And just like that, my time in Vietnam is at an end. I am in that No Man’s Land at the airport, officially stamped out but not stamped in anywhere else. My flight to Luang Prabang, Laos leaves just after noon, so I’m a non-entity til then. Sipping my $4 USD coffee, it’s time for reflection.
I will not miss Vietnam. I have spent almost a month here, trying to get a feel for the country and its people, and I am no further ahead now than when I crossed the border from Cambodia four weeks ago. From my perspective, the majority of the Vietnamese people I met do not like “foreigners”;
we are a necessary evil in their struggle to survive. Period.
Having said that, the natural beauty in this country is astounding. I have dreamed about the green rolling hills, sandy beaches and steaming jungles for 30 years or more, and I was not disappointed. In the end, though, it all comes down to people, doesn’t it? I had hoped to meet and connect with local people, and with very few exceptions, the encounters I valued most during my time here were with “foreigners”. We are and shall always remain…foreigners.
And so I leave, road weary and a tad disillusioned. I feel the need to come to a complete stop, to get back to human being instead of human doing. I hear Laos is the perfect place for that.