The Eight People You Meet in Vietnam

5 weeks, 1 photojournalist, and 8 of the people met along the way.

Hau Nguyen

I met Hau when I was staying in the city of Da Lat. Da Lat is a mountain town in the south of Vietnam and was my first stop after leaving Ho Chi Minh City where I began my journey. He was my guide on a day long trek in the LangBiang Mountain range, named for two star-crossed lovers, a boy named K’lang and a girl named Ho Biang.

How old are you?

I’m 22.

Where are you from originally?

I’m from middle Vietnam.

What is the town called? Or the city?

Vinh.

Why did you move to Da Lat?

Why in Da Lat? I went to Da Lat five years ago to study and now I work here. Maybe in the future I come back or I go to Ho Chi Minh.

Why do you want to go to Ho Chi Minh?

Because Ho Chi Minh is the biggest city in Vietnam and it’s easy to find a new job or something like that. Living more higher or something like that.

What kind of job do you want to find?

I want to find job in an office.

You’re done with touring?

I like the job in the outside but I’m a little bit tired. I think it’s good for me, for my English. But, you know, in this job, maybe when I have 30 years old, I don’t have enough money.

You said you wanted to travel a lot outside of Vietnam. You want to go to England?

In Liverpool, yeah.

Do you want to go anywhere else?

Americas. Japan.

Where in America do you want to go?

California. It’s very famous.

Do you like living in Da Lat?

Yes, but now not really because Da Lat city is very sad. In the rainy season, Da Lat city is very sad, not busy.

Do you have a big family?

Yeah I have a big family. I have my parents, two older sisters and one younger brother. The first older sister, she is 26 years old and the second sister is 23 and my younger brother he is 18 years. My two elder sisters live in Ho Chi Minh city. The first elder sister, she is worker. And my younger brother lives with my parents. He just finished high school. Now he goes to university.

Rick Meijerink

I also met Rick during my three days in Da Lat. We both stayed at a wonderful place called the Dalat Family Hostel, a lodging run by a woman referred to only as Mama who makes the best banana pancakes to ever exist.

Where are you from?

I’m from The Netherlands. I live and studied in Groningen.

What did you study?

I studied applied physics. I did both my bachelors and my masters in applied physics and my main direction in applied physics was nanotechnology combined with electronics.

What attracted you to that?

First of all, from high school I wanted to study applied physics. It involves a lot of mathematics; I like maths. A bit nerdy maybe but I like it. But to study mathematics was a bit too dry for me, too abstract and in physics I could find a good combination of maths and physics and the applied because you also DO things with the physics so it’s more useful.

So now that you’ve graduated, in a perfect world what job would you be doing?

Oh, in a perfect world. In a perfect world, I would like to start in an engineering job. So work abroad and after some years I don’t always want to stay in research and physics and engineering, I would also grow more to a project manager kind of job. That would be the perfect job for me and that could be in nanotechnology again. Also the energy sector attracts me so other companies that are involved in renewables. That would be ideal for me.

How long are you traveling for?

I am traveling for, in total, five months. I started six weeks ago in Bangkok, did the north of Thailand then crossed the border to Laos, took a plane from the capital of Vientiane to Hanoi and then go from north to south and now we are here in Da Lat, Vietnam.

Where will you go next?

Tomorrow I think or the day after tomorrow, I will take the motorbike to Mui Ne and after that go to the south, Ho Chi Minh City, cross the border there to Cambodia. Then I’m going to visit my English friend I’ve met here to do a diving course with him, he’s a diving instructor. And then after that I want to go to Indonesia for a month, Australia for a month and New Zealand. So it’s still so much time to go. But I will do Cambodia pretty quick, just eight days. There are so many good places to see but you can’t do them all.

Why did you decide to travel for so long?

Because I thought it was the perfect time to do it. Because I just graduated, I’m not really attached to a fixed job or an owned house. I wasn’t really attached to anything at all. It was the right time to go for such a long time. And also, I had this idea already for so many years and I thought if I don’t do it now, you’re probably not going to do it ever. Maybe if you have a mid-life crisis.

So far in your six weeks, what has been the worst experience?

The worst experience…Actually so far I’ve been lucky. I haven’t had any bad experience so far. I saw someone being robbed in Hanoi but that went so quick that you couldn’t do anything about it. But so far, no bad experience. I had to take some sleeper buses and the buses are a bit too small for me but besides that, that is just a minor minor issue.

They are too small for me and you are much taller than me.

If that is all for my whole trip, I will sign up for that.

You are a twin…

Yes, I am a twin.

What is your brother’s name?

My twin brother is called Marc.

Do you guys have any other siblings?

Yeah, we have a sister.

Younger or older?

She’s younger; she’s 21 and I’m 24.

Is she still studying?

Yeah she is studying and maybe we are going to see her in Australia.

Is that where she is now?

No but she will be. So that’s really cool.

Do you guys ever fuck with people and switch places? Are you Marc right now?

Of course we have done that a lot, a lot. In every school I’ve been except for university because we didn’t do the same studies so that would be disappointing for us. In high school, we did it a lot and it is fun but most of the time the teacher would not notice so then it is not fun at all. But yeah, for example, if you are standing in a pub and someone approaches you and you’re like, “Oh, I don’t have any clue who you are,” but then it’s probably someone who Marc knows.

But do you wonder if it’s somebody that Marc knows or was I just really drunk the last time?

It could be…It depends on what he or she says. It’s perfect to be a twin.

Tuyen Bui

Tuyen was the manager of the Mojzo Hostel, the place I stayed during my time in the beach town of Nha Trang on the south coast of the country. Russian tourists fill the hotels and restaurants in the summer because flights are direct and cheap and the Vietnamese government requires no visa for Russians to come here. This is a thank you for their help during the American War (the Vietnam War). Tuyen showed a friend and myself how to get away from these tourists as well as all the places to eat our weight in street food.

How old are you?

I’m 26.

And where are you from originally?

My province is pretty far from here, about 21 hours by train between Hue and Hanoi.

What is it called?

Ha Tinh Province.

How did you come from there to Nha Trang?

It’s long story but I came here for university for four years. I learned English for tourism and Chinese at university.

And you didn’t leave Nha Trang after?

No I live here after university. It’s eight years already.

Why?

Because after university, I found a job here and I work here up to now. And I got married two years ago and I live here with my husband at the moment and his family.

Do you like his family?

Of course, his family is really good people. His mom and dad are really kind to me. He is really good boy, good man.

What is his name?

His name is Huy.

And how did you decide to work and run a hostel?

I’m not decided to do that. I submitted a lot of CV for hotels and hostels and this one was the first one who called for me and we had interview and she grant me immediately. Up to now, I like the job a lot so that’s why I’m here.

Do you want to stay doing this?

I’m not really sure but in the future the hostel has really good opportunities for me like we will have the new hostel in Nha Trang. I think maybe it’s also really good for me to try something new like running a bigger hostel. But it is also under the same as now, Mojzo.

Does that name mean anything?

Mojzo is like welcome home or please come inside.

Do you want to stay in Nha Trang?

I think so. But in the future, in about one year, I want to go Australia for two weeks to visit my teacher and for traveling as well and after that, I want to go to Japan. I heard it’s beautiful.

I’ve heard that too, I’ve never been either.

You’ve never been there. Oh you should! We wanted to go there for our honeymoon but it’s really hard for visa, so we go to Singapore and Malaysia instead.

I heard those are beautiful as well.

It’s so beautiful. You heard about that even though you haven’t been there yet?

This is my first trip to Asia.

Oh really? But you’re really enjoying it?

Love it. I’m really enjoying it so far.

That’s good.

So aside from Australia and Japan, is there anywhere else in the world you would like to see?

Hmm, I’ve been to Singapore, Mayalsia, Bangkok in Thailand, Taiwan. Next destination will be Australia and Japan and after that I want to go maybe to Korea or maybe China. I can speak Chinese so maybe I will go there sometime. But at the moment, I don’t like to go there yet. It’s still for the future.

Is there anything else you’d like to say?

I really like to know you. You really beautiful and I wish you have everything. And say hello to your mom and dad.

Jeremy Koh

Jeremy was born and raised in Singapore and was lending an extra hand to two girls named My and Thuy in their cafe, Rosie’s, in the historical city of Hoi An, a place that I fell in love with and in.

Where in Singapore are you from?

The west side. It used to be a really old slum.

How do you spell the name of it?

Choa Chu Kang.

How old are you?

I’m 29 this year.

I would not have guessed that. When is your birthday?

Coming up soon. September 17.

How long have you been traveling for?

Coming up to seven months.

Where did you go first?

Malaysia and then into Thailand and then after Thailand I went to Laos, Cambodia, and then started from down south of Vietnam going up north.

And how long have you been in Vietnam for?

This time round, it’s going to be two months. Previously I spent a month in Vietnam.

When you were here the first time, where in Vietnam did you go?

Pretty much everywhere I could go. I went to Ha Tien because I crossed from the Cambodian border. And then from Ha Tien I actually visited an island that nicknamed, in the old French maps it’s called The Pirate’s Island and it’s really local, it’s really nice. And then from Ha Tien, I went to Saigon, Saigon I went to Vung Tau where I got a boat to Con Dao Islands and then when I got back I went on to a couple of cities to try to get to different islands but some of the islands were not open in the South Chinese Sea because they don’t really allow foreigners to the islands.

And that has changed now?

Yeah. In the past if you were a backpacker, you could go to the islands without needing any permission or getting screen or background check by police but now some of the islands you need to report to a local police station or military base. They take down all of your particulars, they interview you before they issue a letter of permission for you to visit the islands.

I didn’t know any of that.

I didn’t know as well so that so it scuffled some of my plans as well otherwise I may not have even made it to central Vietnam. Plus I really wanted to visit a lot of islands.

From there?

From there I went to Nha Trang and then Quang Ngai and from Quang Ngai I took a boat to Ly Son Island. They have a specific garlic plant there and it’s made out of two volcanos. After Quang Ngai I came to Hoi An. And then from Hoi An, Da Nang, Hue, and then I came back to Hoi An again and then I took a train to Hanoi and then from Hanoi I went into China which I really liked but I couldn’t get any money out so I came back to Hanoi, checked with CitiBank, they couldn’t figure out what’s wrong. Really weird. Then I decided to not risk it and stay in Vietnam and make my way back to Singapore over land.

And now you’re in Hoi An for a little bit?

I’m coming up to a month now in Hoi An and then I have another month to go and I extended my visa another month to help the girls out and after that I will probably go to Chiang Mai in Thailand because there’s another place I know that I can help out there. I helped the owner there previously as well. Probably go a bit of island hopping in Thailand again and then back to Malaysia and then back to Singapore.

Now tell me how you came across Rosie’s.

Rosie’s, ah. I was just walking past the Japanese bridge and on the way I saw Rosie’s and on the menu they had affogato and I haven’t had affogato in Vietnam at the time. I couldn’t find anywhere that sold an affogato so I dropped into the cafe, they were closing but they made one for me anyway. Which I really liked and then subsequently, the next consecutive few days, I just kept coming back for different meals because I liked their menu as well. I don’t like avocados but the avocado toast is really nice so I’m eating avocados now which is a good thing. And then we started getting to know each other, started going out together and I realized that the girls, they… basically, their parents don’t know about their cafe. They keep it a secret from their parents.

Why?

Vietnam is a bit more traditional in the sense that those who are more independent are frowned upon in some ways. Men are also intimidated by women who are independent and that’s why they keep it away from their families. Their siblings know but this is sort of a dream for them for ten, coming to eleven years now. They traveled together and the idea of the cafe came about when they were traveling as well. They risked a lot to start this up and its a dream of theirs so I figured it doesn’t take much to help someone.

How long have you been helping here?

A month and a half. So half a month previously when I was in Hoi An, a full month now and I’m going to be helping out for another month or maybe another half a month depending on whether I want to go to Chiang Mai over land or take a flight from Da Nang. I haven’t sorted that out yet.

And when you get back home to Singapore, do you know what you’ll do?

I’m going back into the hospitality line. It’s a passion of mine. Some people frown upon that. My parents are generally ok. It took them a while to accept that a university graduate would be in the service line but I think it’s normal. A lot of us have trouble finding what we want to do. There’s always talk about working towards your passion and working towards your interests and then of course there’s the conundrum where that passion or that interest can keep you going. The money, the lifestyle. Of course, with the service line, it’s always shift work. So you get the morning shift, the afternoon shift, and the dreaded midnight shift. For me, the first three years in service was ok because I was like 26 and still could keep up the changing shifts but when I get back, I’ll probably find something with stable routine but I will still be in the service line. It’s something that I like, helping people, making people’s day. It’s something I really enjoy.

Is there anything else that you’d like to add?

Chasing our passion is not as difficult as what we all think. Of course keeping in touch with reality, yes we all need money to get past. But if we go back to how we used to be, if you barter, if you offer your service in exchange for something else, it can work and I think it’s a great way to make things work because you build a much deeper connection with the person you’re bartering with as well. Money is important but it’s not as important as we think. If we just cut back a little on what we spend on…My dad used to separate things into two categories: necessities and luxuries. Rice is a necessity but chocolate is a luxury, things like that. He tries to keep it very simple and that’s sort of what I grew up on. My parents, they both work very hard so they work really hard to give my siblings and I the opportunity to study overseas and then it’s also something that has changed my perception because Singapore is so small. A lot of us are trapped in our bubble because Singapore is so safe and we take a lot of things for granted but at the same time when something small goes wrong, we tend to complain about it. But if you just head out even just across the border to Malaysia and just spend two, three weeks there you realize that people have much bigger troubles than you do. To be born in Singapore is like a privilege basically and you have to be very appreciative of the privilege. Money is important but if just keep the money on the necessities and time to time spend money on the luxuries just to give yourself a little treat, it’s not to difficult to achieve your passions or your dreams. Like the girls, they took quite a long time to start this and the first couple of months were really tough for them. When I look their ledger, there are days when they have three customers, three drinks in one day. It doesn’t even cover electricity. Now they’re doing really well, they’re not taking that for granted, they’re going to put the money back into the cafe, the neighbors that used to mock them have stopped mocking them. That’s it.

Trang Nguyen

Trang is one of three sisters who have opened their home to travelers from around the world. The homestay, the Golden Lantern, was quite possibly my favorite place in Vietnam for more reasons than one.

Can you tell me about how the Golden Lantern was opened?

Last year. We building February last year. Almost one year for building five rooms. Golden Lantern is only bamboo and wooden. We like the countryside and we want open air so that’s why my family decided to do something that looked like that.

The house was here and you built next to it?

Yeah. We opened in February of this year, so six months we’re open.

Who are all the people in the family that live and work here?

The whole family. My mom, my father, my sister and my sister-in-law. My younger sister and me. My husband and also my cousin.

And what are everyone’s names?

My father is Tuc. My mother is Phuong. My oldest sister is Hong, it means rose. All of my family are flowers. My name Trang is a flower.

And your younger sister?

Huyen.

And the husbands?

My husbands name Tuong. My children’s names, the names of the rooms are the kids’ names. The first room is Cach Cach, that’s my daughter name. The second room, your room, Chip Chip, that’s my son. And the third one, Bing Bing, my sister’s son, the big one. And another one, Vi Vi, my sister’s son also. And one Rin Rin. When they come back, when they don’t have school, they go to their rooms.

How old are you?

Too old. I’m 34 years old.

You said you’ve been married for nine years?

Yeah, 2007.

When is the wedding anniversary?

October.

So almost ten years! You have been living here with your family and you’re about to move?

Yes, two weeks, we go.

Can you tell me again why you’re moving?

Because my mom-in-law, some days she is more sick and my husband want to be there and take care of her in case something happen. And also my mom-in-law wants to see the kids everyday. If we living here, some days we’re really busy and we cannot bring them to see her and that’s why we move there.

Why did your family want to open a homestay?

Because in Hoi An, a lot of foreigners want to visit Hoi An and when they come, they will need some place to stay and before we opened this, I was working in hotel until 2014. But I loved to talk with the customers every day. When customers come and fill the home, they will know about how the local people are living and we want to tell them about it and the food. We talk with my parents to open something like this and we told them it would be a lot of money.

And do your parents like the homestay, too?

Yeah. And now, everyday when my father sees the customers, even though he is 62 years old now, it is very difficult for him to learn English but he wants to. Everyday he asks me how to talk, hello, thank you. He don’t know how but he asks me to speak for him.

What do you love most about having travelers in your home?

I love to stay here, talking with the customers because the customers they come from many countries. I know English now but I want to learn French language also. Some countries I don’t know about and where others are and what they love for food and what the weather is like so when they come, we sit together, we talking and I know a little bit about their country.

Mo

In the southernmost tip of the Himalayan Mountains is the Hoang Lien Son mountain range which is home to many tribes and villages all surrounding the mountain city of Sa Pa. Mo and her family live in a village called Hang Da and is among the Hmong (also spelled Mong) people. For three days, the two of us trekked together in those mountains, eating and sleeping in the homes of other families in the villages of Hau Thao, Giang Ta Chai, Su Pan, Ban Ho, and Nam Toong. Mo works for Sa Pa Sisters, the first female owned and fair wage trekking company in the region.

We were talking last night about the customs of marriage…

Customs?

How do couples come to be married in the villages?

We can marry every different tribe. We can marry Christian people or Catholic people. Everyone what you like. You can choose.

Was it different before?

Before we can marry in the same village, Hmong can marry Hmong. You can do an arranged marriage so that you pay more money but now we have changed and you can marry Catholic people or Christian people. But if you marry from some villages, it is more expensive so it is cheaper to marry other people. You have to pay a lot of money and you have to bring a lot of food to their family.

Does the husband’s family bring that to the wife’s family or the other way around?

The man’s family can bring for the girl’s family. His family has to pay for the girl’s family. You have to live with your parents and they bring to your parents.

How did you meet your husband?

In the village. We meet in Sapa town. But I never choose him. He is my local people here. The girl doesn’t choose the boy. If you choose them, they don’t like you so you have to be very shy. Even if they say hello to you, you say goodbye. If you like him, you can’t talk with him.

Your husband chose you and then what happened?

He chose me. At first I think no, I don’t like him. But after long time, he came and always talked to me. He came with a lot of people to “kidnap” me.

What happens when they “kidnap” you?

Nothing. Just kidnap me to marry but I still didn’t like him so he went to my parents to talk about marriage about he and me marry. So he have to come and bring my parents chicken, a pig, and the rice wine. We had a big party there with a lot of food and a lot of people come to visit.

How long were you married before you had your first child?

Two years.

And now you have three children.

Yes.

And how old are they?

My oldest is five years, my second three and a half years, and my little one is one and a half years.

How long have you been working as a trekking guide?

Sapa Sisters?

Were you working with a different company before that?

Yes, before I was working with a different company but I don’t work there anymore so I went with Sapa Sisters one and a half years ago.

How long were you a guide before that?

I was a guide a year before that.

Why did you switch companies?

My sister-in-law worked in Sapa Sisters, she know the owner. She was the first one, she opened Sapa Sisters with four girls in the village.

Why do you like Sapa Sisters?

I like it there because they pay more, the trekking is more far away. So other companies pay cheaper and they do shorter treks or they have a big group or something like that. Before my company had big groups, they had like 10 people or 13 or 15 people, a lot of people. We go first so [the last person] is very far away and we can’t go all together so that’s very difficult. I like to go with one or two or sometimes three.

How many women work at Sapa Sisters?

We have 27 or 28 people for the guides.

Are they all from different villages?

We have cousins and friends, sisters-in-law. Some live in the same village and some live in different villages.

How many different villages are there in this region of the mountains?

I think maybe we have ten.

Thang Nguyen

Another town in the Hoang Lien Son region is Ta Van. Thang was born in Sa Pa and raised in Ta Van where his grandmother owns a homestay called Tavan Chopai. They hosted family dinners every night with the siblings and the other backpackers. And the rice wine.

How old are you?

I’m 28 years old now.

Are you from Ta Van?

Yes, here is my grandmother’s house. I was born in Sapa and this homestay belong to my grandmother. You see upstairs here is very old, classic architecture. Very old house. I live here for five months now to run this to help my grandmother because she cannot speak English and she has a lot of things to do and I can speak English and I can run this for her.

So you and your brother run the homestay now?

And my sister comes to help too.

Do you like running the homestay?

Actually for me the village is nice to visit but I prefer the city because I am young. In the village is a bit boring for a young man. Hanoi there’s party, people, more opportunity.

In a perfect world, what do you want to do? What would be your perfect job?

Travel and work. Something like an officer. With a suit, neck tie. Now, no choice. I not belong to anyone now. I’m free. Also, good too to work for free. No one controls.

Can you tell me about life in Sapa and Tavan and what it was like growing up here?

In Tavan, the tourism just came here ten years ago. Ten years ago, we don’t have nice place and no electricity. Then ten years ago, we have a lot of horses but now we don’t need a lot because we have the motorbike, we have the cars, we have the roads. The culture was stronger then too. At the moment, the culture is a little lost. Tourism comes and it’s good, good for our life for our local life because it’s easy to find a job, easy to earn money not on a farm but now it’s easier. It means the life is getting better and better but for the natural, it’s lost. Natural culture is lost. Natural and traditional are moving to modern, modern and the natural is lost.

For tourists who come here, it is still very beautiful. Do you think it was more beautiful before tourism got here?

I’m not sure. Ask me in ten more years. It may be more crowded with more shops, restaurants, hostels. I prefer the homestays.

You were born in Sapa but you grew up in Ta Van. How many villages are in the mountain range?

It’s very hard to say. You have to take the map to point out how many villages and different people.

I know it’s a different language from Vietnamese that is spoken in the villages. Is it different in each village or is it one language within this mountain area.

Different, different. Each tribe has a different culture. They all speak different.

Do the different tribes of people get along?

Yes, very kind to each other. You can enter any house.

Clara Lisbjerg

I met Clara and Signe at the beginning of my journey while we were all staying in the same hostel in Da Lat. We made fast friends and quickly realized that we would overlap in Hoi An and again in Hanoi, meeting up again and again through the course of my five weeks in Vietnam.

Where are you from?

Denmark.

Where in Denmark?

I’m from Hilleroed.

And how old are you?

I’m 20 years old.

Why are you traveling?

Ah. I’m traveling because I find the world and all the different cultures very interesting and I want to know it better.

And you just graduated high school?

One year ago I graduated high school so I am starting my second gap year.

Can you tell me a little bit about how your country encourages the gap year?

Most young people in Denmark have at least one gap year and a lot of them have two as well, some people have three or four because we encourage the value of getting to know yourself better and to find out what you really want to do and you’re passionate about before you start studying. But if you only have one or two you can still have the points you get from high school count in university, if you go within two years. So if you have more than two years, you don’t have that credit and they’re pushing you more and more in these years. They want you to go to university as fast as possible but I think compared to any other country we embrace the gap years.

How long ago did you start traveling?

Uhh. Well three months and a week, yeah. Just about that.

Where did you start your travels?

We started out in Myanmar with a smaller group to do some volunteer work for two months.

What kind of work were you doing?

Well that’s the big question. We went there thinking that there would be a plan for us because we were working together with different organizations. But when we got there we found out that they didn’t really have a plan. They were thinking that we would come with a plan and things we wanted to do. So they showed us around in the small villages and tried to show us how the Myanmar people lived but it wasn’t really what we wanted so we had to sit down and talk about it and find out, ok, what can we do? We got really close to the culture and visited a lot of the families, tried working in the rice fields and going out in the mountains to find food, roots and that to sell. Then we worked at a school and it was really, I loved it so much. I loved the children. They were just so thankful that we were there. We had so much fun there.

And then where did you go after that?

We went to Indonesia and started out with a trek of the Rinjani Mountains which was very challenging but only for three days. It was amazing and the view from the top was totally worth it.

And then Vietnam?

Yeah, then Vietnam and we’ve been traveling from Hoi An, the middle of Vietnam to here in the north.

And then you go to Nepal next?

Yeah. We’re going there to trek the Anna Purna. The first thing we knew before we went away was that we wanted to go to Nepal to trek so we planned that we had to be in Nepal for October because that’s the best trekking month and then we just planned the rest of the trip from there. But the time goes really fast right now.

So you have been traveling with another person for four months…

Yeah, that’s why I’m saying ‘we’ all the time.

What has that been like, being with one person everyday for a long time?

Well, the first two months in Myanmar, we were in two different groups so we weren’t together all the time and back then it was really cool that we had each other when we had the time to meet up because Signe is one of my very good friends and it was so good to have her to talk to and I could just tell her everything and we could just let go of all the frustrations and things like that. And then we went to Indonesia and suddenly we were all on our own and we spend everyday together, like 24/7 and we had to find out how to do that. Actually it was kind of a surprise for us that it wasn’t just easy all the time and we had to find out that sometimes we just don’t want the same things and sometimes we just need a break. I need to be alone sometimes with my own thoughts and Signe does as well. We just had to accept that and we’ve been talking about how now that we’ve been in Vietnam, the whole time in Vietnam has been much more relaxed than in Indonesia because we have had a good time to see everything we wanted here in Vietnam and we had time to just have those days where you do almost nothing and that’s ok. You’re not just 100% happy all the time and that’s just how it is. We found out now and everything is going way better. It wasn’t bad before at all, we had a lot of good experiences in Indonesia as well but here we’re happier together. And now I want it last.

What has been the best thing about traveling for a long amount of time?

I’m very interested in the cultures, different cultures that we meet. I think the best thing about traveling is either the food but mostly the people we meet, both locals and other backpackers, like you. In Myanmar we got really close to the culture and that has been one of the biggest and best things on this travel. We just meet a lot of very cool people and it’s so inspiring.

And what is the worst part about traveling for a long time?

That’s a tough question. I think the worst part is that sometimes you get really tired and you forget that you just need to take a break. I’ve been missing people at home and sometimes you just need that person to be there. That has been quite hard. But it was mostly in the beginning, I just had to get used to it. But now that we only have a little less than seven weeks left, it doesn’t hit that often. In the beginning, it was taking up more time than it is now. It’s not really bad because it’s good to have someone to miss and it’s nice that I am happy to be at home as well. It’s not really bad, it’s just a part of it.