underground river that flows through this cave, which then drains out to the Son River, and then to the sea. This cave is even longer than Paradise, but tourists can only explore about 1,500 meters of it. Stepping off of the boat and onto solid ground, Syd and I walked around admiring another cave filled with awe inspiring rock formations.
Duck Stop
An activity that Sydney really wanted to do before leaving Phong Nha was visit a place called the “Duck Stop” which she had discovered on Tiktok. The attraction is aptly named. There are a lot of ducks, and you can be around them, herd them, and feed them.
We, along with other folks there for the experience, were taken to the ducks in an enclosure. It had been very rainy that day, so the ducks’ rubbery footsteps against the pavement were particularly loud, and their feathers were matted from the water. We were given food to feed the ducks, and as the pellets dropped out of my hands, I felt their toothless beaks at my feet as they tried to get every last bite. I was not a fan of this experience.
I felt disturbed by the lives these ducks led. They were very food motivated and would run and chase wherever it was thrown. After we left the enclosure, I noticed another group getting ready to see the ducks and I wondered how many times per day the ducks ran around this small space to chase food for tourists. I’m probably just a party pooper though because everyone else there seemed to love hanging out with the ducks. I heard boisterous laughter all around me, and some people even picked them up and struggled to hold the ducks’ flailing bodies (I shuddered at the thought).
Hoi An
Our next and last stop in Central Vietnam was Hoi An. Here we would spend a few days and wind down before returning to life back home. It’s funny — even though this was the last week of my trip, I probably remember it the least because we didn’t do much at all.
The city is known for its colorful lanterns, tailor shops, and nightlife. I was initially interested in the tailors. Since the start of my journey, I had heard from other travelers that Hoi An was the place to get custom, made-to-measure, clothing. As an appreciator of well-crafted fashion, this intrigued me.
When I actually arrived in the city however, and walked by the dozens of tailor shops which looked nearly identical to one another, the clothing showcased on the mannequins left much to be desired. Unfortunately, a lot of the clothes reminded me of fast fashion. And I thought to myself, why bother getting made to measure clothing which looked like I could have got it on Amazon?
I will say though that they weren’t all bad. I saw some shops which specialized in making suits and ball gowns, for instance, and those looked higher quality, and more worth the investment. But for everyday wearables, it was a hard pass for me.
There was one day where we wandered into a free photography museum which was pretty cool. The exhibition inside was a photographer’s attempt to preserve the unique clothing traditions of various mountain tribes in Northern and Central Vietnam.
What I most remember of this city was simply walking around in it. We got some good meals, did last-minute souvenir shopping for our families, and that was that. I suppose these few days were the natural winding-down that signified the end of a journey. If I had to do it again, I probably would have spent fewer days here, but it was what it was.
Before leaving, I visited a piercing shop to get my septum pierced. I had wanted this hole through my body for some time and realized that it was far less expensive to get this body modification in Vietnam than in NYC. For $12, I got my final souvenir of Vietnam.
Manila
My flight back had a day-long layover in Manila. It was less expensive than flying direct, and I figured it would be cool to see one more city before returning home.
I arrived at my hostel past midnight and was checked-in by a front desk person who seemed annoyed that I had arrived, and that he had to take a break from doing nothing to help me. I found this energy relatable, so I couldn’t judge.
In the morning, I met a girl in my room from Botswana who had lived in China for the last 6 years. She was in Manila for work, but had booked extra days because she didn’t want to go home yet. It was interesting to talk to her about her life in China.
She had gone there for university and then stayed. Being an African person in China had its idiosyncrasies though. She told me that when she first moved there, strangers would ask her to take photos with them because they were so unaccustomed to seeing Black people. At first she obliged, perhaps finding it amusing, but then eventually put up boundaries and refused the requests.
She told me stories about how crazy it had been to be in China during the pandemic. China had very strict COVID rules up until just a year ago, so it was still very close to her chest. She had been living in a house with roommates, and friends who were visiting ended up living with her for months because of the lockdown.
Besides that, it seemed like she really liked life in China. She had a lot of friends and a good job. She spoke about how people outside of China often worry about their surveillance, but she laughed over this and said, “nobody actually cares what you do.”
I had been planning to see some of the city that day, but she warned me that the traffic in Manila was very bad and that I should call a Grab hours ahead to make sure I would get to the airport on time. When leaving the hostel, I consulted with the front desk as well and they gave me the same advice. I would have very little time to explore after all.
I ended up walking through the streets, which weren’t very walkable at all, and witnessed the severe traffic. I can’t speak to the entire city of course but, near where I was staying at least, it was a concrete jungle, and the streets were filled bumper-to-bumper with cars.
Following the advice from earlier, I returned to my hostel after a few hours of walking around, and got ready to leave. I was disappointed that I didn’t get to see more, but didn’t want to risk being late to my flight. I ended up getting a cab almost immediately.
My driver was really talkative and started a conversation with me right as I buckled in.
“Are you an influencer?” He asked.
I laughed at this and told him that I wasn’t, though I’ll admit that the question stirred something in me. Did I look like the kind of person who made a living traveling? I liked the idea of that.
During the drive he told me that I needed to come back to the Philippines to experience all of the wonderful things the country had to offer. He had a lot of pride for the country, but there was also a profound sadness attached to it.
He hadn’t been able to travel too much due to the expense, but told me about a time in high school when he visited Korea and how “everything was clean and things actually worked,” and about how sad he felt when he returned home. He told me about government corruption and how people didn’t believe that things could get better. He had a brother who had moved to Tokyo years ago, but he himself didn’t want to leave. Despite the disappointment he felt and his wishes that things in the Philippines could be different, he was proud to be from Manila and was there to stay.
He had three jobs and wanted to visit his brother in Japan, but didn’t know when he would be able to make it happen. I enjoyed learning about his life and opinions, but I couldn’t help but feel his sadness too. Why does life have to be so hard? I wondered to myself. And why is it so much harder for some than others?
I guess what I really wanted to know, and what I’ve wondered nearly my entire life, was why my life had been easier in so many ways, and how random the “genetic lottery” is. I felt him slow down his car as we were getting closer to the airport — I think because he wanted to continue the conversation. He wished me a safe flight, and told me to visit the Philippines again soon. I told him I would try my best.
Waiting for my flight, that was it. Six weeks of travel had come to an end. I was brimming with wonder and delight. I felt like the luckiest person on earth and was reveling in my feelings of gratitude. I knew that being back home was going to be difficult, but I also knew that I would be able to handle whatever challenges came my way. Sometimes the world can be magical, and I had experienced a lot of it.
The flight back was rough and I barely slept. I watched four movies in a row, but eventually had to stop myself because of eye strain. I landed at JFK and waited for my sister who had very generously offered to pick me up. She arrived around midnight and I walked into the cold winter air to enter the car. I was elated to see her, and I talked excitedly about the trip and my reignited feelings about the magic of life.
The moment I stepped into my apartment however, a waterfall of fear and anxiety washed over me. The enchantment I had experienced for weeks suddenly all felt like a fever dream I was just waking up from. I was now back in “real” life, and real life wasn’t as beautiful or fun. What followed after this was weeks of low energy and depression. I found it difficult to get out of bed in the morning, or work towards my goals. One of the things that helped me overcome this period of time however, was writing this series.
Writing about this journey, although very challenging at times, transported me back to the people I met, the places I saw, and the experiences I had. Remarkably, by reminiscing on the magic of the trip, I started to see magic in my everyday life too. Traveling to new places is a wonderful thing, and I absolutely want to do more of it in the future, but there is also so much joy to be experienced in everyday life. Perhaps it just takes a different kind of mindset to notice these things, and I think I’m a little better at noticing now.
Well folks, this marks the end of the series. This was a pretty big project for me to take on, and I feel proud that it’s complete. There were times where I wanted to throw in the towel, but I’m glad I pushed through. Thank you to Augusto, my dear friend and reader/editor of my work, and to everyone who has been reading along. I’m looking forward to sharing more with you all soon! Until next time ❤
